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Undergraduate Course Descriptions: Spring 2024

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For the most up-to-date list of classes offered, visit the dynamic schedule. For questions about classes, consult our undergraduate advising page or contact the listed instructor. To see what we'll be offering in future semesters, visit our two-year course rotation template. Interested in studying literature, taking a writing workshop, improving your writing skills, or brushing up your teaching skills, but don't want to pursue a degree? You should apply as a Non-Degree Seeking Student.

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*Click on each course title to read the professor's full course description; click on each thumbnail image to view the course flyer.

General Education Requirements:

ENGL 1010 - English Composition (multiple sections; online courses available)
Practice in expository writing with emphasis on content, organization, and style (levels of usage and sentence structure) for different purposes and audiences.


ENGL 1020 - English Composition/Analysis (multiple sections; online courses available)
Practice in expository writing that synthesizes ideas from various readings. Includes library work and production of documented papers.


ENGL 2201 - Literary Heritage (multiple sections; online courses available)
Major texts of literary heritage; modes of literary expression and cultural context; emphasis on works as products of their historical contexts and as processes shaping human consciousness.


ENGL 2202 - Literary Heritage: African American Literature (multiple sections; online courses available)
Consideration of major texts of literary heritage with emphasis on African-American culture; modes of literary expression and cultural context; emphasis on work as products of historical contexts and as processes shaping human consciousness.


African American Literature: 

3325 iconENGL 3325 - Afrofuturism: Slavery & Beyond | Dr. Shelby Crosby | TR 11:20-12:45 
This course will examine African American literature from the founding of America to the Harlem Renaissance through the lens of Afrofuturism. As a movement, Afrofuturism seeks to unearth the missing history of people of African descent through their literary imaginations. Afrofuturism seeks to explore the imaginative and creative projects that forwarded Black culture into the future, with the understanding that these projects were resisting the power structure designed to hold them and their ancestors down. These Black authors were determined to imagine a future that did not see them and their brethren in bondage.  


ENGL 3326.M50 - African American Literature Since the Harlem Renaissance | Dr. Kathy Lou Schultz | Online 
Black Writers and Resistance in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Learn how Black poets, fiction writers, essayists, and playwrights celebrate Black joy, foster Black community groups, and create radical ways of being and creating. Authors may include: Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, Gwendolyn Brooks, Suzanne Cesaire, Amiri, Baraka, Colson Whitehead, and Claudia Rankine.

ENGL 3326.001 - African American Literature Since the Harlem Renaissance | Prof. Lakeitha Wilson | MW 12:40-2:25
Examination of African American literary tradition from the Harlem Renaissance to the present; Chicago writers, integrationist aesthetics of the 1950’s; black aesthetics of the 1960’s.


4372 iconENGL 4372 - Slavery Reimagined: The Neo-slave Narrative | Dr. Shelby Crosby | Online 
In this course we will examine the nineteenth century through the lens of the neo-slave narrative. A neo-slave narrative is a contemporary narrative of slavery that uses race, gender, notions of home/place and sexuality as reference points to discuss the enduring legacy of slavery. This class will interrogate how twentieth and twenty-first century Black authors re-imagine and give voice to the enslaved. As a class we will interrogate notions of freedom, resistance, power and literacy. May be repeated for maximum of 6 hours credit with change in course content.


ENGL 4373 - African American Authors Since the Harlem Renaissance | Dr. Ladrica Menson-Furr | MW 12:40-2:05
In-depth study of two or three authors since 1930, focusing on relationships among them and comparing their aesthetics. May be repeated for maximum of 6 hours credit with change in course content. 


Applied Linguistics/TESOL: 

3501 iconENGL 3501 - Modern English Grammar | Dr. Lindsay Helms | Online 
In this class we will examine the structure of the English language with a focus on syntax, morphology, and the lexicon. We will consider different Englishes and how English grammar varies within and across communities. Students will be able to effectively use metalanguage to describe and analyze English grammar. 

 


3511 iconENGL 3511 - Intro to Linguistics | Dr. Rebecca Adams | MW 12:40-2:05
This course is an introduction to Linguistics, the scientific study of language. Students will develop familiarity with – and skills related to – the study of structure and function in language, as well as how languages change over time, how meanings and identities are constructed linguistically, and how language policies shape language use.

 


ENGL 4511 - Language & Literature | Dr. Lyn Wright | TR 11:20-12:45
How linguistics can illuminate the analysis of literature, the nature of literary language, and the linguistic options open to a writer.


ENGL 4530 - Practicum in ESL | Dr. Rebecca Adams | TBD 
Experience in observing and teaching, peer teaching, and work with an ESL specialist. Repeatable for a maximum of 6 hours.


ENGL 4531 - Methods & Techniques in ESL (multiple sections offered; online courses available)

ENGL 4531.001 | Instructor TBD | TR 1:00-2:25
Methods and techniques of teaching English as a Second Language in various settings.

ENGL 4531.002 | Dr. Lindsay Helms | MWF 11:30-12:254531 icon
This class is designed to introduce methods and techniques of teaching English as a Second Language in various settings. It examines our current understanding of second language acquisition and the varying methods and techniques usedd to teach language skills to students in English at the K-12 level and in intensive and immigrant programs in the US and overseas. 

 

4531 iconENGL 4531.M50 | Dr. Ronald Fuentes | Online 
This class is designed to introduce methods and techniques of teaching English as a Second Language in various settings. It examines our current understanding of second language acquisition and the varying methods and techniques usedd to teach language skills to students in English at the K-12 level and in intensive and immigrant programs in the US and overseas. 

 


4532 iconENGL 4532 - Skills/Applications/Assessment in ESL | Dr. Emily Thrush | Online 
The course introduces approaches to evaluation and means of assessment of language skills, with special emphasis on English as a Second Language. Specifically, it examines authentic assessments in contrast with standardized assessment and provides students with a range of assessment tools to be used in the future. 

 

Creative Writing: 

3606 iconENGL 3606 - Poetry Writing | Prof. Kendra Vanderlip | MW 2:20-3:45 
Calling all poets! ENGL 3606 is an introductory class for anyone who wants to learn more about writing and reading poetry. Students will learn the conventions of the genre through close reading, analysis, creative practice, and constructive critique studying contemporary selections of poetry to analyze the use of style, structure, and figurative language. 

 

ENGL 3606 - Poetry Writing | TBD | TR 9:40-11:05
Exploration of the creative process within the forms and traditions of poetry. Emphasis on student’s own work. 


ENGL 3607 - Fiction Writing (multiple sections offered)
Exploration of the creative process within the forms and traditions of fiction. Emphasis on the student’s own work.


3608 iconENGL 3608 - Creative Nonfiction Writing | Prof. Kendra Vanderlip | MW 12:40-2:05
This course is an introduction to the different forms of creative nonfiction writing focused on pop culture. We will read works that focus on topics such as music, food culture, roller derby, pro wrestling, Dr. Who, and a variety of other contemporary topics. Different forms explored will include memoirs, literary journalism, personal essays, and lyric essays.

 


4599 iconENGL 4599 - Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Graphic Memoirs | Prof. Veverly Edwards | TR 11:20-12:45 
This course will introduce students to various forms of Creative Nonfiction. One of the forms  we'll focus on is Graphic Memoirs. Explore your story through art and words. No worries. You  don't have to be an artist. Doodling is fine. Join us for an inspiring journey.

 


4601 iconENGL 4601 - Poetry Workshop | Dr. Emily Skaja | MW 2:20-3:45 
This class is an upper-level poetry workshop devoted to the creation, revision, and critical analysis of poetry. Building on the skills developed in ENGL 3606, students will study poetry as an art form, working in admiration of its history, difficulty, and depth. The workshop is a supportive environment where students are invited to encourage and challenge one another as their creative work expands and intensifies. All are welcome. May be repeated for maximum of 6 hours credit with permission of instructor.


4603 iconENGL 4603 - Fiction Workshop | Dr. Mark Mayer | TR 1:00-2:25
This course offers a rigorous exploration of the fiction writing process. Students will engage in collaborative discussions, focusing on story structure, emotional depth, character development, language use, and the iterative nature of rewriting. May be repeated for maximum of 6 hours credit with permission of instructor.

 

Literature:

ENGL 3104 - Rediscovering Harry Potter: Sources, Landscapes, & Legacies *Study Abroad* | Profs. Tammy Jones and Cathy Dice | MW 12:40-2:05
We will study each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series, exploring the literary, intellectual, historical, geographical, and cultural influences of the work. Each weekly class meeting during the spring semester will feature student-led activities and discussions designed to evoke/promote/inspire a more substantive understanding of the series as a whole. The term will conclude with a 10-day trip abroad to London and Edinburgh. 


3210 iconENGL 3210 - British Literature to 1750 (honors embedded) | Dr. Cristina Maria Cervone | MW 12:40-2:05
Our special focus will be on how writers position themselves and their writing by imitating or rejecting literary models; in the process we will see a variety of literary traditions and forms, from early English mysticism to Elizabethan sonnet cycles to 18th century satire. Hoping to whet your appetite for more, the course offers just a taste of what is exciting about British literature. 

 

3210 iconENGL 3210 - British Literature to 1750 | Dr. Darryl Domingo | TR 9:40-11:05
We will examine the development of genres and themes over time and analyze their relationship to broader developments in British culture, including the shift from oral to written to print, the persistence of pagan values in a Christian state, the nature of heroism, the emergence of colonialism and notions of nationalism, the consumer revolution, the invention of a social, sexual, and political “self,” novelty and the rise of the “novel.” This section will pay particular attention to works that are self-conscious about their own status as literature and that dramatize the process of creation and nature of response.


ENGL 3214 - 18th Century British Literature: The Prehistory of Popular Fiction | Dr. Darryl Domingo | TR 11:20-12:45 
In the twentieth century, the book market is dominated by so-called “popular fiction”—narrative works of mystery and crime, sci-fi and horror, fantasy and romance that routinely appear on best-seller lists, enjoy wide circulation at public libraries, and appear atop Amazon rankings. Yet such works are rarely included on the syllabi for English courses, which tend to prioritize classics and so-called “literary fiction.” We will interrogate the conventional distinction between popular and literary fiction by reading a series of canonical novels as works of pop fiction. The course will locate the origins of pop fiction in England during the “long” eighteenth century—the historical period associated with the emergence of “the novel” as a legitimate literary genre.


ENGL 3220 - British Literature Since 1750 (multiple sections):

3220 icon3220.001 | Prof. Rhonda Powers | MWF 10:20-11:05 
This survey course will address British literature from the Romantics to the Post-moderns and examine the quest for empire. The British Empire spanned the world and linked a quarter of world's population to Britain through a shared, official allegiance to the Crown. Thus, Britain has— through language, education, and culture—shaped globalization, and the world.

 

3220 icon3220.002 - Romanticism, Victorianism, and Modernism | Dr. Ana Gal | TR 11:20-12:45 
While we will address the stylistic and rhetorical devices of each assigned text, we will focus primarily on the political, social, and intellectual concerns that shaped each period. More specifically, we will critically consider how British writers have defined and conceptualized what it means to be “British,” both at home and abroad, since the late eighteenth century, and how this national identity (along with ideas of gender, class, race, and ethnicity) has shifted under the pressures of industrialization, urbanization, and globalization.

3220.M50 - "The Idea of the Author in Modern British Writing" | Dr. Ana Gal | Online 
This online section of 3220 will address the stylistic and rhetorical devices of each assigned text. We will focus primarily on the political, social, and intellectual concerns that shaped each period. More specifically, we will critically consider how British writers have defined and conceptualized what it means to be “British,” both at home and abroad, since the late eighteenth century, and how this national identity (along with ideas of gender, class, race, and ethnicity) has shifted under the pressures of industrialization, urbanization, and globalization.


ENGL 3222 - British Lit, Victorian Era | Prof. Elizabeth Weston | Online - Lambuth Campus
This course will explore Victorian fiction and poetry in relation to historical and cultural context, especially in terms of how the literature reflects and reacts to social change. We will read realist, Gothic, and fantastical novels and short stories, as well as a selection of poetry from the mid-19th century and the decadent/aesthetic writers of the 1890s.  


3224 iconENGL 3224 - 20th Century British Literature: Banned Books | Dr. Carey Mickalites | TR 1:00-2:25
Let’s spend the semester reading great literary works that have been challenged by authorities for their refusal to abide by strict regimes of social, political, and sexual repression across the twentieth century. We will spend time with narratives that have helped to keep literature relevant to a rapidly changing society and the recurring threats of authoritarianism.

 


ENGL 3327 - American Literature to 1865 (multiple sections offered; honors courses available)
Survey of major authors, themes, and movements in American literature from the colonial period through 1865.


3328 iconENGL 3328 - American Literature Since 1865: Realisms, Modernisms, Postmodernisms | Dr. Donal Harris | TR 9:40-11:05 
This course surveys American Literature from 1865 to the present; or, more precisely, from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself to Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric. Rather than pre-set essays and exams, students will choose from a list of possible assessments or research projects that best align with their own learning goals.

 


ENGL 3401 - Children's Literature (multiple sections offered)

3401 iconENGL 3401.002 | Prof. Cathy Dice | MWF 11:30-12:25
English 3401 provides an introduction to the study of children’s literature and will focus on works representing a wide variety of time periods, cultures, and genres. Students will examine each work in its historical and cultural context and on the basis of such general literary elements as character, theme, symbolism, point of view, setting, and tone. 

 


3403 iconENGL 3403 - Mythic Backgrounds in Literature | Dr. Joshua Phillips | MWF 11:30-12:25 
This class is designed to explore some of the seminal myths of the Western tradition - from Athena to Zeus - that are so crucial to English literature up to the present day. We will trace how those myths change, fragment, and re-emerge in modern literature and popular culture. 

 


4243 iconENGL 4243 - Studies in British Literature: Romance, A Journey Through Time | Dr. Cristina Maria Cervone | MW 2:20-3:45 
Genres are notoriously difficult to pin down and romance is no exception. From its origins in wanderings and quests, to its contested relationship with the origin of the novel, to its present-day association with bodice-rippers and the like, romance has seen many incarnations over time. In this course, we will privilege romance's underlying sense of a fantastical story of travel and adventure. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours with change in course content.

 


4442 iconENGL 4442 - Studies in World Literature: Feminist Poets of the 20th Century & Modernism | Dr. Paula Hayes | TR 2:40-4:05 
In this course, we will read a wide range of female poets starting with Sappho as a precursor to modernist poetics; onward to the first wave of modernists with H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Gertrude Stein, Marianne Moore; and concluding with the second wave of modernists with Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton. We will also examine the contribution of the modernists Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Lowell.

 

Professional Writing:

ENGL 3601 - Intro to Technical & Professional Writing (multiple sections offered, online sections available)

3601 iconENGL 3601.M50 | Dr. Tori Thompson Peters | Online
This course gives students the opportunity to apply principles of technical writing and rhetoric to their own professional communication. The course includes exploration of current theories in technical communication, analysis of communication in various fields, and application of technical communication principles to real-world examples related to students’ fields of interest. 

 

3601 IconENGL 3601.002 | Dr. Will Duffy | TR 11:20-12:45
This course is a specialized exploration of applied rhetoric (real-world writing) that centers on the integration of Artificial Intelligence tools in professional and technical writing. By the end of the course, emerging professional writers, engineers, content managers, and business professionals will have a stronger grasp of how to ethically and effectively harness AI tools to navigate the ever-changing conventions of technical and professional communication.


ENGL 3603 - Engineering Communications (multiple sections offered)
Form and contexts of written and oral communications in engineering professions; extensive practice in oral reporting, written reports, manuals, and proposals. *Does not apply to the English major or minor*


ENGL 3604 - Persuasive Writing (multiple sections offered, online sections available)
Study and practice of writing essays and reports with emphasis on persuasion; introduction to empirical and library research, application of rhetorical principles, and nature of evidence, including numerical; academic and professional writing, editing, and revision.

3604 iconENGL 3604.M50 - Rhetorics of Bad Taste | Dr. Scott Sundvall | Online
During the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama noted that “when they go low, we go high.” However seemingly noble such an approach might be, it leaves unexamined the question of why and how rhetorics in/of “bad taste” can be so effective. We will critically examine “low-brow” rhetorical strategies and methods, learning how to (re)appropriate such rhetorical means in the service of common good and well-being ends, including but not limited to: rhetorics of provocation, violence, fear, personal destruction, taboo, fascism, and exclusion.


4619ENGL 4619 - Web & Online Writing | Prof. Emily Gillo | Online
This course is focused on the principles, ethics, and best practices of writing, designing, delivering, and managing information online. Some topics covered in this class include digital/critical digital literacy, data and personal privacy online, collaborative online writing, social media writing, web accessibility/universal design, and working with web editor platforms. 

 

Honors & Internships:

ENGL 4640 - Internship in English | Rachel Cantrell | TBA
Experience with a local community partner requiring the assistance of English majors with strong oral and written communication skills. Dependent upon availability. Visit our internships page for more information


ENGL 4996 - Honors Thesis | Dr. Cristina Maria Cervone | TBA 
Students engage in individual, intensive study of a unique problem or issue in English Studies, culminating in a long piece (approx. 40 pages) of scholarly writing. Visit our English honors page for more information.