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Course Descriptions for Fall 2008
- Course descriptions are listed in alphabetical order by code and number.
- Only courses for which descriptions are available are listed here; for the full spring 2008 English Department Course Schedule, see links on previous page.
- If a course in which you are interested is not listed here, please contact the professor for further information.
CWR 206 Creative Writing: Required foundation course for Creative Writing minors. Students write and revise their own fiction and poetry, improving their craft through writing exercises and by discussing the writing of both published writers and their classmates.
CWR 301 Writing Communities: This course will offer students a hands-on encounter with the world of contemporary literature in America. In addition to running the Visiting Writers Series, we will explore leading issues and debates among writers and critics through class presentations, research projects, and field trips.
EED 390 Methods of Teaching Secondary English : Focus on reading and comprehension strategies as well as debates over "best practices" in the teaching of secondary English. Students introduced to a number of theoretical and pedagogical approaches and required to develop corresponding curricular materials.
EED 400 Teaching Writing: An exploration of the various socio-cultural factors affecting students' successes and struggles with writing as well as various rhetorics of teaching writing. Writing with/about literature, workshopping, standards and standardized assessments among included topics.
JPW 311 News Editing and Production: An intensive introduction to modern practices in news editing and production, both print and electronic. Field trips may be required at student expense. Prerequisite: JPW 208 or permission of instructor.
JPW 498 Beats and Deadlines:
Prerequisite: JPW 208 or permission of instructor.
Working experience in covering regular newspaper assignments (beats) such as local government, courts, statehouse, police, and environmental issues. Instructor: Shaw.
LIT 227 Global Animated Film: This course explores animation as a modern and post-modern art form, in a global context. The focus will be on animated films from America, Europe and Asia, with a special emphasis on recent Japanese animation. Also, in this course we will appreciate how animation resembles and differs from live action film, and how animation has influenced and been influenced by techniques and themes in live action film, and has embraced subjects ranging from dinosaurs to cyborgs.
LIT 251 British Literature to the Restoration: In this course, students take a close look at specific literary techniques and genres, and at aspects of British culture, in selected examples of pre-1660 British literature. "How does this literary work reflect the values and beliefs of the culture that produced it?" Some authors on whom we will focus are the Beowulf-poet, Marie de France, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and John Donne. Link to online syllabus. Instructor: D. Steinberg.
LIT 280: Literature, Film, and the Art of American Politics: How have writers and filmmakers been inspired by American politics? What have leaders learned from creative depictions of democracy? What are the political differences between a protest novel, a White House satire, and a Hollywood conspiracy theory? Class discussions will focus on a series of questions about representation and public opinion, citizenship and rights, campaigns and celebrity, and the creation of 'enemies.' Authors include Washington, Paine, Adams, Chesnutt, Ginsberg, Reed, and Didion. Films include Bob Roberts , Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Twilight Los Angeles , and The Manchurian Candidate . Instructor: Blake.
LIT 281 (Also AAS 221): Early African American Literature: A study of selected African American Literature from the colonial period to the Harlem Renaissance, this course will build your knowledge and confidence as readers and critics of African American culture and society in the United States. We will focus on the oral folk productions of the colonial period, slave narratives, poetry, speeches, autobiography, essays of the 19th century and the poetry and prose of the Harlem Renaissance. We will look at these texts through a lens focused on the effects produced by struggles with American fictions of race, class and sex and their intersections with categories of gender, ethnicity and nation. Instructor: Williams.
LIT 310: Literature for Younger Readers: The purpose of this course is to provide you with a working knowledge of Young Adult (YA) literature. As you sample works by a select, yet diverse, set of widely-read writers, you will be asked to read across genres—realistic fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), nonfiction, and graphic novels—as well as to discuss and analyze YA texts using various theoretical perspectives. Furthermore, the course will introduce you to the growing body of criticism being written about YA literature. As you are approaching these texts from the standpoint of future educators, this course will take up issues of pedagogy, canon formation, and curricular choice. Link to online syllabus. Instructor: Graham.
LIT 317 The Witch in Literature: The witch has been a figure in literary history since the beginning of time: Who is she, and what does she embody? Who creates her, and to what end? This course will explore the sociohistorical constructions of this figure and trace her through a wide spectrum of literary texts, including legal and historical treatises, fairy tales, short stories, drama, film, children’s literature, poetry, and even cartoons. Ultimately, we will analyze the literary cultures which have persisted in creating, recreating, and reviving this timeless, powerful and equally feared character across the ages. Instructor: Tarter.
LIT 357 Early Modern British Lit: Literary production in early modern England flourished in spite of and because of the political, religious and social turmoil of this period. In this course, we will read poetry, prose, and drama by writers including More, Marlowe, Donne, Lanyer, Whitney, Jonson, Wroth, Shakespeare, Spenser, and the Sidney siblings. Prepare to immerse yourself in the Renaissance. Instructor: Carney.
LIT 37001: “Staging Science:” Science and Theater, 1990-2007: The fundamental question this course asks is: what, then, is a “science play”? These plays attempt to bridge the two allegedly irreconcilable spheres, “science” and “fiction”/”drama.” We will therefore look at the “Two Cultures” debate before turning to contemporary plays by authors such as Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard, Carl Djerassi, Robert Marc Friedman and David Auburn. Guiding questions for our analyses will be: what role or function does a scientific topic have for both the structure and the symbolic content of a play? In how far does science serve as a metaphor, and for what? Does a play, which is openly didactic, still function as ‘good’ drama? Many playwrights have integrated famous scientists into their dramatic work. We shall ask why, how, and for what purpose Richard Feynman, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin or Lise Meitner become characters on stage. What happens to the complex relationship between ‘historical fact’ and ‘literary fiction’? Instructor: Zehelein.
LIT 37002 - The History of Nature from Homer to Hemingway: This course takes an ecocritical look at the western literary tradition. That is, it examines the history of literary representations of “nature” with special attention to construction of the relationship between humans and the non-human natural world. Readings begin with classical and biblical texts and continue into the modernist age. Authors studied will include Virgil, Ovid, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, Whitman, Tennyson, Willa Cather, Robert Frost, and Jean Toomer. Subtopics will include the pastoral tradition, the great chain of being, the romantic sublime, the rise of evolution, imperialism, and the idea of wilderness. The final writing assignment for the course will require students to analyze a contemporary work with respect to the historical context the course has presented. Instructor: McCauley
LIT 37501 – American Literature 1800-1860: An in-depth study of the literature of the so-called “American Renaissance,” written by such authors as Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Stowe, and Douglass. Essential to an understanding of these works is an understanding of the historical and cultural milieu in which they were written, especially the growth of a conception of the United States as a place where individualism and freedom could flourish – amidst slavery. Instructor: Bearer.
LIT 373 (Same as TTR 373) American Drama: This is a survey of the major playwrights of modern American Drama: Susan Glaspell, Eugene O'Neill, Cliffor Odets, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, and 2-3 others. There will also be supplementary readings on theatre and drama styles, movements, and theory. Students will have the unique opportunity to participate in an international conference on Wilder to be held here at TCNJ, the headquarters of the Thornton Wilder Society, from October 2nd-4th. There will be a panel with some of the greatest living American playwrights (e.g., Edward Albee), a reading from Wilder's works by one or more professional actors, papers on Wilder presented by scholars from all over the country and abroad, and a production of The Skin of Our Teeth. Instructor: Konkle.
LIT 422 Shakespeare: Tragedies and Romances: Intensive study of Shakespeare's tragedies and romances with special focus on figurative language, dramatic structure, and cultural, political, and religious contexts. Texts to be read in fall 2007 include three tragedies (Hamlet, King Lear,, and Othello), one problem play (Troilus and Cressida), and two romances (The Winter's Tale and The Tempest). Instructor: Venturo.
LIT 49901 Seminar: Bernard Shaw and Theories of Drama: A study of the wit and wisdom of Bernard Shaw, the greatest British dramatist, by looking at his satirical plays through several critical approaches. (For some of Shaw’s non-dramatic wit and wisdom, check my website.) Instructor: Bearer.
LIT 49902 Seminar: Ecocriticism: The emerging field of ecocriticism began with a primary focus on nature and environmental writing but has broadened to encompass, in Stephanie Sarver's words "a range of approaches to the study of literature that share a common concern with the relationship between humans and the non-human world." This course will begin with 19th -century constructions of "nature" (Wordsworth, Whitman, Thoreau, Dickinson) but really focus on recent literature--some with overt environmental themes (Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang and Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer ) and some without (Leslie Silko's Ceremony). Students will complete the course by writing a major research paper applying ecocritical practice to a work or author beyond the course reading. Check out last year's syllabus. Instructor: McCauley.
LIT 49903 Seminar: Paradise Lost: In this seminar, we will read Paradise Lost along with literary theory reflecting a range of approaches, including formalist, feminist, and postcolonial. Join us to discuss misogyny and monsters, religious violence and post-traumatic stress disorder, homoeroticism and friendship, revolution and imperialism, and how and why Satan seems so compelling. We will read additional Miltonic texts for thematic and poetic connections to Paradise Lost, and conclude the semester by celebrating the 400th anniversary of Milton's birth. Link to online Syllabus. Instructor: Graham.
LIT 49904 Seminar: Thornton Wilder: This section of 499 will study the works of the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes in both drama (Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth) and fiction (The Bridge of San Luis Rey). There will also be supplementary readings on dramatic theory. In addition to Wilder's major full-length plays and 2-3 novels, we will read several of his one-act plays, some of his essays on theatre and drama and American characteristics, and his screenplay for the Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt. Students will have the unique opportunity to participate in an international conference on Wilder to be held here at TCNJ, the headquarters of the Thornton Wilder Society, from October 2nd-4th. There will be a panel with some of the greatest living American playwrights (e.g., Edward Albee), a reading from Wilder's works by one or more professional actors, papers on Wilder presented by scholars from all over the country and abroad, and a production of The Skin of Our Teeth. Instructor: Konkle.
LIT 49905 Seminar: Culture, Nation and Literary Theory: A study of foundational works, pivotal theories, schools of thought, and specific figures and scholars that have shaped literary theory. We will focus on literary traditions and bodies of literature outside of mainstream canons and promote discussion of specific movements and their shaping force on languages, forms, histories, cultural traditions, and representational and signifying practices. Instructor: Ortiz-Villarelle.
LIT 49906 Seminar: Modernism, Gender, Race: The early 20th century witnessed an explosion of creativity in the arts that goes under the name of “modernism.” What is artistic modernism? What is its relation to social change? What does modernism have to do with the changes in gender, sexuality, and race relations of the era? This course explores these questions through close examination of four American modernists: Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, Gertrude Stein, and Jean Toomer. Students will extend the examination of modernism, gender, and race through independent projects on American, British and Continental modernists in a variety of fields, including film, painting, music and dance. Instructor: Robertson.
LIT 49907: Seeds of Literary Theory:
Approaches to Literature introduces students to critical methods that
grow out of literary theory, but few students read the original texts
that spur the movement. In this seminar, students will read the primary
theoretical texts that have fueled structuralist and post-structuralist
analyses of literature and culture. Theorists studied will include
Barthes, Culler, Derrida, and Deleuze and Guattari. Instructor: Steele
LNG 201:Introduction to the English Language: LNG 201 focuses on descriptions and explorations of English in its contemporary forms. Students will learn the basics of linguistic descriptions and be introduced to general linguistic theory. The course includes large units on Child Language Acquisition as well as language and discourse in social contexts. If you've ever wondered how children learn to speak so quickly and effortlessly, this is the class for you.
LNG 202 Structure and History of the English Language: LNG 202 focuses attention on the development of the English language through time. After learning the basics of linguistic description, students will learn about the grammatical structures of Old, Middle, and Early Modern English. Students will also learn about the consequences of this history to Present Day English. If you've ever wondered why there's a 'k', a 'g', and an 'h' in 'knight', this is the class for you. Instructor: Steele.
