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University Bulletin: Undergraduate Programs 2003-2004 The George Washington University  

 
    
 
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Professors R.N. Ganz, Jr., J.A.A. Plotz, C.W. Sten, D. McAleavey, O.A. Seavey, A. Romines, J.A. Miller, J. Shore, F. Moskowitz, M.D. Clair, M. Alcorn, J.J. Cohen (Chair), J.G. Harris, K. Moreland, S. Knapp, R.L. Combs, G. Wald
Associate Professors G. Carter, D. Moshenberg, M.S. Soltan, T.G. Wallace, J.M. Green-Lewis, P. Cook, P. Chu, P. Griffith, E. Schreiber, M. Frawley, R. McRuer, J.C. James
Assistant Professors K. Daiya, H. Dugan, A. Lopez, J. Hsy, H.G. Carrillo
Adjunct Assistant Professors D. Scarboro, A.C. Stokes Jenny McKean Moore Writer in Washington R. VanCleave

Bachelor of Arts with a major in English—The following requirements must be fulfilled:
1. The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
2. Prerequisite courses—Either Engl 40 or one of the following two-course sequences: Engl 51–52, 61 or 62, 71—72, 91—92; Hmn 1 or 2.
3. Required courses in related areas—second-year proficiency in a single foreign language, as demonstrated by completion of two years of college-level language study or the equivalent. (In the case of Latin, Latin 3 is sufficient.)
4. Required for the major—33 credit hours of 100-level English courses, including (a) two courses in literature before 1700; (b) two courses in literature between 1700 and 1900; (c) one course in literature after 1900; and (d) Engl 120 and an additional course in literary theory and/or cultural studies.
With departmental approval, courses with appropriate subject matter may be substituted for those specified above. A single course may fulfill only one requirement. Beyond the seven courses in specified areas listed above, students take four additional 100-level English courses, which may be in creative writing. With approval of the English Department, two courses in the literature of a foreign language (either in the original language or in translation) may be substituted for English electives.

Special Honors—Majors in English who wish to be considered for Special Honors must meet the requirements listed under University Regulations; have maintained a 3.0 grade-point average; and apply for admission to the program, in writing, by October 15 of the junior year. Once admitted, the candidate must enroll in Engl 195 in the spring semester and in Engl 196 in the following fall semester. During the junior year, candidates must continue to maintain a 3.0 overall grade-point average and a 3.25 average in courses in the English Department. Subject to departmental approval, the candidate enrolls in Engl 194 or 198 in the spring semester of the senior year. To be eligible for graduation with Special Honors, candidates must earn an A or A— on the Honors Thesis and have achieved a 3.4 grade-point average in courses in the English Department.

Bachelor of Arts with a major in English and creative writing—Except for the requirement of a creative thesis, this major closely resembles the curriculum that is followed by an English major pursuing a creative writing minor. Admission to the major is restricted, and a separate application must be filed in writing prior to the senior year. No more than two students per thesis director are accepted per year. The major in English and creative writing requires thirteen 100-level English courses, matching items 1 through 4(e) indicated under the Bachelor of Arts with a major in English, with the additional requirements of Engl 81 as a prerequisite and five 100-level creative writing courses, including three in the writing of either poetry or fiction and Engl 194.

Bachelor of Arts with a major in dramatic literature—The Department of Theatre and Dance and the Department of English offer an interdisciplinary major in dramatic literature. See Dramatic Literature.

Minor in English—Either Engl 40 or one of the following two-course sequences: Engl 51–52, 61 or 62, 71—72, 91—92; Hmn 1 or 2, and 15 hours of 100-level literature courses, chosen in consultation with an advisor in the department.

Minor in creative writing—Engl 81, either Engl 40 or a two-course introductory literature sequence (e.g., Engl 51–52), and five 100-level courses offered by the department, of which at least four must be in creative writing, including at least three in poetry (Engl 104, 107, and 117 or 181) or three in fiction (Engl 103, 106, and 116 or 181) or two in playwriting (Engl 105, 108). With permission, a limited number of graduate courses in the department may be taken for credit toward an undergraduate degree. See the Graduate Programs Bulletin for course listings. Departmental prerequisite: A literature course, such as Engl 40 through 92, is prerequisite to all 100-level English courses with the exception of Engl 111, 160, 161, 162, 183, and 184.


 

EXPOSITORY WRITING
111 Preparation for Peer Tutors in Writing (3) Schreiber
  For undergraduates accepted as tutors in the Writing Center: study and practice of techniques for prewriting, writing, and revision; readings on collaborative learning, the composing process, composition theory, cognitive psychology, critical thinking, and the teaching of writing; observation and exercises in writing, peer review, and tutoring. Limited to 15 students. (Fall)

CREATIVE WRITING

Note: All creative writing courses are limited to 15 students. Two creative writing courses in the same genre may not be taken during the same semester.
81 Introduction to Creative Writing (3) McAleavey and Staff
  An exploration of genres of creative writing (fiction, poetry, and/or playwriting). Basic problems and techniques; examples of modern approaches; weekly writing assignments; workshop and/or conference discussion of student writing. (Fall and spring)
103 Intermediate Fiction I (3) Moskowitz, Clair, Griffith, Carrillo, and Staff
  The writing of fiction. Prerequisite: Engl 81 or equivalent and two semesters of literature courses. (Fall and spring)
104 Intermediate Poetry I (3) McAleavey, Clair, Shore, and Staff
  The writing of poetry. Prerequisite: Engl 81 or equivalent and two semesters of literature courses. (Fall and spring)
105 Fundamentals of Dramatic Writing (3) Griffith
  Same as TrDa 105. A workshop in playwriting and screenwriting, with emphasis on dramatic structure. Prerequisite: Engl 81 or equivalent and two semesters of literature courses. (Fall)
106 Intermediate Fiction II (3) Moskowitz, Clair, Carrillo
  The writing of fiction. Prerequisite: Engl 103 or equivalent. (Fall and spring)
107 Intermediate Poetry II (3) McAleavey, Clair, Shore
  The writing of poetry. Prerequisite: Engl 104 or equivalent. (Fall and spring)
108 Intermediate Dramatic Writing (3) Griffith
  Same as TrDa 108. A workshop developing scripts for both theatre and film. Prerequisite: Engl 105 or equivalent. May be repeated for credit with departmental approval. (Spring)
116 Advanced Fiction (3) Moskowitz, Clair, Carrillo
  Further workshop study of the writing of fiction. Prerequisite: Engl 106 or equivalent. May be repeated for credit with departmental approval. (Spring)
117 Advanced Poetry (3) McAleavey, Shore
  Further workshop study of the writing of poetry. Prerequisite: Engl 107 or equivalent. May be repeated for credit with departmental approval. (Spring)
181 Creative Writing Workshop (3)  
  Taught by the Jenny McKean Moore Writer in Washington; open to undergraduates and graduate students. Prerequisite: a 100-level creative writing course. May be repeated for credit, if taught by a different instructor. (Fall and spring)
182 Special Topics in Creative Writing (3) Clair, McAleavey, Moskowitz,
  Shore, Griffith, Carrillo Topics announced prior to the registration period; may be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Topics may include poetry and poetics; forms and methods in fiction; forms and methods in poetry; memoir and personal narratives; creative nonfiction; "Literature, Live!"; avant-garde and experimental writing.
194 Creative Writing Senior Thesis (3) Clair, McAleavey,
  Moskowitz, Shore, Griffith Under the guidance of an instructor, the student composes an original manuscript of poetry or short fiction accompanied by an essay situating the student's work in the contemporary context. Open only to seniors admitted to the English and creative writing major. (Fall and spring)

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE
40 Critical Readings (3) Wald, Cohen
  An introduction to the study of literature in English from a global perspective. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. (Fall and spring)
51–52 Introduction to English Literature (3—3) Plotz and Staf
  Representative works by major British authors studied in their historical context; discussion of recurrent themes and introduction to various types and forms of imaginative literature. Engl 51; Middle Ages through the 18th century. Engl 52: 19th and 20th centuries. (Academic year)
61 Tragedy (3) Carter
  Modes of tragedy as developed in drama, nondramatic verse, and prose fiction in literature from ancient to modern times—Book of Job to Beckett. (Fall and spring)
62 Comedy (3) Staff
  Modes of comedy as developed in drama, nondramatic verse, and prose fiction—Chaucer to Borges. (Fall and spring)
71–72 Introduction to American Literature (3—3) Seavey, Combs, Moreland, and Staff
  Historical survey. Engl 71: From early American writing through Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson. Engl 72: From Twain, James, and Crane to the present. (Academic year)
91–92 Survey of Postcolonial Literature (3—3) Daiya and Staf
  Introduction to postcolonial literature from the perspectives of colonizer and colonized in Great Britain, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Anglophone Africa, and the Caribbean region; literature written on the wing, in diaspora. (Academic year)
112 Chaucer (3) Cohen, Hsy
  Chaucer's major works seen as exciting, lively texts from the modern perspective and as products of specific economic, social, and cultural trends of the late 14th century. Focus on The Canterbury Tales, read in the original Middle English.
113 Medieval Literature (3) Cohen, Dugan, Hsy
  Readings from a wide range of medieval genres, including romances, saints' legends, mystical narratives, lyrics, civic drama, and social satires, to explore some of the principal concerns of medieval culture. How these texts responded to and shaped changing patterns of medieval culture, as the clergy, the aristocracy, and the urban bourgeoisie attempted to define a culture of their own.
120 Critical Methods (3) Staff
  The topics and techniques of literary analysis, applied to English and American poetry, prose fiction, and drama. Attention to stylistic and structural analysis, narratology, and critical theory applied to specific literary texts. (Fall and spring)
124 Play Analysis (3) Staff
  Same as TrDa 124. Traditional and nontraditional (Aristotelian and non-Aristotelian) approaches to the analysis of dramatic literature; literary and theatrical techniques used by playwrights. (Spring, odd years)
125 The English Renaissance (3) Harris, Cook, Dugan
  Verse and prose written in the period 1515—1625, examined in relation to cultural practices and social institutions that shaped English life. More, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson, Bacon, Herbert, many others.
127–28 Shakespeare (3—3) Harris, Dugan, Coo
  Close study of six or seven plays each semester, with emphasis on the texts in history and ideology. Attention to current critical practices (feminist, materialist, psychoanalytic), modern performance practice, and Shakespeare as a cultural institution. (Academic year)
129 Topics in Shakespeare Studies (3) Cook, Harris, Dugan
  Critical study of a particular aspect of Shakespeare's work, or of a distinctive approach to the plays. Projected topics: Shakespeare on film, the history plays and Elizabethan England, 18th century rewritings of Shakespeare, Shakespeare as poet, cultural materialist readings of Shakespeare.
130 Milton (3) Cook
  Study of the major works in verse and prose, following the course of Milton's career. (Spring)
131–32 The 18th Century: Literature and Authority (3—3) Wallace, Seave
  Readings in significant 18th-century English writers—Dryden, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and others—with emphasis on tracing the ways in which literary texts contain, perpetuate, and subvert social and political ideologies.
133 The Romantic Movement (3) Plotz
  Major figures and topics in English and Continental romanticism: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Hazlitt, DeQuincey, and others.
134 Children's Literature (3) Plotz
  Nineteenth- and twentieth-century children's texts that illuminate the several worlds of childhood: the "small world" of childhood perception, the larger world of social and historical forces, and the "secondary world" of fantasy.
135–36 Victorian Literature (3—3) Carter, Frawley, Green-Lewi
  Engl 135: 1830—1865—E. Bront‘, Dickens; Tennyson, Browning, Arnold; Darwin, Carlyle, Ruskin. Engl 136: 1865—1900—Eliot, Hardy, Conrad; Swinburne, the Rossettis, Morris; Pater, Wilde, the Nineties.
137 Modernism (3) Soltan, Green-Lewis
  The emergence of modernist experimentation (and the sense of epistemological and moral crisis it expressed) in the poetry and prose of Pound, T.S. Eliot, Woolf, Kafka, and others.
139–40 20th-Century Irish Literature (3—3) Soltan and Staf
  Irish writers from the time of the literary revival in the late 19th century to the present. Engl 139: Yeats and other Irish poets and playwrights of his time and after—Synge, O'Casey, Kavanagh, Heaney, and others. Engl 140: Joyce through Ulysses and other fiction writers of later generations—O'Brien, Beckett, and others.
153–54 The English Novel (3—3) Wallace, Frawle
  Engl 153: The 18th century—Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, and others. Engl 154: The 19th century—Austen, the Bront‘s, Dickens, George Eliot, Hardy, and others.
155–56 The English Drama (3—3) Cook, Harris, Duga
  Engl 155: Shakespeare's contemporaries. Engl 156: Historical survey, 1660 to present.
158 Contemporary Drama (3) Griffith
  Examines drama written since 1960 in the light of postmodernism as both a literary and a theatrical theory. Explores the ways contemporary playwrights and directors challenge the perceptions and assumptions of today's audience.
160 Early American Literature and Culture (3) Seavey
  The shaping of America's early literary and cultural traditions as shown by significant writers of the colonial and early national periods: Bradstreet, Cotton Mather, Edwards, Franklin, Crevecoeur, and others. (Fall)
161 American Romanticism (3) Sten, Seavey
  The shaping of America's literary and cultural traditions as shown by significant writers of the Romantic era: Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Melville, Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson, and others. (Spring)
162 American Realism (3) Romines
  The shaping of America's literary and cultural traditions as shown by significant writers of the Realist school: Twain, James, Crane, Howells, Wharton, Chopin, Robinson, and others. (Fall)
163–64 American Poetry (3—3) Combs, McAleave
  Close examination of major American poems. Engl 163: From the beginnings to the early 20th century: works by Poe, Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson, and others. Engl 164: Since the early 20th century: Frost, Eliot, Stevens, Bishop, Hughes, Ashbery, and others.
165–66 American Drama (3—3) Comb
  Engl 165: 19th-century melodrama and the emergence of realism; works by O'Neill and other dramatists of the early 20th century. Engl 166: Developments in modern American drama since World War II, including works by Williams, Miller, Albee, Shepard, Rabe, Guare, Mamet, Henley, Wasserstein, Shange, Hwang, Wilson, and others.
167–68 The American Novel (3—3) Moreland, Romines, Ste
  Historical and critical study of major works in the American novelistic tradition. Engl 167: From the beginnings through the 19th century: Hawthorne, Melville, James, Twain, Dreiser, and others. Engl 168: The 20th century: Wharton, Cather, Anderson, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Wright, R.P. Warren, Nabokov, and others.
169 Ethnicity and Place in American Literature (3) Chu, Miller, James, Lopez
  The relationships among ethnic identity, authorship, regional setting, and national consciousness. Differences in the literary culture of ethnically, racially, and regionally diverse American populations; how considerations of ethnicity and place have been reshaping the American literary canon. Texts and em-phases vary with instructor.
170 The Short Story (3) Combs
  An extensive survey of short fiction by a wide variety of writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, about half of them American; readings on the art of the short story by writers and literary critics.
171 Major Authors (3) Staff
  In-depth studies of a single figure or two or three authors (of British, American, or other nationality) who have written in English. Topics announced in the Schedule of Classes; may be repeated for credit provided the topic differs.
172 Selected Topics in Literature (3) Staff
  Topics announced in the Schedule of Classes; may be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Topics may include the Bloomsbury group; southern literature; the picaresque; literature of the Holocaust; literature and politics; Freud, Dostoevsky, and Shakespeare.
173 Selected Topics in Post-Colonial Literature (3) Plotz, Daiya
  Historical, critical, and theoretical study of post-colonial literatures—African, Asian, Commonwealth—written in English. Topics vary with instructor; may be repeated for credit provided the topic differs.
175 Gender and Literature (3) Romines, Wald, McRuer
  Symbolic representations of culturally defined roles and assumptions in literature. Male and female gender roles as fundamental to culture; the representation of culture, in literature especially and in the arts and humanities generally. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs.
177–78 Contemporary American Literature (3—3) Moskowitz, Chu, Morelan
  Engl 177: Tradition and innovation in fiction, memoir, and poetry of the 1950s and '60s: Bishop, Creeley, Ginsberg, Johnson, Kerouac, Levertov, Baldwin, Barth, Kingston. Engl 178: Aspects of multicultural American identities in bildungsroman, memoir, poetry, and drama of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s: Guterson, Murayama, Tan, Brooks, Cisneros, Rodriquez, Silko, Alexie, Rich.
179 Special Topics in Literary Theory and/or Cultural Studies (3) Staff
  Selected topics in the diverse theoretical methodologies and interdisciplinary studies that characterize contemporary English and American literary studies. May be repeated for credit provided that topic differs.
183 Literature of Black America I (3) James, Miller, Wald
  Survey of African American literature from the 18th through the late 19th centuries, in such cultural contexts as the developing concept of "race." Attention to several genres, including slave narratives, and current criticism.
184 Literature of Black America II (3) Miller, Wald
  Survey of African American literature from the early 20th century to the present day, in such cultural contexts as the "New Negro" Renaissance and the civil rights and Black Power movements. Attention to several genres, with emphasis on fiction and drama.
185 Topics in African American Literary Studies (3) James, Miller, Wald
  Intensive study of a single aspect of African American literature: major authors, genre, theme, movement. Substantial attention to the critical tradition.
186 Cultural Theory and Black Studies (3) James, Miller, Wald
  Selected topics in critical and cultural theories—often interdisciplinary—as used in understanding African American literature and culture. Topics may include genre, medium, period, social change, and leading contemporary African American thinkers/writers.
187 Asian American Literature (3) Chu
  How Asian American writers construct their identities in dialogue with shifting ideas of "America." Asian American history, gendering subjects, orientalism and postcolonial subjectivity, interracial relations, canonization. Representative writers: Kingston, Hwang, Okada, Chang-rae Lee, Okja Keller, Lahiri, Bulosan, Hagedorn.
188 Jewish American Literature (3) Moskowitz
  One hundred years of Jewish American writing in fiction, autobiography, poetry, drama, and non-fictional prose. The immigrant experience, American philosemitism and antisemitism, the Holocaust and after, the New York intellectuals, Jewish feminism, and the patriarchal tradition.
195–96 Honors Seminar (3—3) Harri
  Genre and genre theory; literature as cultural artifact and as instrument of cultural criticism; various critical approaches—ideological, historical, and ahistorical. Open only to second-semester junior and first-semester senior honors candidates in English. (Engl 195: spring; Engl 196: fall)
197 Independent Study (3) Cohen and Staff
  For exceptional students, typically majors, whose academic objectives are not accommodated in regular courses. Students must obtain departmental approval and arrange for supervision by an appropriate member of the faculty. (Fall and spring)
198 Honors Thesis (3) Staff
  Under the guidance of an instructor, the student writes a thesis on an approved topic. Open only to senior honors candidates in English. (Fall and spring)
199 Internship: Research, Writing, Editing (1 to 4) Staff
  Position of responsibility with a publication, educational project, firm, or cultural organization offering practical experience in research, writing, editing, etc. Restricted to junior and senior English majors; approval of supervising faculty required for registration. May be repeated for credit; a maximum of 3 credits may be counted toward the English major. P/NP grading only.
 

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© 2008 University Bulletin
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Information in this bulletin is generally accurate as of fall 2007. The University reserves the right to change courses, programs, fees, and the academic calendar, or to make other changes deemed necessary or desirable, giving advance notice of change when possible.