Spring 2008 Course Highlights
Upper Division Offerings in English
English 3100—Introduction to English Studies
Section 02: Dr. Greg McNamara
MW 4:30-5:45 pm—CRN 25460
English 3100 is a gateway to the field of English studies: readings, discussions, and written work emphasize important interpretive frameworks—literature, theory, literacy, and cultural studies—that guide study in the field and organize the English major at CSU. Major readings for this section include Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, short stories from Stephen Crane, poetry from William Butler Yeats, and drama from William Shakespeare; we will also consider cinema, focusing on Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, Psycho. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. McNamara: GregoryMcNamara@clayton.edu
English 3200—History of the English Language
Dr. Kimberly Thompson-Macuare
MWF 11:30 am-12:20 pm—CRN 25565
In this course, students will first master the building blocks of linguistic study and analysis, including lexicon, syntax, and phonology. Then, with this knowledge as a base, we will focus on the history and development of the English language from Old English to the present day. In addition to the historical survey, we will also discuss world Englishes, discourse analysis, and the future of English. Three credit hours. For more information, please contact Dr. Macuare: KimberlyThompson-Macuare@clayton.edu.
English 3212—Advanced Composition
Dr. Brigitte Byrd
Section O1: TR 12:00-1:15 pm—CRN
25508
Section 02: TR 1:30-2:45 pm—CRN 25509
This course focuses on travel writing, and in a way, the demands of travel writing are identical to those of any kind of creative nonfiction writing: How do you craft the work so that the experience becomes more than itself? How do you relinquish the role of transcriber and take on the cloak of the artist? Famous travel writer Pico Iyer insists that travel writing is “much more a matter of writing than of traveling—the hard part of the journey takes place at the desk.” We will then investigate this form of writing and become familiar not only with the Best American Travel Writing 2007 but also with authors discussing travel writing in A Sense of Place and with Louise Purwin Zobel’s The Travel Writer’s Handbook. You will practice your writing skills with a series of exercises (and “exercise” since some “traveling” will be involved) and participate in workshops. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Byrd: BrigitteByrd@clayton.edu.
English 3410—African American Literature I
Dr. LaJuan Simpson
TR 12:00-1:15 pm—CRN 25793
African Americans have contributed greatly to the literary cannon. From Phillis Wheatley to Essex Hemphill, African Americans have explored their trials and triumphs through literature. This course will cover the literature from 1750-1877. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Simpson: LaJuanSimpson@clayton.edu.
English 3501—Multicultural Literature
Dr. Brigitte Byrd
TR 3:00-4:15 pm—CRN 25507
If you want to increase and deepen your exposure to and understanding of American minorities through literature written by contemporary American minorities, this is the course for you. We will read fiction, poetry and even a graphic novel/memoir by authors such as LeAnne Howe, Natasha Tretheway, Reginald Shepherd, Art Spiegelman, Amy Tan, Helena Maria Viramontes, Annie Proulx, and Jhumpa Lahiri. Focusing on these authors will present us with a very contemporary perspective on the history, values, and cultures of American minorities. Some of these works have been adapted for the big screen, and we will certainly take advantage of this opportunity to view excerpts of these adaptations as well. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Byrd: BrigitteByrd@clayton.edu.
English 3620—Postcolonial Literature
Dr. Christina Parish
TR 4:30-5:45 pm—CRN 25625
Postcolonial literature is often figured as the “empire writing back.” We will explore the responses of writers in India, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere to the long history of British colonization in their native countries. In addition, we will examine the psychological effects of colonization on colonized peoples, the difference that gender makes to the postcolonial experience, and the contested role that the colonizer’s language occupies in postcolonial literature, particularly in terms of the politics of decolonization. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Parish: ChristinaParish@clayton.edu.
English 3700—Response to Writing
Dr. Susan Rashid Horn
TR 12:00-1:15 pm—CRN 25625
This course offers an introduction to one-on-one writing instruction and the theories that guide it. Self-assessment, revision techniques, special writing issues, and opportunities and challenges will all be addressed. By the end of the semester students will have written many kinds of documents about writing and tutoring, applying what they have learned in peer reviews, tutoring observations, and tutoring practice. This course is a boon for those who are serious about their own writing and seek the language to discuss it; it is a prerequisite for students who wish to intern in the CSU Writers’ Studio. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Rashid Horn: SusanRashidHorn@clayton.edu.
English 3900—Professional and Technical Writing (Three Sections)
Section 01: Dr. Gregory Flail
MWF 1:30-2:20 pm—CRN
25510
Section 02: Dr. Gregory Flail
MWF 10:30-11:20 am—CRN
25800
Section 90: Dr. Ted Walkup
Online—CRN 25635
This course is for you if you want to
- focus on writing for future professional and general audiences,
- learn about real-life writing and speaking skills, and
- practice the communication skills essential in your career.
In this course, students study the principles, techniques, and skills needed for effective written communication in the workplace. The course covers instruction in the writing of reports, letters, memos, resumes, cover letters, and other types of correspondence common to a wide range of disciplines and careers. Moreover, this course gives students the opportunity to sharpen their research skills, design professional documents, create effective visuals, work collaboratively with their peers, and prepare and present oral reports.
For more information, contact Dr. Flail: GregoryFlail@clayton.edu or Dr. Walkup: TedWalkup@clayton.edu.
English 4000—English Internship
See the “English 4000 Internship Policies” link at the Language and Literature Department webpage (http://a-s.clayton.edu/langlit/).
English 4150—Contemporary American Literature
Dr. Gwendolyn Jones
TR 1:30-2:45 pm—CRN 25488
ENGL 4150 will study issues of race and gender in Contemporary American literature and film. We will examine Truman Capote’s famous creative nonfiction work, In Cold Blood as well as Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina; additionally we will read Toni Morrison’s neo-slave narrative, Beloved. Other novels are Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and Ernest Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Additionally, we will critique the film versions of all the novels. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Jones: GwendolynJones@clayton.edu.
English 4210—Renaissance Literature
Dr. Greg McNamara
TR 10:30-11:45 am—CRN 25461
Renaissance Literature for Spring 2008 will examine representations of race, gender, and culture present in the sonnet and romance genres as well as the in the court masque and on the popular stage. primary emphasis will be on the writings of Sir Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. There will also be attention to George Herbert's devotional writings, including poetry as well as prose. This research-intensive course will draw heavily on Kim F. Hall's Things of Darkness, a study of economies of race and gender in the English Renaissance, and James Shapiro's historicist analysis 1599: A Year in the life of William Shakespeare for cultural and theoretical positioning. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. McNamara: GregoryMcNamara@clayton.edu.
English 4610—Modern Poetry
Dr. Gwendolyn Jones
TR 9:00-10:15 pm—CRN 25489
ENGL 4610 is a study of Modern and Contemporary American poetry; these poets are a highly diverse and innovative group, including those from the Southern Renascence, the Harlem Renaissance, the Lost Generation, and the Beat Generation. Among the poets we will read are: Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, e. e. Cummings, Walt Whitman, and many others. Critiques will also include bio-critical approaches, examining the authors’ lives with their works. This course is an excellent foundation for understanding American Modernism. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Jones: GwendolynJones@clayton.edu.
English 4800—Selected Topics: Plays of August Wilson
Section 01—Dr. LaJuan Simpson
TR 6:00-7:15 pm—CRN 25779
Who is August Wilson? August Wilson is the only American to publish ten plays chronicling the lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. In this course, we will read the ten-play cycle. We will also explore issues of race, gender, and politics in his nonfiction. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Simpson: LaJuanSimpson@clayton.edu.
English 4810—Southern Women's Novels to Film
Dr. Susan Henry
MW 6:00-7:15 pm—CRN 25774
Have you ever wondered why the book is always better than the movie? Join us in this course to explore southern women’s novels and their adaptations to film. Authors may include – but not be limited to – Harper Lee, Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor, Maya Angelou, Carson McCullers, and Dorothy Allison. Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Henry: SusanHenry@clayton.edu.
English 5100—Literary Theory
Dr. Kathryn Pratt
W 7:30-10:15 pm—CRN 25469
For beginning graduate students of critical theory, the task is to understand how theory appears in the scholarly, academic, and educational arenas. To study theory is to study the history and ongoing conflicts between and within contemporary global cultures. We will study postmodern and postcolonial theories, theories of social class and capital, theories of gender and sexuality, and theories of language and action. Our goal is to be able to participate in speech and writing in the public conversation about the role of theory in a humanities-focused education, and the role of humanities-focused educations and institutions in political and public life.
Critical theory is encountered frequently in the study of politics and philosophy and has become an integral part of literary theory and cultural analysis. Critical theory can therefore not be limited to a particular field or even to a specific content. [ . . . ] Critical theory is by nature interdisciplinary. Because it is a scholarly practice more than a body of theory or method, training in critical theory assumes the form of an apprenticeship more than it does doctrinal or methodological instruction. Northwestern University Graduate Program in Theory
We are united by no single set of presuppositions but, rather, by a shared commitment to close reading, rigorous thinking and the pursuit of what Marx famously calls "a ruthless critique of everything that exists." We accordingly understand critical theory not as a static canon, nor as a merely academic exercise, but as a robust, ongoing engagement with texts, institutions, the polis, and the world.
UC-Davis Graduate Program in Theory
Requirements: One seminar paper, final version 12-15 pp., due in draft at midterm (8-10 pp.). One midterm exam, one final exam. Class participation including one presentation.
Three credit hours. For more information, contact Dr. Pratt:
KathrynPratt@clayton.edu.