Welcome to the Department of English at RIT

We are proud to offer the courses listed below for winter quarter:

 

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Department of English
Course Offerings – WINTER 20092
Building 6 Room 2301
585-475-6928
http://www.english.rit.edu

 

WRITING - 0502

Basic Writing - 0502-100

01 – T/R 10:00am-11:50am
Instr. Paulette Swartzfager

02 – M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
03 – T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Maggie Everhart
This course develops minimal entry-level college writing competencies prerequisite for Writing Seminar. The credits earned do not comprise part of the student’s normal Liberal Arts general education core curriculum, nor may the course be substituted for Writing Seminar. May be taken as a general education elective.

 

Writing Seminar - 0502-227
Various Instructors and Times
This is a one-quarter, four-credit seminar limited to 19 students per section designed to develop first-year students' proficiency in analytical writing, critical reading, and critical thinking. Students will read, understand and interpret a variety of texts representing different cultural perspectives and/or academic disciplines. Texts, chosen around a particular theme, are designed to challenge students intellectually and to stimulate writing for a variety of contexts and purposes. Attention will be paid to the writing process including an emphasis on teacher-student conferencing, self assessment, class discussion, peer review, formal and informal writing, research, and revision. Prerequisite: Liberal Arts Qualifying Exam for students who scored below 560 on verbal portion of SAT, below 6 on the SAT essay and below 23 on the ACT.

 

Honors: Writing - 0502-325-01

"Inscribing Thought: Writing Before and Beyond the Twenty First Century "
M/W 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Amit Ray

The Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes has said "writing is a struggle against silence." Writing, along with Reading, provides a crucial avenue for developing critical thinking, self-awareness and the ability to understand, articulate and find solutions for complex problems. We will write and read frequently and regularly. Eventually, we will work past elementary issues of grammar and mechanics in order to develop sophisticated and subtle shades of written expression that are appropriate to specific tasks and audiences. In addition, we will consider the role of new media in giving rise to new forms of writing. This class will be highly participatory. We will continuously read and comment upon one another's writings. Eventually we will work towards a final paper --on a topic of your choosing-- that will showcase your writing (and thinking) skills.

Written Argument 0502-443-01
T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Sharon Warycka
All fields and professions require us to present arguments that support our statements and our proposals. So students of all subjects need to know how to make claims, provide evidence, explore underlying assumptions, and anticipate and address counter-points. In this course, students will study and apply the elements of reasoning to their written assignments. Students will discuss and identify the argument in a piece of writing, assess the argument’s effectiveness, and recognize particular means of argumentation. Students will practice evaluating argument by writing analyses of and responses to various texts that may be taken from academic, political, and scientific fields. Students will apply the principles of argumentation to a documented research project and to original arguments of their own. Part of the Writing Studies concentration and minor. May also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

Technical Writing - 0502-444

01 – T/R 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Rachel Nystrom

02 – M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
03 – M/W 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Barbara Heifferon
This course provides knowledge of and practice in technical writing style; audience analysis; organizing, preparing and revising short and long technical documents; designing documents using effective design features and principles, and format elements; using tables and graphs; conducting research; writing technical definitions, and physical and process descriptions; writing instructions; and individual and group editing. Required course for Communication majors and a professional elective for Advertising & Public Relations majors. Part of the Writing Studies concentration and minor; the Communication minor. May also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

The Evolving English Language – 0502-445-01
M/W 10:00am-11:50am
Instr. Tom Stone
What makes the English language so difficult? Where do our words come from? Why does Old English look like a foreign language? This course surveys the development of the English language from its beginning to the present to answer such questions as these. Designed for anyone who is curious about the English language or the nature of language change. May be taken as a professional elective for communication majors. Part of the writing studies concentration and minor. May also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

Worlds of Writing – 0502-449-01
T/R 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Janet Zandy
Here is a world of writing that includes reading the investigations of a Nobel- prize winning physicist, an oral history/memoir of holocaust survivors as told in comic book form, letters by executed anarchists, selected stories, and explorations in words and photographs of what the world eats. Writing assignments are diverse and range from personal narrative, research and analysis, oral history, literary interpretation and documentary analysis. Emphasis is placed on the process of writing through drafts and revisions with short responses and longer researched essays. Films, videos, and photographs enlarge our understanding of the complexities of representation, the social context of language, and the difficulties of sorting out the real from the fabricated. Part of the writing studies concentration and minor and an elective for the Communication major. May also be taken as a general elective.

 

Creative Writing Poetry – 0502-451-01
M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Steve Huff
In this workshop-styled class you will work to bring out your poetic voice and discover its power. You will read the work of a few contemporary poets, utilize exercises and writing experiments from a basic text, and become familiar with the techniques and tools that language makes available. You will have the opportunity to present your work to the class in a supportive atmosphere, and you will learn to make use of responses from your peers. Poetry is a somewhat meandering path, and there will be plenty of room for exploration. But you will develop a portfolio of poems that will be the fruit of the explorations, exercises, and work. Part of the Creative Writing minor.

 

Creative Writing: Prose Fiction - 0502-452-70
W 6:00pm-8:50pm
Instr. Vincent Golphin
How do we bring an invented world to paper? How do we find our voice? How do we use language to create stories? In this fiction course we will attempt those age-old desires as we read established writers, practice skills and techniques, and explore issues of craft. This is a process-oriented course that helps you (with much hard work) develop your creativity and imaginative writing. We will keep a notebook and take stories through several drafts as we grow our stories. Revision and risk are essential to the process. Along the way you will learn about such things as time, points of view, transitions, character and conflict. Come ready to write and discover. May be taken as a professional elective for Communication majors; part of the Creative Writing minor. May also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

Creative Writing Non Fiction - 0502-459-01
M/W 8:00am-9:50am
Instr. Gail Hosking Gilberg
This course is an intensive workshop in writing creative nonfiction. Students explore the principles and techniques of creative nonfiction through critical analysis of published works addressing personal, social, political, and/or cultural issues. Students write in a number of creative nonfiction formats (memoir, the personal essay, travel writing, the science essay, nature writing, sports writing, and other kinds of nonfiction prose). Students explore a full range of creative nonfiction possibilities, but are encouraged to focus on a particular area of interest. Weekly workshops are held for the discussion of student work in progress. Part of the Writing Studies concentration and minor; the Creative Writing and the Science Writing minor; and may also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227

 

Science Writing - 0502-460-01
T/R 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Lisa Hermsen
In this class we will read print and electronic prose that renders science scintillating, provocative, important, and dramatic. More than simply transcribing facts for a public unfamiliar with specialized knowledge, science writing has the power to shape public opinion, to create or undo ethical relationships among people, and to move large amounts of money. This class will cover contemporary debates within science and how those debates are humanistically--and humanely--addressed. It will also cover many of the nuts and bolts of science writing, including the mechanics of how to make expert scientific knowledge matter to non-experts. There is no prerequisite, and this course counts towards the minors in Science Writing or in Writing Studies. May also be taken as an elective (0502-227 or equivalent)

 

Special Topic: Language and the Brain - 0502-560-01
T/R 10:00am-11:50am
Instr. Doris Borrelli
This course introduces students to topics that illuminate the way language is represented in the human mind: neurolinguistics (where in the brain language is localized), the language “instinct” or innateness of language (how the human brain is biologically programmed for language), psycholinguistics (how language is acquired and processed), language and thought (whether our thoughts are controlled by the particular language we speak), language disorders (atypical language due to aphasia, autism, etc.), and language evolution (how language first evolved, from sign to speech). Students will read in-depth yet accessible research from the field (e.g. Stephen Pinker’s best-selling The Language Instinct) and will write on these topics in cognitive science. Guest speakers from other disciplines will appear in class throughout the term. This class is part of the Writing Studies concentration and minor and the Science Writing minor.

LITERATURE - 0504

 

Literary and Cultural Studies – 0504-210-01
Hero Myths in Film and Literature
T/R 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr: Sandra Saari
From ancient to contemporary times, constructed narratives are embedding values prized by the culture. This course considers narrative examples in epic, saga, film, song, and short story from several global cultures in order to examine the creative process of self-definition embodied in hero myths. From the Gilgamesh epic to the Volsunga Saga to Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali to contemporary films such as Lone Star and Hero, it creates a context within which to examine heroic storytelling in song and the cultural implications of “hero” presented in short stories and drama. Students will study literary and cultural texts selected from traditional literature to contemporary media and culture (e.g. literature, film, graphic novels, television, advertising, anime). Students will analyze these texts from a variety of perspectives and become familiar with current debates about literature and/or culture as arenas of human experience. This course will fulfill a humanities core requirement.

 

ARTS OF EXPRESSION:
WRITING THE DISCIPLINES - 0504

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Exploring the Mississippi River: Writing about American Culture from the River's View – 0504-319

01 – T/R 8:00am-9:50am
70 – M/W 6:00pm-7:50pm (Learning Community)
Instr. Paulette Swartzfager
This course focuses on writing about place, specifically about the Mississippi River region. The course will explore how the Geography of one of the Great Rivers of the World has influenced the History, Society, Environment, Economics, and Culture of the people who live along its banks, from the origin of the "Father of Waters" to where the great river empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Texts will include maps, early explorers' journals and reports, literary works, engineering and environmental reports, historical texts and socio-economic texts. As we reach the virtual end of the

River in New Orleans and the present day Mississippi Delta, students will have completed three journal reports (modeled on the great journals of river explorers – Joliet, Marquette, Lewis and Clark). Two research papers will be required. In these two papers, students will develop their ability to become independent writers and will able to write about "place" from multiple perspectives.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Experiments and Explorations - 0504-319

02 – T/R 10:00am-11:50am (Learning Community)
04 – T/R 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Linda Reinfeld
Ludwig Wittgenstein famously claimed that the limits of our language are the limits of our world. How can we re-think these limits, bend or break these boundaries? This is a nontraditional writing class structured around a series of multi-disciplinary "wreading" experiments: students will explore the possibilities of creative work in transforming, deforming, reforming and free-forming texts in various disciplines, including literary (and not-so-literary) texts. Our starting point will be Hazel Smith's, “The Writing Experiment, ” a source of theory as well as practice for innovative writing. Students will keep a weekly journal in which they record their experiments and respond to the assigned readings drawn from scholarly as well as popular sources, from reports and reviews to lipograms and libretti. Overlap between response and experiment is welcome. Each student will be required to share one to two pages of weekly writing experiment or response with the class each week. Visual text, performance, and work in new media may be included as appropriate. At the end of the quarter, each student will submit a completed manuscript, sufficient in length for a short chapbook, of his or her own most successful experimental writing. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
The Burden of Beasts - 0504-319-03
T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Peter Lovenheim
They come in all shapes and sizes--these other animals with whom we share the planet--and our relations with them vary widely: some we cuddle and call pets, others we stick a fork in and call dinner, still others we rely on for medical research. The debate about what our proper relations with animals should be—call it “the burden of beasts”--has raged across the centuries and the disciplines: philosophy, law, ethics, business, theology, literature, and modern-day environmentalism. The question holds special relevance for those planning careers in science and technology who one day may have to decide whether new products should be developed and tested using
animals. In class, we will study a range of texts across the disciplines, engage in debate--maybe attend the circus, visit a laboratory, or tour a farm—and wrestle with questions as old as the Bible and as fresh as your lunch. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Terrorism in Fiction, Drama and Film - 0504-319-05
T/R 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Harvey Granite
Terrorism may be defined as the systematic and deliberate use of violence as a political weapon, often directed against the civilian population of a country, to demoralize and intimidate its governing body in order to bring about political change. Often the terrorist group is small, secret, and highly organized. Sometimes, but not always, it has the support of the society whose governing body it seeks to change. For this course we will read several major works of fiction and drama and view motion pictures which depict terrorist groups and individuals. We will discuss and write about our perceptions. Our purpose will be to try to understand the nature of terrorism and some of its methods. Texts include: The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Man's Fate by Andre Malraux , The Shadow of a Gunman by Sean O'Casey, The Informer by Liam O'Flaherty, TERRORIST by John Updike, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Prerequisite of Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
The Enjoyment of Music and Other Abstract Art - 0504-319

06 – M/W 8:00am-9:50am
15 – T/R 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Lloyd Milburn
This course involves studying concert performance videos and the book Musicophilia by Dr. Oliver Sachs to explore the basis for our enjoyment of music. Current neuroscience research of synesthesia will help illuminate why there is such variation in tastes for the arts. Students will deepen their appreciation of the arts by writing a research paper, choosing topics for discussions, and writing a critical review. We will also explore why societies often undervalue their artists, and how the conflict can paradoxically hone art. Critical theory will be applied to music and to selected poetry by Wallace Stevens, Issa, and others.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
The Graphic Novel - 0504-319-07 (Learning Community)
M/W 10:00am-11:50am
Instr. Bobby Pelphrey
Art Spiegelman once stated that, “Even in schools, one’s taught to read. One’s rarely taught to look.” In this course we are going to do just that—“learn to look” by focusing on the graphic novel. We will investigate/deconstruct the relationships between the concepts of “graphic novel” and pop culture, with each of us bringing our unique socioeconomic identities to our readings and discussions. Through in-depth studies of several primary texts, including Watchmen, Maus, V for Vendetta, and The Dark Knight Returns, we will learn how the graphic novelists use and manipulate historical and contemporary social issues as the foundation of their art. A research-based presentation on a (pertinent) topic of the student's choice will be required. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Dangerous Texts - 0504-319-08
M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Elena Sommers
The course will center around the issues of censorship in literature and culture. Studying a number of “dangerous texts” and “dangerous films” the class will raise questions such as these:

-What features of political and cultural regimes do artists tend to single out for criticism? -What is the range of expressive tools they use?
-What is it that makes intellectuals in general and imaginative writers in particular so potent a threat to established power?
-Do issues like these matter only in totalitarian regimes, or can we learn something about the text-banning pressures in our own society?

This class will examine how suppression of information has been orchestrated throughout history in different contexts. We will view the process of suppressing information in perspective – we will recognize acts of censorship in relation to their social settings, political movements, religious beliefs, economic conditions, cultural expressions and/or personal identities.

Note: This class involves a considerable amount of reading.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
New / Way New Journalism - 0504-319-09
M/W 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Vincent F.A. Golphin
The course will center around the issues of censorship in literature The course emphasizes writing practices within or across disciplines, recognizing the role writing plays in the formation of knowledge and the framing of academic specializations. This course highlights the processes and practices of written expression and the production of research, whether in the sciences or the arts or the humanities. Faculty design specific approaches to the study of the writing of a discipline, field, or program. Students have the opportunity to develop a critical understanding of important conversations within a particular area of study, and within a larger culturally-diverse context. Depending on the focus of the instructor, the course will engage one or more modes of disciplinary expression(s) such as films, written texts, photographs and other images, oral history, and ethnography. Prerequisite: Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Social Awareness - 0504-319-10
M/W 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Robb Tillett
This course emphasizes the essay as genre within and across the disciplines, recognizing the role the essay plays in the formation of knowledge and the framing of academic and social debate. This course highlights the processes and practices of the essay as a genre unto itself and the production of research across the academic disciplines. In this section of Arts of Expression, students will engage in the study of professional essays which deal with social and academic argumentation. Students will read professional essays and endeavor to develop their own voice within the context of their disciplines, broadening their critical understanding of the important debates within their field of study. Students will recognize how their discipline is located within a larger culturally-diverse context.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Medicine: First, Do No Harm - 0504-319-11
T/R 8:00am-9:50am
Instr. Nicholas L. Jones
A female child born in 2000 or later stands an excellent chance of living to the age of 100 and beyond, and with a viable lifestyle, experts tell us. Many Americans have come to expect every service to be provided and every treatment available to be applied to every condition in every locale all the time at little or no cost. Many of these expectations are realistic: the true miracles of modern medicine have brought us understandably to this attitude. Medicine: First, Do No Harm explores various facets of medicine, including history, beginning with primitive medicine and moving ultimately to significant advances in contemporary times; the triumvirate of patient care, education and research; medicine as a political instrument; economic factors; landmark accomplishments; technology; ethical considerations; and medicine in the media (including film and television). The Instr. spent 30 years in the health care field in administration, public relations, marketing, and fund development, including positions with the University of Rochester Medical Center, St. John’s Home, and Fairport Baptist Homes.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Expressions of Nature - 0504-319

12 – T/R 10:00am-11:50am
13 – T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Barbara MacCameron
This course introduces students to a broad range of art forms (primarily literature) emerging from the environmental imagination. Students will examine vital connections between literature and environmental values; they will refine and articulate their own values through reading, observing, writing, and conversing with one another; they will experiment with various modes of expression strengthening their communication skills, primarily through writing papers and presenting projects to the
class. Hopefully students will delight in coming to know and respect the wilderness of their own imaginations. In the past, students have presented projects on The Hudson River School of Painting and Transcendentalism. They have researched diverse topics such as contemporary environmental challenges and the photography of Edward Burtynsky. Readings may include authors such as Jon Krakauer, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, Barry Lopez, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Myth-making in American Culture - 0504-319-14
T/R 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Laura Shackelford
The mention of myth brings to mind the ancient oral traditions of Egypt, Africa, Greece, Rome, and India. Myths are supposed to be old texts, ancient stories that attempted to answer fundamental questions about the origin, character, and purpose of life before we had modern science to provide “rational” explanations. Yet myth is far from dead in contemporary American culture. In this class, we will look into how and why myth continues to play a pivotal role in our culture. Examining influential myths and adaptations of earlier myths in American culture, we will consider how “myth-making,” as a creative, speculative process, a mode of imagination and knowledge is carried over from oral and written narrative traditions into other art forms such as fiction, film, television, comics and graphic novels, and digital games. Our goal is to understand how myths “work,” attending to their social, textual, psychological, structural, and comparative components and, in turn, through the close analysis of specific myths in a variety of media, to shed light on American culture as it is reproduced and reimagined in these myths. Expect to read, carefully analyze, and write about a range of written and visual “texts” from American culture as well as “texts” drawn from ancient world mythology.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Women’s Voices - 0504-319-16
M/W 8:00am-9:50am
Instr. Jean Louise Mahar
What do Madame Curie, Susan B. Anthony, Maya Angelou, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lucille Ball, Indira Gandhi, Betty Friedan, and Princess Diana have in common? All of these well-known women are famous for their powers of communication and for using their voices to deliver their message. Those messages inspired, persuaded, entertained, and educated during their times, and they continue to do so. Where did they find their passion for these timeless messages? How can they stir the passion in us today to use our voices to make a difference? What do you want to tell you audiences, and how can you make a difference? Students will use discussion and writing to explore the content and the context of these communications; determine the rhetorical strategies; and discover how the social, cultural, and political climates influenced these women and their messages.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
The Graphic Novel - 0504-319-17
M/W 8:00am-9:50am
Instr. Karen VanMeenen
Graphic novels, though not concretely defined, are essentially long-format comics and are a valid literary and visual art form. They take many forms but usually demonstrate a concern for a carefully constructed narrative structure, strong character development and plot strategies akin to much contemporary prose. Authors/artists working in this form address all manner of serious subjects worthy of study. In this course, we will explore this form as it is exhibited in several novels focusing on varied human experiences and events in an effort to learn how to read various kinds of texts and to practice different genres of writing as well as enhance critical thinking and media literacy skills.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Computer Games: The Psychology, Identity, and Business of Computer Games - 0504-319-18 (Learning Community)
M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Julie Johannes
Who Are You? What Are You Doing? Can I Play, Too? In this course, we examine some of the current trends in gaming, both electronic and otherwise, concentrating most heavily on RPGs role-playing games. We will examine how knowledge is framed and expressed in this discipline, especially concentrating on the continuing effort to legitimize and gain acceptance for game studies as an area for academic inquiry. We will utilize a variety of texts, which include critical scholarly essays, popular periodical articles, film excerpts, and actual RPGs. Prerequisite of Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Espionage in Popular Culture - 0504-319-20
M/W 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instr. Emily Cope
The recent boom of movies and television shows based on the lives of spies (Bond, Bourne, Chuck, and 24, just to name a few) shows just how obsessed Americans are with spies. The focus of our quarter-long inquiry is espionage as a cultural fascination in late 20th/early 21st century America. In this course, we'll begin exploring ways popular culture represents espionage and how Americans perceive covert institutions (like the CIA and NSA) by watching movies and television shows and reading novels and/or short stories. We'll also take a first-hand look at the history and operations of the CIA through recently declassified documents. Ultimately, we'll write ourselves into the ongoing debates about the themes and issues we investigate. Writing (both formal and informal) will be the primary way we think through these topics.
This class is designed to teach students multiple modes of inquiry (including ethnographic, archival, and "traditional" research methods) and strategies for academic writing, especially in the disciplines of pop culture studies, literature, film studies, and/or social history. You should leave this class not only with a better understanding of America's obsession with spies, but also with useful research and writing strategies to take to your future inquiries.

 

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
New Media Art and Cinematic Aesthetics - 0504-319-71
T/R 6:00pm-7:50pm
Instr. Breandan Connor
The course offers an analysis on the nature, structure and function of new media art. An important objective of this class is to create opportunities for you to learn the concept of convergence, how it’s changing the nature and focus of the “traditional” mass media, and how we’re beginning to see the emerging dominance of applied cinematic aesthetics in new media art. Before creating media content, contemporary artists often consider how fine art elements in video/filmmakers' projects shape belief systems among targeted audiences, where the media have developed into a powerful social, political, and economic force in society. Included in our papers and discussions will be the examination of theoretical approaches that scholars and critics cite to discuss cinematic aesthetics found in new media art's strategies.

Arts of Expression: Writing the Disciplines
Storytelling - 0504-319-90
ONLINE
Instr. Tom Stone
This class will examine a fundamental form of expression: storytelling. An activity that far transcends the borders of English class, we tell stories to make sense of things from relatively private moments like a car wreck to grander questions like the fate of the universe. This is thus a truly multidisciplinary enterprise, and we are going to examine narratives from a variety of fields from myth and folktale to astronomy, and psychotherapy, among others, to consider the way these stories work in their different disciplinary settings. Jerome McGann has argued that being human necessarily means being mired in what he has famously termed “the textual condition,” and so we would do well to recognize and appreciate the stories we tell ourselves. To aid us in this exploration, students will be expected to give presentations as well as write papers both in response to the reading material and develop their own independent argument. Prerequisite of Writing Seminar 0502-227. This course fulfills a Liberal Arts requirement.

 

HONORS

Honors Literature: American Studies - 0504-325-01
T/R 10:00am-11:50am
Instr. Janet Zandy
American Studies invites students to make connections. It is a crossroads space where students encounter American culture and history from multiple perspectives. It offers a glimpse into a big picture of America through literary, historical, and cultural “snapshots” of American life. What did it mean, for example, to be an American in 1953 and how is it different from today? How are the ideals of America as the land of liberty and freedom perceived at home and in the world? How do national politics shape literary formations? We begin by investigating key words and selective foundational texts. Through literature, film, photographs, and other forms of cultural expression, we explore questions about democratic culture and the significance of American identity from within and beyond national borders. The focus for this version of the course is on the 1950s—that decade wedged between the end of World War II and the beginning of the psychedelic 1960s. Students will investigate, for example, how Sputnik, McCarthyism, I Love Lucy, the Civil Rights movement, the Beats, the atomic bomb, interstate highways, and Elvis converged in the formation of post-war American culture and society. Assignments include investigations of key words, literary analyses, timelines, oral history, and student presentations. Students will become modest experts on a literary text or cultural phenomena or critical event or new movement that surfaced during this decade. Invited speakers will offer their expertise about one aspect of this anything-but-dull decade. Students may take this course as Honors Literature: American Studies 0504-324, as a general education elective, American Studies 0523-400, or as a course in the Literary/Cultural Studies concentration and minor.

 

LITERATURE CONCENTRATIONS
AND MINORS - 0504

Toni Morrison’s America – 0504-425-01
T/R 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instr. Richard Newman
In Toni Morrison’s America, ghosts shed tears and save the world, language is as joyous and liberating as jazz improvisation, and our official understanding of history is only one possible way of confronting the past. These visions come to us in an astonishing array of Morrison's novels -- The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Jazz, Beloved, A Mercy. Offering alternate realities of the post-Civil War era, black life in New York City during the 1920s, and the very beginning's of American slavery (and much, much more), Morrison's work continues to amaze and inspire critics and general readers alike. In this class, we will take a tour through Toni Morrison's America by reading some of her more compelling novels (including Song of Solomon and Beloved), as well as bits and pieces of her literary criticism and public writing (especially her speech upon receiving the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature). We'll also pay particular attention to the way that Morrison investigates -- and is obsessed by -- the American past. Why does she insist that opening up the past even matters (to her characters and to us)? How do we do retell complex events in both American and African American history? And what forms (literary, technological, philosophical) allow us to glimpse alternate but perhaps more truthful conceptions of the past?

Class sessions will emphasize discussion. We'll also listen to music and watch films that may help further illuminate Toni Morrison’s America. And student will write medium length papers and have the option of working on a creative final project (web-based and otherwise) of their choosing.

 

Latin American Literature - 0504-435-70
W 6:00pm-9:50pm
Instr. Sandra Saari
Reading short stories, novels, poetry, and essays, as well as viewing films of modern Mexico and Central and South America reveals a literature and culture wherein the mythic functions as an integral part of the modern world view and the poetic functions as a political power. The impressive vitality of modern Latin American literature can be attributed to its indigenous roots and to its branches that, stemming from a common language and a shared continent, overarch national boundaries and political regimes to form an international literary community. Part of the Latino/Latina/ Latin American and minority relations concentrations; the Spanish language/culture concentration and minor; the literary and cultural studies concentration and minor; and may also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite of Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

The Short Story - 0504-442-01
T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instr. Babak Elahi
This course uses the genre of the contemporary short story to provide material for critical commentary and cultural understanding. Part of the Literary and Cultural Studies concentration and minor and the Creative Writing minor. It may also be taken as an elective. (0502-227 or equivalent)

 

The Novel – 0504-443-01
M/W 2:00pm-3:50pm
Instructor: A.J. Caschetta
A close reading and analysis of several novels selected to show the range of narrative techniques, methods of characterization and plot construction, and styles representative of the genre. Part of the literary and cultural studies concentration and minor; the creative writing minor; and may also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite of Writing Seminar 0502-227. May be taken as an elective.

 

Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories – 0504-455-01
M/W 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instructor: Richard Santana
Shakespeare has long been considered the pinnacle of English Literature, in this course we will be reading and discussing some of his comedies and histories in an attempt to determine the nature of his presumed greatness. What political and institutional factors account for the reverence accorded to Shakespeare? In addition to reading a range of Shakespeare’s comedies and histories, we will develop deeper understandings of contemporary literary theory and practices that allow us interpret these plays in a multitude of ways. Attention will be paid to issues of gender, historicity, iconicity and textual analysis among others.

 

Mythology and Literature – 0504-464-70
T/R 6:00pm-7:50pm
Instructor: Laura Shackelford
Myths are commonly understood to be ancient stories that attempt to answer fundamental questions about the origin, character, and purpose of human cultures in the universe. The answers myths give to these questions are often perceived to be a “problem for modern rationality,” as William Doty has noted, and the study of myth, or mythology, is seen as an attempt to make sense of and decipher these “irrational” remnants of “primitive,” pre-modern cultures. Yet in spite of this commonplace view, and its assumption that modern science and rationality have displaced mythic explanations, everyday people around the world (not just anthropologists and historians) continue to read, retell, and write or rewrite myths. In this class, we will consider myths and mythic explanations from around the world as living texts that inform modern cultures in important ways. We will ask why myths continue to play such a central, though perhaps quite different, role in modern society and reflect on how myths enter into struggles over the nature of truth, religious belief, politics, cultural identity, and history in contemporary American culture, in particular.

This class will introduce you to key types of myth such as creation stories, goddess stories, hero stories, and trickster stories and to quite diverse ways of reading myths (in terms of their subject matter, their social function, their cultural origin and context, their structure, their psychological content, their narrative form, etc). While experimenting with these different ways of reading and understanding myth, we will pay special attention to myth as an expressive narrative form. In the final unit of the class we will focus in on the relationship between myth and modern literary narratives to consider exactly how and why these narrative traditions converge and diverge in texts like Jeffrey Eugenides’ Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Middlesex, as well as how myths inform other contemporary cultural texts and visual media.

Assignments include a reading response journal, a midterm, an essay analyzing a myth, and regular in class activities on our readings and on lecture materials.

 

Women’s Studies: Language & Literature – 0504-480-01
T/R 12:00pm-1:50pm
Instructor: Elena Sommers
Concentrates on literature by women, about women, primarily from the early 19th century to the present. Considers the aspirations, frustrations and achievements of women as documented by themselves, as well as the perceptions and representations of women in literature by male writers. Works are examined for their literary value as well as their documentation of broader feminist issues. Part of the Literary and Cultural Studies concentration and minor. May also be taken as an elective. Prerequisite is Writing Seminar 0502-227.

 

Contemporary Global Literatures – 0504-485-01
M/W 4:00pm-5:50pm
Instructor: Amit Ray
Most historians see the fall of the Berlin wall as the beginning of a new chapter in world history. With the end of Communism, the United States has become the single most powerful financial, military and (arguably) cultural force in the world. Scholars view the thrust of contemporary globalization as inexorably linked with the rise of American influence and hegemony.

This course will consider some of the key historical forces that have been bringing the globe's inhabitants into contact with and awareness of one another under the auspices of cultural, aesthetic and commercial expression. We will examine a host of artistic and popular forms that exist along the conduits and fault-lines of the global system: most of our readings will involve literary works, and in addition we will consider examples from film, television, animation, music, visual art, literature and new media. Our readings will include works from Julio Cortazar, Edwige Danticat, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bessie Head, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yukio Mishima and Salman Rushdie, amongst others. Films will include Slumdog Millionaire and Waltz with Bashir.

Some of our course materials will be determined based on class input. Lectures and scholarly readings will contextualize our examination and analyses of cultural artifacts produced in this era of global capital. Participation in class discussion will comprise a significant component of the final grade. In addition, students will be responsible for two papers, a graded draft (of the second paper) and an in-class presentation. Individual and Group projects may also fulfill course requirements.

 

 

English Department Contact List:

Borrelli, Doris
Assistant Professor
5-4618
1311 Liberal Arts
dabgsl@rit.edu

Caschetta, A.J.
Lecturer
5-5405
1324 Gosnell Annex
ajcgsl@rit.edu

Elahi, Babak
Associate Professor
5-5235
2307 Liberal Arts
bxegsl@rit.edu

Elder, Lisa
Staff Assistant
5-6928
2305 Liberal Arts
llhgla@rit.edu

Golphin, Vincent F. A.
Assistant Professor
5-2252
1315 Liberal Arts
vxggsl@rit.edu

Heifferon, Barbara
Professor
5-4547
1332 Gosnell Annex
Liberal Arts
bahgsl@rit.edu

Hermsen, Lisa
Associate Professor
5-4553
2118 Liberal Arts
lmhgsl@rit.edu

Hosking Gilberg, Gail
Lecturer
5-6194
2317 Liberal Arts
ghggsl@rit.edu

Johannes, Julie
Lecturer
5-2467
A315 Liberal Arts
jmwgla@rit.edu

MacCameron, Barbara
Lecturer
5-2914
A104 Liberal Arts
blmgsl@rit.edu

Martins, David
Writing Program Director/ Associate Professor
5-6376
2112 Liberal Arts
dsmgla@rit.edu

McKenzie, Stanley
Professor
5-2011
2455 - Library
sdmpro@rit.edu

Ray, Amit
Associate Professor
5-2437
2309 Liberal Arts
axrgsl@rit.edu

Reinfeld, Linda
Lecturer
5-4622
A106 Liberal Arts
lmrgla@rit.edu

Roche, John
Associate Professor
5-4922
2106 Liberal Arts
jfrgla@rit.edu

Saari, Sandra
Professor
5-6793
2315 Liberal Arts
sesgsl@rit.edu

Santana, Richard
Chair/Associate Professor
5-4414
2303 Liberal Arts
rxsgsl@rit.edu

Shackelford, Laura
Assistant Professor
5-2461
2116 Liberal Arts
lxsgla@rit.edu

Sommers, Elena
Lecturer
5-4417
1317 Liberal Arts
ersgla@rit.edu

Stone, Thomas
Lecturer
5-4623
1328 Gosnell Annex
tmsgla@rit.edu

Swartzfager, Paulette
Lecturer
5-5415
2114 Liberal Arts
pmsgsla@rit.edu

Swiencicki, Jill
Visiting Associate Professor
5-6571
1309 Liberal Arts
jmsgla1@rit.edu

Warycka, Sharon
Lecturer
5-4426
2110 Liberal Arts
sdwgsl@rit.edu

Zandy, Janet
Professor
5-2905
2104 Liberal Arts
jnzgsl@rit.edu

 

 

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ADJUNCT LIST

Adrian Smith alsgla@rit.edu
Andrew Perry awpgsl@rit.edu
Bill Capossere billcap@mac.com
Bobby Pelphrey bobby.pelphrey@rit.edu
Breandan Connor bxcgla@rit.edu
Cass Doyle cassdoyle@yahoo.com
Emily Cope eacgsl@rit.edu
Harvey Granite pmeek35036@aol.com
Jean Louise Mahar jlmism@rit.edu
Jennifer Wolfley jwolfley@yahoo.com
John Spula jbspula@yahoo.com
Karen VanMeenen renvanmeenen@yahoo.com
Lloyd Milburn ljmgsl@rit.edu
Maggie Everhart magswrites59@yahoo.com
Nick Jones hoosiernick1@yahoo.com
Paul DesOrmeaux hahous49@hotmail.com
Peter Lovenheim pxlgsl@rit.edu
Rachel Nystrom rdngsl@rit.edu
Robert Tillett rjtgsl@rit.edu
Steven Huff nomdeplume@frontiernet.net