Interim, 2010

General Education 111 or its equivalent is a prerequisite for all courses in the English department except some Level I Interim courses. While a few courses have additional prerequisities, most Level I and Level II courses are open to all -- majors and non-majors alike -- after General Education 111. Level III courses (numbered 300 or higher) are primarily for English majors and ordinarily build upon prior work. All Level III courses require as a prerequisite English 185 and at least one Level II course in an area of relevant background as confirmed by the instructor or the department.

GLE Courses:

English 108 Trickster/Post Colonial Literature
English 123 Introduction to Poetry
English 200A American Regional Literature: Then and Now
English 200B Black and Asiam British Literature
English 212 Literature of Eastern Caribbean (abroad)
English 260 Monsters: Myths and Movies
English 265 Performing Arts in NY (abroad)

English 108: The Hero and the Trickster in Post-Colonial Literature (Joseph Mbele)
xxxxxStudents examine various heroic and trickster figures as manifested in post-colonial literature from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, both oral and written, and seek to understand what basic human needs and realities these figures express and fulfill.
(MCS-G, ALS-L)
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English 123: Introduction to Poetry (Jenny Dunning)
xxxxxThis course introduces students to poetry from a range of perspectives including, but not limited to: the poet's life; the application of categories of analysis such as race, gender, and nationality; poetry as literary craft; and the aesthetic appreciation of poems. To "experience" the literary medium of poetry in the fullest sense, students are required to write about, memorize, orally interpret/recite, and compose their own poetry. (ALS-L, ORC)
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English 200A - American Regional Literature: Then and Now (Jan Hill)
xxxxxIn this course we will begin with the roots of American literary regionalism, reading a sampling of 19th century realism and local color at its most vibrant. For each region of the country we explore, we will then consider the influences of the 20th-21st century migration and immigration on regional literature. How does our "sense of place," so essential to regional literature, change or expand when seen through the eyes of immigrant writers as well as native-born American writers from racial and ethnic groups once considered "outsiders"?
Pre-requisite: GE 111 or its equivalent .(ALS-L, WRI)
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English 200B: Black and Asian British Literature (Jon Naito)
xxxxxIn this course, we will consider a set of novels, short stories, poems, essays, and films that have had a truly global impact: examples of so-called black and Asian British literature. First we will study the origins of Britain's black and Asian population in the postwar, post-imperial period. Dominated initially by immigrants from the Caribbean from the late 1940s through the mid 1950s, and later by immigrants from South Asia in the late 1950s and early 1960s, this mass migration of the formerly colonized forever changed the complexion and culture of Britain. After reading works of immigrant writers from this early period, we will examine the rise of "black British" identity as a response to racism during the 1970s and 1980s, when this label was claimed by individuals of African, Caribbean, and Asian descent. In the wake of the "Rushdie Affair" (the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel, The Satanic Verses), the notion of Afro-Asian unity began to fall apart. Our course will conclude with recent works that address these tensions.
Pre-requisite: GE 111 or equivalent. (ALS-L)
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English 212: Literature of Eastern Caribbean (Karen Cherewatuk)
xxxxxOver the past fifty years there has been a rich flowering of literature in English outside the mainstream Anglo-American tradition. One area in which this has been particularly striking is the West Indies. The goal of this course is to study on site a selection of this liteature. The course will focus on poets and prose fiction writers from mainly, though not exclusively, the English-speaking islands of Barbados, Trinidad, and Saint Lucia, and will include such figures as Edward Brathwaite, Jamaica Kincaid, George Lamming, V.S. Naipaul (2001 Nobel Prize winner), Olive Senior, and Derek Walcott (1992 Nobel Prize winner). In studying the literature on the islands from which it has originated, we shall have the chance to experience and absorb the cultures that have produced such creativity, and in so doing get behind the over-simple, commerical tourist conception of the Caribbean.
Prerequisite: English 185 plus one additional course of relevant background. (GLE, ALS-L, WRI)
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English 260: Monsters: Myths and Movies (Diana Postlethwaite)
Pre-requisite: GE 111 or equivalent.
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English 265 - Performing Arts in NY (Joan Hepburn)
xxxxxThis course intensely examines aspects of theater production in New York City. Students will meet artists, directors, producers, critics, and other scholars skilled in the areas of performance and important to the critical reception of poetry and drama. Students will tour relevant sites, developing skills at analyzing and evaluating artistic excellence. Three aspects of theater will be considered: written drama, play production, and review writing. Discussions will center around such literary aspects of the drama as genre, character, dialogue, plot, theme, theory. Assignments will include writing reviews and journal entries. Playwright and poet P. J. Gibson will take some responsibility for the practical elements of theater, focusing on the roles of directors, producers, actors, and designers in fleshing out a playwright's script. Lectures will draw on more than 12 playwrights and an impressive array of directors, producers, actors, and critics. When possible, students will also read plays by playwrights appearing in class. Pre-requisite: GE 111 or equivalent. (ALS-L, MCS-D, WRI)
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