An exploration of the worlds of the Victorian novel, from the city to the country, from the vast reaches of empire to the minute intricacies of the drawing room. Attention to a variety of critical perspectives, with emphasis on issues of narrative form, authorial voice, and the representation of race, class, gender and disability. Novelists will include Brontë, Collins, Dickens, Eliot and Kipling.

A study of American literature from a variety of ethnic traditions and historical eras. How are

This course will focus on the extraordinary burst of literary creativity that coincided with the emergence of a new American nation.

A study of the language of Anglo-Saxon England (ca. 450–1066) and a reading of Old English poems, including The Wanderer and The Dream of the Rood . We also learn the 31-character Anglo-Frisian futhorc and read runic inscriptions on the Franks Casket and Ruthwell Cross.

Today, most people probably think of science fiction in terms of big-budget movies and TV series. But SF began in print and continues to flourish in novels and stories. SF has promised cheap thrills in inexpensive pulp magazines, and aspired to seriousness between hard covers; it has been the literature of proudly distinctive, and sometimes politically radical, subcultures, yet it has also sought to break into the literary mainstream. This course introduces students to works of SF—considering the forms they take, the conventions they play with, and issues they address—from H.G.

Offered as ENG 207/HSC 207. An introductory exploration of the physical forms that knowledge and communication have taken in the West, from ancient oral cultures to modern print-literate culture. Our main interest is in discovering how what is said and thought in a culture reflects its available kinds of literacy and media of communication.

This workshop will develop skills for developing a research-base for creative writing and balancing a writer's emotional and imaginative material with texts, expressions and artifacts from the outer world. We will examine how bringing fact and imagination together enriches the culture and sustains the writer, and how to develop a writing practice that will "go the distance" over a lifetime. Writing sample and permission of the instructor are required. Enrollment limited to 12.

Offered as WLT 202 and ENG 202. Texts include The Iliad; tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; Plato’s Symposium; Virgil’s Aeneid; Dante’s Divine Comedy.

A selection of the most engaging and influential works of literature written in England before 1800. Some of the earliest survived only by a thread in a single manuscript, many were politically or religiously embattled in their own day, and some were the first of their kind in English. Fights with monsters, dilemmas of chivalry, a storytelling pilgrimage, a Faustian pact with the devil, a taste of the forbidden fruit, epic combat over a lock of hair: these writings remain embedded in our culture and deeply woven into the texture of the English language. Enrollment limited to 20.

This course teaches the skills that enable us to read literature with understanding and pleasure. By studying examples from a variety of periods and places, students learn how poetry, prose fiction and drama work, how to interpret them and how to make use of interpretations by others. English 199 seeks to produce perceptive readers well equipped to take on complex texts. This gateway course for prospective English majors is not recommended for students simply seeking a writing intensive course. Readings in different sections vary, but all involve active discussion and frequent writing.