ENG 223 American Literature I RELOADED
This course takes an innovative approach to the early American literature survey by using the lens of contemporary culture to study American texts in their social and cultural context.
Texts:
Cain, William E. (Ed) American Literature I
Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative
Foster, Hannah. The Coquette
Melville, Herman. Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivner
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
AMS 224 American Literature II
This course will introduce students to the American literary tradition within its social and cultural contexts from 1865 to the present. Students will engage in close reading of selected texts to stress the expansion of the American literary canon.
Text: Baym, Nina. Norton Anthology of American Literature
ENG 255 Asian Film and Literature
This course explores significant works of Chinese, Japanese and Korean historical fiction that centers on a period in the past, ranging from the Three Kingdoms period (220 CE) to the early 20th century. This term, the foundation text for the course is 14th century Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Students will use this novel and the historical contexts that inform it as a foundation for the interrogation Chinese, Japanese and Korean film, television series and other visual culture. Students combine literary and visual analysis to interrogate themes including the gender and power, transnational conflict and consensus, and personal and national loyalty. Films include The Warlords, Red Cliff 1 and 2, The Lost Bladesman and Ip Man.
Text: Luo, Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
ENG 355 Harlem Renaissance
Parties. Politics. Polite conversation. These are just a few things that reflect the complexities of the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most significant cultural and political movements in the United States, a movement that was neither confined to Harlem, nor a renaissance of African American writing. The course will interrogate the interracial and transnational elements of the movement through images and texts, especially the impact of Mexico, Africa and Asia on creative and cultural production.
Texts:
Larsen, Nella. Quicksand and Passing
Du Bois, W.E.B. Dark Princess
Van Vechten, Carl. Nigger Heaven
Schuyler, George. Black No More
Lewis, David Levering (ed.) The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
ENG/AMS 370 Atlantic World, 1440-1880
Gold. Pirates. Adventure on the high seas. Political intrigue. Is this the plot of the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie? No, this is the complex world of the Atlantic from 1440 to 1880. Pilgrims and Puritans make up only part of this story, because for most of the early American experience, the country perceives itself and is perceived as part of the larger physical and intellectual geography that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Fueled by dreams of treasure, empire and religious conversion, European explorers, merchants, seaman and others explored both sides of the Atlantic in search of a combination of these. In desperate efforts to find better routes to the riches to Asia, these individuals included the continent of Africa in their travels, and later in the era, forced and voluntary migrations from Africa contributed to the Atlantic word. At the same time, well-established indigenous cultures encountered this variety of “new peoples” in a variety of ways ranging from acceptance to rebellion. Until the 19th century, the Atlantic world has a profound effect on the development of the history and culture of the United States.
Texts:
Jehlen, Myra and Michael Warner. The English Literatures of America: 1500-1800
Shakespeare. The Tempest
AMS 210: Concepts in American Studies
In this course, students will study the development of American studies, the interdisciplinary study of American culture, as an academic field, with a special focus on its interdisciplinary methods. They will also use this knowledge in practical application to various aspects of American culture throughout history. Through fiction, films, visual and popular culture, historical documents and critical readings, students will learn to critically analyze various aspects of American culture, both within and outside the United States in ways that will complement their established disciplinary interests.
Texts:
Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime
Hefner, Richard. A Documentary History of the United States
Maddox, Lucy (ed). Locating American Studies: The Evolution of a Discipline
