Summer 2011
NEW, OFFERED DURING MAYMESTER 2011:
ENGL 670-03: Special Topics: The Witch in Literature - Dr. Michele Lise Tarter - M/T/W/R - 9:00 am - 12:15 pm
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 socio-historical 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. Because this course is being offered during Maymester, we will have the enhanced learning opportunity of traveling to Salem, Massachusetts for 4 days, where we will conduct archival research of the 1692 witch hunt at the Peabody Essex Museum, in addition to visiting many museums and living history programs. Ultimately, through our in-depth and on-site study of witch hunts and literary recreations of this figure, we will analyze the cultures which have persisted in creating, recreating, and reviving this timeless, powerful, and equally feared character throughout the age s. For more information, please see: http://summer.pages.tcnj.edu/salem/
NOTE: In order to take this course (which is available for graduate credit), you must be able to attend all class dates (M-Th, May 9-26th), and you must also be able to travel to Salem to do the archival research with the class (May 15-18th). Required fee for research trip to Salem is $290.
SESSION 'A'
ENGL 670-02: Studies in Literature - "Narrative in the Bible“ –Glenn Steinberg - M/T/R - 5:00 - 7:45 pm
In this course, we will read many of the most significant and influential narratives in the Judeo-Christian tradition. But we will approach these iconic stories from the perspective of modern literary theory and scholarship. As we read some of the most (and least) important biblical narratives, we will also read some of the most influential biblical scholars of the last three decades or so, such as Frank Kermode, Robert Alter, Northrop Frye, Adele Berlin, Meir Sternberg, Mieke Bal, and Alice Bach. While we will read a significant portion of the Bible, this course is not a broad or comprehensive survey of the Bible's stories, and while we will inevitably examine the portrayal of God and humanity in the stories that we read, this course is not a course in theology. Our focus will be on the way in which biblical narrative operates in telling its stories and in reinforcing its social and moral agenda.
SESSION 'B'
ENGL 622-01: Seminar in Early Modern Literature – Jean Graham - M/T/R - 5:00 - 7:45 pm
The topic for summer 2011 is early modern imperial England. Readings will include The Tempest and a Shakespeare tragedy (students will choose either Othello or Titus Andronicus), drama by Ben Jonson and Elizabeth Cary, part of Spenser’s Faerie Queene, Milton’s Samson Agonistes and part of Paradise Lost, and selections from early modern prose on exploration and travel (e.g., Sir Walter Raleigh and Leo Africanus). We will also read some of John Donne’s erotic poetry and compare Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady” sonnets with similar poems by contemporaries; early modern prose fiction will include Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and selections from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
http://graham.intrasun.tcnj.edu/ENGL622summer11.htm
ENGL 670-01: Studies in Literature - “Tales From the Contact Zone” – Janet Gray - M/T/R - 2:00 - 4:45 pm
In Imperial Eyes , a now-classic study of colonial travel writing, Mary Louise Pratt coined the term "contact zone" to refer to "social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination--like colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out across the globe today." The texts for this course will take us into recorded and reimagined contact zones, spread over centuries and across continents: from Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest to medieval Egypt to the Himalayas under British colonial rule, and now. Supplementing Pratt's theory with concepts from critical geography, we will explore how the dynamic, interactive, improvisational spaces of the contact zone produce identities that reinforce or resist domination.
Summer Study Abroad Opportunities in England (for Graduate Credit):
ENGL 670-10: Special Topics: "The Magic of Archival Research" -- Cornwall, England" - Dr. Michele Lise Tarter - July 7-23, 2011
This special topics course will conduct groundbreaking archival research at the world-renowned Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall, England. Working with primary manuscripts that have never been studied before, students (graduate and undergraduate) will consider the many ways that these materials can be archived, analyzed, and understood in the broader cultural context of witchcraft today. While living in Tintagel, set on the rocky cliffs by the Cornish sea and right atop Merlin’s cave, students will read and explore the history and narratives of witchcraft across the ages, with particular focus on Arthurian legends which attempted to bring together the pagan and Christian worlds. http://www.tcnj.edu/~goglobal/undergraduate/cornwall.htm
ENGL 670-04: Special Topics: "Literary Landscapes in England -- Harlaxton, England" - Dr. Michele Lise Tarter - July 23-August 12, 2011
Would you like to study abroad in England during the summer, live in a castle, and join us as we bring literature to life? This is an opportunity for students (both graduate and undergraduate) to live in England and study some of the country's most fascinating literature. This year the course will be held at the beautiful Harlaxton "Castle" in the Midlands, where courses have been held for the past 7 years. http://www.tcnj.edu/~goglobal/undergraduate/harlaxton.htm