ENGLISH MAJOR ELECTIVE OFFERINGS
Summer 2012
Summer course registration begins February 21, 2012 All registration is now done by phone (617-373-8000) or through the myNEU Web Portal. Juniors and seniors who need to complete their major requirements are strongly advised to register at the first opportunity or they may find themselves unable to meet graduation requirements. Please note: ENGL1111 (or the equivalent) is a prerequisite for all English electives with the exception of Linguistics courses). Check the registrar’s listings on-line for the most up to date information about course scheduling. You can find these at: http://www.registrar.neu.edu/course_schedules.htm. Please see the English Department Head Advisor, Professor Laura Green (x4540) la.green@neu.edu if you have any questions.
Summer 1
LING1150: Introduction to Language & Linguistics
Malhotra
CRN # 40064
Sequence B (MW 1:30 – 5:00)
CAS Core MOI: Humanities, NU Core Humanities Level 1, UG College of Science
Theory Requirement in English
In this class we will address some of the fundamental questions about language that interest linguists, as well as the general public. For instance, what makes human language unique? How does it differ from communication systems in other animals? What does a speaker of a language know about that language? How can languages vary? How does a child learn a language? How do languages change over time?
Throughout the semester, we will also address many common myths and misconceptions about language. By the end of the course, you will be prepared for more advanced courses in linguistics. You will also have a basic understanding of current views about how language works which will serve you well both in linguistics and in many related fields.
ENGL3372: Creative Writing
Noonan, E
CRN # 40561|
Sequence 1 (MTWR 8:00-9:40)
This creative writing workshop will be organized around the idea of “nature” in writing. The main course text will be David Abram’s The Spell of the Sensuous, though we will supplement that with poems, essays/creative non-fiction, short stories, etc. (of the students’ own choosing) that engage the natural world in some significant way. Class time will be spent workshopping student writing, developing and composing projects at NU’s Digital Media Design Studio, and going on “field trips”—all to encourage active, hands-on learning. Students will create a multi-genre eportfolio that, like the course texts, engages nature in some significant way; the eportfolio will include a “scholarly” introduction to the work, and will use multimedia—perhaps of their own making—to enhance the eportfolio. Students will also create a group project, most likely in short film format, which illustrates how language/writing and the natural world (can? might? do?) intersect.
ENGL4667: American Realism
Akbari
CRN# 40421
Sequence 2 (MTWR 9:50-11:30)
19th Century Period Requirement in English
This course will consider American literature from the period between the Civil War and World War I, the era of realism, when faith in the power to know and describe an often disturbingly deterministic world grew vastly. We’ll consider debates about realism as a category of thought and imagination and study the historical, social, and scientific contexts of the era’s writing, which we’ll read in several genres: fiction, essays, and autobiography. Authors may include Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Henry and William James, Henry Adams, W. E. B. Du Bois, Charles Chestnutt, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sarah Orne Jewett, Theodore Dreiser, Frank Norris, and Edith Wharton. Requirements include an oral presentation, a midterm exam, short reading responses, and an analytical paper.
Summer 2
ENGL1600: Introduction to Shakespeare
Fleche
CRN# 60356
Sequence A (MW 8:00-11:30)
CAS Core Hist,Ethcl,Asth Prspv,
NU Core Humanities Level 1, UG Col Social Science & Humanities
Shakespeare requirement for majors entering before Fall 2011 or pre 19th century period requirement
In this class, we’ll immerse ourselves in the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s language, starting with the dramatic organization of the Sonnets, and moving on to sample early, middle and later plays. Texts will include the Sonnets, Richard the Second, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra and Pericles. There will also be readings that develop our sense of Shakespeare’s relation to authorship, theatricality, politics and the uncanny, by such writers as Marc Shell, Marjorie Garber, Sigmund Freud and Roland Barthes. Students will have the chance to develop their relationship to Shakespeare’s works via lively class discussions and reading aloud, weekly writing assignments, a revised paper, and a collaborative research/performance project.