Undergraduate Program

This course introduces students to Rochester, NY, through the eyes of the humanities. We discuss the city’s museum exhibits and public murals, parks and cemeteries, memorial monuments and statues, photographs and speeches, drama and prose fiction, and protests and social movements from the 19th through the 21st centuries as depicted film and print. The protest and social movement unit of the course considers, in addition to contemporary protests and social movements, anti-slavery and women's rights movements in the 19th century, and protests for racial justice and the organization of FIGHT in the 1960s. We become familiar with models in the humanities for reading, viewing, and analyzing these objects, spaces, and events, and we practice our interpretative skills in class discussion and in journals. Students also learn about digital resources for presenting their work (Omeka, StoryMaps) and, if they find these resources useful, have the option of incorporating them into their writing assignments.
 
Satisfies the “additional survey or approach course” in the British and American Literature track of the English major. Satisfies a requirement in the following Humanities/English cluster: Media, Culture, and Communication.  This course is appropriate for all students.  No requirements or prerequisites.

Please note: This course includes a handful of field trips on- and off- campus. All field trips, including transportation, occur during our regular scheduled class sessions; field trips will not conflict with other courses, labs, jobs, or extracurricular activities. 
 

Location

Morey Room 501 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

Homer, Virgil, and Ovid. Greek tragedy and comedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The Hebrew Bible -- Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Pharaoh, Esther and Judith -- and Christianity's New Testament. The two great traditions studied in this introductory course -- classical and Biblical -- have been pondered by generations of writers and artists for thousands of years. A great deal of literary history is the story of intricately rewriting and adapting the core texts of these traditions; it has been said that the European philosophical tradition is a series of footnotes to Plato. While doing justice to any one of these authors or traditions in a single semester would be a challenge, the goal of this class is to read as much as possible of the classical and scriptural tradition in the short time we have, giving you a solid introduction to some of the key stories and ideas that have generated so much thought, conflict, and human creativity over the past two dozen centuries. First-years welcome! .

Location

Lechase Room 141 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course immerses students in the most influential and engaging writings from the earlier periods of English literature. Our aim will be to enjoy and understand these writings in themselves, and then to see their relation to each other and to their larger literary and historical contexts. Students should leave the course with some real affection for particular writings, and some assured sense of the contours and highlights of literary and cultural history. Our emphasis will be on careful analysis of the language and texture of the works we study. Authors include Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson, Milton, Dryden, Swift, Pope.  This course is appropriate for all students.  No requirements or prerequisites.

Location

Lechase Room 181 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

As an introduction to the art of film, this course will present the concepts of film form, film aesthetics, and film style, while remaining attentive to the various ways in which cinema also involves an interaction with audiences and larger social structures.

Location

Morey Room 321 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This is an introductory workshop designed for students interested in exploring the art of fiction writing. Students will write original short pieces, and work-in-progress will be discussed in class. We’ll read a wide variety of modern and contemporary authors as we explore elements of the genre. No background in creative writing is necessary.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 226 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This class is a writing workshop, where students share their own fiction and participate in group critique. We will read and discuss stories from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries by writers of many backgrounds and dispositions, including James Joyce, Isak Dinesen, Edward P. Jones, Ha Jin, Joy Williams, W. G. Sebald, Gabriel García Márquez, Laura (Riding) Jackson, Chinua Achebe, and Franz Kafka. Students will have the chance to experiment with different styles and structures as they learn about literary invention. We'll consider techniques for shaping fictional characters, the management of point of view, the possibilities of narrative design, the role of setting and description, and the process of revision.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 404 (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This class is a writing workshop, where students share their own fiction and participate in group critique. We will read and discuss stories from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries by writers of many backgrounds and dispositions, including James Joyce, Isak Dinesen, Edward P. Jones, Ha Jin, Joy Williams, W. G. Sebald, Gabriel García Márquez, Laura (Riding) Jackson, Chinua Achebe, and Franz Kafka. Students will have the chance to experiment with different styles and structures as they learn about literary invention. We'll consider techniques for shaping fictional characters, the management of point of view, the possibilities of narrative design, the role of setting and description, and the process of revision.

Location

Meliora Room 224 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

An introductory course in the art of writing poetry. In addition to reading and writing poems, students will learn about various essential elements of craft such as image, metaphor, line, syntax, rhyme, and meter. The course will be conducted in a workshop format.

Location

Morey Room 504 (M 4:50PM - 7:30PM)

An introductory course in the art of writing poetry. In addition to reading and writing poems, students will learn about various essential elements of craft such as image, metaphor, line, syntax, rhyme, and meter. The course will be conducted in a workshop format. 

Location

Morey Room 525 (T 4:50PM - 7:30PM)

Not unlike the essay or laboratory experiment, a play is a tool that allows the curious mind to develop, test, and rethink ideas, and to grapple with significant issues (both public and private) in live, three-dimensional space. Playwriting introduces the beginning writer interested in exploring the discipline of live performance (and the seasoned writer wishing to develop his/her craft) to the exciting world of writing for the stage. Each semester, students in this course get the chance to study with a different, award-winning guest playwright. In so doing, they get to experience instruction and guidance under the tutelage of some of the most exciting voices working professionally in the American theatre.

Location

Todd Union Room 202F (M 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

This course introduces students to the mechanics, materials, and aesthetics of lighting for the theatre.  Students gain a thorough understanding of lighting equipment, procedures, safety, and how these fascinating elements contribute to creating theatrical storytelling.  Students work actively with these technologies on productions, getting valuable practical experience. There is a required lab component that will be scheduled with the instructor.

Location

Todd Union Room 112 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Want to get your feet wet or hands dirty doing some exciting behind-the-scenes work on Theatre Program productions? A perfect hands-on way to explore the excitement, camaraderie, creativity, and skills needed for backstage work—in lighting, sound, costumes, scenery, or stage management—is to get involved in ENGL126 Production Experience, a 1-credit, half semester course where you get to work on actual theatre productions in the brand-new Sloan Performing Arts Center through lab participation, joining run crews, or other practical ways. You’ll learn valuable skills while contributing to the excellence in production that the International Theatre Program is known for. You’ll play a real role in making

theatre happen! No prior experience needed.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

A laboratory course on the fundamentals of gathering, assessing, and writing news. The course emphasizes accuracy and  presentation, and explores a variety of story structures, from hard news to features and columns. This course will be taught by David Andreatta. If you have any questions please contact him at dandreat@ur.rochester.edu

Location

Dewey Room 2110D (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course focuses on enhancing the creativity, vibrancy, and engagement of your nonfiction writing. We’ll delve into online, magazine, and newspaper articles that use scenes and details to craft compelling narratives about people and their experiences. You will develop a strong voice in your writing, with a particular focus on the importance of effective interviewing. We’ll emphasize writing about topics you are passionate about, analyzing AI-generated essays, and incorporating nonfiction examples that resonate with you. The course includes writing practice to reinforce the concepts studied.

Jasmin Singer is a radio host at WXXI News, the author of two books, and the former senior editor of VegNews Magazine. 

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 315 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Basic public speaking is the focus. Emphasis is placed on researching speeches, using appropriate language and delivery, and listening critically to oral presentations. ENG 134 contains two quizzes, a final exam, and four speeches to be given by the student. The speeches include a tribute, persuasive, explanatory, and problem-solving address. Material also features video and inaugural addresses of past U.S. presidents. The course utilizes instructor Curt Smith’s experience as a former White House presidential speechwriter and as a Smithsonian Institution series host. Applicable English Cluster: Media, Culture, and Communication [H1ENG016]

Location

Lechase Room 141 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

The purpose of this course is to give students an appreciation for and knowledge of critical thinking and reasoned decision-making through argumentation. Students will research both sides of a topic, write argument briefs, and participate in formal and informal debates. Students will also be exposed to the major paradigms used in judging debates. Applicable English Cluster: Media, Culture, and Communication [H1ENG016]

Location

Lechase Room 104 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

The purpose of this course is to give students an appreciation for and knowledge of critical thinking and reasoned decision-making through argumentation. Students will research both sides of a topic, write argument briefs, and participate in formal and informal debates. Students will also be exposed to the major paradigms used in judging debates. Applicable English Cluster: Media, Culture, and Communication [H1ENG016]

Location

Genesee Hall Room 309 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Did the Romans have a sense of humor? What made them laugh? Are their comedies still funny today? In this course we will explore these questions and more as we examine the tradition of comic theater in Rome and its lasting impact on the development of drama. Students will read a diverse and engaging selection of Roman comedies-in-translation by Plautus, Terence, and others, gaining a keen understanding of the comic genre’s plot types, tropes, themes, stock characters, stagecraft elements, and Roman production contexts. Students will leave the course with a firm understanding of Roman comedy, its value as a window into the diverse identities and experiences of the ancient world, and its relevance to modern audiences. The course assumes no previous knowledge of Roman antiquity.

Location

Morey Room 525 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Do you want to be on stage and screen, but wonder if you have the skills to land a gig? Auditioning for Live Theatre and Film will introduce students to the practice of auditioning for acting work. Throughout the semester students will learn to prepare monologues, analyze, and perform sides from theatre and film scripts and how to put together resumes, headshot and submissions for work. Each student will finish the class with two contrasting monologues, a headshot and resume and knowing how to slate and represent themselves in the room. The class will include a sample audition with professional directors and Q & A to help you learn how to put your best foot forward when you enter the audition room.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (M 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

1st 7 weeks of the semester: 8/26 - 10/21

Space and how it is conceived and explored is fundamental to the telling of stories onstage and elsewhere. This introductory course aims at giving students skills to create, translate and communicate a visual design/environment for performance. The class will focus on design fundamentals, materials, research and visual storytelling through class discussion, script analysis and practical work. Students will read a play, devise a concept for that play, research possible environments, and begin to produce drawings and other visual ideas for their design. Student's work will be presented and discussed in each class.

Location

Todd Union Room 112 (M 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

This year this class will work in partnership with Arts and Activism (DANC 248) to create a performance on the theme of “Who Decides?” We will partner with GEVA theatre’s resident Playwright Delanna Studi, Cherokee performer, storyteller, playwright, and activist on creating our own work! https://delannastudi.com/about/  Devised Theatre is a highly collaborative and experimental way of making theatre including movement, Multimedia/Mixed Media, Physical Theatre, Immersive and Site-Specific Theatre and many others! Devising is widely used by contemporary theatre groups of different scales and styles all over the world. In this course students will create a performance, on a theme of their choice, by making use of various starting materials including visits to the community, photos, objects, songs, news articles, maps, letters, poems, creative writing, movement and architectural space. No experience necessary and all are welcome!

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (R 11:05AM - 1:45PM)

This course introduces the basic aesthetic and technical elements of video production. Emphasis is on the creative use and understanding of the video medium while learning to use the video camera, video editing processes and the fundamental procedures of planning video projects. Strategies for the use of video as an art-making tool will be explored. Works by artists and directors critically exploring media of film and video will be viewed and discussed. Video techniques will be studied through screenings, group discussions, readings, practice sessions and presentations of original video projects made during the course. Sophomores and Juniors with officially declared FMS and SA majors are given priority registration; followed by sophomores and juniors with officially declared FMS and SA minors. Studio arts supplies fee: $75. To be added to the rolling waiting list contact Jason Middleton.

Location

Sage Arts Center Room 101 (MW 4:50PM - 7:30PM)

This course enables students to move progressively toward a stronger understanding of long form improvisation acting theory and skills related to listening, supporting others, heightening, and taking risks. By the end of this course, students will be able to work within a cast to create full-length, fully improvised plays that incorporate spontaneous monologues and scenes with recurring characters and themes. Particular focus will be paid to a format known as “The Harold,” which is widely considered the cornerstone of modern improv comedy. 

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (R 3:25PM - 6:05PM)

The creation of a contemporary theatrical production uses skills and talents across a wide range of disciplines: from carpentry to rigging, from painting to computer drafting, from electrical to audiovisual engineering for the stage. This introductory course will explore the theories, methods, and safe practice of set construction (including using power tools), rigging, stage lighting, drafting, sound, and scene painting. Students will work on actual productions staged by the Theatre Program during required labs that will be scheduled with the instructor.

Location

Sloan Performing Arts Center Room B023 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

Ever wonder and admire how sound designers create awesome aural environments in live performance? This course investigates the tools, tricks, skills, and equipment of realizing sound design for the theater. You’ll learn how Sound Designers shape sound and music, and collaborate with other artists to achieve a specific creative vision. You’ll see and experience how sound systems are put together, getting hands-on time with different equipment and learning just what each piece does. We will build on the fundamentals of sound systems that can start as small as your computer and go as large as filling a 1,000 seat theater or larger. As you learn these trades and skills, you’ll then apply them in the Theatre Program's productions, working with peers and industry professionals to put on a full scale production. Whatever your experience level, you are welcome here. All you need is a passion for hearing the world around you, and the desire to bring your own creative world to life on whatever stage you find. There is a required lab component that will be scheduled with the instructor.

Location

Todd Union Room 112 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course serves as an introduction to, and exploration of the acting process for the stage, developing the fundamental skills students need to approach a text from a performers standpoint and to create character. The course takes as its basic premise that the actors instrument is the selfwith all of the physical, psychological, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual implications of that term. Students will be encouraged in both the expression and the expansion of the self and of the imagination. The class will also help the student develop an overall appreciation for the role of the theatre in todays society. Fall class: in conjunction with a weekly scheduled lab.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (W 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

This course serves as an introduction to, and exploration of the acting process for the stage, developing the fundamental skills students need to approach a text from a performers standpoint and to create character. The course takes as its basic premise that the actors instrument is the selfwith all of the physical, psychological, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual implications of that term. Students will be encouraged in both the expression and the expansion of the self and of the imagination. The class will also help the student develop an overall appreciation for the role of the theatre in todays society. Fall class: in conjunction with a weekly scheduled lab that starts on Wednesday, 9/4/24.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (W 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

Ninety three percent of communication is nonverbal. In today's ever increasingly technological world soft skills? are more valuable than ever. It is not just important what we say, but how we say it. In Movement for Stage using Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamental, View Points, Laban and many other exercises and explorations students will gain an awareness of their own habits and physical tensions, learn alignment and relaxation techniques, let go of inhibitions and then learn to make physical choices to create diverse and inventive characters. Students will learn to read the body language of others and tools to use in their own lives to physically adjust and respond and relate to new situations in new ways.

Please note, if class is at capacity please consider enrolling in a similar course, ENGL 156-01. You may email instructor, Sarah Penner with any questions.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (F 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

In todays theatre, the director is generally considered to be the key creative figure in how a theatre production is conceived, explored and presented. But the directors task is a difficult one, encompassing rigorous intellectual, theatrical and artistic knowledge and skills. This introductory directing techniques class for aspiring directors will explore the nature of the theatrical event, investigate conceptualization, visualization, text analysis, action and design as they pertain to the director's craft. In conjunction with a weekly scheduled lab.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (F 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

In todays theatre, the director is generally considered to be the key creative figure in how a theatre production is conceived, explored and presented. But the directors task is a difficult one, encompassing rigorous intellectual, theatrical and artistic knowledge and skills. This introductory directing techniques class for aspiring directors will explore the nature of the theatrical event, investigate conceptualization, visualization, text analysis, action and design as they pertain to the director's craft. In conjunction with a weekly scheduled lab.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (W 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

Theatre and Cultural Context (previously Intro to Theatre) is an introductory class allowing students to comprehensively and actively understand the entire theatrical production process from the page to the stage, while simultaneously exploring the cultural (and other contexts) in which artists, playwrights, directors and designers create the magic of theatre. Students discover theatre in an immersive way, studying and gaining insight into the actual texts of works being produced by the UR International Theatre Program.  In conjunction with professional artists who direct and design our productions, students explore the creative and artistic process and gain first-hand, practical knowledge working in one of many labs associated with the production (scenery, lighting, costume, sound, etc.). A unique course melding the theoretical and practical, with a deep dive into the (largely, though not exclusively) Western cultural literacy all rolled into one.  There is a required lab component that will be scheduled with the instructor.

Location

Todd Union Room 202F (F 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

The first of a sequence of two, the course approaches 'The Divine Comedy' both as a poetic masterpiece and as an encyclopedia of medieval culture. Through a close textual analysis of 'Inferno,' and the first half of 'Purgatorio,' students learn how to approach Dantes poetry as a vehicle for thought, an instrument of self-discovery, and a way to understand and affect the historical reality. They also gain a perspective on the Biblical, Christian, and Classical traditions as they intersect with the multiple levels of Dantes concern, ranging from literature to history, from politics to government, from philosophy to theology. A visual component, including illustrations of the 'Comedy' and multiple artworks pertinent to the narrative, complements the course. Class format includes lectures, discussion, and a weekly recitation session. Intensive class participation is encouraged. Dante I can be taken independently from Dante II. No prerequisites. Freshmen are welcome. Part of the Dante Humanities Cluster.

Location

Gavett Hall Room 310 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

What is the FAIRY? An ever-changing entity that emerges from various oral and literary sources. Demons? Fallen angels?, Elementals? This course examines the figure of the Fairy in antiquity, medieval, renaissance, and twentieth-century texts for the liminality, category crisis, gender, poetic inspiration and allegory this figure inspires, as well as its social, political, and religious controversies in early English and Celtic ballads and romances. The Fairy signals both instability and literary self-fashioning in the grafting of histories and genealogies upon fairy ancestors (Melusine, The Fairie Queene) care-takers of “nature” (Midsummer Night's Dream); and both childhood and loss in later poetry (Keats, Yeats, Conan Doyle) Throughout time, readers have been fascinated by a “hidden people” not entirely foreign, evil, or human who abduct them, deceive them, seduce them, and make them poets. Forget the pretty Hallmark cards. These entities were sexy, devious, and scary!

Location

Hylan Building Room 105 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This class explores the full range of Shakespeare's theater, including examples of comedies, history plays, tragedies, and “romances.” We approach the plays from many angles, looking at their stark and extravagant language; their invention of complex conflicted human characters; their self-conscious references to contemporary stage practices; and their meditations on death, love, politics, power, and revenge. We learn about the literary and theatrical conventions that would have been second nature to Shakespeare and his audience over 400 years ago and consider how Renaissance stage practices might help us to better understand his plays and better appreciate why Renaissance audiences found them so compelling. When possible, we consult video of recent staged productions. This course is appropriate for all students, from those in their first semester at the university to senior English majors. No restrictions or prerequisites; all are welcome. It fulfills the pre-1800 requirement for the English major and satisfies a requirement in two English Clusters (Great Books, Great Authors; Plays, Playwrights, and Theater).

Location

Lechase Room 181 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

In this course, we will investigate how virtual and augmented reality technologies shape us as writers, arguers, and citizens. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies, collectively known as extended reality (XR), build on existing digital networking models and are also immersive. Research is ongoing about how networked digital spaces, such as social media, foster or destroy community, create or alleviate loneliness, and contribute to new knowledge or greater confusion. Understanding the impact of these technologies on our communications grows even more important as the possibility of the metaverse, a space where we would lead digital-first lives in XR, advances. We will read research from across disciplines, including philosophy, legal studies, data science, and engineering. Our investigation won't be limited to scholarship - venture capitalists have written some of the most recent and influential books about the metaverse, the term was coined in Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, and no metaverse course would be complete without a viewing of The Matrix. As we explore the impact of XR, we will also investigate how the proliferation of digital spaces increases our reliance on digital communications tools and engagement with artificial intelligence (Al). Students will create short written projects throughout the semester that experiment with writing in extended reality and with Al tools. The semester will culminate in a final project centered around student interests in XR and communication.

Location

Lechase Room 122 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

The nineteenth-century novel is usually associated with Victorian values: happy marriage; wholesome homes; moral propriety; properly channeled emotions and ambitions. Many of the most popular novels, however, paint a very different picture: with madwomen locked in attics and asylums; monsters, real and imagined, lurking behind the façade of propriety; genteel homes harboring opium addicts; fallen women walking the streets; and sexual transgression and degeneracy popping up everywhere. Indeed, for novels centrally structured around marriage and society, madness and monstrosity appear with alarming regularity. The intertwining of these tropes suggests some of the cultural anxieties unleashed by the new body of women writers and women readers. We will begin with Frankenstein and end with Dracula, two novels from opposite ends of the century. We will also consider such classic marriage plot novels as Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre and some popular sensation fiction of the 1860s. 

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

In this class we will ask what U. S. literature and art of the first half of the nineteenth century has to say to readers today.  This period has often been described as the first moment of greatness in American culture.  Like today, it was a period of great political strife.  In the nineteenth century that strife culminated in a catastrophic Civil War.  Like today, the nation was riven by deep regional and ideological divisions and struggling to reconcile its many contradictions.  Dedicated to principles of liberty but dependent on enslaved labor, celebrating equality but denying women’s rights and holding black Americans in bondage, championing justice for all but expropriating Native lands, promising a more perfect union but increasingly pulling apart along sectional and class lines, pursuing happiness but increasingly in doubt about how one should live.  In the midst of these controversies and tensions, writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, Harriet Jacobs, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Edgar Allan Poe and Lydia Maria Child and Abraham Lincoln as well as a generation of American painters created fiction and poetry, essays and speeches and paintings of great power and inventiveness that also wrestled with the political and ethical crises of its day. The hopes that these artists invested in art’s power to inspire and guide national and reform personal redemption is one way they remain relevant today.

Location

Hylan Building Room 305 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

In this course we will consider the special contributions of black intellectuals to the culture and controversies of America and the Atlantic world focusing on the twentieth century and the contemporary moment. Analyses and criticisms of racial identity, national belonging, political theory, artistic expression, and gender politics will focus our discussions. Works by W. E. B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Francis Harper, Nella Larson, George Schuyler, Frantz Fanon, C. L. R. James, Paul Gilroy, Aimé César, Eduard Glissant, Stuart Hall, Toni Morrison, Spike Lee, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Léopold Senghor, Hortense Spillers, Cedric Robinson, and Claudia Rankine will figure prominently in our discussions, as will the more general question of the political and social role of intellectuals in the modern world, the problem of elitism in democratic societies, and the crucial, leading role black writers and artists have played in defining and shaping our modern era. 

Location

Hylan Building Room 202 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

The explosion of black culture during the early Twentieth Century known as the “Harlem” or (more broadly) “New Negro” Renaissance included the emergence of some of the most important works of the African American literary tradition. This course will provide a survey of the literature and culture that reflect the spirit of that era. In addition, the course will consider recent African-American fiction in order to ascertain what the Harlem Renaissance has meant for subsequent writers and artists. Special attention will be paid to the following topics: migration, jazz, the Blues, literary modernism, theories of black identity, and difference within black America. Readings include works by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, George Schuyler, Toni Morrison, Samuel R. Delany, and more. Requirements include class participation, six 1-page reading responses, and two 6-8-page formal writing assignments.
 
 

Location

Meliora Room 219 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

How do cyborgs, superheroes, and ghosts change our understanding of what it means to be human? How do interstellar travel, dystopian climate change, and revisionist ancient histories reframe the way we think of African diasporic histories of trauma, survival, desired freedom, and collective belonging? Studying science fiction, fantasy, and horror from across Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America, this course will focus on how 20th and 21st century artists have reimagined black life after slavery and empire. We’ll study a range of artistic forms, including fiction, film, visual art, and music, by artists like Octavia Butler, Wanuri Kahiu, Nalo Hopkinson, Jordan Peele, and Wangechi Mutu. We’ll look at how artists of color contort the world we know, and how they use the speculative mode to pose deeply philosophical and historical questions.

Location

Goergen Hall Room 110 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

The popularity of thrillers have always hinged upon the subconscious readers’ and viewers’ choice of most talented authors. Talent is not essential for one’s making a reader laugh or cry, but in order to scare the audience, authors need to understand the foundations of psyche and literature, and of life in general. What does the notion of the Gothic entail? What are the main thriller devices? Why does the violation of logical connections and psychological laws frighten the reader? Where do the roots of our interest to pathology lie? What role does rhythm play in inciting horror? And how do the concepts of thriller, horror, and suspense relate to one another? How does the composition of thrillers draw the actual horror into the writer’s own life and how does it protect you from the uncanny? What role does the poetic and the mysterious play in the Gothic art, and why does Romantic art in particular poeticizes fear most often? What plots and schemes are most usable in modern suspense? What is the general difference between thriller, horror and suspense? Can panic become a kind of sinful pleasure? There are no definitive answers to all these questions, and yet, the theme of thriller aesthetics remains one of the most appealing in literary studies and creative writing. This course will help you overcome your personal fears by transforming them into literary texts. It will also help you foresee those cinematic moments when the entire audience shakes with fear and begins to scream. Taught in English. 

Location

Lattimore Room 401 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course will provide an opportunity to sample an exciting body of contemporary literature, some written by authors already widely acclaimed when they received the Nobel Prize and some by writers suddenly catapulted into fame and international recognition. A central focus of the course will be the literature itself, but we will also look at some of the controversies the prize has generated – including the recent sex scandal that led to the prize’s temporary suspension. We will consider how receipt of the prize changed writers' lives and literary reputations, and we will track the announcement of a new prize-winner in October 2024. In the U.S., where less than 5% of the literature published each year is literature in translation, Nobel prize-winning literature is often the only modern literature Americans read in translation. This raises the question of translation and the role of the Nobel Prize in creating and promoting an international literature. We will also consider the special challenges this literature poses for its readers in speaking to both local and global audiences. Some of the readings for the class will be chosen by the students.

Location

Goergen Hall Room 110 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course addresses questions such as these: Do species have “origins”? Does the universe have a beginning? What is meant by “creation”? Are “fundamental” particles related to religious fundamentalism? Is cognitive science connected to the “tree of knowledge”? Are “knowledge” and “truth” key terms in both science and religion? Are there “higher” and “lower” organisms? Do mothers have “instincts”? Are people smarter than other animals? Have “instincts” and “intelligence” been identified by science? Does a sperm “penetrate” or “fertilize” an egg? Do either God or Nature have “laws”? Is “the invisible hand” a religious idea? Is “the great chain of being” a religious idea, and did Darwin overtake it? Do people need to be “saved”? Is “evil” a “problem”? How do people describe the practices of circumcision and communion? Readings are taken from the bible, history of science, feminist critiques of religion and science, and literature. Emphasis is on common language usages and their political valences.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 403 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Charles Dickens wrote some of the most famous novels in the English language. Though published during the nineteenth century, his novels continue to be the subject of countless film, television, and stage adaptations to the present day. Dickens’s novels are so much a part of the popular imagination that even those who have not read his novels are often familiar with their characters and scenes—from poor orphaned Oliver Twist asking for more porridge to miserly Ebenezer Scrooge saying “Bah! Humbug!” during Christmas. Central to Dickens’s appeal among audiences past and present is his distinctive “Dickensian” style. When we describe a novel as Dickensian, it elicits numerous associations—complex and mysterious plots, a cast of characters who are all somehow connected, vibrant depictions of cityscape and social life, comedic characterizations, social satire, and sentimentalism, to name a few.  In this course we will read a variety of Dickens’s major novels in order to appreciate his vision and style as a writer and thus learn, first hand, why his novels continue to attract audiences and what it means to describe a novel as Dickensian. While the focus will be primarily on Dickens’s novels, the course will also examine a twentieth-century novel that critics have labeled Dickensian and address Dickens's influence on long-form serial television (e.g. The Wire). Fulfills the post-1800 requirement. No prerequisites. Counts towards the following clusters: Great Books, Great Authors (H1ENG010) and Novels (H1ENG009).

Location

Lechase Room 103 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

More broadly, a study of the gray zone between short story and novel, containing many ambiguous labels (long short story, novella, short novel). The course will interrogate various boundaries – When does a short story become a novella? When does a novella become a novel? – 
and locate answers not merely in word count, but in reader experience and expectation. Because of the (relative) brevity of these in-between texts, the course will cover much stylistic and geographic ground. Author list may include: Franz Kafka, Victor LaValle, Don DeLillo, Carson McCullers, Nathanael West, Gabriel García Márquez, Henry James, Danielle Evans, George Saunders, Garth Greenwell, Mieko Kawakami, Aleksandar Hemon, William Gass, and Cynthia Ozick. 
 

Location

Lechase Room 104 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This 4-credit intersession course will be conducted in London, UK, from December 26, 2024–January 8, 2025. Attending two plays per day with a seminar discussion each morning, students in this course are exposed to a full range of theatre experiences, from intimate theatre-in-the-round to monumental productions at the National Theatre, and from West End spectaculars to cutting-edge works mounted in post-industrial spaces. See the link on the English Department homepage to find the course's website, which describes the program in greater detail and contains syllabi from the past 25+ years. Need-based financial aid is available. The fee total is $2850 

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course surveys the history of cinema from its emergence in the mid-1890s to the transition to sound in the late 1920s. We will examine the cinema as a set of aesthetic, social, technological, national, cultural and industrial practices as they were exercised and developed during this 30-year span. We will explore the diverse forms cinema took and functions it performed during this period by looking closely at a range of films and writings about films and film culture. We will also examine contexts within which these films were produced and experienced as well as theorizations of cinema that emerged concurrently with them. The course thus introduces students to the study of film history as well as a key national and international trends in making and thinking about cinema as it rose to prominence as a vital component of the art and culture of the twentieth century. Previous coursework in film is recommended, though not required; please contact the professor if this will be your first experience studying film in an academic setting.

Location

Hylan Building Room 102 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

A transnational survey of film history, examining the technical and formal aspects of the medium in its production and exhibition. Same as FMS 248

Location

Morey Room 504 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

Italian Neorealist films of the 1940s and 1950s constituted Italian cinema’s greatest contribution to filmmaking worldwide and to the history of cinema. This course will provide students with a solid understanding of Neorealist themes and style through explorations of its three principal directors: Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica and Luchino Visconti. Discussion topics will range from the Nazi occupation of Italy and the Partisan Resistance, to southern Italy and postwar living conditions. Films include: Rome Open City, Paisan, Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D., The Earth Trembles and Bellissima. Assignments include: historical, biographical and critical readings, film screenings, short papers and a final essay. Readings will be in English and films will be shown with English subtitles.

Location

Morey Room 502 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

A focused study of Godzilla on film, from the original 1954 film that defined Japan's kaiju film to today. Broader course context includes an investigation of the 1950s science fiction/horror/creature-feature genre popularized during the heyday of the Cold War nuclear age but dating back to silent cinema, and a comparative study of the visual culture of war from WWII to today. Seminal sci-fi titles influencing the Godzilla film paradigm and close readings of select Godzilla universe films reveal the historical and social contexts for the Godzilla franchise's erratic trajectory since 1954. We watch both dubbed and subtitled original Japanese language versions of select titles to better understand how different culturally generated perspectives of Godzilla emerge. No prerequisites, no audits.

Location

Meliora Room 218 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course introduces students to the poetics of television. We will explore the ways that television tells stories, creates characters, and constructs worlds; the significance of genre, style, and form to those stories, characters, and worlds; and the relationship between television and the horizons of social, historical, and aesthetic experience that television opens as one of the most important culture industries of the last 100 years. Much of our class will be devoted to watching TV and discussing what we watch, especially scripted television such as sitcoms, soap operas, procedurals, “quality” television, web series, and so on. Students will also come to understand poetics, a method that goes back to Aristotle, as an approach useful to the study of any medium, especially when combined with methods enabled by digital technologies. 

Location

Lechase Room 163 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course explores Hollywood's fascination with race and gender as social issues and as spectacles. In particular, we will focus on the ways that social difference have become the sites of conflicted narrative and visual interactions in our films. To examine competing representations of racial difference and sexual difference in US culture, we analyze popular films from the 1950s to the present.

Location

Morey Room 504 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course runs in combination with an internship at Open Letter Books and focuses on explaining the basics of the business of literary publishing: editing, marketing, promoting, fundraising, ebooks, the future of bookselling, etc. Literature in translation is emphasized in this class, and all the topics covered tie in with the various projects interns work on for Open Letter Books.

Location

Meliora Room 219 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Pre-req: ENGL174, 292, 293, 294, 295 or by Audition

Acting II aims to provide students who have substantial or significant performance experience an opportunity to explore, in depth, advanced acting techniques, while further developing interpretive and imaginative skills. The class aims to build creativity and the ability to inhabit a broad diversity of characters and performance styles.

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (M 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

This workshop is for advanced fiction writers who have completed ENG 121 or have permission from the instructor. The course emphasizes the development of each student's individual style and imagination, as well as the practical and technical concerns of a fiction writer's craft. Readings will be drawn from a wide variety of modern and contemporary writers. Students will be expected to write three original short stories as well as to revise extensively in order to explore the full range of the story's potential. Applicable English Cluster: Creative Writing. 

Location

Morey Room 501 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Prerequisites; English 122 or equivalent; instructor permission. Students are to submit 3-5 typed poems to jennifer.grotz@rochester.edu to obtain permission to register.

Poems, as William Carlos Williams once said, are machines made out of words, and in this advanced poetry workshop we will work on making the most gorgeous, gripping, and efficient machines possible. To that end, we will read both one another's poems and poems by established authors, in either case paying attention to the ways in which the authors harness aspects of their medium, the English language: syntax, diction, rhythm. The poems we write may take any shape, any form, but we will work towards understanding why a particular poem must take the shape it has; we will pay attention not so much to what the poems say as to how they say it. Requirements: weekly writing and reading assignments, revisions of assignments, devoted participation in class discussions, a final project.

Permission of instructor is required. Students are to submit 3-5 typed poems to jennifer.grotz@rochester.edu in order to apply.

Please note that this course is only being offered in Fall for the 24/25 academic year

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 226 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

An introduction and practice to writing professionally formatted scripts used in short films and webisodes. Emphasis will be placed on writing short-form scripts and how to discuss and analyze key elements of scriptwriting and visual storytelling.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

United States law says “Consent and agency over one’s body is a given in the work space.”  How, then, can the performance workspace acknowledge and honor our boundaries, while nurturing us to risk, grow, and create our truest, bravest work?   How can we as artists learn strategies to poetize the uncomfortable while honoring our boundaries?  In this course, we study the history and evolution of consent in performance, allowing students to learn about personal agency, self-advocacy, and how to foster and navigate healthy collaboration across disciplines. The class will give young artists the space to discover and articulate their boundaries through a variety of group exercises and opportunities for self-reflection.  Lectures will cover intimacy direction and rehearsal tools, discussions and guest lecturers on gender and feminist theory in relation to performance art, theatre, film and dance.  This course is a must for artistic collaborators from directors & choreographers, to actors, musicians, technicians, and performance artists! United States law says “Consent and agency over one’s body is a given in the work space.”  How, then, can the performance workspace acknowledge and honor our boundaries, while nurturing us to risk, grow, and create our truest, bravest work?   How can we as artists learn strategies to poetize the uncomfortable while honoring our boundaries?  In this course, we study the history and evolution of consent in performance, allowing students to learn about personal agency, self-advocacy, and how to foster and navigate healthy collaboration across disciplines. The class will give young artists the space to discover and articulate their boundaries through a variety of group exercises and opportunities for self-reflection.  Lectures will cover intimacy direction and rehearsal tools, discussions and guest lecturers on gender and feminist theory in relation to performance art, theatre, film and dance.  This course is a must for artistic collaborators from directors & choreographers, to actors, musicians, technicians, and performance artists!

Location

Todd Union Room 107 (T 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

What makes David Sedaris funny? How about the likes of Tina Fey, Mark Twain, Chris Rock, Jonathan Swift, Mindy Kaling, Lord Byron, Nora Ephron, Key & Peele, and The Onion? In this course we’ll seek inspiration from some of the funniest people alive (and dead) while writing our own humor pieces. Students will have a chance to explore a variety of genres, from essays to memoirs to song parodies and sketches—and to share work by their own favorite humorists with the class. Instructor’s permission required. Please email Melissa Balmain (melissa.balmain@rochester.edu) a short paragraph or two on your writing experience and why you'd like to take this class.

Location

Todd Union Room 202 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

The course will involve viewing, discussing, and writing about movies that have featured reporters and editors and the challenges and choices they face. Beginning with “His Girl Friday,” and including “All the President’s Men,” “Shattered Glass,” and “She Said,” journalists in the films, meet their deadlines, sometimes honestly, sometimes not, all the while dramatizing rich and relevant issues. During the semester, students will provide written responses to the films, finishing with a longer paper that examines either one film, or several films. 

Location

Genesee Hall Room 309 (M 3:25PM - 6:05PM)

Prerequisites: Interested students must apply. Minimum GPA of 3.0.

Prepares sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled in five-year programs, from the humanities, sciences, and the social sciences for work as writing fellows. Course design facilitates the development of a strong, intuitive writer and speaker in order to become a successful reader, listener and responder in peer-tutoring situations. Ample writing and rewriting experiences, practice in informal and formal speaking, and the critical reading of published essays and student work enhance students' ability to become conscious, flexible communicators. Before tutoring on their own, students observe writing fellows and writing center consultants conduct tutoring sessions. On completion of the course with a B or better, fellows should be prepared to accept their own hours as peer tutors.

YOU MUST REGISTER FOR A RECITATION WHEN REGISTERING FOR THE MAIN SECTION

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room G121A (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Prerequisites: Interested students must apply. Minimum GPA of 3.0.

Prepares sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled in five-year programs, from the humanities, sciences, and the social sciences for work as writing fellows. Course design facilitates the development of a strong, intuitive writer and speaker in order to become a successful reader, listener and responder in peer-tutoring situations. Ample writing and rewriting experiences, practice in informal and formal speaking, and the critical reading of published essays and student work enhance students' ability to become conscious, flexible communicators. Before tutoring on their own, students observe writing fellows and writing center consultants conduct tutoring sessions. On completion of the course with a B or better, fellows should be prepared to accept their own hours as peer tutors.

YOU MUST REGISTER FOR A RECITATION WHEN REGISTERING FOR THE MAIN SECTION

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room G121A (F 12:00PM - 12:50PM)

Presidential Rhetoric, taught by former presidential speechwriter Curt Smith, helps students critically examine the public rhetoric and themes of the modern American presidency. ENG 286 devotes special attention to the office’s symbolic nature, focusing on how well twentieth-century presidents communicate via a variety of forms, including the press conference, political speech, inaugural address, and prime-time TV speech. Smith will draw on his experiences at the White House and at ESPN TV to link the world’s most powerful office and today’s dominant medium. Applicable English Cluster: Media, Culture, and Communication [H1ENG016]

Location

Lechase Room 161 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course will introduce students to the theoretical backgrounds, practical challenges, and creative activity of literary translation. We will consider varied descriptions by translators of what it is they believe they are doing and what they hope to accomplish by doing it; and we will study specific translations into English from a variety of sources to investigate the strategies and choices translators make and the implication of those choices for our developing sense of what kinds of texts translations are. Finally, students will undertake a translation project of their own. By the end of this class each student should have a working knowledge of both the theory and the craft of literary translation.

Location

Hylan Building Room 303 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course investigates and plays with the sentence, revealing its incredible potential to shape meaning, identity, voice, and our relationship with our readers. Drawing on work in functional linguistics (e.g., Aull, Hyland, Vande Kopple) and voice (e.g., Palacas, Young), we’ll see how different sentence-level choices create different meanings and effects. Assignments will regularly involve analyzing texts chosen and written by students, playing purposefully with language, and testing the effects of different choices. To aid analysis, generative AI (eg., GPT) and our imaginations will be used to generate different versions of the “same” text; An easy-to-use corpus analysis tool (AntConc) will help reveal textual patterns across large amounts of text. Through a final project, students will investigate some aspect of the sentence in a medium and context of their choice or address an interesting theoretical question about the sentence. This course is ideal for those interested in any kind of writing, writing education, or editing. Background in linguistics or grammar is not necessary. Open to undergraduates and graduate students.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room G108 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course encourages you to bring your unique talent and personality to the screen with confidence and freedom. We will cover technical terminology and physical adjustments required for working in front of the lens. The first half of the semester will focus on 'on camera' interviews, auditions and interview work. The second half will focus on 2-3 character 'on camera? scene work. Every taped session will be followed up by feedback and discussion.

Location

Rettner Hall Room 305 (W 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

For actors, assistant directors and select student staff working on a current main stage production.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

For actors, assistant directors and select student staff working on a current mainstage production. By audition/arrangement with instructor.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

The stage manager is the critical organizational and management hub in the artistic process of theatrical production. Stage Managers are skilled project managers, and the skills learned in stage management are applicable to almost any management Stage Management (fall/spring) students will get an in-depth introduction to and immersion in stage managing a theatrical production. In addition, cover all areas of management skills, safety procedures, technical knowledge, and paperwork, students will be expected to serve as an assistant stage manager or production stage manager on one (or both) Theater Program productions in their registered semester.

Location

Todd Union Room 202F (F 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

A 1 credit pass/fail performance lab course for students accepted into ENG 292, 293, 294, 295 & 296 or for those involved as actors in mainstage Theatre Program productions.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

A 1 credit pass/fail performance lab course for students accepted into ENG 292, 293, 294, 295, 296 & 297 or for those involved as actors in mainstage Theatre Program productions.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course introduces students to the rich body of disaster literature and cinema in Japan. We will explore how Japanese artists creatively reflected on themes of loss, grief, trauma, survival, and healing; we will critically analyze how disaster writings and films probe the issues of socio-political infrastructure as well as human pain and strength. Described as events that cause “the breach of collective expectations in institutions and practices that make everyday life work” (Curato and Corpus Ong 2015), the “disasters” we encounter in this class include both natural and human-generated calamities such as fire, earthquake, war, atomic bombing, and epidemic. Also covered in this class are writings on “imagined disasters” as found in science fiction and dystopian fantasy (for example, the 1973 novel Japan Sinks by Komatsu Sakyō and its parody “The World Sinks Except Japan” by Tsutsui Yasutaka).

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 420 (TR 6:15PM - 7:30PM)

This course surveys women’s literature in East Asia from the classical to the contemporary period. Through a diverse selection of women’s writings that encompass classical poetry, proletariat literature, war novels, and science fiction, students explore how women writers actively engaged with their respective societies during various points in history. Students will also gain critical insights into the issue of how “women’s literature” can be constructed within different frameworks such as history, social-political freedom, gender identity, commercial publishing, and artistic expression. While studying their writings and diverse voices, we meditate on these underlying questions: what is “women’s literature”? When and how can it be a productive category, and when is it not?

All readings will be in English; knowledge of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean is welcome but not required.

Location

Meliora Room 206 (MW 7:40PM - 8:55PM)

Throughout much of modern medical and cultural history, bodily difference has been categorized as disability—as a problematic deviation from standards of normalcy and health. This legacy has been fiercely debated and contested in recent years, with much disagreement about the category’s usefulness in medical contexts and beyond. This course will explore different perspectives on disability through works of modern culture, and primarily through literature, television, and film. We will investigate the traditional medical model of disability, and explore what changing understandings of disability mean for the future of healthcare and the relationship between healthcare providers and patients. The course is writing-intensive, and requires students to share and workshop their papers with peers.

Location

(W 2:00PM - 4:30PM)

This course will build upon skills and experience garnered in earlier stage management coursework on Theatre Program mainstage production.  It allows students to build real-world management techniques, test and develop their working knowledge of stage management, and develop hands-on experience in “the field”.  Students will again work with professional artists on a Theatre Program Mainstage production and are expected to manage the production with advanced facility, significant self-regulation and self-evaluation, and develop mentorship skills to assist, inspire, and enhance the abilities of their student assistant stage management team members.  Permission of Instructor Required.  Pre-req: ENGL 296/297 and ENGL 392.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

In Special Projects: Theatre students work in a particular area or on a particular project of their choosing or devising. Developed with and overseen by a Theatre Program faculty member and functioning like an Independent Study, Special Projects: Theatre allows students the opportunity of specializing in or investigate theatre in a tailored, focused, and self-directed way.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

In Special Projects: Theatre students work in a particular area or on a particular project of their choosing or devising. Developed with and overseen by a Theatre Program faculty member and functioning like an Independent Study, Special Projects: Theatre allows students the opportunity of specializing in or investigate theatre in a tailored, focused, and self-directed way.

Location

Attica Correctional Facility On-Site ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Read short stories by contemporary writers along with fiction by the students in the workshop, and discuss ways writers can sharpen the conversation between text and reader. Also consider editing and reviewing techniques. Students expected to write and revise at least three original stories or three sections of a longer work of fiction.

Location

Morey Room 504 (T 4:50PM - 7:30PM)

Prerequisites; English 122 or equivalent; instructor permission. Students are to submit 3-5 typed poems to jennifer.grotz@rochester.edu to obtain permission to register.

Poems, as William Carlos Williams once said, are machines made out of words, and in this advanced poetry workshop we will work on making the most gorgeous, gripping, and efficient machines possible. To that end, we will read both one another's poems and poems by established authors, in either case paying attention to the ways in which the authors harness aspects of their medium, the English language: syntax, diction, rhythm. The poems we write may take any shape, any form, but we will work towards understanding why a particular poem must take the shape it has; we will pay attention not so much to what the poems say as to how they say it. Requirements: weekly writing and reading assignments, revisions of assignments, devoted participation in class discussions, a final project.

Permission of instructor is required. Students are to submit 3-5 typed poems to jennifer.grotz@rochester.edu in order to apply.

Please note that this course is only being offered in Fall for the 24/25 academic year

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

From rom coms, musical comedies, and sitcoms to tragicomedy, satire, and slapstick, many versions of comedy have made us laugh out loud or smile sardonically from the ancients to the moderns. While this history will have a place in our course, we will primarily investigate comedy in film and television of the 20th and 21st centuries. We will explore critical issues related to comedy, including the function and meaning of laughter and jokes; moments of comic relief; the relationship of comedy to community and crisis; love, sexuality, and romance; the role of the body and whether comedy is a "body genre"; how race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class get messily mediated by comedy; the difference of comedy from other modes such as tragedy, horror, and realism; and the varying tones comedy can have from dark to light, serious to fun, and comforting to disturbing. Preference will be given to English, Digital Media Studies, and Film & Media Studies majors fulfilling a requirement.

Location

Morey Room 403 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Why do we think and talk about fictional characters as though they are real even when we know that they are not? It would seem easy to understand how a visual medium like film imitates aspects of our everyday life, but how do novels using nothing but words conjure an entire world in a reader’s mind that feel so real? This course explores these questions and others as it takes up the genre of the realist novel as it developed over the course of the nineteenth century. We will closely read and discuss some of the most exemplary practitioners of the realist novel within the British and Continental tradition, from Jane Austen and Honoré de Balzac to George Eliot.  The course will examine the aesthetics of realism and how realist fiction’s promise to show the reader what the world is like assumed a different form among varied novelists. Students will be exposed to theories of realism, past and present, and will also deepen their understanding of varied canonical novelists.  Preference given to English majors fulfilling a requirement, but other students may join with instructor permission

Location

Meliora Room 206 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

Blank Description

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

A course of reading, research, and writing on topics not covered by the existing curriculum, developed between the student and a faculty advisor.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Advanced Stage Management Practicum is designed for, and available only to students fulfilling the roll of a Production Stage Manager on a mainstage Theatre Program production.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

No description

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

The Fall 2024 English honors seminar will concentrate on a wide range of readings in fiction, theory, and criticism, as well the process and practice of writing itself. Novels by Abdulrazak Gurnah (By the Sea) and Kazuo Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go), along with influential essays by Walter Benjamin, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Edward Said, Gloria Anzaldúa, Eve Sedgwick, and others, will serve as our models for what fiction, theory, and criticism can do. Eric Hayot’s Elements of Academic Style will give us tools for our critical writing practice, and ways of seeing how criticism is constructed. Finally, alongside a selection of poetry and prose by writers like Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde, we’ll read Claudia Tate’s immensely influential edited volume of interviews, Black Women Writers at Work, to gain a sense of how some of the most celebrated American poets and fiction writers of the last half century have gone about their craft.

Location

Hylan Building Room 305 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Blank Description

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)