Spring 2023 Special Topic: Asian American Studies in Prose and Pictures

“I’m not a virus” resonated among Asian North Americans during the height of anti-Asian violence, instigated by the Covid-19 pandemic. With allies, they railed against a resurgence of the repellant notion of a Yellow Peril. They called for better understanding and new representations of Asian North Americans. What do you want to learn about the histories, cultures, and stories of Asian North Americans? This course will use both very contemporary written works (novels, short stories, poetry) and the medium of graphic narrative to widen our understanding of who Asian North Americans are as expressed in their own words and self-images. Possible course texts include the following pairings: Cao’s novel Monkey Bridge with GB Tran’s graphic narrative Vietnamerica; Ng’s novel Everything I Never Told You with Chong and Webber’s graphic pathography Dancing After TEN; Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor Was Divine with Tamaki’s collection of graphic narrative vignettes Boundless, among other titles.

In Spring 2023 this course satisfies the Race Requirement for English Department majors. 

In Spring 2023 this course satisfies a DH (Digital Humanities) requirement for ENGL: TBD majors.

In Spring 2023 this course satisfies a Post-1800 Literature requirement for English Department majors. 

ENGL 738 may be taken for Capstone credit by general English majors if not used to satisfy other major requirement areas. Pick up a Capstone Declaration Form in the main English office (HS 230F) if interested. 

Spring 2023 Special Topic: Urban Writing & American Cities, 1840-1930

Big cities were new in the 19^th-century U.S.—and triggered new forms of consciousness and representation. This course traces the growth of urban literature from the period before the Civil War into the 20^th century. We’ll “visit” Boston, New York (a lot), and Chicago—and we’ll consider the city as a space of capital, consumption, and labor. We’ll read mostly novels, which became THE method for plumbing the depths of modern, urban experience and consciousness—by such writers as the Jewish-American immigrant Abraham

 Cahan and the Harlem Renaissance observer Nella Larsen. But we’ll also look at Edgar Allan Poe’s tales, Fanny Fern’s urban journalism, and Jacob Riis’s documentary photos; and we’ll end with a silent film: The Crowd. Other writers may include Horatio Alger, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rebecca Harding Davis, Theodore Dreiser, and James Weldon Johnson. We’ll consider theories of urban space, consciousness, and expression that will open up all that we read and view. Assignments will include: summaries of theoretical and critical readings, short response papers on specific texts, an annotated bibliography, oral reports, a 5-page paper, and a 12-15 page research paper.

In Spring 2023 this course satisfies a Post-1800 Literature requirement for English Department majors. 

ENGL 787 satisfies the Capstone requirement for English Literature majors. 

General English majors may take ENGL 787 for Capstone credit if it is not taken to satisfy other major requirement areas. Pick up a Capstone Declaration Form in the main English office (HS 230F) if interested. 

Spring 2023 Special Topic: Teaching Young Adult Literature

Adolescence, for many students, seems to be a period during which love of reading dies. In fact, studies reveal that “less than one-third of 13-year-olds read daily” and “only 16 percent of high school students” identify as “high frequent readers” (Gilmore 47; Newkirk 117).  But there is hope in the field of popular young adult (YA) literature!  In YA lit, adolescents can find books that match their interests and reading levels.  In this course, we’ll explore how YA literature can be used to foster lifelong readers.  We will read widely among genres of young adult literature (including both contemporary YA works as well as canonical literary works written for an adult audience but deemed appropriate for secondary students), focusing on the particular skills of literary criticism and theory required to establish a developmentally appropriate literature curriculum at the secondary level and to link young adult literature to canonical literary traditions.  Students should prepare themselves for quick-paced reading, discussion, research, and assignments in varied formats, from written responses to booktalks. 

ENGL 789 is the Capstone for students in the English Teaching major.

ENGL 789 may be taken for Capstone credit by English Majors. Please visit the main English Department office (HS 240) to pick up a Capstone Declaration Form if interested.