English and Literary Arts
Office: Sturm Hall
Mail Code: 2000 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208
Email: Donna.Ellard@du.edu
Web Site: http://www.du.edu/english
The Department of English and Literary Arts offers a PhD in English and Literary Arts with concentrations in creative writing and literary studies as well as an MA with a concentration in literary studies and an MA in English for Teaching.
Our major areas for dissertation research include creative writing; modern and contemporary British literature; American literature; American multicultural literature and Anglophone literatures; genre studies; and literary theory and rhetoric. We also offer course work in traditional literary fields, cultural studies, ethnic literatures and gender studies.
The University of Denver’s Department of English and Literary Arts is small and intimate, with 18 faculty members, all of whom publish widely and seek to translate their expertise into shared learning experiences in and out of the classroom.
Our distinctive curriculum allows students to tailor their degrees to their specific talents and interests. We offer not only typical graduate seminars but also writing workshops, individually designed tutorials and colloquia devoted to teaching and professional development. Such a curriculum encourages students to cross genre boundaries in their writing, to relate theory to practice and to work creatively with scholarly projects.
Program Learning Outcomes
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts
- Develop, interpret, and express advanced disciplinary knowledge in English literary studies by applying appropriate modes of inquiry, research, and skills.
- Recognize the limitations of existing knowledge in English literary studies, create original works, and develop and apply new knowledge, skills, or creative expressions that synthesize critical, theoretical, historical, and individual ideas.
- Develop professional and identities, apply professional values, and demonstrate appropriate expertise, leadership, and collaborative qualities related to the study and teaching of literature.
- Engage collaboratively with others in local and global communities, acknowledging the interdependence of the world's cultures and peoples, practicing inclusive excellence, and contributing to the common good.
- Demonstrate abilities needed to sustain learning and its application and expression, including critical intellectual comparisons, synthesis, and self-reflection.
Master of Arts in English and Literary Arts
- Develop, interpret, and express advanced disciplinary knowledge in English literary studies by applying appropriate modes of inquiry, research, and skills.
- Recognize the limitations of existing knowledge in English literary studies, create original works, and develop and apply new knowledge, skills, or creative expressions that synthesize critical, theoretical, historical, and individual ideas.
- Develop professional and identities, apply professional values, and demonstrate appropriate expertise, leadership, and collaborative qualities related to the study and teaching of literature.
- Engage collaboratively with others in local and global communities, acknowledging the interdependence of the world's cultures and peoples, practicing inclusive excellence, and contributing to the common good.
Master of Arts in English for Teaching
- Develop, interpret, and express advanced disciplinary knowledge in English literary studies by applying appropriate modes of inquiry, research, and skills.
- Recognize the limitations of existing knowledge in English literary studies, create original works, and develop and apply new knowledge, skills, or creative expressions that synthesize critical, theoretical, historical, and individual ideas.
- Develop professional and identities, apply professional values, and demonstrate appropriate expertise, leadership, and collaborative qualities related to the study and teaching of literature.
- Engage collaboratively with others in local and global communities, acknowledging the interdependence of the world's cultures and peoples, practicing inclusive excellence, and contributing to the common good.
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Creative Writing
Degree and GPA Requirements
Bachelor’s degree: All graduate applicants must hold an earned baccalaureate from a regionally accredited college or university or the recognized equivalent from an international institution.
Master's degree: This program requires a master's degree as well as the baccalaureate.
University GPA requirement: The minimum grade point average for admission consideration for graduate study at the University of Denver must meet one of the following criteria:
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the baccalaureate degree.
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credits (approximately two years of work) for the baccalaureate degree.
- An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or the recognized equivalent from an international institution supersedes the minimum GPA requirement for the baccalaureate.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all graduate coursework completed for applicants who have not earned a master’s degree or higher.
English Language Proficiency Test Score Requirements
The minimum TOEFL/IELTS/C1 Advanced/Duolingo English Test score requirements for this degree program are:
- Minimum TOEFL Score (Internet-based test): 80 for exams taken prior to January 21, 2026; 4.0 for exams taken on or after January 21, 2026
- Minimum IELTS Score: 6.5
- Minimum C1 Advanced Score: 176
- Minimum Duolingo English Test Score: 115
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Degree and GPA Requirements
Bachelor’s degree: All graduate applicants must hold an earned baccalaureate from a regionally accredited college or university or the recognized equivalent from an international institution.
Master's degree: This program requires a master's degree as well as the baccalaureate.
University GPA requirement: The minimum grade point average for admission consideration for graduate study at the University of Denver must meet one of the following criteria:
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the baccalaureate degree.
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credits (approximately two years of work) for the baccalaureate degree.
- An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or the recognized equivalent from an international institution supersedes the minimum GPA requirement for the baccalaureate.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all graduate coursework completed for applicants who have not earned a master’s degree or higher.
English Language Proficiency Test Score Requirements
The minimum TOEFL/IELTS/C1 Advanced/Duolingo English Test score requirements for this degree program are:
- Minimum TOEFL Score (Internet-based test): 80 for exams taken prior to January 21, 2026; 4.0 for exams taken on or after January 21, 2026
- Minimum IELTS Score: 6.5
- Minimum C1 Advanced Score: 176
- Minimum Duolingo English Test Score: 115
Master of Arts in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Degree and GPA Requirements
Bachelor’s degree: All graduate applicants must hold an earned baccalaureate from a regionally accredited college or university or the recognized equivalent from an international institution.
University GPA requirement: The minimum grade point average for admission consideration for graduate study at the University of Denver must meet one of the following criteria:
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the baccalaureate degree.
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credits (approximately two years of work) for the baccalaureate degree.
- An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or the recognized equivalent from an international institution supersedes the minimum GPA requirement for the baccalaureate.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all graduate coursework completed for applicants who have not earned a master’s degree or higher.
English Language Proficiency Test Score Requirements
The minimum TOEFL/IELTS/C1 Advanced/Duolingo English Test score requirements for this degree program are:
- Minimum TOEFL Score (Internet-based test): 80 for exams taken prior to January 21, 2026; 4.0 for exams taken on or after January 21, 2026
- Minimum IELTS Score: 6.5
- Minimum C1 Advanced Score: 176
- Minimum Duolingo English Test Score: 115
Master of Arts in English for Teaching
Degree and GPA Requirements
Bachelor’s degree: All graduate applicants must hold an earned baccalaureate from a regionally accredited college or university or the recognized equivalent from an international institution.
University GPA requirement: The minimum grade point average for admission consideration for graduate study at the University of Denver must meet one of the following criteria:
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the baccalaureate degree.
- A cumulative 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credits (approximately two years of work) for the baccalaureate degree.
- An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or the recognized equivalent from an international institution supersedes the minimum GPA requirement for the baccalaureate.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all graduate coursework completed for applicants who have not earned a master’s degree or higher.
English Language Proficiency Test Score Requirements
The minimum TOEFL/IELTS/C1 Advanced/Duolingo English Test score requirements for this degree program are:
- Minimum TOEFL Score (Internet-based test): 80 for exams taken prior to January 21, 2026; 4.0 for exams taken on or after January 21, 2026
- Minimum IELTS Score: 6.5
- Minimum C1 Advanced Score: 176
- Minimum Duolingo English Test Score: 115
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Creative Writing
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
At least 48 hours of foundational course work must be taken as formal ENGL classes, excluding Independent Research (ENGL 4995, ENGL 5995), Independent Study (ENGL 4991, ENGL 5991), and tutorials (ENGL 4100).
Five courses distributed over three literary periods. Students must take at least one course in one period and at least two courses in the other two periods. Students may only take two approved 3000 level courses (ENGL 3800 and 3982) in the Department of English. Registration for any other ENGL 3000 level class must be made by special petition to be approved by the full Graduate Committee.
Workshops. Students on the Creative Writing track must take three workshops.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework Requirements | ||
| Courses listed below are representative examples. Students may consult the department for additional course options. | ||
| Before 1700 | ||
| Old English | ||
| Special Topics in Medieval Lit | ||
| Special Topics-Early Mod Lit | ||
| Advanced Studies in Early Modern Literature | ||
| Seminar-Studies in Shakespeare | ||
| 1700-1900 | ||
| Advanced Studies in 18th Century Literature | ||
| Topics in English: 19th Century Literature | ||
| Antebellum American Literature | ||
| American Romanticism | ||
| Spc Tpc: Antebellum Amer Lit | ||
| After 1900 | ||
| Adv Studies -20th Cent Lit | ||
| Adv Studies-20th C. Literature | ||
| Special Topics: 20th Cent Lit | ||
| Graduate Tutorials (Students may take up to 5 tutorials, 10 credits total) | ||
| Graduate Tutorial | ||
| Three Graduate Professional Seminars (count towards the 48 hours of course work) | 6 | |
| ENGL 4050 | The Critical Imagination | 2 |
| Seminar: Teaching and Writing Literature | ||
| Colloquium | ||
| Three writing workshops | 12 | |
| Sem Creative Writing-Poetry | ||
| Sem Creative Writing-Fiction (ENGL 4011 Sem Creative Writing-Prose) | ||
or ENGL 4011 | Sem Creative Writing-Fiction | |
| Travel Writing | ||
| Special Topics: 20th Cent Lit (Translation) | ||
| Total Credits | 90 | |
Minimum number of credits required for the degree: 90 graduate-level quarter hours beyond the master’s degree
Non-Course Requirements:
- Preliminary advancement to candidacy
- Advancement to candidacy
- A dissertation of publishable quality that makes a significant contribution to its field. This will take the form of an extended scholarly and critical work (usually between 150 and 250 pages) OR a creative work (fiction or poetry). The creative dissertation must include a critical preface that situates the dissertation in its literary context.
- Oral defense. When the dissertation is completed, it must be defended by the candidate. For spring quarter graduates, the defense should take place by April 30. Typically no dissertation defenses will be held during the summer quarter. The candidate is therefore advised to set the defense date as far in advance as possible. The defense takes the form of a discussion with the committee concerning the content, context and implications of the work.
- Tool proficiency may be established by completing any one of the following:
- Successful completion of ENGL 3800 Bibliography and Research Methods class in the Department of English.
- Successful completion of ENGL 3982 (Writers in the Schools).
- Successful completion of a graduate translation class (students must secure approval of instructor).
- Successful completion of Old English (4 credits).
- Selection and successful completion of a cognate course in another department that will augment specific skills. This course must be approved by the Graduate Committee.
Students may also consult the department for additional Tool proficiency options. The Tool requirement must be completed one quarter before graduation.
- Proposal & Prospectus review. By the end of the Fall quarter of the third year, students must submit a Dissertation Area Proposal to the director of graduate studies. This proposal is a brief description (250-300 words) of the proposed area of the dissertation; it must be signed by at least two dissertation committee members. Before the end of the Winter quarter of the third year of study, all students should complete the prospectus review, which is an oral discussion based on the written dissertation prospectus. The prospectus review is conducted by a committee consisting of the first two readers of the dissertation. The prospectus should be approximately 2,500–3,000 words and should be presented to the faculty readers well in advance of the review. For students concentrating in Creative Writing, the prospectus should discuss the theoretical and generic origins of the project, its methodology and artistic goals.
- Written comprehensive exam. After completing 60 credit hours, including the 48 hours of foundational coursework, doctoral students will take written comprehensive examinations during the week prior to the start of Fall Quarter of their third year of study. Students will be examined in three (out of four) areas of study: (1) an author or major figure; (2) a genre; (3) a period; and (4) a second period or special topic. Students will prepare a reading list for each examination area in consultation with two faculty examiners; the scope of each exam must be approved by the faculty examiners and the graduate director. All lists must be signed by both examiners and submitted to the graduate director by the date published in the department's Graduate Handbook (typically during the first week of May) or the student will not be allowed to take the exam the following fall.
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Doctor of Philosophy in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
At least 48 hours of foundational course work must be taken as formal ENGL classes, excluding Independent Research (ENGL 4995, ENGL 5995), Independent Study (ENGL 4991, ENGL 5991), and tutorials (ENGL 4100).
Five courses distributed over three literary periods. Students must take at least one course in one period and at least two courses in the other two periods. Students may only take two approved 3000 level courses (ENGL 3800 and 3982) in the Department of English. Registration for any other ENGL 3000 level class must be made by special petition to be approved by the full Graduate Committee.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework Requirements | ||
| Courses listed below are representative examples. Students may consult the department for additional course options. | ||
| Before 1700 | ||
| Old English | ||
| Special Topics in Medieval Lit | ||
| Special Topics-Early Mod Lit | ||
| Advanced Studies in Early Modern Literature | ||
| Seminar-Studies in Shakespeare | ||
| 1700-1900 | ||
| Advanced Studies in 18th Century Literature | ||
| Topics in English: 19th Century Literature | ||
| Antebellum American Literature | ||
| American Romanticism | ||
| Spc Tpc: Antebellum Amer Lit | ||
| After 1900 | ||
| Adv Studies -20th Cent Lit | ||
| Adv Studies-20th C. Literature | ||
| Special Topics: 20th Cent Lit | ||
| Graduate Tutorials (Students may take up to 5 tutorials, 10 credits total) | ||
| Graduate Tutorial | ||
| Three Graduate Professional Seminars (count towards the 48 hours of course work) | 6 | |
| ENGL 4050 | The Critical Imagination | 2 |
| Colloquium | ||
| Seminar: Teaching and Writing Literature | ||
| Total Credits | 90 | |
Minimum number of credits required for the degree: 90 graduate-level quarter hours beyond the master’s degree
Non-Course Requirements:
- Preliminary advancement to candidacy
- Advancement to candidacy
- A dissertation of publishable quality that makes a significant contribution to its field. This will take the form of an extended scholarly and critical work (usually between 150 and 250 pages).
- Oral defense. When the dissertation is completed, it must be defended by the candidate. For spring quarter graduates, the defense should take place no later than April 30. Typically no dissertation defenses will be held during the summer quarter. The candidate is therefore advised to set the defense date as far in advance as possible. The defense takes the form of a discussion with the committee concerning the content, context and implications of the work.
- Tool proficiency may be established by completing one of the following:
- Successful completion of ENGL 3800 Bibliography and Research Methods class in the Department of English.
- Successful completion of ENGL 3982 (Writers in the Schools).
- Successful completion of a graduate translation class (students must secure approval of instructor).
- Successful completion of Old English (4 credits).
- Selection and successful completion of a cognate course in another department that will augment specific skills. This course must be approved by the Graduate Committee.
Students may also consult the department for additional Tool proficiency options. The Tool requirement must be completed one quarter before graduation.
- Proposal & Prospectus review. By the end of the Fall quarter of the third year, students must submit a Dissertation Area Proposal to the director of graduate studies. This proposal is a brief description (250-300 words) of the proposed area of the dissertation; it must be signed by at least two dissertation committee members. Before the end of the Winter quarter of the third year of study, all students should complete the prospectus review, which is an oral discussion based on the written dissertation prospectus. The prospectus review is conducted by a committee consisting of the first two readers of the dissertation. The prospectus should be approximately 2,500–3,000 words and should be presented to the faculty readers well in advance of the review.
- Written comprehensive exam. After completing 60 credit hours, including the 48 hours of foundational coursework, doctoral students will take written comprehensive examinations during the week prior to the start of Fall Quarter of their third year of study. Students will be examined in three (out of four) areas of study: (1) an author or major figure; (2) a genre; (3) a period; and (4) a second period or special topic. Students will prepare a reading list for each examination area in consultation with two faculty examiners; the scope of each exam must be approved by the faculty examiners and the graduate director. All lists must be signed by both examiners and submitted to the graduate director by the date published in the department's Graduate Handbook (typically during the first week of May) or the student will not be allowed to take the exam the following fall.
Master of Arts in English and Literary Arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Master of Arts in English and Literary arts with a Concentration in Literary Studies
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
- 45 hours of course credit, up to 13 hours of which may be taken in graduate tutorials (ENGL 4100), independent research (ENGL 4995) and/or cognate courses outside the department.
- All course work for the MA should be taken at the University of Denver, but, in rare exceptions, a maximum of 10 credit hours may be transferred to count for the requirements if approved by the director of graduate studies and meet the University's transfer of credit policy.
- While students have no specific course requirements beyond the 32-hour minimum within the Department of English and the 13 hours of tutorials or cognate courses, they are advised to work closely with an adviser to determine a balance between coverage and focus. Students may only take two approved 3000 level courses (ENGL 3800 and 3982) in the Department of English. Registration for any other ENGL 3000 level class must be made by special petition to be approved by the full Graduate Committee. Courses must be completed within three years of enrollment (excluding ENGL 4995).
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework Requirements | ||
| Minimum of 32 classroom hours (eight courses) is required. | ||
| Up to 13 credits may be taken in graduate tutorials (ENGL 4100), independent research (ENGL 4995) and/or cognate courses outside the department. | ||
| Total Credits | 45 | |
Minimum number of credits required for the degree: 45
Non-Course Requirements
- Advancement to candidacy
- A thesis of at least 18,000 words. The thesis for an MA in literary studies is either a single scholarly/critical essay or two 30-page scholarly/critical essays. The thesis adviser must approve a prospectus for the thesis.
- Oral Defense. The defense takes the form of a discussion on the content, context and implications of the work.
Master of Arts in English for Teaching
Master of Arts in English for Teaching
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Pathways Courses | ||
| ENGL 4800 | Bibliography and Research Methods | 4 |
| ENGL 4830 | Seminar: Teaching and Writing Literature | 2 |
| Seminar Courses | 16 | |
| Of the four seminars, students must take two seminars that satisfy a total of two different periods in the British series, and two seminars that satisfy a total of two different periods in the American series. | ||
| Graduate Tutorials | 4 | |
| CUI 4529 | Foundations of Education for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners in Teaching and Learning | 4 |
| CUI 4505 | Mathematics across the Content Areas | 4 |
| TEP 4690 | Field Experience 1 | 8 |
| CUI 4540 | Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners I | 4 |
| TEP 4592 | Literacy Instruction for Secondary Teaching I | 4 |
| TEP 4610 | English in Secondary School | 4 |
| CUI 4541 | Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners II | 4 |
| TEP 4593 | Literacy Instruction for Secondary Teaching II | 4 |
| TEP 4010 | Foundations of Special Education: Inclusive Pedagogy for Students with Dis/Abilities | 2 |
| CUI 4411 | Wkshp: Gifted & Talented Educ | 2 |
| Total Credits | 66 | |
Non-Course Requirements
- Advancement to candidacy
- Demonstration of Learning; 840 hours in field experience
- A thesis of at least 9,000 words. The thesis for an MA for Teaching is a 30-page scholarly/critical essay of literary analysis that interfaces with the Demonstration of Learning. The thesis advisor must approve a prospectus for the thesis.
- Oral Defense. The defense takes the form of a discussion on the content, context and implications of the work.
- The MA Thesis Advisor and Field Experience Supervisor (or the Director of Teacher Education) will serve as co-directors of the defense.
ENGL 4000 Colloquium (2 Credits)
ENGL 4001 Sem Creative Writing-Poetry (4 Credits)
ENGL 4009 Seminar -- Creative Nonfiction (4 Credits)
Advanced writing and study of creative nonfiction, including prose development and structure.
ENGL 4011 Sem Creative Writing-Fiction (4 Credits)
ENGL 4012 History/Theory of Genre-Poetry (4 Credits)
ENGL 4017 Travel Writing (4 Credits)
ENGL 4020 The Essay: Criticism, Culture, and the Modern Intellectual (4 Credits)
This course examines the modern essay as a form of intellectual and cultural expression, looking at seminal texts by figures ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson and W.E.B. Du Bois to George Orwell, Stanley Cavell, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, and T.J. Clark. It asks: How is the self located, produced, or communicated in an essay? What is the essayist’s relationship to topic, style, resistance, and the public? What does beginning and closure look like in an essay? And what is the essay’s relationship to thinking? We will study the genre’s relationship to rhetoric, power, and influence, while investigating its interdisciplinary nature—its capacity to at once entail cultural discourse and philosophy, personal reflection and criticism. We will also ask why it is novelists and poets have historically turned to the essay form.
ENGL 4050 The Critical Imagination (2 Credits)
This graduate level course explores poetry, fiction, and criticism as different facets of the imagination. This is a large and a necessarily vaguely defined topic. But in the world of literary studies, creativity and criticism are clearly symbiotic. Reading and writing are connected activities. The poet or fiction writer is often a critic, and there are numerous treatments of interpretation in the critical canon suggesting that the act of reading and interpreting is itself an imaginative and creative act. The course explores genre signatures and possibilities, as well as provides an introduction to some of the analytics through which texts, literary and otherwise, are interpreted.
ENGL 4100 Graduate Tutorial (2-4 Credits)
ENGL 4120 Beowulf (4 Credits)
Reading and translation of the Old English Beowulf. Prerequisite: ENGL 4125.
ENGL 4125 Old English (4 Credits)
This class introduces students to Old English grammar, prose, and poetry. This course is a prerequisite for ENGL 4120.
ENGL 4150 Special Topics in Medieval Lit (4 Credits)
ENGL 4200 Special Topics-Early Mod Lit (4 Credits)
ENGL 4210 Holocaust Literature (4 Credits)
This seminar presents a multidisciplinary and transnational approach to literature of the Holocaust. Students consider memoir, fiction, and poetry drawn from a variety of national literatures and linguistic traditions. Works written by victims, survivors and 'witnesses through the imagination' are all considered. These readings are supplemented by secondary texts, including historical and philosophical materials, as well as relevant works from the social sciences.
ENGL 4213 Advanced Studies in Early Modern Literature (4 Credits)
ENGL 4220 Seminar-Studies in Shakespeare (4 Credits)
ENGL 4300 Advanced Studies in 18th Century Literature (4 Credits)
ENGL 4424 Topics in English: 19th Century Literature (4 Credits)
Special Topics courses will explore specific topics within historical periods, single authors, or theoretical/critical/ scholarly issues.
ENGL 4511 Translingualism and Multilingualism (4 Credits)
The course starts with an introduction to the field of Translation Studies and Practice but continues to focus on two particular aspects of the field: translingualism and multilingualism. We delve into the various phenomena of language porousness, such as linguistic elements existing in and moving across multiple languages as well as language users morphing multiple languages or navigating between several. We discuss theoretical debates about these phenomena and their impact on the praxis of translating and writing, in the context of language pedagogy and creative practices. We also study examples of creative work that embody translingualism and multilingualism to different extents using various methodologies. Students write critically in conversation with the theoretical material and create their own works implementing and exploring linguistic porousness offered by translingualism and multilingualism.
ENGL 4515 The Novella: craft and construction (4 Credits)
This graduate praxis course will focus on approaches to understanding and executing the prose form of the novella. We will look at a number of examples of novella length works as we seek to clarify a definition of the form, understand its affordances, and work to develop new projects adopting the parameters of this form. Students will have options for creative or critical assignments across the quarter, and considerable weekly readings: Students will be asked to commit to the intensive study of a novella of their choosing, to write critically or creatively about about this form, and/or to make interventions in their on-going projects using methods informed by our discussions around the novella form, and there will be opportunities for collaborations if there are those who are keen. Readings for the class may include examples from Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Agota Kristoff, Cesar Aira, Roberto Bolaño, Fleur Jaeggy, Yoko Tawada, Marie NDiaye, Muriel Spark, and Renee Gladman.
ENGL 4600 Adv Studies -20th Cent Lit (4 Credits)
ENGL 4620 A Poetics of Revision: Stevens, Eigner, Berssenbrugge (4 Credits)
This seminar will consider how poems from early twentieth to early twenty-first century Americans negotiated radical changes in how attempts at seeing and being seen were depicted and understood. The great but radically flawed Wallace Stevens, the equally great but physically limited Larry Eigner, and the elegantly visionary Mei Mei Berrssenbrugge all produced depictions of the confused, dynamic cultures they inhabited while attempting to break into clarity and precision. We will reexamine each by questioning our own limitations as inhabitants of a particular time and place, a particularly volatile time and place.
ENGL 4621 Adv Studies-20th C. Literature (2-4 Credits)
This course will offer (and be required of) graduate students an advanced foundation in 20th century literature; the primary texts and their cultural/historical/ theoretical contexts.
ENGL 4650 Special Topics: 20th Cent Lit (4 Credits)
ENGL 4660 The Black Imagination (4 Credits)
Focusing mainly on Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (especially the USA and the Caribbean/Latin America), this course explores and connects aspects of the black imagination. These aspects include oral performances, thought systems, literature, art, cinema, and critical discourses in different eras and in various places. Studied together, these existential and intellectual signposts provide an expanded insight into black (African and African diasporic) aesthetics from an intercontinental and an interdisciplinary perspective.
ENGL 4665 Postcolonial Modernism (4 Credits)
Referencing geographies of modernism, this course examines the intersection of Euro-American modernity/modernism and postcoloniality/postcolonialism in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Australia. In addition to the relation or “markets of memories” between literature and Empire (including the dis/connection between the postcolonial and the transnational), we also focus on the varied span of postcolonial aesthetics in literature and culture.
ENGL 4670 Semiotics and World Literature (4 Credits)
Referencing foundational semiotic concepts or projections, such as Charles Sanders Peirce’s "semeiotic" (“A sign is an object which stands for another to some mind”) and Ferdinand de Saussure’s "semiology" (“a science that studies the life of signs within society”), this course studies various theories of signification and interpretation as it explores the relation of signs to cultural-ideological realities and imaginaries as well as pertinent literary applications or possibilities. Our study includes the examination of literary texts from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
ENGL 4675 Theories of Narrative: Formalism, Narratology, Cybertext (4 Credits)
This class traces developments in narrative theory from Russian Formalism through "classical" narratology and on to examine the border between traditional narrative texts and texts that require a higher degree of interactivity, sometimes called "cyber texts." The goal is to identify significant contributions to narrative theory and to suggest the possibilities for the future of the field. Seminal articles, key works, and critical introductions survey key advances in narrative theory to present an overview of the field from its inception to contemporary trends.
ENGL 4700 Antebellum American Literature (4 Credits)
ENGL 4701 Topics in English (2-5 Credits)
A topics class; topics may change.
ENGL 4702 Topics in English (2-5 Credits)
A topics class; topics may change.
ENGL 4703 Topics in International Literature (4 Credits)
A graduate seminar focusing on international literature (e.g. English-language literature from Canada, Australia, Ireland, etc., and/or literature in translation from countries that are not the United States or the United Kingdom).
ENGL 4730 American Romanticism (4 Credits)
ENGL 4732 Spc Tpc: Antebellum Amer Lit (4 Credits)
ENGL 4743 Black Feminist Criticism (4 Credits)
This course examines the discursive reach of black feminist criticism by journeying into the creative terrain of literature, visual art, music, and performance produced by black women in the United States and throughout the black diaspora, from the nineteenth century to the present.
ENGL 4800 Bibliography and Research Methods (4 Credits)
ENGL 4813 History and Structure of the English Language (4 Credits)
A composite course studying both the structure of modern English and the history of the English language.
ENGL 4825 Cultural Studies (4 Credits)
This course introduces students to the field of Cultural Studies, which includes theories from the Frankfurt School, the Birmingham School, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Feminism and Gender Studies, and other cultural theory.
ENGL 4830 Seminar: Teaching and Writing Literature (2-4 Credits)
ENGL 4840 Topics in Composition Studies (2-4 Credits)
Each offering of this course focuses on specific issues in theory, research, or pedagogy within the broad field of composition studies. Examples of topics include the development of writing abilities; genre theory and composing; multimodal texts and their intersections and disjunctions of rhetoric and composition; the history of composing theories and practices; realms of composing, including the academic, civic, vocational, aesthetic, and interpersonal; institutional formations and settings of composing; discourse theories; stylistics; race, gender, class and composing; and so on.
ENGL 4851 Publishing Institute (6 Credits)
ENGL 4852 Dissertation Colloquium (2 Credits)
This two-credit dissertation colloquium is offered in the winter and spring for third-year PhD students in English who are in the process of researching and writing their dissertations. In addition to having weekly presentations and discussions of work in progress, the group will peruse prefaces and introductions to former English Department dissertations, write and abstract for their own dissertation, and possibly revise and send out a piece from their dissertation. The class is open to both literary studies and creative writing students. Restricted to doctoral students in English.
ENGL 4991 Independent Study (1-17 Credits)
ENGL 4995 Independent Research (1-17 Credits)
ENGL 5991 Independent Study (1-17 Credits)
ENGL 5995 Independent Research (1-17 Credits)
ENGL 5999 Professional, Pedagogical, and Methodological Skills Training (0-2 Credits)
Professional, Pedagogical, and Methodological Skills Training provides graduate students with the ability to gain professional, pedagogical, and methodological skills training.