English
The Department of English has developed a focus on Literature and Social Justice, the outcome of a multi-year effort to revitalize the traditional period-based approach to literary studies. Our classes foster a series of related activities: an exploration of how studying literature contributes to questions of social justice; an immersion in historical periods informed by strong theoretical commitments; an engagement with contemporary literature and culture; and an emphasis on theorized pedagogy, reflective practice, and the scholar-teacher model. Our faculty interact with Lehigh's varied interdisciplinary programs, including Africana Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Global Studies; Health, Medicine and Society; and Film and Documentary Studies.
Undergraduate Major in English
Minimum number of hours: 36
The major in English is designed to give students experience in reading analyzing, and formulating thoughts about people and ideas that matter; an understanding of how literary artists find the appropriate words to express their thoughts and feelings; and a basic knowledge of the historical development of British, American, and world literature.
Students who major in English go on to careers in teaching, writing, law, business, science, medicine, engineering--and many others. The analytical and communication skills acquired in the study of literature and writing will be of use in almost any profession or human activity. Depending on their interests, abilities, and career plans, students who major in English are encouraged to consider double majors or one or two minor fields. The major in English is flexible enough to allow cross-disciplinary study with ease. The student majoring in English chooses from an extensive list of courses. Only one course is required of all students, the introduction to the major, English 100. To ensure breadth and depth of knowledge, each English major is required to take five courses at the 300 level, typically one in each of the four historical periods listed below1 and one as an elective. One of the five courses must be designated as WI. Double majors may complete the Writing Intensive (WI) requirement in either major.
| The English major requires a minimum of 36 credits. | ||
| Required Major Course | ||
| ENGL 100 | Working with Texts | 4 |
| Breadth Courses 1,2 | 16 | |
| Select a minimum of one course from each concentration below. | ||
| British to 1660 | ||
| British Literature I | ||
| Major Medieval Writers | ||
| Topics in Shakespeare | ||
| Special Topics in Shakespeare and Film | ||
| Arthurian Legend | ||
| Outcasts in Medieval Literature and Culture | ||
| Sinners, Saints, and Heretics | ||
| Middle English Literature | ||
| Early Modern Genres and Authors | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in Early Modern Poetry | ||
| Special Topics in Early Modern Literature | ||
| British 1660-1900 | ||
| British Literature I | ||
| British Literature II | ||
| Milton | ||
| Jane Austen | ||
| Topics in British Eighteenth-Century Literature | ||
| Topics in Transatlantic Eighteenth-Century Literature | ||
| Transatlantic Radicalism: Can We Remake the World? | ||
| Romantic-Era Literature | ||
| Victorian Literature | ||
| American to 1900 | ||
| American Literature I | ||
| Imagining Freedom: 19th-Century African American Literature and Politics | ||
| Women and Revolution in Early America | ||
| Listening to/for Indigenous Voices in the Atlantic World | ||
| Topics in Transatlantic Eighteenth-Century Literature | ||
| Transatlantic Radicalism: Can We Remake the World? | ||
| Early American Literature: Revolution and Nation | ||
| Topics in Early American Literature | ||
| American Romanticism | ||
| Topics in American Realism | ||
| How Free Can We Be in the Modern World? Realism and Naturalism in American Literature, 1860-1940 | ||
| 20th and 21st American, British, World, Film, Popular Culture | ||
| Intro to Latino/a Literature and Culture | ||
| American Literature II | ||
| British Literature II | ||
| Advanced Studies in the Horror Film | ||
| The Harlem Renaissance: Early 20th-Century African American Literature, Art and Politics | ||
| Topics in Modern American Literature | ||
| Contemporary American Literature | ||
| Contemporary World and Postcolonial Literature | ||
| Special Topics in Modern British and Irish Literature | ||
| Film History, Theory, and Criticism | ||
| Special Topics in Contemporary British Literature | ||
| Modern American Writing and the Problem of War | ||
| Modernism, Mourning and Social Justice | ||
| Writing Intensive Requirement 2 | 4 | |
| 300-level course designated as Writing Intensive | ||
| Elective Requirements 2 | 12 | |
| Three elective courses are required for the major. These may be taken at any level (provided that the student fulfills the requirement to take at least five 300-level courses total for the major) and may include FILM courses and one course in creative writing (either ENGL 142, 143, 144, 342, 343, or 344). | ||
| Total Credits | 36 | |
- 1
A student may use a 100-level survey course in British or American literature (105, 123, 124, 125, or 126) to fulfill one period requirement; however, students must still take a total of five courses at the 300-level.
- 2
A minimum of five courses must be at the 300-level, one of which must be designated Writing Intensive.
English Major with Concentration in Creative Writing
Minimum number of hours: 16
To have entered on the transcript Concentration in Creative Writing, the students must take:
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Select one of the following: 1 | 4 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| Amaranth | ||
| Special Topics in Writing | ||
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Creative Writing and Literary Studies | ||
| ENGL 305 & ENGL 306 | Creative Writing Thesis Proposal and Creative Writing Thesis | 4 |
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
Note: the same course cannot fulfill both the core requirement except in the case of courses that can be repeated for credit—ENGL 201, ENGL 342, ENGL 343 and ENGL 344—which can be taken twice, once for core credit and once as an elective.
Note: Additional courses may be offered that meet distribution requirements; please consult departmental course descriptions each semester for these additions.
Departmental Honors in English
In order to receive departmental honors the English major must attain a 3.5 grade-point average in courses presented for the major and must complete at least 44 credit hours of course work in English (beyond WRT 001 and WRT 002). For the additional credits beyond the 36 required of all English majors, honors students must take the following courses:
| ENGL 309 | Interpretation: Critical Theory and Practice | 4 |
| or ENGL 312 | Studies in Literary and Cultural Theory | |
or an approved theory course. | ||
| ENGL 305 | Creative Writing Thesis Proposal | 1 |
| or ENGL 307 | Undergraduate Thesis Proposal | |
| ENGL 306 | Creative Writing Thesis | 3 |
| or ENGL 308 | Undergraduate Thesis | |
| Total Credits | 8 | |
Presidential Scholars
Students who anticipate becoming Presidential Scholars should speak to the Director of Graduate Studies in their junior year.
Minors in English
The Department of English offers three minors, each requiring 16 hours of course work beyond First-Year Writing 1 and 2. Students' are encouraged to take English 100 (Working with Texts) as one of the 4 courses. Students’ major advisors monitor the minor programs, but students should consult the minor advisor in the Department of English when setting up a minor program.
MINOR IN ENGLISH
| Four Courses in ENGL Literature or Film 1 | 16 | |
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
To minor in English students take 4 courses in ENGL literature or film either offered by or cross-listed with the English Department. One of these four courses must be at the 300-level, and no more than one of these four courses may be in Creative Writing (ENGL 142, 143, 144, 201, 342, 343, or 344).
To minor in creative writing, students take:
CREATIVE WRITING MINOR
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| A literature course at the 100- or 300-level. | 4 | |
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Select one of the following: 1 | 4 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| Amaranth | ||
| Special Topics in Writing | ||
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Creative Writing and Literary Studies | ||
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
Note: the same course cannot fulfill both the core requirements except in the case of a course that can be repeated for credit—ENGL 201, ENGL 342, ENGL 343, and ENGL 344—which can be taken twice, once for core credit and once as an elective.
To minor in writing, students take:
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| Writing for Audiences | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| Special Topics in Writing | ||
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Select two of the following: 1 | 8 | |
| Introduction to Writing Poetry | ||
| Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Introduction to Writing Fiction | ||
| Writing for Audiences | ||
| Special Topics in Writing | ||
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Non-Fiction | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
Note: the same course cannot fulfill both the core requirements except in the case of a course that can be repeated for credit —ENGL 201, ENGL 342, ENGL 343, and ENGL 344—which can be taken twice, once for core credit and once as an elective.
First-year Composition Requirement
| WRT 001 | Academic and Analytical Writing | 3 |
| WRT 002 | Research and Argument | 3 |
| Total Credits | 6 | |
Graduate Work in English
The Department of English has developed a focus on Literature and Social Justice, the outcome of a multi-year effort to revitalize the traditional period-based approach to literary studies. Our graduate programs provide students with skills necessary to recognize how literature and other forms of cultural production intervene in questions of justice and shape our conceptions of the world.
The Master of Arts Program
Candidates for the master’s degree must complete at least 33 credit hours. Students take at least seven of the required courses at the 400 level but may select the balance of their curricula from 300-level course offerings. Course work for the M.A. must include:
| ENGL Literature Courses, pre-1830 | 6 | |
| ENGL Literature Courses, post-1830 | 6 | |
| ENGL Theory Course | 3 | |
| ENGL Elective Courses 1 | 15 | |
| ENGL 482 | Theories of Literature and Social Justice | 3 |
| Total Credits | 33 | |
- 1
At least 7 courses required at the 400-level; the balance of the curricula from appropriate 300-level course offerings.
This distribution allows for some concentrated study at the master’s level. ENGL 485 and ENGL 486, the required courses for new teaching fellows, are not counted in the 33 credits toward the M.A. but will be counted later toward the Ph.D., even if rostered during the M.A. program.
The Doctor of Philosophy Program
The department admits to its doctoral program only students of proven competence and scholarly promise. An average of 3.5 in M.A. course work and strong endorsements from graduate instructors are minimum requirements for acceptance.
Doctoral candidates with a Lehigh master’s degree are required to take eight courses and register for 42 credit hours beyond the M.A. Those entering the doctoral program with a master’s from another institution are required to take nine courses and register for 48 credit hours.
Candidates must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of one or two foreign languages after having agreed on choices with the director of graduate studies.
No later than six months after completing their course work, candidates will take written and oral examinations in one major field and two minor fields.
Candidates write their dissertations after having their dissertation proposals approved by the department and being admitted to candidacy by the appropriate college.
ENGL Literature and Theory Courses | ||
| Dissertation 1 | ||
| Total Credits 2 | 42-48 | |
- 1
Includes Exam Preparation and Dissertation.
- 2
Doctoral candidates with a Lehigh master’s degree are required to take eight courses and register for 42 credit hours beyond the M.A. Those entering the doctoral program with a master’s from another institution are required to take nine courses and register for 48 credit hours.
Graduate Certificate in Composition and Rhetoric
The Graduate Certificate in Composition and Rhetoric is awarded to students in the M.A. or Ph.D. programs in English when they complete a program of training in the theory and practice of composition-rhetoric consisting of 12 credit hours of course work. At least 8 credits must be in graduate seminars or independent studies: English 480 (3 cr.), 481 (3 cr., topic must be in rhetoric), 485 (2 cr.), 491 (1-3 cr.), or 495 (3 cr.). The other 4 credits may be in seminars, independent studies, and/or any combination of courses in pedagogy, field work, or research: English 486, 487, 488, or 489 (all 1 cr.).
Graduate students in the M.A. program in English will be able to complete the certificate requirements in four semesters alongside their M.A. coursework, by taking a total of 9 or 10 credits each semester; students who proceed from the M.A. to the Ph.D. can spread the courses over additional years. The certificate requires 12 credits of course work. At least 8 credits must be in graduate seminars or independent studies, including English 485 (2 cr, Introduction to Writing Theory); English 480 (3 cr, Composition and Rhetoric); English 481 (3 cr, Theory and Criticism, topic in rhetoric); English 495 (3 cr, Independent Study); or English 491 (1-3 cr, Special Topics in Comp-Rhet); and 4 credits may be in seminars, independent studies, and any combination of 1-credit courses in pedagogy, field work, or research: English 486, 487, 488 (new), and 489 (new), some of which may be repeated for credit.
Sample course of study for M.A. students. Courses for the certificate are italicized and labeled “Comp”; courses for the M.A. in Literature and Social Justice are labeled “Lit.”
Fall, Year 1: Comp: English 485 (2) Spring, Year 1: Lit: Theories LSJ (3)
Comp: English 486 (1) Comp: English 480 (3)
Lit: Post-1830 Lit (3) Lit: Post-1830 (3)
Lit: Pre-1830 Lit (3) Comp: English 487 (1)
Fall, Year 2: Lit: Pre-1830 (3) Spring, Year 2: Lit: MA Thesis (3)
Lit & Comp: English 481 Rhet Theory (3) Lit: Elective (3)
Lit: Elective (3) Comp: English 488 (1)
Comp: English 487 or 489 (1) Lit: Elective (3)
Literature Courses = 30 credits
Composition-Rhetoric Courses = 12 credits (note that English 481, when offered on a topic in Rhetorical Theory, meets requirements for both M.A. in English and Certificate in Composition and Rhetoric).
Undergraduate Courses
ENGL 038, ENGL 089, ENGL 091 are open to all undergraduates, including first-year students also taking freshman English.
Prerequisites: Each literature course is a self-contained unit. Thus, students may roster ENGL 126 whether or not they have had, or ever plan to take, ENGL 125. Creative writing courses may have specific prerequisites as listed below.
Graduate Students taking 300-level courses receive 3 credits; undergraduates receive 4 credits.
Graduate Courses in English
Graduate (400-level) courses are seminars, ordinarily limited to no more than twelve graduate students, but undergraduate English majors who are planning to go on to graduate school in English and who have shown proficiency in the study of literature may petition to take one of these seminars in their senior year.
English Courses
ENGL 001 Critical Reading and Composition 3 Credits
Introduction to academic writing that supports a claim in respectful conversation with others. Topics drawn from important issues in the world in which students live. The course provides multiple opportunities to engage thoughtfully in the writing process. Students must receive a grade of C- or higher to advance to English 2.
ENGL 002 (WRT 002) Research and Argument 3 Credits
Continuation of ENGL 1. Designed to refine the skills of argument and research. Students will make persuasive, thoughtful, and well-supported arguments in a variety of forms, including multi-modal genres. The course provides a number of occasions to think, research, and write about pressing issues of public concern. Must have a grade of C- or higher in English 1.
Prerequisites: ENGL 001
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 003 Composition and Literature I for Multilingual Writers 3 Credits
Students improve both their advanced academic written English and academic writing style through a process of reading fiction and non-fiction and by writing well-organized, coherent essays for academics. Author citation, style, and written fluency and accuracy are addressed within students’ writing. Enrollment is limited to multilingual English speakers; prior academic writing history, English placement testing, and/or ICAPE director’s recommendation determines placement.
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 005 Composition and Literature II for Multilingual Writers 3 Credits
Continuation of English 3. Students practice more advanced methods and modes of writing for academics, including writing and reading for their specific field of study. Students continue to work on advanced written fluency and accuracy of idiomatic language and expression and are taught advanced methods of author citation and source integration.
Prerequisites: (ENGL 003)
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 011 Seminar in Critical Reading & Writing 3 Credits
English 11 is designed to deepen your skills in critical reading and writing through a close engagement with literary and cultural texts and advanced training in best writing practices. You will make persuasive, thoughtful, and well-supported arguments in a variety of forms.
Prerequisites: AP English Language Comp with a score of 4 or higher or AP English Literature Comp with a score of 4 or higher or SAT Evidence-based Read/Write with a score of 700 or higher or IB English HL with a score of 5 or higher or ACT Writing Subject Score 2016 with a score of 8 or higher or ACT Raw Verbal (English) with a score of 32 or higher or (SAT Essay Reading Subscore with a score of 6 or higher and SAT Essay Analysis Subscore with a score of 6 or higher and SAT Essay Writing Subscore with a score of 6 or higher )
ENGL 012 University Life and Language 1,3 Credits
This course is part of the Virtual College Success Academy. It is online (one credit for graduate students and three credits for undergraduate students) in which students learn about university culture, develop their academic communication and study skills, and engage virtually with Lehigh teachers, staff, and students on campus. As a final group project, students will collaborate virtually on an e-portfolio with research and present virtually to the class and invited guests.
ENGL 015 Speech Communication for International Students 1 Credit
This course introduces students from other countries to American academic speaking contexts, such as attending office hours, participating spontaneously in class discussions, and giving multi-modal presentations. In the course, students learn about university culture while improving study skills and intercultural communication. Interactions with students, staff, and faculty at Lehigh are a key part of the class.
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 016 Critical Reading and Composition Recitation 1 Credit
For multilingual speakers of English taking English 001, Business 003, or other writing-intensive courses. This recitation class will give students a space to ask questions about English grammar, American rhetorical conventions, academic genres, and the writing process in a small class setting.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 017 Research and Argument Recitation 1 Credit
For multilingual speakers of English taking English 002, Business 003, or other writing-intensive courses. This recitation class will give students a space to ask questions about English grammar, American rhetorical conventions, academic genres, and the writing process in a small class setting.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 018 Business Communication Recitation 1 Credit
For multilingual speakers of English taking BUS 003. This recitation class will give students a space to ask questions about English grammar, genres, and business writing in a small class setting.
Corequisites: BUS 003
ENGL 038 (AAS 038) Introduction to African Literature 3 Credits
Sub-Saharan African literary themes and styles; historical and social contexts, African folktales, oral poetry, colonial protest literature, postcolonial writing, and films on contemporary Africa.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 045 Conspiracy and Paranoia 4 Credits
Conspiracy theories seem to be everywhere these days--everywhere, of course, except in our own heads. Why does everybody else seem so paranoid? Can we tell an actual conspiracy from a crazy conspiracy theory? This class will use recent literature and some films to explore why everybody resorts to conspiratorial thinking and paranoid explanations for events large and small.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, W
ENGL 060 (THTR 060) Dramatic Action 4 Credits
How plays are put together; how they work and what they accomplish. Examination of how plot, character, aural and visual elements of production combine to form a unified work across genre, styles and periods. Recommended as a foundation for further studies in design, literature, or performance.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 065 (THTR 065) Introduction to Playwriting 4 Credits
An introduction to writing for the stage, with an emphasis on creating characters, exploring story and structure, experimenting with theatrical language, and working within the context of theatrical history and the wider world. This course combines in-class exercises with seminar-style discussion of the student's work.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, CC, HU, W
ENGL 066 (FILM 066) The Slasher 4 Credits
The slasher has been one of the most enduring subgenres of horror, evolving and continuing to thrive since 1978’s Halloween. In this course, we will read some of the most important critical discussions of the slasher and watch films, from the 70s to the present, that embody both the core characteristics of the subgenre and its radical innovations. We will address what the slasher is, why it’s remained so popular, and what ethical and political questions it raises.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 089 Popular Literature 4 Credits
The form of literature that has been designated in one way or another as "popular," such as folklore and detective fiction. May be repeated for credit as content changes. Cannot be taken pass/fail.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 091 Special Topics 1-4 Credits
A topic, genre, or approach in literature or writing not covered in other courses.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 100 Working with Texts 4 Credits
A course to help students to become, through intense practice, independent readers of literary and other kinds of texts; to discern and describe the devices and process by which texts establish meaning; to gain an awareness of the various methods and strategies for reading and interpreting texts; to construct and argue original interpretations; to examine and judge the interpretations of other readers; to write the interpretive essay that supports a distinct position on some literary topic of importance; and to.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 102 (AAS 102, JST 102, REL 102) Promised Lands: Jewish and African American Children's Literature 4 Credits
In the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 137 asks, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” For Jews, blacks, and black Jews, this was and is a poignant question. This course examines how these two rich, often overlapping and interacting groups tell their stories in literature for children and young adults, with a particular focus on the mediation of traumatic pasts. What does it mean to imagine promised lands beyond such pasts—and can they be reached?
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 104 (WGSS 104) Special Topics in Gender Studies 4 Credits
This course will involve extended study in a sub-area of English language culture, and literature with a focus on gender, sexuality, and/or race/ethnicity.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 105 (LAS 105) Intro to Latino/a Literature and Culture 4 Credits
This course provides an overview of the literary history and criticism of Latino/a literature and media. Through a combination of critical and literary theory, we will focus on works Latino/a-centered texts including poetry, prose, film, and television which portray issues of migration/immigration, colonialism, history, race, and gender. We will also examine the role of literature in the development of Latino/a Studies. Authors and scholars featured in the course include José Martí, Pura Belpré, Pedro Pietri, the Young Lords Party,.
Attribute/Distribution: HU
ENGL 115 (HMS 115) Topics in Literature, Medicine, and Health 4 Credits
Largely focused on narratives about health, illness and disability, this course will examine individual experiences with attention to social context. Topics may include the physician/patient relationship, illness and deviance, plague literature, gender and medicine, autism, AIDS, mental illness, aging.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 119 (FILM 119) Introduction to the Horror Film 4 Credits
Examination of the horror film from beginnings to the present, including classic horror of the 1930s, the slasher film in the 1970s, the self-reflexive horror of the 1990s, the faux-documentary horror at the end of the 20th century, and the renaissance of the genre in our contemporary world, from so-called torture porn" to the return of the "possession" film. The course will focus on U.S. film but will sometimes include the highly influential horror traditions of other countries.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 120 Literature from Developing Nations 4 Credits
Contemporary literature from Africa, Central America, South America, or Asia. Must have completed six hours of freshman English. Cannot be taken pass/fail.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 121 (AAS 121) Topics in African-American Literature 4 Credits
Selected works of African American literature and/or the literatures of the African diaspora. Must have completed six hours of first-year English. Cannot be taken pass/fail.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 123 American Literature I 4 Credits
Masterpieces of American literature from the 17th through the mid-19th century.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 124 American Literature II 4 Credits
Masterpieces of American literature from the middle of the 19th century to the present.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 125 British Literature I 4 Credits
British literature and literary history from Beowulf through the Pre-Romantics.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 126 British Literature II 4 Credits
British literature and literary history from the Romantic period into the 20th century.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 127 (THTR 127) History of Theatre I 4 Credits
A multi-cultural survey of dramatic literature and theatrical practice from its ritual origins to the 18th century.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU
ENGL 128 (THTR 128) History of Theatre II 4 Credits
A multi-cultural survey of dramatic literature theatre and theatrical practice from the 18th century to the present day.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 132 (FILM 132, WGSS 132) Viewing Mad Men: Window, Mirror, Screen 4 Credits
Widely considered one of the best TV shows ever made, Mad Men demonstrated that television serial drama could combine virtuoso storytelling, cinematic visual style and historical ambition. Set in a New York ad agency in the 1960s, Mad Men both opens a window onto the past and holds a mirror up to the present. We will analyze Mad Men’s innovative visual and narrative style and explore two core themes: shifting gender roles and the influence of advertising in U.S. society.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU
ENGL 135 Playwriting II 4 Credits
For students interested in continuing and deepening their writing for the stage. Instructor approval required.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 138 (AAS 138) Introduction to African American Literature 4 Credits
Survey of African American prose narrative and poetry from the 18th century to the present. Features writers from the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the post-Black Power era.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 142 Introduction to Writing Poetry 4 Credits
Instruction in the craft of writing poetry, with a focus on prosody. Practice in and classroom criticism of poems written by students taking the course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 143 Introduction to Writing Creative Non-Fiction 4 Credits
Practice in writing non-fiction from immediate experience, with emphasis on accurate, persuasive description writing. Must have completed six hours of freshman English.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 144 Introduction to Writing Fiction 4 Credits
Instruction in the craft of writing fiction. Practice in and classroom criticism of stories written by students taking the course.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 147 (FILM 147, WGSS 147) Made to Kill: Female Violence in Popular Film 4 Credits
Heroes. Monsters. Outlaws. Catsuits. In the wake of the second-wave feminist movement, U.S. films in the horror, thriller, and action/adventure genres began to represent women as perpetrators of violence more frequently and in new ways. This course examines how iconic films from the last four decades, such as The Silence of the Lambs, Alien, The Hunger Games and Wonder Woman, have both reflected and shaped the ongoing cultural debate about gender, sexuality and power.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU
ENGL 149 (FILM 149, WGSS 149) Sexbots and Terminators: Cinematic Fantasies of the Intelligent Machine 4 Credits
For decades, film and television narratives have represented human relationships with robots to explore existential issues in human life: love, sex, mortality, labor, domination, exploitation. Could robots solve the difficulties of human intimacy? Could artificial intelligence enable us to cheat death? What do sex robots reveal about misogyny? Why are human/AI relationships so frequently imagined in Western narratives as master/slave relationships? Films and TV shows may include The Matrix, Ex Machina, Her, Terminator 2, Black Mirror and Westworld.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 151 (FILM 151, GS 151) Global Cinema 4 Credits
This course introduces students to contemporary filmmakers from Asia and Africa who have been inspired by globalization, dealing with issues such as mass migration, ethnic conflict and civil war, transnational finance and technology, and ongoing social and economic inequities. The course will be divided into four geographical units, with a representative mix of art films, popular genres (Bollywood and Nollywood), and global science fiction and horror. Filmmakers may include Mira Nair, Farah Akhtar, Bong Joon-ho, and Asghar Farhadi, among others.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 154 (FILM 154, WGSS 154) What Does Creativity Look Like? Documentary Visions 4 Credits
What can documentary films tell us about creativity? What is it and why does it matter? This course takes an intersectional approach to creativity, centering the role of gender, sexuality, race and class in the lives and work of the artists and activists represented in the course films. We will also analyze the creative visual and narrative strategies these documentaries employ to shape the stories they tell. Students will have an opportunity to document the creativity of their own communities.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU
ENGL 155 The Novel 4 Credits
Selected novels, with attention to such matters as narrative, characterization, and cultural context.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 157 Poetry 4 Credits
Selected traditional and modern poetry, with attention to voice, form, and cultural context.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 162 (FILM 162) How to Watch Movies Like a Hollywood Screenwriter 4 Credits
A course about screenplays: their history, their role in the film industry, and the books that promise to teach screenwriters the tricks of the trade. After reading excerpts from the most influential screenwriting books of the last 40 years, students will be able to identify the “Hollywood Model” of screenplay conventions regarding character, plot structure, and genre. They will also learn how to write critically about how these conventions have shaped assumptions about race, gender, and international audiences.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 163 (FILM 163) Topics in Film Studies 4 Credits
History and aesthetics of narrative film. May be repeated for credit as subject varies.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 170 Amaranth 1 Credit
Amaranth editorial staff. Students can earn one credit by serving as editors (literary, production, or art) of Lehigh’s literary magazine. Work includes soliciting and reviewing manuscripts, planning a winter supplement and spring issue, and guiding the magazine through all phases of production. Editors attend weekly meetings with the faculty advisor. Consent of department chair required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL
ENGL 171 Writing for Audiences 4 Credits
Practice in writing in a variety of discourse modes for different audiences. Consideration of the role of style, clarity, and careful observation in writing. Course may be repeated as topics vary.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, W
ENGL 175 Individual Authors 4 Credits
Intensive study of the works of one or more literary artists, such as Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, or Toni Morrison. May be repeated for credit as writers and texts vary.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 177 Individual Works 4 Credits
Intensive study of one or more literary works, such as Moby Dick, and study of other major texts such as the Bible with attention to literary form.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 179 Rhetoric of Humor 4 Credits
You’ll learn the building blocks of humor by reading relevant theories from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Freud (among others), each of whom offers a different perspective on what causes people to laugh. Then you will put these ideas to the test by applying them to humorous texts of all kinds: stand-up comedy, TV and film clips, and humorous essays. In addition, you’ll devote part of each week to short creative exercises meant to help you find your own comedic voice.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, W
ENGL 183 Independent Study 1-4 Credits
Individually supervised study of a topic in literature, film, or writing not covered in regularly listed courses. Consent of department chair required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 187 Themes in Literature 4 Credits
Study of a theme as it appears in several works of literature, such as Love in the Middle Ages.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 189 Popular Literature 4 Credits
Literature that has been designated in one way or another as “popular,” such as science fiction or graphic narrative.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 191 Special Topics 1-4 Credits
A topic, genre, or approach in literature or writing not covered in other courses.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 201 Special Topics in Writing 1-4 Credits
Approaches not covered in other writing courses. Individual projects.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 202 (GS 202, LAS 202, MLL 202) Latin America In Fact, In Fiction 4 Credits
This class couples a survey of Latin American literature in translation with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Latin America. Departing initially from readings of literary and cinematographic works, our analyses will engage methodologies from multiple disciplines including history, sociology, and cultural studies. Accordingly, this course will examine critical developments in Latin American aesthetics along with the cultural climates in which they matured. This course assumes no prior study of Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin American culture.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU
ENGL 282 Professional Internship 1-4 Credits
Individualized work experience, on- or off-campus, in a field that a student of English wishes to explore as a career. Before registering, a student must meet with the internship adviser and obtain departmental approval. Internship credits do not count toward major in English. Sophomore standing and departmental approval required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 291 Special Topics 1-4 Credits
A topic, genre, or approach in literature or writing not covered in other courses.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 300 Apprentice Teaching 1-4 Credits
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 301 Topics in Literature 3-4 Credits
A theme, topic, or genre in literature, such as autobiography as literature and the gothic novel.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 302 (GS 302, LAS 302, MLL 302) Travel and Adventure in Latin American Fiction 4 Credits
Centering on a corpus of works presenting tales of travel and adventure, this class offers an overview of Latin American narrative genres (including “fantastic” narrative, magical realism, and postmodern fiction) from the mid 20th century to present day. Through close readings of works by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Roberto Bolaño, among others, and the analysis of filmic representations of travel in Latin America, we will examine differing modes of perceiving the region defined as Latin America.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HU
ENGL 303 (FILM 303, GERM 303, MLL 303, WGSS 303) Grimms' Fairy Tales: Folklore, Feminism, Film 4 Credits
This intercultural history of the Grimms' fairy tales investigates how folktale types and gender stereotypes developed and became models for children and adults. The course covers the literary fairy tale in Germany as well as Europe and America. Versions of "Little Red Riding Hood", "Cinderella", or "Sleeping Beauty" exist not only in the Grimms' collection but in films and many forms of world literature. Modern authors have rewritten fairy tales in feminist ways, promoting social change. Taught in English. German language students may receive a German component.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 304 (WGSS 304) Special Topics in Gender Studies II 3,4 Credits
This course will involve extended study in a sub-area of English language, culture, and literature with a focus on gender, sexuality, and/or race/ethnicity.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 305 Creative Writing Thesis Proposal 1 Credit
Preparation to write creative thesis. Requirements include writing a proposal and bibliography.
Attribute/Distribution: W
ENGL 306 Creative Writing Thesis 3 Credits
Portfolio of original creative work in poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction, plus introductory researched essay. Required for concentration in creative writing.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 307 Undergraduate Thesis Proposal 1 Credit
To be enrolled by senior honors students preparing to write honors thesis. Requirements include conducting preliminary research for the thesis and writing a detailed thesis proposal and bibliography. May not be rostered concurrently with English 308.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 308 Undergraduate Thesis 3 Credits
Open to advanced undergraduates who wish to submit theses in English. Consent of department chair required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 309 Interpretation: Critical Theory and Practice 3-4 Credits
Introduction to recent literary and cultural theory, such as New Criticism, Structuralism, Marxism, Psychoanalytic approaches, Reader-response Criticism, Deconstruction, Feminist Theory, New Historicism, and Cultural Criticism.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 310 Introduction to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 3,4 Credits
An introduction to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) including the theory and principles of second language acquisition, ESL methods, materials, and current trends. Students will learn to plan and teach an ESL/EFL class in the four skills as well as integrated skills, choose appropriate materials for varying age and proficiency levels, and identify key issues in the role of global Englishes. Required classroom observing hours and teaching demonstration(s).
Attribute/Distribution: HU
ENGL 311 (WGSS 311) Representations of Gender and Sexuality 3-4 Credits
This course explores constructions of gender and sexuality in literature from different historical periods, traditions, and nationalities. How do female and male writers envision what it means to be a “woman” or to be a “man” at various moments in history and from various places around the world? How have gendered (and sexed) identities been shaped in various constraining and empowering ways in the literary imagination? What specifically gendered issues (such as love and violence) have been represented in literature?
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 312 Studies in Literary and Cultural Theory 3,4 Credits
Study of a particular contemporary theoretical approach to literature, film, or other cultural texts. .
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 314 Teaching English as a Second Language: A Practicum 1-4 Credits
Companion to English 310 (Intro to Methods of English as a Second Language). This course will include class meetings that focus on guided discussions of the practical application of principles and practices of ESL pedagogy in a real-world environment. Supervised ESL classroom student teaching required.
Prerequisites: ENGL 310
Attribute/Distribution: ND
ENGL 315 (HMS 315) Topics in Literature, Medicine, and Health 3-4 Credits
Analyzing the stories people tell about health, illness and disability, this course engages cultural studies approaches in order to explore the way those stories are told. Topics may include: illness and the graphic novel, the changing image of the healer in literature, collaborative storytelling with Alzheimer’s patients, end of life narratives, tales from the ER, narrative ethics.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 316 (GS 316) Native American Literature 3-4 Credits
This course is a survey of the literary texts written by the indigenous inhabitants of what is now the United States, beginning with the myths and legends of the era before European contact and ending with the novels, poems, and films produced by Native Americans in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 317 (REL 317) Topics in Jewish Literature 3-4 Credits
Selected topics in Jewish literature, which may include: Contemporary Jewish Literature, Philip Roth's Complaint, and Jewish Women Writers.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 318 (AAS 318) Topics in African American Literature and Culture 3-4 Credits
Topics in African-American culture and/or the cultures of the African diaspora. Topics may be focused by period, genre, thematic interest or interdisciplinary method including, for example, Nineteenth-century African-American Literature and Politics; African-American Folklore; Black Atlantic Literature; The Harlem Renaissance; and African-American Women Writers.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 319 (FILM 319) Advanced Studies in the Horror Film 3-4 Credits
Examination of the horror film from beginnings to the present, including classic horror of the 1930s, the slasher film in the 1970s, the self reflexive horror of the 1990s, the faux-documentary horror at the end of the 20th century, and the renaissance of the genre in our contemporary world, from so-called "torture porn" to the return of the "possession" film. The course will focus on U.S. film but will sometimes include the highly influential horror traditions of other countries.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 320 (AAS 320) Imagining Freedom: 19th-Century African American Literature and Politics 3-4 Credits
In the midst of slavery and its violent aftermath, African Americans dreamed of freedom. These imaginings of freedom are among the richest cultural legacies of the American people and a necessary part of any effort to understand our nation’s contradictory history. Students will read slave-narratives, novels, poems, protests against slavery and lynching, demands for political rights and women’s equality, calls for slave rebellion and appeals for inter-racial cooperation. Readings include Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Wilson, Charles Chesnutt.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 325 (AAS 325) The Harlem Renaissance: Early 20th-Century African American Literature, Art and Politics 3-4 Credits
Explore the extraordinary flowering of African American literary, artistic and political life in the early 20th century. Study masterpieces of African American literature, music, visual art, and political imagination. Consider how artists and activists represented the diversity of Black life in America and reimagined race relations during the Jim Crow era. Learn how works by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Bessie Smith, Aaron Douglas and many others can assist us in realizing the promise of racial justice.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 327 Major Medieval Writers 3-4 Credits
Study of major medieval writers. Titles include The Canterbury Tales; Early Chaucer and the Continental Tradition, and Langland’s Piers Plowman.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 328 (THTR 328) Topics in Shakespeare 3-4 Credits
This class explores why Shakespeare’s plays and poems still resonate today. We will focus in particular on how Shakespeare’s plays have been used to explore questions of gender, race and social class. We’ll read some of the “greatest hits” as well as a few lesser-known works, focusing first on how these texts were understood in the time they were written and then on why and how they inform our perspective today.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 329 Special Topics in Shakespeare and Film 3-4 Credits
This course explores how Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted into film. Despite being most celebrated for his language, Shakespeare’s work has been translated into the visual medium of cinema since the era of silent film -- and his popularity shows no sign of slowing down. The course pairs plays with multiple film adaptations, which use Shakespeare to explore contexts including Feudal Japan, Soviet Russia, Wall Street, and more.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 331 Milton 3-4 Credits
An introduction to John Milton’s poetry and prose emphasizing close reading and cultural contexts. Half of the course will be devoted to Paradise Lost, and particular attention will be paid to politics, religion, and gender.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 341 (EVST 341) Contemporary US Literature of Environmental Crises 3-4 Credits
This course addresses how contemporary US literature depicts toxic America and the environmental crises as well as the human (and other animal) tragedies that result from a variety of contemporary practices that deny connectivity to/dependence upon ecosystems. Students will engage with some of the most important novels written in the contemporary period that call readers to address human impact on the environment, to imagine alternative & less ruinous ways of being in the world, and to imagine more sustainable futures.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 342 Advanced Poetry Writing 3-4 Credits
An intensive writing workshop in which student poems and related literary texts receive close reading and analysis.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Prerequisites: ENGL 142
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 343 Advanced Creative Non-Fiction 3,4 Credits
Practice of the essay, including such forms as the personal, academic, or argumentative essay. Emphasis on developing a strong personal voice and learning to use other voices. Intensive revision. Permission of writing minor advisor.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Prerequisites: ENGL 143
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 344 Advanced Fiction Writing 3-4 Credits
An intensive writing workshop in which student stories and related literary texts receive close reading and analysis. Consent of writing minor advisor.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Prerequisites: ENGL 144
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU, W
ENGL 345 (WGSS 345) Women and Revolution in Early America 3-4 Credits
This course explores how opportunities and possibilities for women transformed (or remained the same) during the long eighteenth century. Which early American women could participate in public life and under what circumstances? Did early American values such as liberty and independence extend to women—and to which women? Which women, if any, felt like they had a “revolution” in 1776? Captivity narratives, poetry, novels, and other public writing by early American women will help us explore these issues.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 350 (LAS 350) Special Topics in Latino Studies 3-4 Credits
Selected works by Latinx Diaspora writers, poets, and artists. Course engages with an ethnic studies framework and approach to texts in terms of U.S. canon formation with attention to race, class, gender, language, and nationality. No prerequisite.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HU, W
ENGL 357 Arthurian Legend 3-4 Credits
King Arthur had a powerful hold on the popular imagination for more than a thousand years, from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s twelfth-century History of the Kings of Britain to Tracy Deonn’s twenty-first-century novel Legendborn. In this course, we consider how reinventions of Arthurian legends both reflect and shape the values of their time—with a particular focus on gendered and classed norms of ethical behavior; ideals of justice, leadership, and the rule of law; and notions of nationality and ethnicity.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 358 Outcasts in Medieval Literature and Culture 3-4 Credits
This course investigates how late medieval English writing features multiple types of outcasts including lepers, beggars, heretics, religious recluses, and so-called lunatics. How do these categories of exclusion function both to critique and to promote forms of hierarchy that privilege men over women, the rich over the poor, the faithful over the heretic, and the sane over the mentally ill? How do current social, ethical, and political ideals create categories of exclusion that potentially resonate with the premodern past?
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 359 Sinners, Saints, and Heretics 3-4 Credits
Exploring how religion is linked to issues of gender, power, and identity, this course investigates the fascinating complexities of Christian belief and practice in medieval England. How does a culture that idealizes social unity come to justify the burning of heretics? How does it arrive at distinctions between perfect virgins and ordinary wives, between holy mendicants and slothful beggars? How do such identifications map on to current understandings of social identity and institutional power?
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, W
ENGL 360 Middle English Literature 3-4 Credits
Major literary works of the Middle English period by authors other than Chaucer. Emphasis on Piers Plowman, the Gawain/ Pearl Poet, and the metrical romances.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 361 (WGSS 361) Jane Austen 3-4 Credits
This course explores the writings, culture, and afterlives of Jane Austen, often considering the interrelations of Austen’s novels with various adaptations and variations of her stories. Students explore the efficacy, complexity, and social impact of Austen’s works through a variety of critical approaches to ask different questions about slavery and abolition, the French Revolution, British imperialism, and women’s equality.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 362 Early Modern Genres and Authors 3-4 Credits
An examination of a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century author (such as Edmund Spencer, Margaret Cavendish, John Webster, or Thomas Middleton) or an exploration of a literary genre (such as utopian fiction, epic poetry, sonnets, revenge drama or romantic comedy) in its historical and cultural context. See course schedule for specific descriptions and titles.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 363 (WGSS 363) Gender and Sexuality in Early Modern Poetry 3-4 Credits
In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, poetry was a culturally significant literary form in which authors explored a range of pressing issues. Our readings will be drawn from canonical and non-canonical authors, and we will pay attention to how poetic form intersects with explorations of gender and sexuality. This study of gender and sexuality in the poetry of one historical period will enable us to think more broadly about how literary texts participate in—and help to shape—social and cultural norms.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 364 Special Topics in Early Modern Literature 3-4 Credits
An exploration of a specific topic in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature, such as gender, sexuality, religion, race, popular culture, or politics. See course schedule for specific descriptions and titles.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 365 Listening to/for Indigenous Voices in the Atlantic World 3-4 Credits
This course explores writing by and about Native Americans on both sides of the eighteenth-century Atlantic. We will discuss topics such as settler colonialism, indigenous agency, the “Last of …” trope, religion, and violence. Texts will include captivity narratives, early novels, memoirs, political writing, and other literary forms produced from the 1680s to the 1830s.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 366 Topics in British Eighteenth-Century Literature 3-4 Credits
The poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fictional prose of the long eighteenth century (1660-1800), with particular attention to how writers are shaped by and engage with the cultural issues of their time.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 367 Topics in Transatlantic Eighteenth-Century Literature 3-4 Credits
The poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fictional prose written in Britain and the Americas during the long eighteenth century (1660-1800), with particular attention to the transatlantic circulation of texts and ideas.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 368 Transatlantic Radicalism: Can We Remake the World? 3-4 Credits
In the 1790s, anything seemed possible to some writers on both sides of the Atlantic. “The earth was all before me,” Wordsworth wrote. Some novelists envisioned remaking the world, though their efforts to create new societies rarely treated all men and women equally. These progressive efforts, moreover, led other writers to struggle to hold in place a world that they felt was spiraling out of control.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 369 Romantic-Era Literature 3-4 Credits
This study of British Literature and Culture of the Romantic Era (1780-1830) will address specific questions of genre, theme or historical developments. Readings may cover issues such as slavery and abolition, the effect of the French Revolution on British Literature, the rights of women, scientific innovation, ethics, landscape aesthetics, and the gothic.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 372 Victorian Literature 3-4 Credits
This study of British Literature and Culture of the Victorian Age (1830-1901), including the Empire, will address specific questions of genre, theme, or historical developments. Readings may cover issues such as industry, imperialism, the cult of domesticity, aesthetics, the Woman Question, the Reform Acts, the place of the art and the artist, and modern nationalism.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 373 Early American Literature: Revolution and Nation 3-4 Credits
This class explores how early American novelists and poets—men and women, free and enslaved—thought about the revolutionary ideas that had founded the nation. How do novels and poetry think about liberty and freedom? How do they balance the claims of individuals and the claims of the community? How do they define the “people” or the “nation”—and who gets excluded from these categories?
Attribute/Distribution: HE, W
ENGL 375 Major Authors 1-4 Credits
The works of one or more major literary figures studied in depth.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 376 Topics in Early American Literature 3-4 Credits
American literature from settlement until the 1820s, emphasizing fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that helped form and contest American identities and national consciousness.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 377 American Romanticism 3-4 Credits
Literature from the antebellum United States viewed through the literary practices of sentimentalism (an ethos that values sympathy, empathy, and human contact) and the sublime (an aesthetic that attempts to create within readers a sense of the awe-inspiring, otherworldly, and terrifying aspects of life), as well as social conflicts over race, class, and gender.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 378 Topics in American Realism 3-4 Credits
Topics in American literature from the Civil War to the early twentieth century. Topics may include the evolution of literary genres and movements, including realism and naturalism. Authors may include Twain, Davis, Howells, Harper, James, Chesnutt, Jewett, Chopin, Norris, Crane, Du Bois, Gilman, Wharton, Cahan, Olsen and Wright.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 379 Topics in Modern American Literature 3-4 Credits
Topics in American literature before World War II. Topics may be focused by genre, thematic interest, mode of theoretical inquiry or interdisciplinary method, including, for example, Modernism and Mourning; The Harlem Renaissance; Modernism and Social Justice.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 380 Contemporary American Literature 3-4 Credits
Topics in American literature since World War II. Lectures and class discussions of new writers and of recent works of established writers organized around various themes of import for the contemporary period.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 381 How Free Can We Be in the Modern World? Realism and Naturalism in American Literature, 1860-1940 3-4 Credits
Realist and naturalist novelists wondered if Americans were becoming more or less free. Was moral choice possible in a capitalist society devoted to money-making? Could African Americans achieve equality or was racism irreversible? Could women claim new forms of social, professional and sexual freedom – or was male dominance inescapable? Read masterpieces of realist and naturalist fiction and essays by Marx and Freud that changed the modern world. Students will explore the extent and limits of freedom in own lives.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 384 Contemporary World and Postcolonial Literature 3,4 Credits
Topics in contemporary world literature after 1960, engaging the history and legacy of European colonialism. Topics might include: African Literature; South Asian Literature; Caribbean Literature; and Literature of Globalization.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 385 Special Topics in Modern British and Irish Literature 3-4 Credits
Topics in British and Irish literature before World War II. Topics might include: British Modernism; James Joyce; Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury; Modern Irish literature; East Meets West: British and Colonial Travel Writing; and Gender and Sexuality.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 386 Special Topics in Contemporary British Literature 3-4 Credits
Topics in post-1945 British literature, including postmodernism and multicultural writing. Topics may include Black British Writing; Immigrant Literature; Gender and Sexuality; Travel Writing; and British Postmodernism.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 387 (FILM 387) Film History, Theory, and Criticism 3-4 Credits
Study of film with the focus on particular genres, directors, theories, periods, or topics. Weekly film screenings. Cannot be taken pass/fail.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W
ENGL 388 Independent Study 1-4 Credits
Individually supervised study of a topic in literature, film, or writing not covered in regularly listed courses. Consent of department chair required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 389 Honors Project 1-8 Credits
By consent of department.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W
ENGL 391 Special Topics 1-4 Credits
A topic, genre, or approach in literature or writing not covered in other courses.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 392 Modern American Writing and the Problem of War 3-4 Credits
America has been at war continuously since 9/11 and almost continuously since the late 19th century. Explore writings by American novelists and poets (Twain, Hemingway, Cather, Dos Passos, Wright, H.D., and others) who revealed the catastrophic effects of modern warfare on our society. Study visionary political writings by early 20th-century activists who believed that economic justice and racial and gender equality required the abolition of war. Students will consider the relevance of these works to the challenges we face today.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 393 Modernism, Mourning and Social Justice 3-4 Credits
Loss and disappointment come to us all. If we cannot mourn, we cannot heal or grow. Students will read American modernist masterpieces by Hemingway, Faulkner, H.D., Ellison and others. These writers explored intimate experiences of grief, like romantic disappointment or the death of a loved one. They also invented strategies for mourning collective injuries, like those inflicted by dynamics of racism, misogyny, and economic exploitation. Students will explore their own experiences of loss and develop strategies for sustaining political hope.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W
ENGL 400 Supervised Teaching 1 Credit
Practical experience in teaching through assisting a faculty teacher in conduct of a regularly scheduled undergraduate course. Open only to graduate students with at least one semester of graduate course work at Lehigh University and a GPA of at least 3.5. Usually rostered in conjunction with 485. Consent of department required.
ENGL 411 (WGSS 411) Gender and Literature 3 Credits
This seminar explores constructions of gender and sexuality in literature from different historical periods, traditions, and nationalities. Content changes each semester.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 433 Medieval Genres and Authors 3 Credits
This course examines major Middle English authors (Chaucer, Langland, the Pearl-poet) or genres of Middle English writing (romance, dream vision, drama) in their historical and literary contexts. Individual titles include: Medieval Drama, Chaucer’s Literary Circles, Langland: Tradition and Afterlife, and Dream Visions and Revelations.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 435 Topics in Medieval Literature 3 Credits
This course explores a thematic topic in medieval literature. Typically, this course challenges traditional conceptions of literary historical periods by spanning Anglo-Saxon and late-medieval texts or late-medieval and early modern texts. Individual titles include: Writing, Rebellion, and Reform: Medieval Literature of Dissent; Poverty and Property, 1350-1650; Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Middle Ages; Imagining this Island: Nation and Identity, 800-1400.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 439 Early Modern Genres and Authors 3 Credits
Examination of major sixteenth- and seventeenth-century authors or distinctive Renaissance genres in their historical and cultural contexts. Individual courses may focus on authors such as Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, or Jonson, or genres such as utopian fiction, psalms and sonnets, or city comedy.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 441 Early Modern Literature 3 Credits
This course explores a thematic topic in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature. Individual titles may include: Dealing with Difference in Early Modern England; Gender and Catholicism in Early Modern England; Literature of City and Court; Poetry, Politics, and Prophecy: Writing of the English Civil War.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 442 British Eighteenth-Century Literature 3 Credits
This course explores British poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fictional prose written during the long eighteenth century (1660-1800). Topics may be organized by period, genre, thematic interest or interdisciplinary method. Individual titles may include: Money, Sex, and Selves; The Rise of the Novel; Witchcraft and History; Conspiracy Theory and Eighteenth-Century Literature.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 443 Transatlantic Eighteenth-Century Literature 3 Credits
This course explores the transatlantic circulation of texts and ideas during the long eighteenth century (1660-1800). Topics may be organized by period, genre, thematic interest or interdisciplinary method. Individual titles may include: The Colonial Rise of the Novel; Writing for a Cause; Transatlantic Eighteenth-Century Paranoia.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 445 British Romantic-Era Literature 3 Credits
The seminar will explore a focused topic in British Literature and Culture of the Romantic Era (1780-1830) taking into account larger historical, aesthetic, and theoretical concerns. Topics may include slavery and abolition, the cult of childhood, women’s writing, imperialism, the gothic, the Jacobin novel, poetic innovation, the Shelley circle, and travel literature.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 447 British Victorian Literature 3 Credits
The seminar will explore a focused topic in British Literature and Culture of the Victorian Age (1830-1901), including the Empire, taking into account larger historical, aesthetic, and theoretical concerns. Topics may include industry, imperialism, the cult of domesticity, aesthetics, the Woman Question, new sexual cultures, the Reform Acts, the emergence of photography and mass visual culture, the place of art and the artist, and modern nationalism.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 449 Special Topics in Modern British and Irish Literature 3 Credits
Topics in British and Irish literature before World War II. Topics may be organized by genre, theoretical mode of inquiry, or author. Topics might include: British Modernism; James Joyce and Modern Ireland; Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury; East Meets West: British and Colonial Travel Writing; and Gender and Sexuality.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 452 Digital Humanities 3 Credits
Course will offer students an introduction to the concepts, techniques, and history of digital humanities scholarship. In addition to exploring the theoretical and methodological practices, we will look at how these practices can be used to interpret literary and cultural texts. Students will become conversant with key digital humanities methods and tools--from data-mining large textual corpora to curating archives of carefully edited texts--and will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate the success of digital scholarship.
ENGL 471 Early American Literature 3 Credits
This course explores topics in the literature of New England, the Middle Colonies, the South, the Southwest, and the Caribbean from Columbus to the close of the eighteenth century, emphasizing our cultural and artistic diversity. Titles may include The Literature of Justification, First Contact: Then and Now, America’s Many Beginnings; and Literature of Revolution and the Early Republic.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 473 Antebellum American Literature 3 Credits
This course explores thematic topics in antebellum U.S. literature through readings in the expanded canon of American literature from approximately 1820-1865. Individual titles include: Class in Antebellum American Literature; Antebellum Literature and Transatlantic Reform; The Global Nineteenth Century; Print Culture and the Economics of Antebellum American Literature.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 475 Late Nineteenth-Century American Literature 3 Credits
This seminar will explore topics in American literature between the Civil War and the early twentieth century. Topics may be organized by genre, theoretical mode of inquiry, historical problematic, or interdisciplinary method. Topics might include, for example, Realism and Naturalism; Nineteenth-Century African American Literature and Politics.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 477 Modernism 3 Credits
This seminar will explore topics in literary modernism, including the formal innovations, political implications, historical configurations, and critical and theoretical approaches to the literatures of the early twentieth century. Topics may be organized around national literatures or trans-national formations. Topics might include Modernism and Mourning; Transatlantic Modernism; The Harlem Renaissance; Modernism and Social Justice.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 478 Contemporary American Literature 3 Credits
Topics in American literature since World War II. Lectures and class discussions of new writers and of recent works of established writers organized around various themes of import for the contemporary period.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 479 Contemporary World and Postcolonial Literature 3 Credits
Topics in contemporary world literature after 1960, engaging the history and legacy of European colonialism. Topics may be organized by genre, theoretical mode of inquiry, or interdisciplinary method. Topics might include: African Literature; South Asian Literature; Caribbean Literature; and Literature of Globalization.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 480 Composition and Rhetoric 3 Credits
This course explores a topic in composition studies or rhetoric. Topics may be historical, pedagogical, theoretical, or thematic.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 481 Theory and Criticism 3 Credits
Topics might include: Theories of Gender and Feminism; Theories of Transnationalism and Globalization; and Historicism.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 482 Theories of Literature and Social Justice 3 Credits
This course introduces students to theories of literature and social justice, addressing the following broad (and frequently overlapping) questions: What is social justice? How are literary forms (and literary criticism) distinctive in the ways in which they grapple with questions of social justice? How do literary forms reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies? In what ways does literature critique social injustice and imagine new models of more perfect human flourishing?
ENGL 483 Creative Writing and Literary Studies 3 Credits
From the Inside: Creative Writing and Reading. A combination of seminar and workshop, this course uses instruction and practice in the techniques and genres of creative writing (prosody, narratology, characterization, etc.) to develop tools for studying literary texts. Consent of instructor required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 484 Teaching Composition II: A Practicum 1 Credit
Hands-on introduction to teaching research, argument, and multimodal composition at Lehigh. Usually rostered in the Spring semester to support the teaching of English 002. Required of all new teaching assistants in the department.
ENGL 485 Introduction to Writing Theory 2 Credits
Survey of major approaches and theoretical issues in the field of composition and rhetoric. Required of all new teaching assistants in the department. Usually rostered in conjunction with 400 or 486.
ENGL 486 Teaching Composition: A Practicum 1 Credit
Introduction to teaching writing at Lehigh. Bi-weekly discussions of practical issues and problems in the teaching of freshman composition. Required of all new teaching assistants in the department. Usually rostered in conjunction with English 485.
ENGL 487 Teaching with Technology: A Practicum 1 Credit
Hands-on introduction to the tools and skills necessary to teach with the computer, along with some attention to appropriate pedagogy. Consent of the graduate program coordinator required.
ENGL 488 Special Topics in Teaching Composition in College 1 Credit
A course that considers a pedagogical concept, instructional issue, special population, theoretical perspective, or mode of teaching that merits focused exploration. Sample topics include Teaching Developmental Writing in College, Teaching Writing to Students in Vocational Programs, Understanding Writing Assessment, Applied Rhetoric.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 489 Field Work or Research in the Teaching of Composition in College 1 Credit
A course that offers supervised field work or applied research projects for graduate students in the field of Composition and Rhetoric. These projects should include sustained investigation of the curricula, instructional methods, course materials, or pedagogical practices employed in college writing classes.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 490 Master’s Thesis 3 Credits
Writing master's thesis papers.
ENGL 491 Special Topics 1-3 Credits
A topic, genre, or approach in literature or writing not covered in other courses. Consent of graduate program coordinator required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 492 Introduction to Graduate Studies 1 Credit
This course will introduce students to the pragmatics of graduate school, from the research methods and tools that will inform the development of seminar papers to the expectations and values of our program and discipline.
ENGL 493 Graduate Seminar 3 Credits
Intensive study of the works of one or more authors, or of a type of literature.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 494 Rhetoric and Social Justice 3 Credits
An introduction to the theory and history of rhetoric, this course fosters deep exploration of the discipline of rhetoric's long standing engagement with the questions of justice, ethics, and responsibility.
ENGL 495 Independent Study 1-3 Credits
Individually supervised course in an area of literature, film or writing not covered in regularly listed courses. Consent of graduate program coordinator required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
ENGL 499 Dissertation 1-9 Credits
Research and study for comprehension exams.
Writing Courses
WRT 001 Academic and Analytical Writing 3 Credits
Introduction to academic writing, specifically analytical writing and essays that support claims in respectful conversation with other writers and thinkers. The course is centered on writing as a social process and provides focused instruction and ample practice in synthesis and analysis; collaboration and peer feedback; revision; and the conventions of college writing.
WRT 002 (ENGL 002) Research and Argument 3 Credits
Designed to refine the skills of argument and research. Students will make persuasive, thoughtful, and well-supported arguments in a variety of forms, including multimodal genres. The course provides a number of occasions to think, research, and write about pressing issues of public concern.
WRT 003 Composition and Literature I for Multilingual Writers 3 Credits
Students improve both their advanced academic written English and academic writing style through a process of reading fiction and non-fiction and by writing well-organized, coherent essays for academics. Author citation, style, and written fluency and accuracy are addressed within students’ writing. Enrollment is limited to multilingual English speakers; prior academic writing history, English placement testing, and/or ICAPE director’s recommendation determines placement.
WRT 005 Composition and Literature II for Multilingual Writers 3 Credits
Continuation of WRT 003. Students practice more advanced methods and modes of writing for academics, including writing and reading for their specific field of study. Students continue to work on advanced written fluency and accuracy of idiomatic language and expression and are taught advanced methods of author citation and source integration.
WRT 011 Advanced Writing:The Rhetorical Self 3 Credits
Rigorous engagement with rhetorical, stylistic, and design concepts vital to the creation of effective texts in traditional and multimodal formats. Student-driven projects allow for the development of voice and creativity in the presentation of self in academic, public, and personal contexts. The course culminates with a public-facing e-portfolio that showcases communication strengths and that can grow with students over the course of their education.
