Course Descriptions
ENG213 / Introduction to Language [3-0, 3 cr.]
A survey of the theoretical bases of language study emphasizing theories of language origins and developments. Topics include semantics, syntax, pragmatics, writing systems, dialects, phonology, and the contrast between communication, true language, and artificial language.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG216 / Introduction to Literature [3-0, 3 cr.]
Through analysis of primary and secondary texts, this course provides a survey of the methodology and practice of literary study; of basic notions of literary theory; and a survey of the historical development of English literature.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG281 / Language and Change: Past, Present, and Future [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course provides an overview of the history and development of the English language from its origins to the present. It examines the effects of historical, socio-political, and cultural phenomena on linguistic change. The course also discusses the notion of a ‘standard’ English, the richness and diversity of English dialects and varieties, and the role of English today as a global language.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG282 / Language and the Media [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course examines the structure and use of language in various print and digital media texts such as newspaper articles, blogs, e-mails, Instant Messages (IMs), and Facebook posts. The course emphasizes the importance of studying media discourse in its socio-political and historical context and investigates how the language used in the media affects our knowledge and interpretation of phenomena and events.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG283 / Language and Gender [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores the relationship between language and gender by focusing on both the nature as well as function of gender differences in communication. It examines the differences in linguistic behavior between men and women pertaining to issues as politeness and status. It also tackles the question of sexism in language by shedding light on issues like gender stereotyping, its socio-cultural effects, and attempts to counter it socio-culturally and linguistically.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG303 / Literary Linguistics [3-0, 3 cr.]
Offers a systematic linguistic approach to literary analysis, utilizing such linguistic tools as transitivity and voice, deixis, tense, modality, etc. It aims at consolidating students’ knowledge of both literature and linguistics by drawing on their interconnectedness.
Prerequisites: ENG102 and ENG213
ENG308 / Semantics and Pragmatics [3-0, 3 cr.]
Introduces theoretical and empirical approaches to linguistic semantics and pragmatics in relation to language encoded meanings as part of language syntactic structures and language choice in social interaction/ context.
Prerequisite: ENG102.
ENG323 / Renaissance Drama [3-0, 3 cr.]
Examines the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries with attention to their social context and later reception. Close readings of texts and film versions are directed toward discerning elements of dramatic technique, characterization and theme.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG324 / Medieval Literature [3-0, 3 cr.]
Surveys the Medieval origins of English literature until the late 15th century across the genres of lyric, epic, romance and drama.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG325 / Renaissance Poetry [3-0, 3 cr.]
Examines the genres of lyric and epic poetry from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG326 / Restoration and Neoclassical Literature [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course places the genres of poetry, drama and the prose essay within their historical contexts of the late 17th and the early 18th centuries.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG328 / Early Novel [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course focuses on the emergence and early development of the novel in English starting in the 17th century in light of its historical and literary contexts.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG336 /Romantic and Victorian Poetry [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course examines lyric and narrative poetry throughout the 19th century, primarily British and American.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG339 / 19th Century British Novel [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores the novel of 19th century England according to how it addresses major thematic and aesthetic concerns of the period.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG342 / Modernism and Beyond [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores the concept of Modernism and Modernist art forms from the late 19th century to the 1960s. Through selected poetry, prose, film and plastic arts, the course seeks to understand a rich artistic, social and intellectual period.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG345 / The 20th Century British Novel [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course tracks the British novelistic production throughout the 20th century. Questions explored may include the novels’ relation to colonialism and its legacies, or the novels’ social and historical contexts of production.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG346 / Contemporary Culture [3-0, 3 cr.]
Explores contemporary culture through literature, film and other media using a British or American cultural studies approach. Topics may include the ways in which culture intersects with politics, race, class, religion, gender or globalization.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG348 / Postcolonial Anglophone Literatures [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores the English-language literary production from areas outside Europe and North America. Empire, encounter, diaspora, immigration, and exile may be among the objects of study.
Prerequisite: ENG 102
ENG351 / Early American Literature [3-0, 3 cr.]
Chronicles the formation of a national literature from its Puritan beginnings to the late nineteenth century. In tracing the emergence of an American “voice,” coursework may span a variety of genres such as autobiography, poetry, the novel, essays and speeches.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG352 / 20th Century American Novel [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course tracks American novelistic production throughout the 20th century. Issues explored may include war, race, the Great Depression, the Cold War and neo-imperialism.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG354 / Theories of Literature and Culture [3-0, 3 cr.]
Examines theories of literary and cultural production and reception. The course may be arranged chronologically or according to schools and approaches.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG366 / Creative Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course develops creative writing in a variety of techniques of fiction, poetry writing and creative non-fiction writing, based on the study of selected models. Free-writing exercises and discussion of writing assignments will be emphasized.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG372 / Comparative and World Literatures [3-0, 3 cr.]
The course concentrates on the particular insights and problems attendant to examining literature from a cross-cultural perspective. Questions of genre, period and cultural relativism may be examined through primary texts drawn from two or more language traditions.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG376 / Gender in Literature [3-0, 3 cr.]
Traces the construction of gender as depicted in literature and other cultural productions. Women’s issues, sexuality and identity formation may be among the objects of study.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG380 / Language and the Law [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course offers a comprehensive account of the role of language in legal settings. It provides a theoretical and empirical approach to language in legal contexts such as legal and criminal investigations and courtroom proceedings. The principles of forensic linguistics are introduced in light of evidential texts/recordings. The course focuses on the use of a variety of linguistic tools varying from speaker’s/writer’s linguistic profiling to translation and interpreting.
Prerequisites: ENG102 and ENG213
ENG381 / Corpus Linguistics [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course takes a computer-based methodological approach to the study of authentic patterns in language use and their contextualization and applicability to language teaching and learning. Linguistic variations in databank of written and/or spoken texts will be explored through the analysis of concordances, frequencies, collocations and lexical bundles. The major aspects of corpus design, tools and types are also covered in this course.
Prerequisites: ENG102 and ENG213
ENG390 / Non-Fiction Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course introduces students to, and develops their skills in, the practice of non-fiction writing in a variety of genres. Repeatable for credit if content is different: ENG 390/a, ENG390/b, ENG390/c, and ENG390/d, as specified below.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG390a / Food Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
The course introduces the history of food writing, different genres of food criticism, and trains students to write restaurant criticism, food criticism for different media, as well as the basics of self-publishing and developing blogs.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG390b / Travel Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course studies different forms of travel writing from the past and present, and offers practical training in several genres of travel writing, in structuring narratives, drawing on experience, developing specialized language, the right angle, inventive ideas, descriptions, imagery, and humor. Students will explore new formats such as blogging, multimedia and photography, and will learn how to research travel stories.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG390c / Fashion Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
The course trains students to write fashion commentary, conduct research in the field, as well as develop written and visual communication skills. Through a multidisciplinary framework, students are guided to produce an original body of written and visual work. Students will study examples and produce their own presentations of fashion in audio-visual media, surveys of the fashion industry, new concepts for fashion magazines, and cultural analysis of the fashion industry.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG390d / Music Criticism [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course studies what music critics do, examples of classical music, rock and jazz criticism, and offers practical training in how to describe music in words, blend subjective and objective perspectives, read and write reviews, and write for diverse media formats.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG391 / Creative Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course introduces students to, and develops their skills in, the practice of fiction writing in a variety of genres. Repeatable for credit if content is different: ENG 391/a, ENG391/b, and ENG391/c, as specified below.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG391a / Poetry Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course provides guidance in the form and construction of diverse forms of poetry, including poetry used in non-literary domains (such as advertising). Workshops are designed to develop style and theme, to deepen awareness of meter and rhyme, and the use of natural rhythms of the English language.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG391b / Fiction Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course introduces the basic skills and techniques of writing prose fiction. Students study examples of published fiction for method and style. Through writing projects, exercises, and workshops, students learn to research, analyze, critique, revise, and edit their classmates as well as their own writing. The course offers students guidance and practice in developing description, dialogue, style, characterization, structure, as well as in experimenting with different genres such as fantastic realism, thriller, autobiographical, historical, experimental, or science fiction. Course projects can either be the first chapter of a novel, or one or several complete shorter prose works.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG391c / Playwriting [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course guides and enables to practice playwriting. Students participate in writing exercises that focus on sense memory and perception, engage inner processes that generate work, experiment with dramatic and compositional strategies, different forms, and develop structure, point of view, story, character, and dialogue. In writing workshops students generate and receive constructive criticism. Students read and discuss a short play or scene from different historical and cultural contexts, to study and explore the diversity of individual voices and styles.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG392 / Writing for the Media [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course introduces students to, and develops their skills in, the practice of writing for the media, including theater, cinema, games, and animation. Repeatable for credit if content is different: ENG 392/a, and ENG392/b, as specified below.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG392a / Adaptation [3-0, 3 cr.]
The course introduces examples of classical adaptation and adaptation’s new forms, practices, and collaborations, and trains students to adapt scripts and literary texts. The course alternates between two topics: Text to Stage, and Novel/Cinema.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG392b / Trans-Media Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course studies the full range of media landscape, and charts the progress, and transforms a story across multiple platforms. Students will examine a range of cross-platform approaches and practice the multimedia adaptation of literary texts, scripts, game writing, storyboarding, animation, and interactive formats.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG410 / Writing for Organizations [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course introduces students to, and develops their skills in, the practice of writing for organizations, including press releases, web sites, speeches, and grant writing. Repeatable for credit if content is different: ENG 410/a, ENG410/b, and ENG410/c as specified below.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG410a / Writing for International Organizations [3-0, 3 cr.]
The course introduces the basic genres of written communication used in International organizations, and guides students in researching and preparing press releases, written communiques, and web-based content for different types of international organizations.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG4110b / Speech Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course gives instruction and practice in the art of speechwriting. Students explore what works in speech writing, what does not, how to make points clearly and maintain the audience’s interest, as well as how to develop good speech delivery. Students examine great speeches, and learn how to approach specific audiences, research, structure, and write key genres of speeches, as well as deliver a message, soundbites, or policy.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG410c / Grant Writing [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course offers practical training in grant writing for nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, government agencies, and research. Students will study diverse examples of grant writing, and practice all aspects of writing competitive proposals and applications.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG479 / Topics in Literature and Culture [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores a literary-theoretical topic in some depth. Topics might include philosophy and literature, psychological and Marxist approaches to literature, narrative theory or postmodernism.
Prerequisites: Senior standing or permission of the instructor, and ENG102
ENG480 / Discourse and Power [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course examines the relationship between language and ideology through investigating the role of discourse as an instrument of power and control. Emphasis is placed on modern socio-political discourse using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an analytic model. Both CDA’s theoretical underpinnings as well as its more useful practical aspects are covered with particular emphasis on Systemic Functional Grammar, conceptual metaphorical mapping, and generic framing as the most valuable analytical tools for uncovering hidden ideologies in texts.
Prerequisites: ENG102, ENG213, and senior standing or consent of instructor
ENG487 / Topics in Drama and Theater [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course explores ideas of form, convention, style and context in Drama & Theatre. It focuses on different dramaturgical and theatrical approaches to specified topics or theatre trends or schools (Modern Drama, Postmodernism, Documentary Drama, Gender and Theatre, Popular Theatre…) Course may be repeated under different topics each semester. Students may take it more than once.
Prerequisite: ENG102
ENG498 / Writing Internship [3-0, 3 cr.]
Strongly recommended for the students who emphasize writing, the internship under close faculty supervision enables professional writing work in an off-campus setting, appropriate to the student’s emphasis program, in order to provide experience not available in the curriculum. In addition to their writing portfolio, students will submit a report on what they have learned and achieved.
Prerequisites: ENG102, and senior standing or consent of instructor
ENG499 / Senior Study [3-0, 3 cr.]
An in-depth individual capstone project involving personal research—and if appropriate an internship in an off-campus setting—under close faculty supervision, culminating in a substantial paper demonstrating scholarly expertise as well as original insights in a significant subject relevant to the curriculum of the English Studies program.
Prerequisite: Senior standing and consent of instructor.