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Spring
2007
English Majors: Please register as early as possible
for the upper-division English classes you need. Doing so
will help ensure that courses are not canceled and that you
don't have to scramble to find replacement courses at the
last minute. Below you will find descriptions of the upper-division
courses being offered in Spring 2007. Be sure to check
the requirements for your particular concentration (i.e.,
Creative Writing, Literature, or Writing & Rhetoric).
Non-English Majors: The writing and analytical skills
that students gain in English classes are very useful in a
variety of professional careers. So even if you are not an
English major, you can take upper-division English courses-as
long as you have already completed English 16, Core Seminar,
and two core literature classes (from English 61-64). If you
really want to build up your transcript, consider a minor
in English, which consists of any four courses numbered
100 or above. If you'd like more information about minoring
in English—or if you think you might like to major in
English—contact Wayne Berninger.
English 101:001 Introduction to English
Studies
Professor Sealy Gilles
Thursdays 6:00-8:30 pm
This course introduces students to the field
of English studies both theoretically and practically. It
takes for its focus the craft of the rhetorician and the literary
artist. We will therefore explore the overlapping territories
of the literary scholar, the essayist, the story-teller, the
poet, the dramatist, and the professional writer. Three units
of genre study - on lyric, prose and tragedy - are accompanied
by excursions into the profession, as the course introduces
students to issues in the critical tradition, the history
of the discipline, and contemporary opportunities for English
majors. Students will have opportunities to create texts,
even as they acquire the tools to critique them. They will
also receive intensive training in the research essay and
the use of library resources.
English 104:001 Introduction
to Creative Writing-Finding Our Voices
Professor John High
Tuesdays 12:00-2:30 pm
This class is designed for anyone who has ever
wanted to write creatively yet who is not sure how to begin
or how to move beyond where they are presently in their own
writing. Topics include: getting started, establishing a passionate
discipline, making time, focusing on ideas and feelings and
giving them shape through the language of fiction, poetry
and drama. The course will also zero-in on back bone issues
of style and technique, ranging from those of characterization
and plot, continuity and vividness of imagery, clarity of
diction and the use of phrasing and structure in the writing
of our worlds-the various ways that elements of craft inherently
dovetail with content. There will be weekly creative writing
exercises, workshops and group discussions, as well as commentary
on the writing process and how to make it work. What do we
mean when we talk about issues of style, form and voice(s)?
What is a fiction, a poem-what is a metaphor, what is the
magic of language, the ghost of echoes, which reflect your
own vision of the world, your experience or past, your dreams
or visions? What do we mean when we talk about taking chances
in writing? We'll look at the work of Modern and contemporary
writers ranging from James Baldwin to Anna Akhmatova to Jorge
Luis Borges to that of younger writers publishing today. Critiques
will focus on motivating the student to tap the undefined
territory of his or her own imagination in order to more fully
cultivate and mature her or his own voice/s and styles. The
goal of the course includes completing a portfolio and/or
anthology of our work.
English 104:002 Introduction
to Creative Writing
Professor Lewis Warsh
Wednesdays 6-8:30 pm
THIS SECTION WAS CANCELLED.
The goal of the workshop is to expand our ideas
of "what is a poem?" and "what is a work of
fiction?" Are poetry and fiction exclusive or related
genres? Weekly assignments will question preconceived notions
of form, content and gender, with emphasis on the best ways
of transcribing thought processes and experiences into writing.
We will also attempt to engage the present moment-the issues
of our time, if any, that influence our writing. is it possible
to write in a vacuum while ignoring the rest of the world?
What is the writer's responsibility? Can writing change the
world? We will read as models the work of Marguerite Duras,
Lydia Davis, William Carlos Williams, Amiri Baraka, Frank
O'Hara, Andre Breton, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Elizabeth Bishop,
John Ashbery and Ernest Hemingway, among others.
Much of the workshop time will be spent reading
and discussing each other's writing.
English 129:001 British Literature
II: Faces of Modern Britain
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Tuesdays 6:00-8:30 pm
The course will examine the changing face of
modern Britain from its explosive industrialization in the
late-eighteenth century, through the cresting and fall of
its world empire during the nineteenth- and early-twentieth
centuries, to its current, uneasy position as the primary
ally of the United States in the global "war on terror."
Using images from London's National Portrait Gallery as our
guide, we will approach the literature of this 200-year period
as a series of "close-ups" in which questions of
national and personal identity will be especially important.
The major texts under discussion, many of which deal quite
literally with the enigma of portraiture, will include William
Wordsworth's The Prelude, Jane Austen's Emma,
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray along with
transcripts from the Wilde trials, Virginia Woolf's To
the Lighthouse, Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, Mike
Leigh's film Secrets and Lies, and the still-on-going
documentary film project known as The Up Series. Throughout
the semester, students will compose critical as well as creative
texts in response to the material. They will also give in-class
presentations.
English 150:001 Contemporary
African-American Writers
Professor Carol Allen
Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:00-4:15 pm
THIS COURSE WAS CANCELLED.
This course focuses exclusively on African American
writing from 1970 to the present. It will be divided into
units based on genre: poetry, drama, the essay, autobiography,
short story, the novel, and testimonial (lyrics, oratory).
Expect to encounter such artists as June Jordan, Michael Harper,
Quincy Troupe, Adrienne Kennedy, August Wilson, Anna Devere
Smith, Toni Morrison, Charles Johnson, Alice Walker, James
Baldwin, Itaberi Njeri, and John Wideman. Critical pieces
will be studied as well from the likes of Houston Baker, Henry
Louis Gates, Ntozake Shange, and Larry Neale.
English 159:001 Literature
of the U.S. II: Faces of Modern America
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
Between the end of the Civil War and the beginning
of the first World War, the United States transformed itself
from an isolated, primarily agrarian nation into an industrialized,
increasingly influential world power. Today it is the embattled,
self-proclaimed leader in the global "war on terror."
Using images from the recently re-opened American Art Museum
and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, the course
will chart these historical developments by looking closely
at some important, modern American novels, stories, poems,
films, and works of nonfiction, many of which deal with the
question of portraiture (how do you represent an individual
human being?) and the related enigma of American identity
(what does it mean to be an "American"?). Major
texts will include Henry James' "The Real Thing,"
Gertrude Stein's word portraits, Alain Locke's anthology The
New Negro, Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane, James
Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Truman Capote's In Cold
Blood, and Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate. Throughout
the semester, students will compose critical as well as creative
texts in response to the material. They will also give in-class
presentations.
English 166:001 Fiction Writing
Workshop—The Short Story
Professor John High
Thursdays 6:00-8:30 pm
This workshop will focus on the way autobiography
and dreams overlap with story writing and how the past is
fictionalized as a way of giving it a voice. The premise is
that the source of much fiction is based on memories and dreams.
We'll look at writers of the last century as well as contemporary
writers of today: Jean Toomer, Marguerite Duras, Jorge Luis
Borges, Michael Ondaatje. Lydia Davis, John Berger, Rosemary
Waldrop, Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf,
James Baldwin, Jamacia Kincaid, and Sherman Alexie (among
others) who often blur the borders between fiction, dream
and life story. We'll concentrate on the various traditions
of narrative, including plot, character, and conflict-with
an eye towards expanding on what's already been done. There
will be weekly creative writing exercises, workshops and group
discussions, as well as commentary on the writing process
and how to make it come alive for you. The course offers relaxed,
though thorough and individualized investigation of the participants'
work in relation to craft, theme and content of writing. Our
writing project will include working with dreams, secrets,
memories, observations, opinions, overheard conversations
and random fragments of language. The goal of the course includes
completing a portfolio and/or anthology of our work.
English 168:001 Creative Non-Fiction
Workshop
Professor Mary Hallet
Mondays & Wednesdays 3:00-4:15 pm
THIS COURSE WAS CANCELLED.
This course will give students the opportunity both to read
and write creative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction means "factual"
writing that uses fictional strategies in order to convey to
readers the complexities and nuances of "real life"
situations and topics. Because fiction and nonfiction, as well
as memory and fact, intersect and sometimes collide in creative
nonfiction, we will explore the complicated notion of "truth"
in such writing. While much creative nonfiction incorporates
autobiographical elements, it is not restricted about simply
writing about "the self." While it often (but not
always) incorporates the personal, it is also reflective and
analytical. Students in the course will have an opportunity
to examine and write a variety of diverse creative nonfictional
pieces—from texts that report on and analyze current events
to those that explore in depth events in their own personal
lives. Readings may include texts by Annie Dillard, Oliver Sacks,
Joan Didion, Maya Angelou, David Sedaris, and Lee Gutkind.
English 169:001 Non-Western
& Post-Colonial Literature
Professor Maria McGarrity
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
This class will offer a basic grounding in the
literatures and cultures of the Caribbean, including a focus
on such nations as Haiti, St. Lucia, Montserrat, and the Dominican
Republic. We will study the work of Nobel Prize-winning St.
Lucian, Derek Walcott as well as such writers as Jamaica Kincaid,
Edwidge Danticat, Caryl Phillips, Jean Rhys, and EA Markham.
Our reading of short stories, poetry, longer fiction, and
film will take us through the 20th century struggle for decolonization
as we examine issues of gender, class, race, and colonialism.
English 171:001 Introduction
to Classical Rhetoric
Professor Mary Hallet
Mondays & Wednesdays 12:00-1:15 pm
In current contexts, the term "rhetoric" often has
a negative meaning. For example, we often hear this term tossed
about in relation to politicians who are bombastic, people who
"twist" their words to suit their own ambitions and
goals, regardless of "the truth." But in the times
of Classical Rhetoric, the ancient Greeks and Romans—Aristotle,
Quintilian, and Cicero, to name a few—often saw rhetoric
as way of discovering and conveying "truth." Rhetoric
in this sense was a means of persuasion, and the study of rhetoric
was particularly important in a world where oral traditions—the
art of delivering speeches and tributes—held precedence
over the written word. Significantly, the rhetorical strategies
employed by the great orators of the past remain pertinent today
and can be applied to both written and spoken forms of argument
and persuasion. From the age of the ancient Greeks and Romans
until the present time, theorists and scholars continue to study
the effects of Classical Rhetoric on current forms of, and ideas
about, communication. In this course, we will focus both on
the original texts of the classical rhetoricians and the theories
that have evolved from the on-going studies of these texts over
several centuries. We will place these readings and theories
within the contexts of the times from which they evolved, and
trace their influence on our study of a variety of current texts,
both print and visual.
English 184:001 Henrick Ibsen
& Modern Drama
Professor Howard Silverstein
Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:30-2:45 pm
THIS COURSE WAS CANCELLED.
In 2006 we are celebrating the centennial of the death of the
playwright referred to as "the father of modern drama."
The plays of Ibsen are constantly revived in cities across the
nation, on college campuses, and on Broadway and off Broadway.
Hardly a season goes by that critics don't acclaim a new Nora
in A Doll House or rave about an actress's portrayal
of Hedda in Hedda Gabler. Theatergoers are struck with
the freshness of Ibsen's dramas, with their close examination
of the social and psychological conflicts of the characters.
It was this nineteenth century Norwegian who transformed the
theater of his time and most of the drama that followed. Ibsen
brought realism to the stage: he eliminated the clumsy
five-act structure of dramas and the painted scenery of his
era. If a play were set in a living room, it looked like a real
living room with sofas placed strategically for actors to sit
on. The dialogue was believable, and the themes of his plays
mirrored the issues of his own time as well as significant problems
of our own.
The course will therefore start out with a close analysis
and discussion of four plays by Ibsen: The Wild Duck,
A Doll House, Hedda Gabler, and Rosmersholm.
All of the authors studied in the course are indebted to Ibsen,
from the European writers Chekhov, Strindberg, Shaw and Brecht,
to American authors Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and
August Wilson.
Course requirements include two critical papers, a midterm
and final exam. Depending on theatrical productions being
offered, the class will attend an off-Broadway or Broadway
play.
English 190:001 Senior Seminar
(Literature Concentration)
Professor Leah Dilworth
Thursdays 12:00-2:30 pm
This course will guide students through the
process of writing a long research paper (20-25 pages) on
a topic of their own choosing. Students will use a range of
research resources and write an informal proposal, a formal
proposal, a first draft, and a final draft of the paper. You
will also read and critique each other's work. Required reading
will include essays on research methods and writing as well
as a literary text and selected critical essays.
This course should be taken during your final
year of study.
English 191:001 Senior Seminar
(Creative Writing Concentration)
Professor Lewis Warsh
Mondays & Wednesdays 1:30-2:45 pm
We will investigate the lives and writings of
innovative 20th century authors--Gertrude Stein, Robert Creeley,
Zora Neale Hurston and Frank O'Hara, among others; attend
and report on poetry readings--and give readings ourselves;
go to museums; listen to music; pay close attention to our
surroundings, what we do every day, and the way we think;
keep intensive reading journals. Our final project will be
putting together a manuscript of our best writing.
This course should be taken during your final
year of study.
English 192: Senior Seminar
(Writing & Rhetoric Concentration)
Instructor & times to be arranged.
Consult the Chair of the English
Department (Professor Sealy Gilles)
or the Undergraduate Advisment Coordinator (Professor
Wayne Berninger) if you think you need to take this course
now.
This course should be taken during your final
year of study.
Study Abroad & Earn Credit
That Can Be Applied Toward Your Major
Friends World Program of Long Island University
invites English majors to study abroad for a semester or a
year at our centers in Costa Rica, Japan, China, or India.
Not only will you have the opportunity to study and travel
in a foreign country while earning credit towards your major,
you will also become immersed in another culture, develop
your global awareness and cross-cultural communication skills,
and be provided with a variety of internship and service learning
opportunities. At all centers students are encouraged to engage
in independent study projects relevant to their academic interests.
The Japan Program in Kyoto exposes students
to the ancient capital of Japan through workshops in haiku,
papermaking, tea ceremony, calligraphy, sumie, Taiko drumming,
as well as subjects such as literature, creative writing,
cinema, interactive web publishing, photography, and teaching
English as a Second Language.
The Costa Rica Program in Heredia offers
home stays with Costa Rican families, internships throughout
the region, and courses in writing, Latin American studies,
cross-cultural research methods, Latin American literature,
Spanish language, global health and traditional healing, peace
and reconciliation studies, environmental studies, and an
introduction to experiential education.
The India Program in Bangalore enables
students to explore the country's religious and cultural diversity,
the caste system, travel writing, environmental issues, the
situation of Tibetan refugees, and the status of women. Students
also have the opportunity to study India's art forms, dance,
and music.
The China Program in Hangzhou allows
students to study a wide range of topics including the history
of China, religious life in China, traditional Chinese medicine,
poetry, women's issues, calligraphy, taiji, Mandarin Chinese
language and modernization and economic development.
The Comparative Religion and Culture Program
teaches students about global citizenship through the lens
of world religions as they travel during the semester. The
Fall 2006 theme is Islam & Culture, and students travel
to Turkey, India, and New York City. The Spring 2007 theme
is Buddhism & Culture. Students will study in India, Thailand,
and Taiwan.
Long Island University Financial Aid can be
applied to all Friends World overseas programs. For more information
call 718 488 3409 or e-mail fw@liu.edu.
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