English Courses: Fall 2023
Communication Arts
CA 102: American Sign Language, Level I
3 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as SED 102. An introductory course in the use of manual communication within the framework of everyday conversation. The course includes background on language, deafness, deaf Americans and their culture, communication modes, approximately 370 signs, the numbers 1-30, and the American Manual Alphabet. At the culmination of this course, the student will begin to develop functional proficiency in American Sign Language using everyday situations as context for communication, listen and speak effectively using ASL, gain a basic understanding of language, deaf Americans and their history and culture, and form reasons, values, and judgments about the larger culture we exist in, and the deaf culture. (UG)
CA 106: American Sign Language, Level II
3 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as SED 106. This course is a continuation and extension of American Sign Language I for students who have completed the first level course SED 102 American Sign Language I. The course will further develop the communicative competencies of manual sign language beyond the basic level. Students will continue with the examination and understanding of deaf culture, history and language, along with exposure to ASL sentence types, time, and all aspects of grammar, syntax and pragmatic use of manual sign. Prerequisite: CA/SED 102. (UG)
CA 125: Introduction to Visual Literacy
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Information Literacy; Communication Skills. Cross listed as IND 125. In 2015, editors of the study Looking and Learning: Visual Literacy across the Disciplines published the following statement: The mechanics of vision are so apparently familiar as to be misleading. Vision is the primary way sighted individuals gather information about the world. More than a third of the human brain is devoted to the process of seeing, and much of this process is automatic, efficient, and largely effortless. Yet vision is not a passive process.2 Whereas educational environments have focused largely on the interpretation of text, in a world increasingly saturated with imagery the ability to accurately and effectively read images is more crucial than ever. The first course in a sequence of three, CA 125 will prepare students to recognize, understand and describe imagery and its manipulations. (UG)
CA 206: Storytelling and Story Development
3 Credit Hour(s)
Cross listed as IND 206. Fulfills core competency: Affective Awareness.This course examines the basic principles of narrative, story telling and the visual representation of plot. The course will closely examine classic and contemporary examples in drama, prose, film and the visual arts. The course will analyze the elements of story development and narrative while focusing on how the roles of such disparate parts can aid or hinder a compelling story. Our emphasis will be on visual manifestations of stories, plots, narrative elements and storyboarding. Our principal concern will be with the structure of plot and the mechanics of narrative, scene construction and development of character. (UG)
CA 207: Screenplay Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. This course will provide the student with the necessary skills that are needed to write a full-length feature film screenplay. The course will examine format rules and specific screenplay structure, which will be broken down and analyzed using a minimum of five Oscar-winning screenplays. Upon course conclusion, the student will have a completed story treatment, detailing a three act story, a completed first act, and a specific outline for acts II and III. Prerequisite: CMP 101. (UG)
CA 221: Human Communication
3 Credit Hour(s)
An introductory study of the fundamental concepts and theories of human communication, exploring and defining its nature from an anthropological/ cultural point of view. The course will examine such topics as animal vs. human communicative processes, the various elements of communication, a study of the nature of human interaction and the concept of audience, and representative types of communicative techniques. (UG)
CA 303: Communication in a Multi-Cultural Society
3 Credit Hour(s)
An examination of the social and cultural implications of interaction among diverse cultures, both international and domestic; the problems inherent in such interaction; and the rewards and benefits which result. (UG)
CA 317: Feature Journalism
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills, Information Literacy, Civic Responsibilty, Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as CMP 317. This course focuses on writing feature stories and narrative-style journalism to provide an in-depth look into the people, places, and issues making the news and affecting our readers. In this hands-on course, we will explore approaches for composing effective and creative non-fiction stories and develop interview, research, and writing skills for both print and online media. (UG)
CA 318: Writing for Digital Media
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communincation Skills,Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as CMP 318. This course will teach students processes and principles for producing writing within networked, multimedia contexts. Students learn effective strategies for analyzing, writing, and producing online content while using existing web services to construct their own websites. (UG)
Composition
CMP 100: Critical Reading and Writing Critical Reading and Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course positions reading and writing as integrated, purposeful, and critical processes. Students will develop advanced practice in reading informational and creative works with an eye for the following: audience, purpose, and genre (reading rhetorically); central ideas and arguments (reading for understanding); and opportunities for critical response (reading for invention and critical engagement). Students will integrate these reading practices throughout their writing process, in order to compose effective academic arguments, apply evidence from texts to support their perspective, and use reading and writing as tools for inquiry, critical thinking, and communication in various rhetorical contexts. Offered each Semester for qualified students upon placement as a prerequisite to CMP 101 (Composition). Course withdrawal is not allowed except by permission of both the instructor and the student's advisor. (UG) (UG)
CMP 101: English Composition
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills; Information Literacy. Writing Intensive. The primary emphasis is on developing rhetorical awareness: an understanding of the contexts, purposes, and expectations that govern college-level writing. Course topics include: the technical and stylistic skills of expository writing; strategies for critical and purposeful reading, writing, and inquiry; and information literacy. These skills will be addressed through group and individual instruction and through assignments in expository writing and research. Prerequisite: college-level proficiency as determined by standardized test scores and high school GPA. (UG)
CMP 202: Writing: Theory and Practice
3 Credit Hour(s)
This class introduces students to a range of approaches to understanding, analyzing, and theorizing writing. Its aim is to examine how relationships between writing and knowledge have been imagined within academic, professional, and interpersonal contexts, and it will equip students with vocabulary and a set of frameworks that can be utilized in the study of writing across courses. The class also provides students with extensive opportunities for writing practice based on four key concepts: purpose; invention; convention; and revision. (UG)
CMP 212: News Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills; Information Literacy; Civic Responsibility; Writing Intensive. In this hands-on course, we will study the basics of news reporting and writing. We will investigate how to develop and research news stories, narrow the focus to create tightly written and compelling articles, and develop attention-grabbing leads. The course will also cover interviewing skills, research techniques, and different news writing styles, as well as a discussion on libel law and journalistic ethics. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and writing assignments, we will learn how to write news stories that are accurate, fair, clear, and concise. Prerequisite: CMP 101. (UG)
CMP 217: Principles of Rhetoric: Argument and Persuasion
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Writing Intensive. This course is designed to help students become more informed, effective, and ethical practitioners of argument. While the class will focus primarily on written persuasive forms most common within academic settings, it will also require students to examine and/or compose forms of argument and persuasion common within public, interpersonal and digital forums. Through engaged class participation, collaborative work, and regular composing practice, the student should become more conscious of the central beliefs about persuasion that shape writing in academic, professional, and public settings. Further, the course will facilitate forms of analysis, critique, and composition that may help the student gain greater awareness of their own persuasive powers and practices. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or equivalent. (UG)
CMP 301: Professional Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills Writing Intensive. Research and Presentation. The course is designed to familiarize students with the processes and products of professional communication in the workplace; specifically, the class helps students produce real-world writing: writing that expresses a purpose, solves a problem, illuminates a procedure, makes a well-reasoned and informed recommendation, translates complex information into straightforward language, or synthesizes information for a precise audience. Prerequisite CMP 101 or equivalent (UG)
CMP 302: Technical Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Writing Intensive. Instruction and practice in writing technical reports, proposals, and other technical writing forms. Additional instruction in conventions of science writing and translating technical information for general publics. Prerequisite: CMP 101 (UG)
CMP 311: Advanced English Composition
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills; Information Literacy. Writing Intensive. Fulfills Research & Presentation requirement. This advanced course in composition is designed to help students expand and refine their technical and stylistic writing skills. Through analysis of professional writing, the students will learn to identify structures and techniques of effective writing and research. Through extensive directed writing experience, the student will learn to emulate techniques of effective written communication and research. Prerequisite: CMP 101 and completion of 45 credits or permission of instructor. (UG)
CMP 312: Creative Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Writing Intensive. Fundamental principles in the writing of poetry, the short story, and drama. Individual and class criticism in a workshop format. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
CMP 315: Advanced Composition for Health Professionals
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills; Information Literacy. Writing Intensive. Together with PT 312, combination of both courses meet Research and Presentation requirement. This course in composition is designed to help students in the health and natural sciences expand and refine their technical and stylistic skills through an extensive directed writing experience based on professional models. Students will use medical and scientific terminology, write case-based reports and analysis, learn documentation methods and, and write standard research forms used in professional communications. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
CMP 317: Feature Journalism
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills, Information Literacy, Civic Responsibilty, Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as CA 317. This course focuses on writing feature stories and narrative-style journalism to provide an in-depth look into the people, places, and issues making the news and affecting our readers. In this hands-on course, we will explore approaches for composing effective and creative non-fiction stories and develop interview, research, and writing skills for both print and online media. (UG)
CMP 318: Writing for Digital Media
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competences: Communication Skills, Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as CA 318. This course will teach students processes and principles for producing writing within networked, multimedia contexts. Students learn effective strategies for analyzing, writing, and producing online content while using existing web services to construct their own websites. (UG)
CMP 420: Promotional Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills.Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as PR 420. This course provides fundamental knowledge and preparation for practice in public relations writing. Students will learn to write with purpose and clarity and understand the importance of rewriting, editing, and effective communication. Students will develop skills essential to writing fact sheets, news releases, public service announcements, brochures, social media posts, and other promotional genres/materials. (UG)
CMP 92: Developmental English Language Skills
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course is designed to assist students in obtaining basic college-level proficiency in English grammar with direct application to paragraph and essay writing. Offered in HEOP Summer Program. Please note: The number of credits this course carries are in clock hours, not institutional credit hours. A clock hour course will not advance your degree progress; rather, it is designed to strengthen your skill in order to qualify for a credit-bearing course in this area of study or in a related field. The clock hours DO count, however, towards your course load and for financial aid purposes. (UG)
English
ENG 94: Developmental Reading and Study Skills
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course is designed to assist students in developing selective reading, study, and thinking skills necessary for successful performance in college-level courses. Offered in HEOP Summer Program. Please note: The number of credits this course carries are in clock hours, not institutional credit hours. A clock hour course will not advance your degree progress; rather, it is designed to strengthen your skill in order to qualify for a credit-bearing course in this area of study or in a related field. The clock hours DO count, however, towards your course load and for financial aid purposes. (UG)
Literature
LIT 101: Introduction to English Studie
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course is designed to introduce students commencing a major in English to the history, traditions, issues, problems, and debates that make up the field. This course will prepare students for subsequent work in the department, providing context for other courses and a crucial grounding in core skills of close reading , research, and writing. (UG)
LIT 112: Approaches to Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This survey course in literature includes textual analysis of literary works, classic through contemporary, selected from various genres. Writing assignments are based on the readings. CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 113: Literature and the Law
3 Credit Hour(s)
Works of literature and media often present complex depictions of power, the law, and legal issues. In this course we'll look at dystopian fiction, legal history, television, and case studies to examine important questions about surveillance, freedom of speech, individual liberty, and governmental power. (UG)
LIT 201: World Literature I
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness, Communication Skills, Moral and Ethical Discernment; Writing Intensive.This course introduces literature from places often left out of traditional English studies. It examines major and minor works from selected global cultures, and gives students a chance to learn about civilizations, genres, and ethical dilemmas as they have arisen in various places and times around the globe. Regions to be studied vary according to semester, and may include a selection from East Asia/Japan, India, The Middle East, Africa, Australia and the Pacific, and the Caribbean. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 202: World Literature II-Myths and Modern Tales
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies:Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Communication Skills; Writing Intensive. Myths and Modern Tales introduces influential examples of classical and modern literature. We will read major works of ancient narrative, poetry and drama, with a focus on key mythical figures like Gilgamesh, Odysseus, and Antigone, and we will explore how these stories have been reinterpreted over time. Students will develop a firm understanding of how storytelling has changed in different historical periods, and why certain stories, episodes, and heroes persist across the centuries. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 203: Crown, Sword, and Empire: British Literature to 1800
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. This course is designed to give the student an understanding and appreciation of the traditions of British literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the early nineteenth-century Romantic period. Through close and critical reading of selected works, students are acquainted with the various genres and major thematic and philosophical movements in British literature. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 204: British Literature II: Empire Writes Back
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. This course is designed to give the student an understanding and appreciation of the traditions of British literature from the early nineteenth-century Romantic period to the present. Through close and critical reading of selected works, students are acquainted with the various genres and major thematic and philosophical movements in British literature. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 211: Readings in American Literature I
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. During the first semester, emphasis will be placed upon the becoming of American literature and the development of an identity that is communicated in specifically American letters. The second semester will carry through with Whitman (whose early poetry will terminate the first semester's study) and present a different set of complexities from those of early America: industrialization, urbanization, and immigration, among others. It will trace the development of the literature and the aesthetic theory of a second new America - and take that development to the present. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 212: Readings in American Literature II
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. During the first semester, emphasis will be placed upon the becoming of American literature and the development of an identity that is communicated in specifically American letters. The second semester will carry through with Whitman (whose early poetry will terminate the first semester's study) and present a different set of complexities from those of early America: industrialization, urbanization, and immigration, among others. It will trace the development of the literature and the aesthetic theory of a second new America - and take that development to the present. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 213: Contemporary Native American Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. This course provides an introduction to contemporary Native American literature, drawing readings from authors representing diverse culture areas. Fiction, poetry, and drama produced by Native American writers will be read as reflections of tribal and regional concerns and as material raising the broader questions of Native identity within mainstream white American culture. Critical analysis of the readings will address literary portrayals of the individual in her/his relation to the community, nature, spirituality, gender roles, political/economic conditions, and art and creativity. Literary images of Native America will be both reinforced and challenged with sensory experiences offered by contemporary film, dance, music, and artwork. Students will gain a deeper understanding of Native American perspectives on contemporary American culture. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 219: Literature and Film
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This course examines the various literary genres (short story, novel, drama, poetry, and non-fiction) in relation to film. The course assumes that film has radically expanded both the forms of literary communication and the way literature (especially literary narrative) is understood and received. The course also assumes that film not only supplements more traditional literary forms and media, it also depends on them in a way which is at once parasitic and synergistic. In keeping with its primary and secondary competencies, the course emphasizes the aesthetic and communicative aspects of literature and film. The course also examines these same aspects in the commercial and technical/ technological process involved in adapting literature to the screen, e.g., aesthetic choices made in adapting a short story, a novel, a play or the poetic to film, both for the large screen and the small (television). Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 222: African American Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Introduces students to the major motifs, themes, and texts of African American literature. Beginning with the Antebellum period, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the course will also focus on the Harlem Renaissance, the long Civil Rights movement, the Black Power movement, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Throughout the course we will examine how the concepts we examine are relevant to our 21st century, so-called post-racial society, and the course will serve as a vehicle by which we can reflect on current events in the United States that resonate with our readings. The course aims to better understand the social, cultural, and political issues African Americans have faced historically and continue to face today. All students are welcome and encouraged to add various perspectives. (UG)
LIT 230: Exile Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Communication Skills; Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. This course will examine, through close reading, women and men whose writing is central to the literature of exile and expatriation, particularly in the 20th century. We will explore literature in its various forms, such as memoir, the short story, the novel, non-fictional writing, and literary criticism. Whether self-imposed (expatriation) or imposed by authorities (exile), the loss of home has been described as one of the most difficult states of existence to endure. At the same time, exile is productive, and it has contributed to some of the most thoughtful literature ever written. We will attempt to understand how this is so. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or Permission of Instructor. (UG)
LIT 232: Shakespeare Onstage: Character And Conflict
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Contextual Integration; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.This course will examine the conflicts Shakespearean characters face in three representative plays, using the literary technique of close reading to understand plot action and character motivation. Our study of the plays will be furthered by learning more about Shakespeare's world and the Renaissance cultural values and attitudes reflected in these dramas. We'll also investigate problems of both interpretation and staging, looking at aspects of literary criticism and theatre history to see how critics, directors, and actors have imagined these characters and their uniquely human predicaments. (UG)
LIT 241: Literary Legacies of the Sixties
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This introductory course to literature includes the study of selected literary works of late twentieth-century America. It contextualizes contemporary literature and provides students with sources (including works of literature, film, and other primary source materials) that explain the background and development of a number of issues including the Cold War, Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, and the Culture Wars. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 248: Whodunit? The Detective Story
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Moral and Ethical Discernment. This course focuses on the history and rhetorical strategies of detective fiction, which begins in the nineteenth century with works by Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and continues into the present with many variations along the way, including several popular films and television series. Today it is a widely read form of popular fiction that usually has several entries on the bestseller lists. This course follows the general division of the detective story into three categories: the Amateur Detective, the Private Investigator and the Police Procedural. Students will explore the conventions of each category through short stories and will write a term paper on a representative novel. Prerequisite: CMP 101. (UG)
LIT 301: Chaucer
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. An intensive study of The Canterbury Tales and major poems with attention given to language and historical background. An extensive reading of the minor poems. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 302: Milton
3 Credit Hour(s)
An intensive study of Paradise Lost and the minor poems, as well as a discussion of Milton's representative prose. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 304: The Romantic Movement in English Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration and Affective Awareness. In 1798, young poets Wordsworth and Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads, a manifesto that changed the direction of poetry by insisting on the importance of the common person, Nature as an inspirational presence, and the central role of the imagination in transforming experience. This course explores the development of Romanticism, a new way of thinking about human experience, as expressed in the poetry of the older generation of Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, and Burns), in the younger Romantics (Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Hemans, and Keats), and in the gothic novel (Mary Shelley and Horace Walpole). (UG)
LIT 307: Literature of the Supernatural
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. A study of prose and poetic works which have, as a central focus, supernatural beings, events, and/or phenomena, and an examination of how such literature reflects mankind's deepest desires and drives. (UG)
LIT 309: Film Seminar
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Affective Awareness. Writing Intensive. This course involves screening and discussion of classic and contemporary feature-length films. It is designed to expose students to a wide variety of film periods, styles, and genres, as well as cinema cultures and national co-texts. Discussion of technical matter provides background for interpreting film as a distinct literary genre. (UG)
LIT 310: The English Novel
3 Credit Hour(s)
A study of the evolution of the novel as a genre, beginning with its prototypes in the romance and allegory and including representative selections from the more prominent 19th and 20th century authors. The study will include various types of novels as well: the novel of manners, the sociological novel, the philosophical novel, etc. (UG)
LIT 311: Survey of English Poetry I
3 Credit Hour(s)
Analysis of representative English poetry from 1530 to the Romantics, in terms of thought, technique, type, and historical background. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 312: Survey English Poetry II
3 Credit Hour(s)
Analysis of representative English poetry from the Romantics to the present, in terms of thought, technique, type, and historical background. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 313: The Gothic Imagination
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills. Gothic literature pushes the boundaries of social convention, exploring the darker side of human experience and opening taboo subjects. This course engages contemporary critical and theoretical assessments as it covers three main avenues of gothic literature - horror stories, sensation fiction, and detective narratives. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 314: Magical Realism in Fiction and Film
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Communication Skills; Writing Intensive. This course charts the development of the magical realist genre - from two or more different geographic regions - through the close reading of fiction and film. Essential to our reading of these texts will be a few key questions: how do we begin to differentiate magical realisms? How is a magical realist film different from a magical realist text? And what are different strains of this diverse genre attempting to do? Prerequisites: CMP 101 or LIT 112 or permission of Instructor. (UG)
LIT 316: Empire and the Imagination
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Empire and the Imagination explores the role of literature in creating and destroying empires. Focusing on the late-nineteenth century to the present, we will examine fiction, poetry and film by imperial and anti-colonial authors from Europe, Africa, India, the USA and New Zealand. Prerequisite: LIT 101 or CMP 101 with permission from the instructor. (UG)
LIT 317: Gender Trouble: Literature and Film
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as WST 317. Do the gender roles represented in literary works reflect a reality based on biological differences between the sexes? Or are gender roles simply a product of a culture's religious, economic, and political agendas? This course examines works from various genres and historical periods in order to understand how they reinforce or subvert gender stereotypes that inform and condition people's lives. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 318: The English Drama
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills, Contextual Integration. A study of the development of English drama from its medieval beginnings in church ritual to its contemporary forms. Readings include representative selections from the mystery and morality plays of the 14th century, Renaissance and Restoration drama, 19th century social drama, and modern experimental theatre. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 320: Modern & Contemporary Irish Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. In this course we will read and analyze works (fiction, drama, poetry) produced in Ireland during the twentieth century. The early part of this period, following the late 19th c. Celtic Twilight, is known as The Irish Renaissance. This period saw a resurgence of Irish Nationalism that manifested itself in several ways, some of which were renewed interests in the Irish language, literature and culture. The latter part of the period is marked by the emergence of Ireland as a postcolonial republic under partition (post 1922), leading up to the ongoing sectarian conflict we still refer to today as The Troubles. More recently in the 1990's, Irish writing reflects Ireland's entrance into the European market economy, earning the epithet The Celtic Tiger. The works we will read are all part of the Anglo-Irish tradition (written or translated into English). We will focus on modern and contemporary Ireland in selected works of its major writers as they examine their country's encounters with the British Empire, Catholic/Protestant religious conflict and its own mythological past. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 321: Gods, Heroes, Monsters: Literaure Of Ancient World
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Contextual Integration, Affective Awareness How did people who lived thousands of years ago imagine their place in the universe? What gods did they worship, who did they admire, and what did they fear?This course uses some of the masterpieces of ancient literature to explore the inner and sacred lives of people who lived in a world vastly different from our own. Students will compare creation stories, epics, and dramatic works by ancient authors from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, India and elsewhere. We will place these works in their cultural contexts to see how stories fed into ritual practices and became the basis for worship and community. Our principle goal will be to expand our sense of the diversity of what it means to be human and undercut the 'normality' of the everyday. (UG)
LIT 322: Medicine and Contemporary Literature and Film
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Civic Responsibility; This course examines-representatively rather than exhaustively-the connections of various kinds between medicine and illness on one hand and literature and film on the other, with particular (but not exclusive) emphasis on the United States. The course acknowledges the prominent role the health sciences play at Daemen College and seeks to create a bridge between those programs and the Humanities so as to benefit both by emphasizing common ground and mutual dependency at a time when the division between C. P. Snow's two cultures is both more pronounced and less persuasive. The course will be part of the interdisciplinary Medical Humanities cluster. (UG)
LIT 323: 18th Century English Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course surveys literature produced during the Age of Enlightenment, from Dryden to the Pre-Romantics. We will discuss Neoclassicism in the poetry of Dryden and Pope, the development of satire in Swift, the essay as an art form, and the rise of the novel from Pamela and Tom Jones to Jane Austen. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 324: Jane Austen
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. This study of the works of Jane Austen situates the six major novels in the context of early nineteenth-century culture, introducing the comedy of manners as an important contribution to the rise of the novel in the nineteenth century. Readings include excerpts from Austen's letters as well as the juvenilia and fragments. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 325: Major Authors
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This course offers an in-depth survey of one or more significant authors in the field of English literature. Significant works of fiction by the author will be closely examined in relation to her or his specific history and culture, socio-political positions, national affiliations, critical reception, and representations in the media. The author's minor works, biographical material, nonfiction, and other key documents will also be analyzed. Prerequisite: LIT 101 or CMP 101 with permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 326: Understanding Africa
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness, Contextual Integration, Communication Skills; Writing Intensive. This course offers an in-depth understanding of African literature. Through close analysis of selected fiction, poetry, drama and film from West, North, East and South Africa, we will explore the diversity of life for Africans on the continent and outside it, with particular reference to national identity, race and gender, armed conflict, and migration. Prerequisite: LIT 101 or CMP 101 with permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 329: Imagining Trauma
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Writing Intensive. In this course we will read and analyze literary works that deal with traumatizing events arising out of personal experience (e.g., racial, sexual) to the communal experience (e.g., war, terrorism). While often confronted and pathologized as an individual problem, in the contemporary globalized world, trauma may in fact have transcultural significance and be a defining feature of contemporary life. The works studied in this course will examine the aesthetic and rhetorical strategies of the literary representation of trauma within a specific historical/cultural context. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 330: The Scottish Renaissance and Scottish National Identity
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Writing Intensive. This course examines the major works of fiction of the second Scottish Renaissance (1982) as they both reflect and contribute to the preservation/ formation of a distinctive but highly contested and increasingly fragmented sense of Scottish national identity. It examines this fiction as a primary means for reinvigorating Scottish national identity while at the same time challenging it by critically examining the past rather than nostalgically reproducing it in light of past and present forces that have altered and in many cases eroded both community and identity. Alasdair Gray's Lanark, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, Alan Warner's Morvern Callar, Janice Galloway's The Trick Is to Keep Breathing are some of the required readings. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 332: Literature of London
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness and Contexual Integration. In this course, we will explore London through a variety of readings, including poetry, prose, drama, and fiction. In the first part of the semester, we will address the way writers create a sense of place and what constitutes a text, considering the city from a historical perspective by interpreting the alternative texts of architecture and art as backgrounds to the literature. Over Spring Break, we will visit London (and in contrast, an English market town, Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon), exploring the literary and historical sites we have read about, both old and new. (UG)
LIT 334: British Women Writers
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This course presents selections from the work of British women writers from the fifteenth century to the present, with emphasis on the nineteenth century, when female authors came into their own through the popularity of prose fiction. We place these literary works in their social context, learning about historical, legal, and scientific influences on the condition of women in Britain. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 336: Dystopian Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Dystopian stories and films have long captivated audiences, and the purpose of this course is to examine a number of different works of dystopian (and utopian) literature and film in order to understand the conventions of the genre, the anxieties it explores, and the responses readers have to it. We'll explore the following questions: why do we read dystopian literature, and what does it tell us about the world in which we live? Prerequisite: LIT 101 or CMP 101 with permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 337: Contemporary American Novel
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. In this course contemporary novels will be presented as additions to, and variations on, the novel form. The study will include the theory of the novel and the development, and the connections between contemporary themes and those of earlier American literature. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 338: The Short Story
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Affective Awareness; Communication Skills; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Writing Intensive. This course will focus on the development of the short story as a literary genre, or on a specific aspect or period of that development, e.g. the contemporary American (or British, or Irish) short story. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 339: Contemporary British Novel
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course introduces students to a representative sampling of some of the most interesting, important and influential British novels and novelists of the past two decades, while situating these works in the larger context of contemporary British literary, cultural, socio-economic and political life. In addition, the course uses these works to hone students' reading, writing, research and critical thinking skills. (UG)
LIT 340: Dickens and Victorian Culture
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Contextual Integration; Moral and Ethical Discernment. Writing Intensive. Charles Dickens was without a doubt Victorian England's favorite literary celebrity, and his characters have amused and brought tears to the eyes of readers for nearly two hundred years. In this course, we will read representative works from each phase of Dicken's long career in the light of the aspects of Victorian culture illuminated by his novels. Background readings will help you to understand the social conditions that prompted Dickens to write passionately in the cause of a variety of social issues. Textual analysis of the novels and other primary sources will help you to appreciate the social, political, and moral climate of Dickens' London, as we assess how his novels shaped public policies, laws, and popular attitudes toward the complex human problems so movingly rendered in his works. We will also consider the impact of contemporary film adaptations as they help the novels to reach a broader modern audience. Written assignments will support your development of analytical, research, and interpretive skills, as you offer argumentative readings of literary texts, supported by critical commentaries on Victorian culture. Prerequisite: CMP 101. (UG)
LIT 401: Contemporary American Poetry
3 Credit Hour(s)
An investigation of the particular concept of American poetics as expressed in Olson's Projective Verse and developed from Whitman through Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams, the influence of which is evident in the work of poets representing all of the major schools of American poetry since the 1950's. (UG)
LIT 403: Myth and the Invention of Self
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. Writing Intensive. Through a series of readings and discussions of primal myths, urban legends, and folk tales, the course first examines the dynamics of the storytelling process and then how the story becomes elevated by repetition and ritual into myth. After further research into mythopoesis, we investigate how the individual's concept of the self is developed with reference to myths, or stories of belief. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 410: Shakespeare
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communication Skills. Writing Intensive. This course offers an overview of Shakespeare's dramatic oeuvre, covering works that represent the histories, the tragedies, the comedies, and the romances or problem plays. Since this course fulfills the contextual core competency, we will be reading the plays in chronological order to study and appreciate Shakespeare's development as a playwright responding to the social and political issues of his day. We will also consider the staging of Shakespearean plays, film adaptations, and works of literary criticism as they all reflect our changing ways of interpreting the plays. Prerequisite: CMP 101 and LIT 101. (UG)
LIT 411: Modern Poetry
3 Credit Hour(s)
An intensive study of the modernist period in American and British Poetry. Special attention will be given to William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot,William Carlos Williams, and Wallace Stevens. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 413: Victorian Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course focuses on the major authors and literature of Victorian England, including poetry, prose, and the novel. We will consider a range of topics that not only deeply concerned the Victorians but also continue to interest us today: race and social class, poverty, the woman question, imperialism, and the increasing influence of science and technology. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 415: Modern and Contemporary British Literature
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course is designed to acquaint the student with the major figures of British literature since 1900, plus the literary and cultural characteristics of the period. Prerequisite: CMP 101 or permission of instructor. (UG)
LIT 420: Seminar for English Majors
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course focuses on how criticism and theory inform our readings of literature, enabling us to see and evaluate literary works from multiple (and sometime contradictory) perspectives. Students will learn to read literature more analytically, as they learn to read criticism more thoroughly through an introduction to various theoretical frameworks. This course develops the student's ability to think critically and analytically about a text, to produce thoughtful written responses to close reading, and to present ideas clearly in a public forum. (UG)
LIT 442: Capstone Research
1 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as PR-442. This course will prepare students to devote the spring semester to organizing, drafting and revising a capstone project in LIT/PR 443. In LIT/PR 442, students will meet with primary and secondary faculty readers to develop an appropriate topic, prepare an annotated bibliography, and develop a capstone project proposal (preliminary, revised, and final). (UG)
LIT 443: Senior Capstone
2 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed with PR-443. This capstone course concentrates on the production of a polished academic text, a sustained discussion (20-25 pages) of a topic of critical importance, representing the culmination of the student's intellectual accomplishments in English Studies. Students will begin with a review and evaluation of the capstone project proposals developed in LIT/PR 442, with class meetings alternating with individual tutorial meetings. Students will prepare two formal drafts for evaluation by primary and secondary faculty readers, and the completed project will be presented in conference format for the Daemen College community at Academic Festival. (UG)
Language
LNG 307: The English Language: Structure, Power And Change
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Communication Skills;Contextual Integration.This course examines the issues, concepts, and inquiries that stem from a structural and historical study of the English language. Students will explore questions related to the nature, development, and uses of English, and, in particular, its relationship to linguistic, rhetorical, and political power. (UG)
LNG 337: Implementing Language Arts at the Secondary Level
3 Credit Hour(s)
Practicum level course. The primary purpose of this course is to provide secondary English education majors with a comprehensive examination of the many methods and materials used in the classroom at the secondary level. Particular emphasis is placed on the introduction and examination of the characteristics, definitions, standards and trends employed in effective middle and high schools. Taken with the practicum course block. (UG)
LNG 309 : Language in Society
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Contextual Integration. This course introduces students to the field of sociolinguistics, examining the relationship between language and society on a national and global level through the examination of social factors such as age, gender, educational level, social class, race, and the like. Topics include: monolingualism to multilingualism; language contact, prestige and change; diglossia and code switching; language identity, language socialization and language ideology; consequences for educational policy and practice. Offered As Needed. (UG)
LNG 335 : Special Topics in Linguistics
3 Credit Hour(s)
This course will provide majors, minors and advanced language students with the opportunity to explore the field of linguistics. The course is delivered in the English language. Prerequisites: completion of 3 credits at the 200-level or higher or permission of instructor. May be taken for credit up to three times (9 credits maximum). Offered as Needed (UG)
LNG 415 : 2nd Lang Acquisition/Applied Linguistics
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competencies: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Contextual Integration. This course examines the processes of language learning from linguistic, psychological, and social perspectives. While it address native language acquisition, the focus is on second language acquisition. The underlying assumptions of the three perspectives will be examined from a research vantage point as well as from the perspectives of the language teaching professional. Prerequisites: completion of 3 credits at the 200-level or higher or permission of instructor. (UG)
Public Relations
PR 222: Introduction to Mass Communication
3 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as CA 222. This course will emphasize the application of the theories and concepts to specific forms of human communication including mass media, the graphic arts, interpersonal and group communications, and written communication. (UG)
PR 301: Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication
3 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as CA 301. A thorough and intensive study of dyadic (two-person) interaction, its component parts, and its basic issues and concerns. Particular attention is given to the evolution of human relationships. (UG)
PR 322: Introduction to Public Relations
3 Credit Hour(s)
An introduction to the concepts, history, ethics and techniques of public relations. The course is designed to provide the student with both theoretical knowledge and the development of basic skills required in professional public relations positions. (UG)
PR 420: Promotional Writing
3 Credit Hour(s)
Fulfills core competency: Communitcation Skills. Writing Intensive. Cross-listed as CMP 420. This course provides fundamental knowledge and preparation for practice in public relations writing. Students will learn to write with purpose and clarity and understand the importance of rewriting, editing, and effective communication. Students will develop skills essential to writing fact sheets, news releases, public service announcements, brochures, social media posts, and other promotional genres/materials. (UG)
PR 442: Capstone Research
1 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed as LIT-442. This course will prepare students to devote the spring semester to organizing, drafting and revising a capstone project in LIT/PR 443. In LIT/PR 442, students will meet with primary and secondary faculty readers to develop an appropriate topic, prepare an annotated bibliography, and develop a capstone project proposal (preliminary, revised, and final). (UG)
PR 443: Senior Capstone
2 Credit Hour(s)
Cross-listed with LIT-443. This capstone course concentrates on the production of a polished academic text, a sustained discussion (20-25 pages) of a topic of critical importance, representing the culmination of the student's intellectual accomplishments in English Studies. Students will begin with a review and evaluation of the capstone project proposals developed in LIT/PR 442, with class meetings alternating with individual tutorial meetings. Students will prepare two formal drafts for evaluation by primary and secondary faculty readers, and the completed project will be presented in conference format for the Daemen College community at Academic Festival. (UG)