Curriculum

121.AMERICAN LITERATURE I(1 course)
A survey of American literature from pre-Columbian Native American oral traditions through the Puritan and Revolutionary periods culminating with the American Renaissance. The writings of authors such as Bradstreet, Franklin, Douglass, Fuller, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson will be studied for their aesthetic, historical, and cultural implications. HUMAN. Offered annually.

128.AMERICAN PASTORALISM(1 course)
Pastoralism has been defined as the desire, in the face of the growing complexity of the industrial age, to disengage from the dominant culture in order to seek a simpler, more harmonious way of life "closer" to nature. We will consider the promise as well as the problems posed by pastoral literature. Writings of Thoreau, Willa Cather, Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers, N. Scott Momaday, Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, and others, as well as landscape painting and photography, will be studied. HUMAN, Spring semester, even years.

252.WRITING MAGAZINE ARTICLES(1 course)
A course concentrating on how to write the major varieties of magazine articles, such as profiles, exposes, how-to-it articles, round-ups, and commentaries. Prior experience with library research is assumed. Among the skills to be learned and practiced are reportage, summary, interviewing, and use of anecdotes, descriptions, patterns of organization, and structural revision. In articles written for the course, audience and market will be central concerns. Prerequisite: ENG212 or consent of instructor. Spring semester, odd years.

255.RESEARCH AND WRITING(1 course)
An interdisciplinary course in conducting research and in writing for both academic and popular audiences. This course will provide students with a methodical procedure for conducting research, organizing information, and writing the paper or article. Emphasis will be placed upon audience, patterns of argument, library research, and reference materials. Students outside of the English program are encouraged to use this course as an introduction to research materials in their discipline. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior status. Fall semester.

256. READING AND WRITING ESSAYS (1 course)
The essay has enjoyed a long history and richly diverse forms. Essays are short prose compositions -- to be read at a single sitting -- in which a writer considers some event, idea, problem, or human experience. The essay is, literally, an "attempt" or a "trial" at coming to terms with an idea. This is a course on appreciating, analyzing, evaluating, and writing the essay. Students who have competence in the basics of expository writing are encouraged to take this course to extend their repertoire of voices and perfect their prose style as well as to engage in thoughtful writing. Spring semester.

274.AMERICAN RENAISSANCE(1 course)
The mid-nineteenth century saw a burst of literary activity in America. Writers reacted to religious, social, and political issues of the day such as Transcendentalism, slavery, and "the woman question." We will read authors traditionally associated with the American Renaissance -- Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Dickinson -- as well as less well-known figures to enrich our appreciation of the variety and quality of the writing of this important period. Spring semester, odd years.

291, 391.INDEPENDENT STUDY(Course value to be determined)
Each student will design a detailed proposal in consultation with an appropriate member of the Department. The proposal must include a well-written rationale, details of reading and written work, and a list of all previous English courses and instructors. The proposal must be submitted, on proper forms, to the department chairperson no later than the third week before the end of the current term for work to be done in the next term (including January Term and Summer).

GEG-350.AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY(1 course)
What is the relationship between culture and the land upon which it exists? How are people shapers of as well as shaped by the nonhuman environment? These are some of the questions the new field of environmental history seeks to answer. This course will focus on different bioregions of North and South America from the pre-Columbian era of Native occupation to the present in order to study the creation of different landscapes over time. Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing. HUMAN, Spring semester, odd years.