This workshop will introduce students to the short story form as practiced by contemporary and canonical writers. Students will learn to read fiction actively, as writers developing their craft. We will focus on understanding the elements of fiction with an eye toward eventual mastery. Writing short stories will comprise the main work of this course, and students will work specifically on point of view, development of scenes, characterization, plot, and narration.

Societies are refined through the exchange of information and ideas. This course explores that exchange as it occurs in three distinct forms: the public speech, opinion (or op-ed) pieces, and satire. Students will team up for close readings of various texts, exploring work representing opposing views on issues ranging from the environment to economic policy. Writing requirements are intensive and revolve around the production and refinement of an original work in each genre.

A study of some of Shakespeare's plays, emphasizing both the poetic and the dramatic aspects of his art, with attention to the historical context and varieties of critical interpretations, including those of the twentieth century. Nine or ten plays.

Arthurian legend conjures enduring stereotypes of chivalry and romantic love, but how do we go about situating medieval romance in literary history? Where does it come from, why was it written, who read it, and how did it change over time? In this course, students will learn about romance's historical and social contexts, its form, tropes, and imagery. We will think about romance's contemplation of justice, loyalty, subjectivity, love, and shame, especially as this body of literature grapples with the conflicts that arise between the mortal and divine.

This course will examine the major African American writers of the twentieth century, beginning with the poetry and prose of Paul Laurence Dunbar and ending with the fiction of Toni Morrison, John Wideman, and the poetry of Yusef Koumanyaka, Rita Dove, and others. We will discuss the strategies involved in the creation of a 'black voice' and its relationship to Anglo-American literature.

This workshop is for students seriously engaged in writing short stories. Students will refine their technical skills and work on the subtleties of style. Extensive readings are required.

A workshop focusing on writing for children at different age levels. Students will work on a variety of projects in fiction and nonfiction, and experiment with different styles, forms, and approaches. Weekly writing and editing assignments and selected readings of children's literature are required. The course includes guest lectures (which are open to the campus) and field trips.

An introduction to the epic poem Beowulf in its original language and in translation. Written between c. 750 and c.1000 CE, Beowulf is the chief poetic achievement of Anglo-Saxon England, a work of stunning artistry, complex structure, and ancient folk wisdom. Beowulf has inspired J. R. R. Tolkien and Seamus Heaney as well as numerous authors and translators today. Reading the poem closely, we will put it into its historical and literary contexts, imagining Anglo-Saxon readers as well as modern ones. A knowledge of the Old English language is preferred but not required.

Known as a storyteller par excellence, Chaucer was also a famous reader of classical epic, romance, and philosophy. This research seminar will give students the opportunity to read the Canterbury Tales in light of the work's cultural, historical, and literary contexts. Throughout the semester, students will engage with Chaucer's tales and his favorite sources to examine and discuss his representations of gender and class, his perspectives on religious authority, his use of the English vernacular, and his commitment to poetry.

We will read plays by Shakespeare, watch films based on those plays, and study the plays, the films, and the plays-as-films. 'Shakespeare' comes first, of course, both historically and as the source/inspiration for the films. Yet each film has its own existence, to be understood not just as an 'adaptation,' but also as the product of linked artistic, technical, and economic choices.