Graduate Courses
Spring 2025 Graduate Courses
EH 501 - Introduction to Critical Theory | Vrana
R 6:00-8:30
EH 501 provides an introduction to some of the most essential debates within and approaches to critical theory and literary criticism. We will read excerpts by important theorists grouped topically and focus on effective methods of bringing these wide-ranging lenses to two primary texts of contemporary African American literature. Discussion, written responses, presentations and two papers will develop students' facility and comfort with engaging theory going forward, regardless of the particular object of analysis.
EH 507 - Topics in Rhetoric / Composition | Shaw
TR 2:00-3:15
This course examines the many manifestations of Cold War rhetoric, from the struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, to the conflicts in the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements, to the burgeoning rhetoric of science. We will learn how to engage in the act of rhetorical criticism, which requires the close reading of texts/objects and an analysis of the various social, political, economic, cultural, and religious factors that enable, motivate, and constrain one's ability to speak, write, and act.
EH 513 - Studies in Chaucer | Halbrooks
T 6:00-8:30
This course will survey the major works of the most important writer of the English Middle Ages, as well as the vast history of Chaucerian scholarship and criticism. Our study of Chaucer will include an exploration of his "soundscapes," in keeping with the English Department's "Spring Series on Sound"—beginning with the birdsong and the west wind in the opening lines of The Canterbury Tales. Major texts will include the Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, and a selection of the Dream Visions.
EH 538 - Victorian and Edwardian Prose | Harrington
TR 12:30-1:45
The prolific periodical culture of the nineteenth century and the increasing literacy rate produced a boom in British fiction that resulted in a rich array of novels, at turns realist, domestic, Gothic, sentimental, and naturalist. In this class, we will consider issues of gender and sexuality in Austen's Emma, Brontë's Jane Eyre, Dickens's Great Expectations, Doyle's "The Sign of Four," Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Hardy's Tess. Topics will also include childhood and development, rights and reform, class, race, and empire.
EH 548 - Native American Fiction | Cesarini
R 2:30-5:00
Students will read novels and short stories by Native American writers active from about 1940 until the present, such as Darcy McNickle, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and LeAnne Howe. Our study will be to understand as much of each writer's Native/national culture and history as needed to understand and appreciate their works of fiction. Graded work will consist of weekly quizzes and two essays.
EH 577- Sound in Literature | St. Clair
W 6:00-8:30
Nothing essential happens in the absence of sound. As part of the English Department's "Spring Series on Sound," we'll listen to a handful of contemporary novels and discuss the ways in which music, sound technology, and audible culture increasingly shape literary fiction of the contemporary era. In addition to the readings, coursework in this graduate seminar will include presentations and final project.
EH 581 - Screenwriting Workshop | Prince
T 6:00-8:30
This class focuses on the fundamentals of screenwriting for television. We will study character development, conflict, structure, formatting, and so on as we explore how to write screenplays. Our focus will be as expansive as possible, covering drama, comedy, and action genres. Students will write one research paper and work on both an hour and a half-hour TV pilot.
EH 583 - Grad Fiction Writing Workshop I | Johnson
TR 3:30-4:45
This graduate-level workshop is devoted to writing literary short fiction—and what that term means today. Stories students write in this course can be set anywhere, during any time period, but should demonstrate a deep engagement with respect to craft and technique. Or as the writer Audre Lord said, "There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt, of examining what our ideas really mean."
EH 585/6- Grad Poetry Writing Workshop I/II | Pence
M 6:00-8:30
This graduate writing course explores different styles that currently define the American contemporary poem and engages with how these styles are responses to Romantic and modern literature. We will analyze political, narrative, surreal and other types of poems from some of the best poets writing today in order to create our own poem.
