Current and Upcoming Courses
Courses are offered at both The Citadel and The College of Charleston. When registering, please take note of where the course is held and what day it begins. Each institution’s academic calendar may vary. For a complete list of all courses in the program catalog, click here.
SPRING 2010
- English 505: Milton - Professor Scott Lucas. Meets Thursdays, 4-6:45 pm at The Citadel. Begins January 14, 2010. Counts toward pre-1800 British literature requirement (M.A.).
John Milton’s poetry is in many ways the culmination of the English Renaissance. Like none before him, Milton managed to weave together the influences of classical literature, Protestant theology, contemporary political theory, cutting-edge scientific discoveries, and, of course, the greatest advances in early modern English verse into a body of work unparalleled in its own time or since. This course will focus on exploring the genius of Milton’s great poetry, but it will also place Milton’s verse within the larger cultural contexts of the poet’s own time. We will thus view Milton’s religiously themed writings in the larger context of ongoing debates about church and faith in seventeenth-century England; we’ll read Milton’s political works in the context of the fraught political emergencies that led Milton to witness the execution of one king, the establishment of the first English republic, and then the restoration of yet another monarch all within less than fifteen years; and we’ll see how Milton selects his chosen literary genres not only as prime vehicles for artistic creation but also as salvoes in the fierce debate over the proper style and role for poetry during Milton’s time. Along the way, expect to examine Milton’s most important English poems, his celebrated masque Comus, a selection of his religious and political prose works, and short pieces from writers whose texts inspired (or, in many cases, provoked) Milton to compose his greatest literary triumphs.
- English 550: Writing Labs in Theory and Practice - Professor Bonnie Devet. Meets Wednesdays 4-6:45 (Education Center 102) at The College of Charleston. Begins January 13, 2010.
Designed for graduate students interested in major issues associated with writing centers. The course focuses on the nature of composition theory as found in a writing center, how students learn to write on a one-to-one basis in a center, the organizing and directing of a writing center, the concept of being a consultant (tutor), the role of technology in teaching writing one-to-one, and the future of writing labs.
- English 557: Creative Writing - Poetry - Professor Paul Allen. Meets Mondays 4-6:45 at The College of Charleston. Begins 11 January 2010.
This class is designed to introduce participants to the craft of writing poetry. It is geared toward those who want to write poetry as well as those who want to have a cache of lessons in writing, either poetry or prose, when they go into their own classrooms to teach any age.
- English 560: Film Studies - Professor John Bruns. Meets Wednesdays 7-9:45 at The College of Charleston. Begins 13 January 2010.
(M.A. and M.A.T.)
This course will examine films from a variety of nations and filmmakers. Although the films themselves will take the lead in class discussions, we will also address some of the major concepts in film theory, as well as the historical and cultural underpinnings of these theories. Students will demonstrate visual literacy and their ability to understand difficult theoretical and analytical texts by writing a number of short response papers as well as a final research paper that integrates the student’s own analysis with relevant secondary sources.
- English 571: The Harlem Renaissance - Professor Conseula Francis. Meets Mondays and Wednesdays, 2-3:15 at The College of Charleston. Counts toward American literature requirement (M.A.). Begins 11 January 2010.
This course looks at the two major periods of African American literary history: the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. In addition to studying major writers and works from each movement, we will consider the following questions: What were the goals of the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement? What was the social/historical/political context of each movement? What were the prominent aesthetic and ideological debates of each movement? What do the movements have in common ideologically/aesthetically? How do they differ? What is the legacy of each movement?
- English 595: Materials and Methods for the Study of English Language Arts - Professor Tom Thompson. Meets Thursdays, 7-9:45 pm at The Citadel. (MAT students only). Begins on 14 January 2010.
This course exposes students to theories and practices of teaching English (to include reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and thinking) in grades 7-12, including preparation for reflective practice and classroom-based teacher research. In-class instruction is augmented by field experiences that expose students to the professionalism of practicing ELA teachers and the realities of working with a diverse population of students. This course is intended to prepare students for a student internship.
- English 700: Seminar: Postcolonial Dystopian Literature - Professor Tom Horan. Meets Tuesdays, 4-6:45 pm. at The Citadel. Begins 12 January 2010. Counts toward post-1800 British literature requirement (M.A.).
This seminar provides an overview of speculative political fiction by contemporary writers from Britain and former British colonies with supplemental readings of cultural and literary theory, featuring novels and stories by Atwood, Carter, Coetzee, Emecheta, Greene, Gordimer, Ishiguro, P.D. James, Naipaul, and Rushdie.
- Lowcountry Writing Project: Young Adult Literature - Professor Tom Thompson. Meets Tuesdays 5-8 pm. at The Citadel. Begins on 12 January 2010. (For in-service teachers only who are enrolled in the LWP.)
This course focuses on “adolescent” or “young adult” literature, or YA Lit, including methods of introducing the major literary genres to students in grades 7-12. Participants become familiar with a wide range of current YA novels and authors, so they can recommend appropriate books to students for pleasure reading or in conjunction with other readings. They also design instructional units using YA novels alone or in conjunction with canonical works in ways appropriate to the SC ELA standards. Click here for more information.
SUMMER 2010 (SESSION 1)
- English 553 Modern English Grammar - Professor David Allen. Meets TBD at The Citadel.
- ENGL 517: Body Count: Renaissance Tragedy and its Contexts, Time TBA. Meets at the College of Charleston - Professor Catherine Thomas. (Counts toward pre-1800 British Literature Requirement for the M.A.)
This course will explore the generic principles, historical events, cultural values, and thematic concerns informing dramatic tragedies from sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. Particular attention will be paid to the ways violence is deployed and how bodies become complex cultural signifiers. Readings will include plays representing key tragic sub-genres (revenge, domestic, tragicomic) and cover authors such as Sackville and Norton, Kyd, Shakespeare, Middleton, and Webster.
- Lowcountry Writing Project: Writing Short Fiction - Professor Michael Livingston. Meets TBD at The Citadel. Click here for more information.
SUMMER 2010 (SESSION 2)
- English 520: World Literature I - Professor Scott Lucas. Meets at The Citadel. Time and days TBD.
- ENGL 517: Regionalism and Local Color in 19th Century American Literature, Time TBA. Meets at the College of Charleston - Professor J. Michael Duvall. (Counts toward American literature requirement for the M.A.)
A survey of American regionalist and local color writing in the 19th century with special attention paid to the development of the genre and recent criticism and theory. Writers studied will include (but not be limited to) Mark Twain, Mary Noailles Murfree, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, George Washington Cable, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Jack London.
