Graduate-level literature courses fulfill requirements for the M.A. program in Literature and Language. Graduate-level linguistics courses also fulfill the language requirements for the M.Ed. degree with ESL certification offered by the School of Education and Human Services. All of the following courses may also be used as electives in the graduate Humanities program.
EN 521 The Origins of the Novel, 1594-1800
The goal of this course is to show students how writers and readers can collaborate to invent a new literary form. The form in question is the English novel, and the principal period is the 18th century. There will be two subordinate topics: (a) the definition(s) of comedy and the problem of how comedy is to be realized in the medium of prose fiction; and (b) the new scholarly accounts of the early history of the novel that are superseding the long-authoritative account given by Ian Watt in The Rise of the Novel. (3)
EN 522 Out of the ’30s
The years of the Great Depression saw the rise of a new generation of writers who confidently attempted to combine literature and social advocacy. This course examines two groups of writers: one is predominantly Northern, urban, and progressive; the other is predominantly Southern, agrarian, and conservative. (3)
EN 524 Myth, Symbol, and Language
An investigation of the various interpretations of myth as representative of the struggle toward conceptual thought; the interpretation of myth and symbolic form is explored. The latter part of the course focuses on Noam Chomsky’s work Language and the Mind. (3)
EN 526 Concepts of Gender in the Modern World
Explores how gender concepts and relationships affect the individual’s self-concept in modern culture. (3)
EN 528 Visions of Freedom in the Modern World
Examines the diverse concepts of “freedom” that bear upon the individual in the 20th century. By contrasting literary and philosophic figures who worked in relative awareness of each other but who arrived at opposing stands on freedom, the elusive character of the concept is revealed. Selected texts from writers such as Dickens, Mill, James, Eliot, Joyce, Woolf, and Sartre. (3)
EN 530 Social Upheaval and Dramatic Structure
The Vietnam War, violence in the streets, and the unrest on college campuses in America in the late ’60s worked profound changes in the fabric of American life, reflected in the plays of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. This course traces these changes from a background examination of major works by O’Neill, Hellman, Miller, and Williams. (3)
EN 540 The Transformation of Literary Study
A study of the major contributions to modern literary theory in Europe and the United States. (3)
EN 550 General Linguistics
A study of the basic concepts of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. (3)
EN 552 Applied Phonology
The study of phonetics and phonemics including comparative analysis techniques. Emphasis on phonology and the ESL learner. (3)
EN 554 Applied Grammar: Syntactic Structures
An analysis of contemporary English grammar that investigates meaning in written and oral discourse. Emphasis given to the application of English grammar in second-language learning. (3)
EN 558 History of the English Language
The development of English from its Anglo-Saxon roots to its present-day form. (3)
EN 560 Dante’s Florence and The Divine Comedy
Links The Divine Comedy to specific intellectual and cultural issues in Dante’s world. It also explores the Comedy’s overall design, themes, and images. (3)
EN 561 Canterbury Tales and the Late Medieval World
Explores the historical and cultural factors that influenced the ways in which Chaucer invites his audience to enter into dialogue on the era’s central issues. It also studies the Tales’ overall design. (3)
EN 562 Shakespeare: Text and Performance
An intensive study of several Shakespearean plays as both text and performance. (3)
EN 580 Independent Study
Gives students the opportunity to pursue in depth, and under the direction of a faculty member, a topic in literature and/or language for which no formal course is available. (3)
EN 590 Major Author(s)
Provides an in-depth study of one or two major writers. Author(s) announced in the course schedule. This course may be taken more than once provided that the student selects different authors. (3)
EN 595 Master’s Project
This capstone course offers the student an opportunity to write a substantial and original critical/interpretive paper in literary and/or linguistic studies and to present its main features to an audience of peers and faculty members. This paper should draw on various aspects of the student’s previous studies. (3)