COURSE DESCRIPTIONS: ENGLISH 175-197 All courses are seminars requiring junior standing or above, successful completion of English 60 and 61, and three courses at the 100-174 level. Some courses have an additional prerequisite, noted following the course description. Courses with an asterisk* can be taken for graduate credit.

175*. Topics in Authorship
This course seeks to problematize the assumptions that inform our notions of author and authorship. Specific subjects that would focus such a study include a particular historical or cultural setting (e.g., "The Literary Marketplace in Turn-of-the-Century Britain"), one or more specific writers (Jane Austen, the Brontes, George Eliot), or the historical development of ownership, plagiarism, and censorship. May be repeated once for credit when the topic varies. A senior capstone course.

178*. Topics in Multicultural Literature
As an alternative to a survey, this course invites an issue-oriented approach to the interpretation of Multicultural literature in general or of different cultural or ethnic traditions such as African American, Asian American, Chicano or Native American in particular. The course explores (and problematizes) the study of multicultural writing in terms of its relationship to the prevailing history of Anglo-American letters, its posture outside of that history, and its relation to other literatures of color. The specific focus of the course varies each time offered, but each version of the course devotes some attention to the matters of genre definition, period definition and canon definition. A senior capstone course.

180*. Seminar in Literary Theory/Criticism
This course concentrates on the study of a literary theory, school, theoretical issue, or critic under debate. Topics can include the process of canon formation, new historicism, the opposition between new criticism and deconstruction, postmodernism, feminist literary theory. Prerequisites: English 173. A senior capstone course.

181*. Topics in Literacy Studies
A seminar on varying topics concerning literacy, such as its relation to orality, its relation to culture(s), its acquisition, the history of literacy, theories of composing in writing, the past and contemporary teaching and learning of literacy, theories of written "error." May not be repeated for credit. A senior capstone course.

182*. Topics in American Studies
This course concentrates on approaches to specific topics or issues in the interpretation of social change in American culture. Intensive investigation of primary materials will be a feature of every version of the course offered. Interdisciplinary methods for exploring questions of culture will frame each course version. May not be repeated for credit. A senior capstone course.

183*. Topics in Discourse Theory and Practice
This course focuses on controversy over a single issue or topic in discourse theory and practice that has either continued throughout history or that has been a topical concern of recent debate concerning discourse as a human artifact and social activity. Each course will be concerned with the sociopolitical implications of a particular controversy. Possible topics for exploration might be what is the sign or what is sociological discourse, and the topic will be investigated by students through their examination of "literary" and/or "nonliterary" texts that serve as contrasting examples of or perspectives on a particular issue. May be repeated once for credit when the topic varies. A senior capstone course.

188*. Authorizing Self/Life Stories
This course asks students to investigate the relationship betweeen writing autobiographical texts and contesting forms and practices which "place" writers "inside" and/or "outside" seemingly unified, static, and discrete disciplinary, gender, racial, and economic/political boundaries. To that end, students will examine texts from a variety of disciplines--English, sociology, history, psychology, political science, American Studies--which explore the relationship between such categories as fact vs. fiction, creative performance vs. scientific research, private life vs. public accounts, or life experience/sociological data/psycho-analytical case study/ historical evidence. At the same time, students will engage in a writing project which asks them to experiment with ways of telling self/life stories against and within the conceptual borders traditionally separating English studies, American studies, history, psychology, political science, and sociology. A senior capstone course.

195*. Global Feminisms
A seminar on the theories and practices of global feminisms, this course engages students in the study of women cross-culturally and transnationally. Students consider and integrate different disciplinary approaches to the study of women in global perspective and compare the commonalities and differences that women's organizing has taken worldwide. Questions addressed include the relationship of gender to nationalism; gender and the global distribution of wealth; and women's access to political and cultural power in the international arena. Prerequisite: English 75/WS1. Senior standing required.

196. Writing Portfolio Project
For English or Writing majors and minors only. Students will prepare a portfolio of their writings, including an introductory essay describing the genesis, aims, and composition of the writings, for submission to a faculty supervisor; students will revise the portfolio in response to the supervisor's recommendations. Students must register for ENG 196 during the semester prior to the term in which they plan to take it. One credit hour.

197*. Special Topics
Additional courses (not described in the above course listings) will be offered on an occasional basis according to student and faculty interest. Titles for these courses will appear in preregistration materials. Individual course descriptions will be available through the English Department office.

198. Independent Study
Readings, conferences, reports, and a research paper/semester portfolio under the direction of a faculty member. The student defines the topics and schedule of activities in consultation with a faculty mentor.