English and Creative Writing (ENG)
Rebecca Entel, Glenn Freeman, Leslie K. Hankins, Michelle Mouton, Shannon Reed (chair), Kirilka Stavreva
Major: Fosters a general understanding of English and American literary history while enabling students to concentrate in one of three areas in the field of English: literature; creative writing; or film studies. Majors must complete a minimum of 11 courses, to include the following:
- Two of the following foundation courses in the field of English, one of which must be in the area of concentration (recommended to be completed by the end of sophomore year): ENG 201, 202, or 215.
- One of the following courses with emphasis on social and/or global issues (may simultaneously fulfill one additional requirement for the English major if eligible): ENG 240, 311, 347 (when offered at the Wilderness Station), 350, 351, 367, 370, any 200- or 300-level literature course in translation or in the target language offered by the Classical and Modern Languages Department, other than FRE 311 (Introduction to Literary Analysis in French), GER 311 (Introduction to Literature), SPA 311 (Introduction to Textual Analysis).
- One of the following concentrations:
- Literature
- One course from Medieval and Renaissance Literature: ENG 321-326;
- Three courses, to be distributed among at least two of the following literary-historical groups: Restoration and 18th Century: ENG 328, 329, 331; 19th-Century Literature: ENG 333, 334, 343, 345; 20th-21st Century: ENG 335, 336, 347, 350, 351, 361, 363, 364, 365 (depending on topic), 367;
- One course from ENG 311, 319, 371;
- One elective in the department.
- Creative Writing
- Three courses, to be distributed among three of the following literary-historical groups: Medieval and Renaissance Literature: ENG 321-326; Restoration and 18th Century: ENG 328, 329, 331; 19th-Century Literature: ENG 333, 334, 343, 345; 20th-21st Century: ENG 335, 336, 347, 350, 351, 361, 363, 364, 365 (depending on topic), 367;
- Either ENG 317 or ENG 318;
- One additional course from ENG 317, ENG 318, ENG 381-383, THE 321-322;
- One elective in the department.
- Film Studies
- Three courses, to be distributed among three of the following literary-historical groups: Medieval and Renaissance Literature: ENG 321-326; Restoration and 18th Century: ENG 328, 329, 331; 19th Century: ENG 333, 334, 343, 345; 20th -21st Century: ENG 335, 336, 347, 350, 351, 361, 363, 364, 365 (depending on topic), 367;
- Two additional courses from ENG 327, 365, 370, 371 (depending on topic), 372, HIS 364, CLA 364 (depending on topic);
- One elective in the department.
- Literature
- ENG 411
The department recommends that foundation courses be completed by the end of the sophomore year, and that majors consider an internship in an area of interest in the junior or senior year. Transfer students must take a minimum of six courses from Cornell College’s Department of English and Creative Writing.
Teaching Major: The same as above, to include 311; one course selected from 323, 324, or 327; and one course selected from 343, 345, or 347; In addition, English majors seeking a teaching certification must complete COM 121 (Speech Communication) and EDU 322 (Secondary Arts, Languages, and Adolescent Literature); EDU 322 may satisfy the requirement for an elective in the concentration. Prospective teachers must also apply for admission to the Teacher Education Program (preferably at the start of their sophomore year) and complete coursework leading to secondary certification described under Education. Prospective teachers should request a current list of the specific course requirements from the Education Office.
111. Topics in Literature, Film, or Cultural Studies
Writing seminar for first year students, an intensive engagement with a topic in literature, film, or cultural studies. See Topics Courses for current topics and descriptions. (Humanities, Writing Requirement)
201. Introduction to Literary Studies
Introduces students to methods of reading, analyzing, and interpreting literature. Focus on understanding conventions and technical aspects of a literary work and on introduction to multiple genres of literature. Students do close reading and are introduced to additional methods of critical inquiry involving literature. Shows students how to apply critical and literary vocabulary, and to develop writing and research skills. See Topics Courses for current course description. (Humanities)
202. Introduction to Film Studies
An introduction to film as an art form, cultural practice, and institution. The class focuses on questions of film form and style (narrative, editing, sound, framing, mise-en-scène) and introduces students to concepts in film history and theory (national cinemas, periods and movements, institution, authorship, spectatorship, ideology, style, genre). Students develop a basic critical vocabulary and research practices for examining film. They apply their skills in oral and written analysis and interpretation to a wide range of films: old and new, local and global, mainstream and less familiar. (Humanities) HANKINS or STAVREVA
210. American Survey
Development
of American literature from its beginnings to the twentieth century.
Emphasis is both textual and historical. Prerequisite:
writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) ENTEL or G. FREEMAN
211. English Survey I
Development
of English literature from its Anglo-Saxon roots through the "long"
eighteenth century. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W).
(Humanities) REED or STAVREVA
212. English Survey II
Development of English literature from the Romantics to the present. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) HANKINS or MOUTON
215. Introduction to Creative Writing
Beginning course in creative writing and an introductory course to the English major. Students will explore a myriad of writing techniques and approaches to writing in a variety of genres. Students will write, share work, and offer critiques. The course also includes the study of published authors as models for student writing, as literary historical context for artistic creation, and for the study of creative theory. Students will learn to analyze texts from a writer’s perspective, which they will apply to their own writing and to the study of literature in the major. (Fine Arts) ENTEL or G. FREEMAN
240. Theatre, Architecture, and the Arts in Britain
The study of British art and culture, particularly theatre and architecture, through visiting sites and regions significant in U.K. history, attending theatrical events, and visiting galleries and museums. Team-taught in Great Britain. Registration entails additional costs. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities)
273-277. Topics in English Studies
A focus on a topic in literary studies, in film, or on a topic that bridges literature, film, creative writing or other arts. See Topics Courses for current course descriptions.
290/390. Individual Project: see Courses 290/390.
311. Grammar and the Politics of English
An examination of the structures and forms which currently govern standard usage of the English language. Encompasses a broad view of grammar as a subject by a wide-ranging investigation of the history and development of the language. Examines the social and political implications of the development of English as a global language. Course may include readings in Anglophone literature. Prerequisites: sophomore standing and writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) REED
317. Advanced Poetry Writing
Advanced course in writing poetry. Students will study techniques, share work, and offer critiques. The course will also include the study of published poetry. Additional topics will include publication options, manuscript submission procedures, and resources for writers. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite: ENG 215. Alternate years. (Fine Arts) G. FREEMAN
318. Advanced Fiction Writing
Advanced course in writing fiction. Students will study techniques, share work, and offer critiques. The course will also include the study of published fiction. Additional topics may include publication options, manuscript submission procedures, and resources for writers. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite: ENG 215. Alternate years. (Fine Arts) ENTEL
319. Advanced Critical Writing
Advanced course in academic writing. In discussion, intensive workshops, and individual instruction, students will critically read and evaluate their own work and the work of their peers, as well as professional academic writers. In addition to writing several papers, students will substantially revise and expand the research for a paper they have written for a previous course. Students must bring to class on the first day a short paper they are prepared to further research and revise. The course will also give considerable attention to advanced information literacy and advanced writing style. This course is especially appropriate for students who intend to pursue graduate study or careers with a strong writing component. Prerequisites: writing-designated course (W) and junior standing. Alternate years. REED
321. Studies in Medieval Literature
Topical concentrations in English and world literature of the Middle Ages, including cultural context. Topics may include: Arthurian romance, Dante, Chaucer, the mystical tradition, or chivalry. See Topics Courses for current course description. Prerequisites: writing-designated course (W) and sophomore standing. Offered every third year. (Humanities) STAVREVA
322. Medieval and Renaissance Drama: Shakespeare's Rivals
A research seminar studying the drama of Shakespeare's predecessors, contemporaries, and rivals – such as Marlowe, Middleton, Dekker, Ford, Webster, etc. – within the context of the highly theatrical culture of early modern England. Taught at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Registration entails additional costs. Prerequisites: writing-designated course (W) and sophomore standing. Offered every third year. (Humanities) STAVREVA
323. Shakespeare I: Comedies and Romances
Analytical, cultural-historical, and performative approaches to Shakespeare. Discussion of selected comedies and romances in their cultural contexts. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) STAVREVA
324. Shakespeare II: Histories and Tragedies
Critical analysis of Shakespeare's histories and tragedies, with attention paid to their cultural contexts and performative aspects. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) STAVREVA
325. Studies in Renaissance Non-Dramatic Literature
English and world literature of the period 1500-1660. Topics may include: women writers, writing the self, lyric poetry, or studies of authors, such as Elizabeth I, Donne, Sidney, Spenser, Petrarch, or Wroth. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Offered in alternate years or every third year. (Humanities) STAVREVA
326. Milton
This course will provide a deep and thorough engagement with John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. Attention will be given to the reading practices of early modern and post-modern audiences. Additional materials may include critical articles and other works by John Milton, like Comus, Samson Agonistes, or selections from his sonnets or prose works. The course will conclude with a consideration of contemporary uses for Milton's epic. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) REED
327. Shakespeare after Shakespeare: Performance and Cultural Criticism
A study of historically and culturally diverse forms of Shakespearean performances on stage and screen, including Asian, East European, and other renditions. Focus on the relationship of performance to the processes of cultural formation and reflection. Students in the class engage in performance workshops and production activities enabled by the Stephen Lacey Memorial Shakespeare Fund. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) STAVREVA
328. Eighteenth Century English Literature
Drama, poetry and essays of the period 1660-1798. Discussion of the interplay between culture and literature. Topics may include colonialism; civility, honor and barbarism; politics and poetics of Restoration drama. Authors may include Behn, Wycherly and Rochester, Addison and Steele, Swift, Pope, and Eliza Haywood. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) REED
329. Eighteenth Century Fiction
Examination of fiction written between 1660-1789. Discussion of the novel and the anti-novel using works such as Pamela, Joseph Andrews, The Female Quixote, Tristram Shandy, and Northanger Abbey. Some discussion of contemporary creative and critical responses to eighteenth-century fiction. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) REED
331. English Literature: The Romantics
An examination of intellectual, political, and aesthetic movements of the English Romantic period 1789-1832. Topics may include Romantic poetics, the Gothic impulse, the city and the country, or constructions of childhood. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) MOUTON
333. Victorian English Literature
Poetry, novels, essays, and plays written between 1837 and 1901. May focus on a topic, such as English colonialism, political reform movements, or turn-of-the-century decadence. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) MOUTON
334. Nineteenth Century English Novel
A study of one or more forms: the domestic novel, the Gothic novel, the serial novel, the novel of social critique. Authors may include Austen, Shelley, Dickens, Eliot, Trollope, and Wilde. Emphasis on social, cultural, and political context. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) MOUTON
335. Virginia Woolf
Novels and essays by Virginia Woolf, such as A Room of One's Own, Jacob's Room, To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, Orlando, Between the Acts, and Moments of Being. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) HANKINS
336. Early Twentieth Century Literature
Literature in English of the first half of the twentieth century, chosen from authors such as Rebecca West, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Richardson, H. D., Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Zora Neale Hurston, and others. May include film of the early twentieth century, and may focus on a topic such as WWI or transatlantic modernist experiments. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) HANKINS
343. The American Renaissance
Literary and cultural trends in the early- and mid-nineteenth century with attention to Transcendentalism, Melville's Moby-Dick, and philosophical contradictions within the period. Authors in addition to Melville may include Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, Douglass, and Alcott. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) ENTEL
345. Late Nineteenth Century American Literature
Literary and cultural trends of the late-nineteenth century with a focus on the relationship between literary and social movements of the time period. Authors may include Twain, James, Whitman, Davis, Gilman, and Riis. Course may include a civic engagement component and/or group research project. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) ENTEL
347. Modern American Literature
Writing and other arts of the wilderness, including Canadian and American writers, painters, and photographers. The 2010-11 course will be taught at the Wilderness Field Station in Minnesota. Registration entails additional costs. See Topics Courses for current course description. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) HANKINS
350. American Nature Writers
Study of writers who share a concern with our relation to nature, landscape, and our environment. Authors may include Muir, Leopold, Dillard, Carson, Abbey, and Krakauer. See Topics Courses for current course description. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) G. FREEMAN
351. Studies in African-American Literature
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. Includes writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Countée Cullen, Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurman, Mae Cowdery, Claude McKay, and Jessie Redmon Fauset. Close attention to the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and FIRE!!, a facsimile reprint of a "little magazine" published by members of the Harlem Renaissance in 1926. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Offered every third year. (Humanities) HANKINS
361. Modern Poetry
Poetic trends in the first half of the twentieth century. Poets may include Eliot, Stevens, Williams, Stein, Loy, Millay, Hughes, and H.D. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) G. FREEMAN
363. Contemporary Fiction
Intensive look at recent and experimental developments in fiction as represented by writers such as Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, Maxine Hong Kingston, Don DeLillo, and Tim O'Brien. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) G. FREEMAN
364. Contemporary Poetry
Poets whose work has come to prominence since 1950 and an overview of poetic trends in America. Poets may include Lowell, Ginsberg, Ashbery, Rich, Plath, Olds, and Graham. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) G. FREEMAN
365. Comparative Literature and Cinema
Study of the multi-faceted connections between literature and film. May focus on a topic such as avant-garde film and little magazines, film societies and literary coteries, or film adaptation. See Topics Courses for current course description. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) HANKINS
367. Multicultural Literature
Critical analysis of texts by national and international writers of "minority" status. May include groups marginalized by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) ENTEL
370. AIDS Literature, Film, and Social Theory
This course will consider the historical emergence and consequences of HIV/AIDS through memoirs, novels, plays, documentary and feature films, and essays. In evaluating the way literature shapes our understanding of HIV and AIDS, we will explore pertinent issues of race, gender, nationality, and sexual identity. May include service learning component with required field trips. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Offered in alternate years or every third year. (Humanities) MOUTON
371. Critical Theory
Survey of critical theories or an in-depth focus on one theory. Possibilities include Narrative Theory, Feminist theories, Reader-Response Theory, New Historicism, or Cultural Studies. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). Offered every third year. Recommended for students who may be interested in pursuing graduate studies in English. (Humanities) MOUTON
372. Film and Film Criticism
Critical analysis of films as artistic and cultural texts. Focus may be on an individual director, such as Hitchcock, or a topic, such as Women Directors, or a period in film history. (This is not a film production course.) See Topics Courses for current course description. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) HANKINS
373-374. Advanced Topics in Literature
Intensive focus on an advanced topic in literary studies, or on a topic that bridges literary studies and other media of artistic expression. See Topics Courses for current course descriptions. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W); individual courses may have additional prerequisites. (Humanities)
377-378. Advanced Topics in Film, Intermedia, or Cultural Studies
Intensive focus on an advanced topic in film or other new media. See Topics Courses for current course descriptions. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W); individual courses may have additional prerequisites.
380. Internship
Diverse internship options may include writing and editing in the commercial world, such as working for a newspaper, a magazine, a publishing house, or another communications medium. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). See Courses 280/380. (CR)
381-383. Advanced Topics in Creative or Media Writing
Advanced study of creative writing or writing for one of the communications media. See Topics Courses for current course descriptions. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W); individual courses may have additional prerequisites.
399. Summer Internship
Diverse internship options may include writing and editing in the commercial world, such as working for a newspaper, a magazine, a publishing house, or another communications medium. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). See Courses 299/399. (CR)
411. Senior Seminar
Advanced, theoretically informed engagement with literary studies, broadly defined, including reflection on what the English major brings to intellectual and creative life beyond the undergraduate years. See Topics Courses for current topics and course descriptions. Prerequisites: English major and senior standing. (Humanities)
714. Literature in Action: The Shakespeare Play (1/4)
Participation in any of the many activities involved in the production of the English Department Shakespeare Play: acting in a major role, scenery and props design and construction, costume/make-up design and construction, lighting and sound design and operation, stage management, theatre administration and publicity. Participation must be supervised by a member of the Department and the work carried out within a single semester. May be repeated for credit. Alternate years. (Fine Arts) STAVREVA (CR)
715. Literature in Action: Editing (1/4)
Serving in one of the supervisory positions for the English Department literary magazine Open Field (or similar magazine): Editor, Assistant Editor, Web Editor, Art/Design Editor. Participation must be supervised by a member of the Department and the work carried out within a single semester. May be repeated for credit. (Fine Arts) G. FREEMAN (CR)