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English
New English courses added
Jul 16/12
Message from Dr. Leslie O'Dell, Undergraduate Advisor
We are pleased to
announce that three new course offerings are now available on a first-come,
first-served basis.
In the Fall term we have
a special topics course, “Literary Culture in the Age of Terrorism,” offered on Tuesday evenings from 7 to
9:50 p.m. This exciting new course
will introduce students to a variety of literary and cultural texts that
explore what it means to live in an age of terrorism. The reading list is not set yet, but will include
graphic novels and digital media as well as more traditional literary
forms. Here is a description of
this course:
EN
209m Literary Culture in an Age of Terrorism
A study of literary and cultural texts that articulate a
variety of perspectives on what it means to live in an age of terrorism. Texts for study might include graphic
novels such as Jerusalem
(Delisle), Habibi (Craig
Thompson), Persepolis (Satrapi),
V for Vendetta (Moore), In the Shadow of No Towers (Spiegelman),
Palestine (Sacco), or Aaron and Ahmed (Cantor &
Ramberger), as well as films such as The
Battle of Algiers (1966), Team
America (2004), Munich (2005),
Waltz with Bashir (2008), or United 93 (2006). Novels might
include Sahar Kalifeh’s Wild Thorns,
DeLillo’s Mao II, Ian McKewen’s
Saturday or Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. Theoretical works might include Jean
Baudrillard’s “The Spirit of Terrorism,” Jacques Derrida’s “Interview on
Philosophy and Terror,” Noam Chomsky’s “International Terrorism: Image and
Reality” or Slavoj Žižek’s “Welcome to the Desert of the Real.”
NOTE: this course counts in Category 3.
In the Winter term we
will now be offering EN281: Cyborg Fictions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings
from 8:30 to 9:50 a.m. This course invites students to explore some of the most
exciting recent developments in the popular genre of cyberpunk across a variety
of media. Here is a description of the course:
EN281 Cyborg Fictions
This course will introduce students to the vibrant
and still emerging cyberpunk movement in literature and film. The cyborg tends
to unsettle all categories of difference, moving beyond the "meat/machine
meld" to threaten additional hierarchies, including those of race, class,
and gender. Students will explore central literary and cinematic texts of
the cyberpunk movement, including foundational works by William Gibson, Bruce
Sterling, Philip K. Dick, and Ridley Scott. Students will also have the
opportunity to consider the current direction of cyberpunk fiction in more
recent texts, including the phenomenally successful Matrix series and the movement
of the cyborg into mainstream children's fare, as in Disney's Treasure
Planet. Additionally, students will investigate a number of theoretical
concepts central to cyberculture, including Baudrillard on the simulacrum,
Benjamin and the panopticon, and Benedikt on the architecture of lightness.
NOTE: this course counts in Category 4.
We have another brand
new course in the Winter term, “Writing for Young Readers: Theory and Practice,”
offered on Thursday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:20 p.m. plus one-hour tutorial
times. This course represents a
new type of course offering, one that blends the reading and analysis of a
popular literary genre with creative writing exercises. Students will be able to choose from a
variety of formal assignments in order to shape the course to personal
interests. This course will be of
particular interest to future teachers, creative writers, and anyone who loves
literature written for young readers. Here is a description of this new course:
EN209k Writing for Young
Readers: Theory and Practice.
In this course we will explore the challenges facing writers
creating stories for young readers. Categories for examination will include picture books and poetry for
pre-schoolers, stories and poetry for beginning readers, drama for young
audiences and performers, and genre fiction for young readers. We will read and analyze exemplars of
these categories of writing within the context of recent scholarship on
literature for young readers. Weekly writing challenges will invite students to explore the craft
required for this type of writing. Students can select from a variety of formal assignments in order to
shape their work in this course according to personal interests. NOTE: this
course counts in category 4.
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