LIT

This course aims at fostering appreciation for the language of literature, as well as for literature as an examination of human experience and values. Students read short stories, poetry, drama, and one or two novels. The readings for the course illustrate a variety of cultural perspectives. Students are required to write a series of interpretive essays.

This course fosters appreciation for the forms and content of American literature as an imaginative exploration of the nation?s experience and values. It is a representative survey of American fictional and non-fictional prose and verse. Students read a variety of writers and genres from all periods of American literature, 1600 to the present. Students are required to write a series of interpretive essays.

This course introduces students to the literature of Caribbean women. Readings highlight Caribbean women?s heroism, grassroots activism, courage and struggles in their own words from their own perspectives. Through a variety of readings, students will gain knowledge and an understanding of the struggles, difficulties and triumphs in the lives of Caribbean women.

In this course students read, discuss, analyze, write about and experience the short story, in the process learning about the genre's elements and its variety of forms. Students are exposed to a range of periods, regions, and sensibilities, and are made familiar with a variety of literary sub-genres and literary terminology.

This course introduces students to the academic study of culture. Novels, songs, movies and other cultural artifacts will be analyzed in the context of race, class, gender, ethnicity, etc. The students will read the writings of literary and cultural critics and learn to write and present their own analyses.

Introduction to Poetry is a survey class that introduces students to poetry as a literary form. Students analyze poems in terms of language, meaning, form, and cultural and historical contexts.

This course introduces students to a wide variety of dramatic forms through the study of plays ranging from ancient Greece to modern times. Students will learn to read, discuss and write about plays exemplifying a variety of approaches to drama.

Contemporary Drama focuses on late 20th - 21st Century plays, and the analysis of their theatrical structures from the perspective of theatre artists - playwrights, actors, directors, and designers. The emphasis of the course is to develop the student's ability to appreciate the intellectual and intuitive work required to create a theatrical experience from a written text in today's theatre.

In this course, students examine children?s literature in its historical, cultural and literary contexts. Poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for children from infancy through adolescence are examined in the light of cultural and historical ideas about children and their development. Special attention is given to ways in which issues of culture, ethnicity, race, and gender are represented in children?s literature.

This course provides an introduction to a variety of literature from Central and South America and the Caribbean. Special attention is given to the ways in which literary works reflect Latin America?s political turmoil, social tensions, and remarkable cultural history. All works are taught in English translation.

In African-American Literature, students read a variety of fictional and non-fictional prose and verse by African-Americans from the eighteenth century to the present. In addition to oral literature, autobiographies, slave narratives and letters, the course surveys poetry, drama, the short story, and the novel. The material is treated in both literary and non-literary contexts in order to foster understanding and appreciation of the African-American experience.

This course provides an introduction to the Latino literature of the United States, which is written in English. Although writers from various Latino backgrounds will be studied, the course will primarily examine the literature of the Chicano, Cuban-American, and Nuyorican writers who write from an American perspective. Topics such as identity, assimilation, bilingualism, and growing up in the U.S. are analyzed while exploring this new literature.

The many changes in women's autobiographical works of the 20th century now make it possible to explore contemporary issues of and about self in rewarding and challenging ways. Students will read a richly diverse selection of 20th century women writers across cultures. This course develops an understanding of the female experience through women's autobiographies and participants' writings including students' autobiographical essays. Discussions will be focused on literary techniques and the genre of autobiography.

Introduction to The Novel traces this literary form from its beginnings in Don Quixote to the present time. Students read excerpts and full-length novels, learning what differentiates the novel from earlier literary forms: length of over 150 pages; a primary plot, and possibly several sub-plots; populated with several characters, showcasing a protagonist and an antagonist; depth and development of characters' inner lives.

World Literature I is a historical survey introducing the literary masterworks of the great world civilizations from the first extant creation narratives through the European Renaissance or 16th Century. Attention is also given to religious works underlying major world religions.

British Literature to 1650 is a historical survey introducing the literary masterworks of Great Britain from the earliest writings to 1650. This course introduces pivotal literary works such as Beowulf and Canterbury Tales; Arthurian literature; and medieval poetry, prose and drama. The course concludes with William Shakespeare. Emphasis is placed on historical background, cultural context, and literary analysis of selected prose, poetry, and drama.

Women and Literature more than introduces students to writings by and about women; it helps students explore and understand the varied roles women writers play in history. Students read global selections of twentieth-century and contemporary writings-fiction, essays, drama, and memoir- that examine diverse issues such as gender, politics, cultural division, and social status. Pre-requisite: ENG-101.

An introduction to science fiction through a range of novels and short stories. Special attention will be given to ways in which science fiction imagines the impact of scientific and technological change.

World Literature II is a historical survey introducing the literary masterworks of the great world civilizations from the 17th century to the present. This course introduces selected works from the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Emphasis is placed on historical background, cultural context, and literary analysis of selected prose, poetry, and drama. Prerequisite: ENG 101

British Literature 1650-present (LIT 226) is a historical survey introducing the literary masterworks of Great Britain from 1650 to the present time. The readings are organized by historical period, to include writers such as Aphra Behn, Olaudah Equiano, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Chinua Achebe, Kazuo Ishiguro, among others. Themes include slavery, women's roles, and sexuality, nature and science, Industrialism, and colonialism. The course traces the development of British Literature in its historical, political, social, and artistic context.