Matthew E. Suazo

Introduction to Literature and Language

ENGL 103

Each section of these first-year seminars approaches the study of literature through the exploration of a single theme in texts drawn from a variety of literary genres (such as tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, epic, novel, short story, film and autobiography) and historical periods. Classes are small, offering intensive discussion and close attention to each student's writing. Students in each section are asked to work intensively on composition as part of a rigorous introduction to reading, thinking, speaking and writing about literary texts. During the semester, instructors will assign frequent essays and may also require oral presentations, quizzes, examinations and research projects. This course is not open to juniors and seniors without permission of the department chair. Offered every year.

Introduction to Literature and Language

ENGL 104

Each section of these first-year seminars approaches the study of literature through the exploration of a single theme in texts drawn from a variety of literary genres (such as tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, epic, novel, short story, film and autobiography) and historical periods. Classes are small, offering intensive discussion and close attention to each student's writing. Students in each section are asked to work intensively on composition as part of a rigorous introduction to reading, thinking, speaking and writing about literary texts. During the semester, instructors will assign frequent essays and may also require oral presentations, quizzes, examinations and research projects. This course is not open to juniors and seniors without permission of department chair. Offered every year.

Writing for the Humanities

ENGL 199

Latinx Literature and Film

ENGL 273

This course serves as an introduction to the literature and film produced by and about U.S. Latinos and Latinas, and to the theoretical approaches, such as borderlands theory, which have arisen from the lived experience of this diverse group. By focusing on the Latino/a experience, and situating it squarely within an American literary tradition, the course examines the intersections of national origin or ancestry with other identity markers such as gender, race and sexuality. We take an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to connect literature and film with history, political science, psychology, art, sociology and so on. Thus, students read not only literary works, both visual and written, but also related works in other disciplines that speak to the issues raised by the texts. Specifically, the course critically explores the effects and literary expressions of internal and external migration, displacement and belonging, nation and citizenship, code switching and other ways in which Latinos and Latinas have made sense of their experiences in the United States. Beginning with 16th-century accounts by Spaniards in areas that would eventually become part of the United States, and moving to the present day, the class familiarizes students with the culture(s) of a group that plays an important role in our national narrative, and with the issues that this group grapples with on our national stage. This counts toward the post-1900 requirement. Open only to first-year and sophomore students who have taken ENGL 103 or 104.

African-American Literature

ENGL 288

While not a comprehensive survey, this course introduces students to a wide range of literature written by African Americans between the mid-nineteenth century and the present. In regard to the chosen authors, the aim is a balance of coverage and depth that will establish a foundation for further study. To that end, the assigned primary readings are shorter, rather than longer, and will be complemented by a selection of essential critical texts. To organize our reading, we will examine literary works in respect to their historical and cultural contexts, and we will also consider the politics of African American literature in the United States: the complex relationships between race, reception, and canon building in the academy, as well as the ways that black writing has informed—and has been informed by—the struggles for freedom, civil rights and social justice. This counts toward the 1700-1900 or the post-1900 requirements for the major. Open only to first-year and sophomore students. Prerequisite: ENGL 103 or 104.

ST: Literature and Environment

ENGL 291

ST: Literature & Environment

ENGL 291

From Cooper to Crane: U.S. Fiction in the 19th-century

ENGL 375

This course covers major United States fiction from roughly 1840-1900. We will concern ourselves with the fictional representations of an emerging national identity, focusing on such questions as the individual's relation to nature, westward expansion, slavery, the Civil War and its aftermath. In doing so we will be particularly interested in the development of fiction as a literary form, considering the relation of fictional romance to literary realism and then taking up the question of aesthetic form as realism is elaborated later in the century. One important issue to be considered is why the novel plays such an important role in developing conceptions of U.S. identity during the period. This counts toward the 1700-1900 requirement for the major. Prerequisite: junior standing or ENGL 210-291 or permission of instructor.

ST: Environmental Regionalism

ENGL 391

ST: Postcolonial Americas

ENGL 391

ST: Early American Literature

ENGL 391

ST: Early American Literatures

ENGL 391

PENDING CPC APPROVAL

ENGL 391

Individual Study

ENGL 493

Individual study in English is a privilege reserved for senior majors who want to pursue a course of reading or complete a writing project on a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum. Because individual study is one option in a rich and varied English curriculum, it is intended to supplement, not take the place of, coursework, and it cannot normally be used to fulfill requirements for the major. An IS will earn the student 0.5 units of credit, although in special cases it may be designed to earn 0.25 units. To qualify to enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the English department willing to direct the project. In consultation with that faculty member, the student must write a one-to two page proposal for the IS that the department chair must approve before the IS can go forward. The chair’s approval is required to ensure that no single faculty member becomes overburdened by directing too many IS courses. In the proposal, the student should provide a preliminary bibliography (and/or set of specific problems, goals and tasks) for the course, outline a specific schedule of reading and/or writing assignments, and describe in some detail the methods of assessment (e.g., a short story to be submitted for evaluation biweekly; a thirty-page research paper submitted at course’s end, with rough drafts due at given intervals). Students should also briefly describe any prior coursework that particularly qualifies them for their proposed individual studies. The department expects IS students to meet regularly with their instructors for at least one hour per week, or the equivalent, at the discretion of the instructor. The amount of work submitted for a grade in an IS should approximate at least that required, on average, in 400-level English courses. In the case of group individual studies, a single proposal may be submitted, assuming that all group members will follow the same protocols. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of their proposed individual study well in advance, preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the established deadline.