English

Professors: Fong, Heinritz (chair), Katanski, Kingsley, Mills, Mozina, Salinas, Sinha, Smith

The primary mission of the English Department is to create communities of learning in which students can enter into the power of language. Through the study of literature in English across global and historical cultures, the study of film and critical theory, the discipline of writing in a variety of genres, and the constant practice of collaboration, we lead students toward a comprehension of the complexity of their world, of themselves, and of the way word and image shape reality. Throughout history, writers and readers have acted as witnesses to the human situation, never more so than in the twenty-first century. Ultimately, we aim for our students to become witnesses in and for the world.

Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit may not count toward the major but may be applied toward the total number of units needed to graduate.

Units from Study Abroad and Transfer Credit

Students may receive up to one unit of credit toward the major or the minor for a class taken on study abroad. The course must first receive approval from the chair of the department. Students may also receive no more than one unit of transfer credit. As with a course being considered from study abroad, the course must get pre-approval from the chair of the department. Exceptions to these policies may be granted in unique circumstances and only through prior approval by the department.

Requirements for the Major in English

Number of Units

Ten units are required. A SIP in English is encouraged but not required.

An Advanced Literary Studies (ENGL 490, 491, or 492) or Applied Theory (any 300-level) course may satisfy another requirement for the major, depending on its subject matter, but it may not be double-counted for two requirements. In such a case, students must pass a second, different Advanced Literary Studies or Applied Theory course.

Some courses have changed their numerical designation. If you have taken a course and see it listed under a different number, do not retake the course.

The major in English does not require a senior comprehensive exam.

Required Courses

Foundations

  • One Reading the World course chosen from the following (only one can count toward the Major): ENGL 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156
  • ENGL 105: Introduction to Journalism OR ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing
  • ENGL 109: Introduction to Literary Theory and Research Methods

Historical and Cultural Breadth

Four courses representing the three historical periods:

  • Pre-19th-Century Literature: ENGL 265, 266, 269, 324
  • 19th-Century Literature: ENGL 270, 275, 325
  • 20th- and 21st-Century Literature or Film: ENGL 218, 219, 220, 221, 230, 245, 260, 262, 276, 318, 323, 331

One of these four courses must focus on literature that draws significantly from minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational traditions:
ENGL 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 230, 260, 264, 318, 323, 331

Advanced Literary Study

ENGL 490, or 491 or 492: Advanced Literary Studies

Craft Sequences and Capstones

One of the following course sequences

  • Literary Criticism and Theory:  ENGL 109: Introduction to Literary Theory and Research Methods; one Applied Theory course (any 300-level course); ENGL 436: Advanced Topics in Literary Theory OR ENGL 434: Advanced Film Theory
  • Film Criticism and Theory: ENGL 153: RTW: Classical Hollywood in Global Context; ENGL 260:  Studies in Film; ENGL434: Advanced Film Theory OR ENGL 436: Advanced Topics in Literary Theory
  • Fiction: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 211: Intermediate Fiction Workshop ENGL 438: Advanced Fiction Workshop
  • Poetry: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 210: Intermediate Poetry Workshop; ENGL 437: Advanced Poetry Workshop
  • Nonfiction: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing or ENGL 105: Introduction to Journalism; ENGL 215: Creative Nonfiction  Workshop; ENGL 439: Advanced Nonfiction Workshop
  • Journalism: ENGL 105: Introduction to Journalism or ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 205 Narrative Journalism; ENGL 439:  Advanced Nonfiction Workshop

Students planning on graduate work in English or film should take as many units of ENGL 435 as possible as well as the relevant craft sequence. Students planning on graduate work in journalism or creative writing should complete at least one craft sequence in their genre of interest.

Requirements for the Minor in English

Number of Units

Six units are required.

An Advanced Literary Studies (ENGL 490) or Applied Theory (any 300-level) course may satisfy another requirement for the minor, depending on its subject matter, but it may not be double counted for two requirements. In such a case, students must pass a second, different Advanced Literary Studies or Applied Theory course.

Required Courses

  • One Reading the World course (only one may count toward the minor): ENGL 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156
  • One course in literature before the 20th century: ENGL 265, 266, 269, 270, 275, 324, 325
  • One course in literature or film from 1900 to the present, or one course in literature or film that draws significantly from a minoritarian, diasporic or transnational tradition: ENGL 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 230, 245, 247, 260, 262, 264, 276, 318, 323, 331
  • One of the following course sequences:
    • Literary Criticism and Theory: ENGL 109: Introduction to Literary Theory and Research Methods; one Applied Theory course (any 300-level course); ENGL 436: Advanced Topics in Literary Theory OR ENGL 434: Advanced Film Theory
    • Film Criticism and Theory: ENGL 153: RTW: Classical Hollywood in Global Context; ENGL 260: Studies in Film; ENGL434: Advanced Film Theory OR ENGL 436: Advanced Topics in Literary Theory
    • Fiction: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 211: Intermediate Fiction Workshop; ENGL 438: Advanced Fiction Workshop
    • Poetry: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 210: Intermediate Poetry Workshop; ENGL 437: Advanced Poetry Workshop
    • Nonfiction: ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing or ENGL 105: Introduction to Journalism; ENGL 215: Creative Nonfiction  Workshop; ENGL 439: Advanced Nonfiction Workshop
    • Journalism: ENGL 105: Introduction to Journalism or ENGL 107: Introduction to Creative Writing; ENGL 205 Narrative Journalism; ENGL 439:  Advanced Nonfiction Workshop

English Writing Workshop Courses

ENGL 105 Introduction to Journalism: Newswriting Principles and Techniques This course introduces students to the basic reporting and writing skills essential to creating "hard news" stories for print and online publications. In this class, students will write and re-write regularly to master key types of news stories, building toward a final news feature. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 107 Introduction to Creative Writing An introduction to the process of writing poetry and prose, both fiction and nonfiction, pairing the study of published work with the workshopping and development of student writing. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 205 Narrative Journalism This course builds upon the fundamental writing and reporting skills and techniques introduced in ENGL 105. It introduces students to the process of creating feature stories, in the tradition of narrative or literary journalism, for print and online publications. This class will consist of regular writing workshops, intense self- and peer-editing, reading, and discussion. This course counts toward the Journalism craft sequence. Take ENGL-105 or ENGL-107.
ENGL 207 Arts Journalism This course explores the nature of arts, entertainment, and cultural criticism. Its purpose is to help students develop critical skills and express their views creatively, convincingly, and in a way that will engage a popular print or online reader. Students will also learn how to review specific works of art or popular culture, how to critically profile a major artist or popular celebrity, as well as write a broader piece of criticism that looks at larger artistic or cultural issues. This course does not count toward the Journalism craft sequence but will enrich your journalism background.
ENGL 208 Food and Travel Writing Through reading, writing, and studying various media in the realm of journalism and creative nonfiction, we will explore identity, history, and culture-our own, and that of others- through food and place, and artfully write and workshop nonfiction writing about lived experience. Sophomores only
ENGL 210 Intermediate Poetry Workshop A workshop in which students practice and study poetic craft and form by reading model texts and sharing their work. This course counts toward the Poetry craft sequence. ENGL-107 and Sophomore Standing
ENGL 211 Intermediate Fiction Workshop A workshop in which students study and practice the elements of short fiction by reading model texts and sharing their own work. This course counts toward the Fiction craft sequence. ENGL-107 and Sophomore Standing
ENGL 215 Creative Nonfiction Workshop A workshop that offers model texts and writing assignments that explore the possibilities of this hybrid form in which its practitioners look both inward and outward, drawing on the traditions and techniques of poetry, fiction, journalism, and critical writing to tell true stories. This course counts toward the Nonfiction craft sequence. ENGL-107 or ENGL-105 and Sophomore Standing
ENGL 437 Advanced Poetry Workshop A workshop which enables students to develop and complete an independent writing project. Includes deeper discussion of poetic craft and form. This course is the required capstone course for the Poetry craft sequence. ENGL-210 and Junior standing
ENGL 438 Advanced Fiction Workshop A workshop which enables students to develop and complete an independent writing project in fiction. Includes a discussion of longer forms (the novella and novel) as well as short stories. This course is the required capstone for the Fiction craft sequence. ENGL-211 and Junior standing
ENGL 439 Advanced Nonfiction Workshop This course is the capstone workshop for both the journalism and creative nonfiction tracks in the English Department and allows student to develop and complete an independent writing project in nonfiction writing. Includes discussion of book-length works of literary nonfiction that seeks to find intersections between creative nonfiction and narrative journalism. This course is the required capstone for the Nonfiction and Journalism craft sequences. ENGL-205 or ENGL-215, and Junior standing.

English Literature and Film Courses

ENGL 109 Introduction to Literary Theory and Research Methods This course will introduce critical schools and theoretical frameworks for prospective and declared English majors. It will focus on one literary text (or a limited set of literary texts) as a focus of analysis in order to understand literary studies within a historicized field of development. Students will read and research critical analyses of this text and the theories that underpin them. Possible theoretical perspectives include: New Historicism, Deconstructionism, Reader-Response, Feminist, Sexuality, Psychoanalytic, Critical Race, Postcolonial, Marxist. This course is a requirement for all English majors (and a prerequisite for all 300-level courses). By the end of the term, students will complete a curricular design, a document that will articulate their path through their major. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 150 Reading the World: Time Travel An introductory study of works that go beyond realism, including attention to their cultural and social contexts. Focus areas may include fantasy or speculative fiction. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 151 Reading the World: Environments An introductory study of literary and cultural texts that articulate how human beings are connected to the natural world. The course will explore how locations and ecosystems shape and are shaped by human systems of meaning. Topics may include gardens, sustainable worlds, urban environments, and deep ecology, among others. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 152 Reading the World: Genre This course explores representations of the world through the lens of genre. Just as human understanding emerges from historical and cultural positions, so too does the choice of literary genres (fictional and nonfictional narratives, drama, and poetry) shape meaning. This class will focus on a genre (or a pairing of genres) as a way to examine how aesthetic and historically-rooted dimensions of literary forms give rise to representations of the world. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 153 Reading the World: Classical Hollywood in Global Context An introduction to the language of cinema, foregrounding historical and theoretical contexts of classical Hollywood cinema (1930-1945) and various aesthetic alternatives from around the world. Requires a weekly film screening outside of class. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 154 Reading the World: Global Stages This course explores the cultural work done by done theater. As a genre that encourages coming together to see live theater, drama speaks to societies about themselves in the place and time they inhabit. This course uses a thematic focus (gender, The American Dream, Identities, etc.) based on the offerings of local university and community theater. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 155 Reading the World: Identities This course explores literary and cultural texts addressing the nature of human identity and its development, particularly through issues of difference. Focus may be on one or more of the following: race, class, gender, nationality, sexuality, the body. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 156 Reading the World: Social Justice This course examines social justice from a literary perspective, focusing on a particular issue, event, movement, or historical moment. It will emphasize areas of power difference, such as race and ethnicity, disability/ability, class, gender, and sexuality. All Reading the World courses stress the development of critical writing ability, critical thinking, and active discussion. This course fulfills a Foundations requirement.
ENGL 217 World Indigenous Literatures: The People and the Land A selective study of the literary traditions and contemporary texts of indigenous peoples around the world, focusing on indigenous communities in regions where Kalamazoo College students study and with a particular emphasis on texts that explore the complex relationships between indigenous communities and the land they claim as their own. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement. Sophomores only.
ENGL 218 Water Stories: From the Great Lakes to The Pacific This course analyzes literature that Indigenous communities have told about water in both traditional and contemporary contexts. It specifically looks at Indigenous literary traditions from the Great Lakes and the Pacific, focusing on how these stories articulate sustainable relationships with the natural world and other-than-human beings. The course will also focus on the histories of colonialism and Indigenous water-based activism resisting climate change. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-century course, or the minoritarian, diasporic or transnational requirement.
ENGL 219 Magical Realism Magical realism is a genre that combines elements of the fantastic with realism often in order to imagine utopias or resist restrictive aspects of society. This course will examine the genre, interrogate its relationship to other genres of fantasy, and consider the relationship between the aesthetic patterns of the genre and its potential for social advocacy. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic or transnational requirement. Sophomores only
ENGL 220 African American Literature A study of central writers, works, and eras in African American literature with an emphasis upon how they engage in an improvisational conversation across periods and movements. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement.
ENGL 221 African Literature This course will reflect on modern literatures in English from Africa. We will take a multi-genre approach, reading short stories, magic realist novels, and political tracts and reflect on the problems of diaspora in modern postcolonial states, the economic impact of colonial and neo-colonial practices, the policies responsible for dispossession, the use of English as an African language, and the rhetorical and political strategies used to combat forms of oppression. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as 20th- or 21st-century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 222 U.S. Indigenous Cultures A selective study of the literary traditions and contemporary texts of American Indian people with a focus on building an interdisciplinary understanding of cultural production. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as 20th- or 21st-century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement.
ENGL 230 U.S. Ethnic Literature A study of American literary texts primarily of the 20th and 21st centuries, from the perspective of their ethnic origins. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- and 21st-Century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 245 Electronic, Hypertext, and Multimedia Literature A study of digital and print literatures that emerge from computing and internet technologies, with a particular emphasis on the medium through which they are produced and rendered. Forms include CD-ROM, cybertext, hyperlink, mobile apps, and GPS/satellite synchronized. Through these forms, this course will explore how digital culture impacts textuality and challenges reading practices. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- and 21st-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 260 African Cinemas of Belonging This course studies examines questions of empire, globalization, and citizenship through the cinemas of Africa from the 1960s to the present. Each week, we will discuss a film alongside texts in order to consider the engagement with imperial-era representations of African peoples, the ways in which film can be imagined as a means of political resistance, and the continuities between the imperial era and our current global age. We will be asking how the medium of the cinema, with its modes of visual and aural expression, allows for a unique way of thinking about the colonial experience and its aftermath and creates opportunities to foster a sense of belonging. Through films from Egypt, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Tunisia, Senegal, and South Africa, we will reflect on the conflicting narratives of empire, the imaginaries of post-colonial states, and the problems and opportunities afforded by globalization and migration. ENGL-153 recommended but not required
ENGL 262 Feelings and Sensations at the Movies This course is interested in how we experience emotion and sensation at the movies. Focusing on a period in film from the 1950s to the present, we will think about feeling via avant-garde movements from a variety of different national cinema traditions as well as innovative Hollywood films. Our readings will be about these traditions as well as on texts that examine how films evoke feelings of fear, anger, disgust, arousal and operate through sensory evocation beyond the visual. We will also think about how the moviegoing experience offers fosters the collective experience of emotion and sensation and the ways in which we might depart as individuals from this as individuals. engl-153
ENGL 263 From Austen to Bridgerton: Race and Gender in the Regency This course looks at the television series Bridgerton in its early-nineteenth century historical and literary context. The class analyzes how the show's depictions of race, gender, and sexuality reimagine and engage with multiple texts written (primarily by women) during the Regency era (1795-1837). Topics include the economic possibilities that existed and opened up for white women in the period, the struggle to abolish slavery, and the British colonial presence in India. Students will interrogate why stories from this period have so captivated the public imagination. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course.
ENGL 264 Global Shakespeares Shakespeare is the most translated, adapted, performed, and published Western author. Just what this means to Western and non-Western cultures is at the heart of this course. Many cultures have written back to Shakespeare, addressing race, sexuality, gender, and religion from their own cultural perspectives. What do exchanges between differently empowered cultures produce and reproduce? We'll tackle such questions as we read works by Shakespeare and literary/film adaptations from around the globe. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement. Sophomores only
ENGL 265 Shakespeare A study of Shakespeare's histories, comedies, and tragedies. Historical context, various critical perspectives, close textual explication, and analysis of film versions will be subjects for discussion. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a Pre-19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 266 Discoveries: British Literature 1550 -1750 A study of British literature emerging during the Renaissance/early modern period. This course will pair literary analysis with investigations of the artistic, political, religious, and social developments of the period, setting the literature amidst the various discoveries of the period. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a Pre-19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 267 Romantic Revolutions: Early 19th Century British Literature A study of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from this tumultuous period of political and social upheaval and artistic innovation, emphasizing connections between cultural background and aesthetic production. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 268 The Victorians: British Literature 1832-1900 A study of British culture of the period through its literature, with emphasis on novels, poetry, and nonfiction. The course focuses on several defining themes of this tumultuous age: imperialism and racism, industrialism and its discontents, the Women Question, Darwin and the crisis of faith. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 269 New World Narratives: American Literature 1500-1790 A study of the different tales emerging from those indigenous to or settling "America." Texts include American Indian creation myths, European exploration narratives, Puritan poetry, captivity and slave narratives, and late 18th-century fiction and nonfiction. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a Pre-19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 270 Reform and Renaissance U.S. Literature 1790-1865 A study of literature emerging during a period of significant cultural upheavals: the unsettling of indigenous populations, the movement of European populations westward, and the Slavery and Woman questions. Through an exploration of diverse texts, students will examine a literature shaped by an impulse to transform or reform pre-existing perspectives and genres. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 275 American Realisms: U.S. Literature 1865-1914 This course examines a variety of approaches to knowing a literary period. We will explore theoretical, socio-historical, formal, and thematic paradigms that can organize our understanding of the wide variety of written and cinematic texts produced in the period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I. Through a study of the frequently conflicting stories about gender, race, sexuality, art, and Americanness that come to voice during this period, students will challenge and complicate their definitions of literary realism. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 276 Modernism and Postmodernism: U.S. Literature 1914 - Present A study of the rise of a modern aesthetic in the wake of World War I and the postmodern response in the second half of the 20th century with an eye toward the diversity of voices and formal choices that mark this period. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-Century course. A Reading the World course or instructor permission.
ENGL 285 Writing Pedagogy This course will introduce students to fundamentals of writing pedagogy and teach them strategies for helping writers with diverse backgrounds and learning styles strengthen their writing skills.
ENGL 295 Writing From the Body "Imagination is evidence of the divine," wrote poet and visionary William Blake more than 200 years ago. And yet we experience the world, imagine, and create through our very human bodies. This experiential, intermediate-level creative writing workshop aims to defy the false dichotomies between mind, body, and spirit by blending yoga practices including gentle movement, breathing, and relaxation, with writing prompts and exercises to generate new material and discover the stories that emerge from and are written on the body. Students will explore writing as somatic experience with the benefit of nervous system regulation, read and discuss published bodycentered works of creative nonfiction, and spend time giving and receiving feedback on their own embodied writings. Must have taken ENGL-107 or ENGL-105.
ENGL 318 Post-Colonial Literature This course will investigate some of the central issues in the field of post-colonial literature and theory, such as how literature written in the colonial era represented the colonized and impacted those who were depicted and how writers and readers deployed literature as a method of exploring new possibilities of identity. This course fulfills the Applied Theory requirement for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-Century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement. ENGL-109 CES-200, CES-240, or CES-260 or instructor permission.
ENGL 323 Chicana/o/x Literature A selective study of Chicana/o/x literary and cultural texts. Possible emphases could include colonialism and conquest, indigenismo, geopolitical conflict or "the Borderlands," identity formations and identifications, and/or sociocultural resistances. This course fulfills the Applied Theory requirement for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-Century course, or it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement.
ENGL 324 Early Modern Women's Literature: Shakespeare's Sisters A study of the women writers that Virginia Woolf termed "Shakespeare's Sisters" when she (we now know mistakenly) lamented the lack of early women writers. We'll study these, primarily British, women writers of the period, emphasizing the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions of women's authorship before the nineteenth century. This course fulfills the Applied Theory requirement for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a Pre-19th-Century course. ENGL-109 or WGS-101 or instructor permission.
ENGL 325 19th-Century Women's Literature: The Epic Age A study of British and U.S. women writers of the period, emphasizing social, political, economic, and cultural conditions for women's authorship as well as recurring concerns and themes of women authors and the emergence of African American women's writing. This course fulfills the Applied Theory requirement for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 19th-Century course. ENGL-109 or WGS-101 or instructor permission.
ENGL 331 East Asian Diasporic Literatures This course will analyze literature written in English by people in the East Asian Diaspora. This includes writers from China, Korea and Japan and their descendants living in the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The course takes a transnational approach in considering questions around racial and ethnic identity, global capitalism, nationality and citizenship, as well as issues of gender and sexuality. This course fulfills the Applied Theory requirement for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence. For the Historical and Cultural Breadth requirement, this course counts as a 20th- or 21st-Century course and it fulfills the minoritarian, diasporic, or transnational requirement.
ENGL 395 Thiking Kink with the Early Moderns Typically, "kink" is seen as a new phenomenon, an invention of modern sexual proclivities or even perversities. Kink's origins are often situated no earlier than the Marquis de Sade's 1791 publication of Justine, though most contemporary explorations of kink suggest that kink gains serious cultural momentum in the post-WWII world. However, such assumptions must reject the abundance of literary and philosophical evidence from the early modern period that indicates that kinky practices and attitudes very much existed in early modern England. In this course, students will explore a range of early modern texts from an array of genres that grapple with what we would call "kinks."
ENGL 434 Advanced Film Theory: Cinema & Spectator This upper-level course introduces students to significant movements in film theory, including feminism, structuralism/poststructuralism, transnationalism, cultural studies, formalism, and psychoanalysis, via a reflection on the experience of spectatorship. We will reflect upon film's relationship to material reality, the cultural impact of the medium, the history and diversity of audience response, and the roles of gender, race, and sexual interpretation on spectatorship. We will consider how the filmgoer is situated by the medium as a recipient of a film's message and how s/he has historically been an active and critical presence who challenges and transforms the text. We will take a theoretical as well as a historical approach to these questions, thinking not only of films and filmmakers but also of the experiences of movie-going publics. We will approach film theory with an eye to its history, to the ways in which film theories dialogue with each other, and how cinema instantiates film theory. This course can serve as the required capstone course for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence or the Film Criticism and Theory craft sequence.
ENGL 436 Advanced Topics in Literary Theory An intensive study of selected perspectives in contemporary critical theory. This course can serve as the required capstone course for the Literary Criticism and Theory craft sequence or the Film Criticism and Theory craft sequence.
ENGL 485 Advanced Writing Pedagogy This course will allow students who have successfully completed Writing Pedagogy to deepen their experience and understanding through the exploration of specific topics related to the teaching of writing. Must have taken ENGL-285
ENGL 490 Advanced Literary Studies Seminars focusing on major figures and movements in English and American literature. May be repeated for credit when content changes. Ask the professor teaching it for a specific course description. This course fulfills the Advanced Literary Studies requirement. This course is a disciplinary senior seminar and fulfills the Shared Passages Senior Seminar. Seniors Only
ENGL 492 American Indian Literature and Law "American Indian Literature and the Law" is an interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between literary and legal texts that uses Critical Race Theory as a lens. Our goal is to uncover and analyze the complicated relationship between United States law and the creative productions of Indigenous nations of North America. At heart, this senior seminar asks us to reflect deeply on the power of storytelling and the relationship between "the text" and "the world." Our course is thus necessarily interdisciplinary, and we will conduct research on government documents relating to Indigenous peoples in addition to researching literary and cultural criticism on our texts, using these skills to develop final projects that reflect the interests of each student. This is a Shared Passages Senior Seminar and fulfills the Advanced Literary Study requirement.
ENGL 593 Senior Integrated Project Each program or department sets its own requirements for Senior Integrated Projects done in that department, including the range of acceptable projects, the required background of students doing projects, the format of the SIP, and the expected scope and depth of projects. See the Kalamazoo Curriculum -> Senior Integrated Project section of the Academic Catalog for more details. Permission of department and SIP supervisor required.
ENGL 600 Teaching Assistantship