ENGL 787 (01) - English Major Seminar

English Major Seminar

Durham   Liberal Arts :: English
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Credits: 4.0
Term: Fall 2021 - Full Term (08/30/2021 - 12/13/2021)
Grade Mode: Letter Grading
Class Size:   15  
CRN: 12529
This Capstone course offers you an opportunity to study a specialized topic in depth in a seminar format. Enrollment is limited to 15 so that you can take active part in discussion and work closely with the instructor on a research project. Topics vary from semester to semester. Recent topics include Tragedy, Comedy, American Women Poets, Medicine in Literature, and Feminist Print Culture. Pre-req: ENGL 419 with a grade of B or better. Barring duplication of subject, course may be repeated for credit. For details see semester specific course descriptions available in the English Department.
Department Approval Required. Contact Academic Department for permission then register through Webcat.
Repeat Rule: May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits.
Equivalent(s): ENGL 787R
Only listed campus in section: Durham, Manchester
Classes not allowed in section: Freshman
Attributes: Writing Intensive Course
Instructors: Monica Chiu

Times & Locations

Start Date End Date Days Time Location
8/30/2021 12/13/2021 M 1:10pm - 4:00pm HS 250C
Additional Course Details: 

Fall 2021 Special Topic: Twenty-First American StoriesTwenty-First Century American Stories

The aughts in America suffered the tragedy of 9/11; twenty years later, we witnessed riots at the Capitol amid a world pandemic. In two decades, we have moved in and around violence: that against Americans by non-Americans, that by Americans against their own government. Does violence define us in the early 21st century? Who is this “us” of 21st-century American literature? What haunts our past/s? What do we see for our future/s? This course examines traits and themes in twenty-first century American literature (including poetry, short stories, essays, graphic narrative, and film), probing its aspirations and despairs through literature’s attention to identity, technology, and globalization. Required: short papers; formal essays (including one research essay); lively class participation; presentations/leading discussions. Possible texts: Ng’s Everything I Never Told You; Roley’s American Son; (Natalie) Diaz’s Postcolonial Love; (Junot) Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Live of Oscar Wao; Bennett’s The Vanishing Half; Jensen’s Carry; Torrey Peter’s Detransition, Baby; Belcourt’s A History of My Brief Body; Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp; Suzan-Lori Park’s play and film The United States vs. Billie Holiday; Mandel’s Station Eleven; Villeneuve and Heisserer’s film The Arrival.

This course satisfies the Capstone Requirement for English Literature majors.

In fall 2021 this course satisfies a Post-1800 literature requirement for English Department Majors. 

This course may be taken for Capstone credit by English majors; please fill out a Capstone Declaration Form. Contact the ENGL Main Office for assistance: 603-862-1313.

Reminder: 700-level classes taken to fulfill the English Major Capstone MAY NOT be double counted towards other major requirement areas.