Sometimes, when you look at catalog descriptions of courses, they seem more like a random amalgamation than a deliberately structured curriculum. And, indeed, that may well be the case when you first look at our courses. After all, what is the connection between Australian Literature and Gender and the Body Politic? Or between Studies in Film/Television History and Criticism and Reading Early English Texts? Or how can taking Reading the Popular in Culture prepare you to study Postcolonial Literature? But at Drake these connections do exist.

Unlike traditional English department curricula, which tend to be organized chronologically (literary history or periodization), generically (literary modes, like comedy or tragedy; or types, like drama, novel, film, and poetry), or by activity (critical reading OR creative writing), we have shifted our focus from a study of texts as containers of meaning (nuts to crack or puzzles to solve) to a study of the critical thinking process by which writers and readers activate meaning through language. In our courses you are likely to become adept at developing and employing a set of critical practices in reading and writing. Thus, what you learn about engaging with texts in Film & Television History and Criticism does connect in important ways to what you will do in Postcolonial Literature.

To acquaint you better with what we (and perhaps you) do, and why we do it, we have assembled this "narrative" of our curriculum. By selecting the topic that most interests you, you can find out about the goals and objectives for our courses, the requirements for the majors, the levels of study, and our policy on materials used in courses

The Levels of Study[BACK TO TOP] We have organized our curriculum across three levels of study, which range from courses that provide fundamental attention to the interdependence of reading and writing to courses that provide advanced students the opportunity to extend previous course work and to explore further subjects or issues of particular interest. Here, in more detail, is a description of our levels of study:

English 1-99
All of the 1-99 courses serve as introductions to particular aspects of contemporary English studies (literature, culture studies, women's studies, popular culture, writing in various genres, film, and linguistics). Since most of these courses carry no prerequisites, this level serves many populations and performs many functions. It allows students to satisfy variously labeled Drake Curriculum Areas of Inquiry. Not surprisingly, given our emphasis on reading and writing, many English courses in the 1-99 level may work to fulfill an Area of Inquiry. And, certainly, sometimes this introductory study motivates students to select the English or Writing major or minor. Regardless of why you take a 1-99 course, you can expect to explore texts, your own and others', through writing, to share your thoughts in class discussion with a wide mix of students, and to collaborate with others through small groups or projects.

English 100-174
Courses taught at the 100 to 174 level assume that students enter the classroom with a basic sense of how to read critically and how to write effectively. This assumption is reflected in the typical prerequisite for study at this level: one course at the 20-99 level. Taken during the sophomore through senior years, courses at this level build on "introductory" knowledge and skills by providing students with opportunities to explore more specific areas of English studies, to practice various critical approaches to reading and writing, and to further develop their own voices as imaginative writers. While working within a collectively-defined framework, students at this level of study are expected to become independent thinkers, designing projects and paper topics individually and in groups. Class sizes range from twenty to twenty-five students.

English 175-198
The third level of study in our curriculum is designed to offer one or more "capstone" experiences for students. Simply because of the extensive prerequisites (ENG 60 & 61, and at least three courses at the 100-174 level), courses numbered 175-197 are open principally to senior English and Writing majors. These courses are seminars, with a maximum enrollment of 15, encouraging students, in conjunction with faculty, to engage in intellectual work together in class discussion. While the seminar topics may be focused, and represent areas in which the student has not previously worked, the seminars themselves are intended to be summative, providing students with an opportunity to reflect on their development and direction at the end of their undergraduate experience. Toward that end, students will undertake a semester long project, tied to the seminar topic, but providing opportunities for students to reflect critically on the text they are producing and to participate in conversations that extend the project beyond the classroom. In addition to seminars, this level also includes ENG 198, Independent Study, an option for students to design their own courses and to work independently with a faculty advisor, and ENG 196, Writing Portfolio, an opportunity for English or Writing majors to revise and refine a portfolio of their writing. At this level, then, you take on increased responsibility, not only for your own learning, but for the learning of others.

ENG 61: Writing Seminar
ENG 61 is also taken sometime during your first year and certainly no later than second semester of your sophomore year. This is a topics-oriented course, concerned with theoretical issues that confront writers and the practical ways in which those issues are addressed. The course is designed to help students become more fully aware of what assumptions govern their own and others' writings, of how writing works cognitively to contribute to intellectual growth, of ways of reading writing culturally and rhetorically. Each section takes up a specific issue or set of issues ("language awareness," "the politics of revision," "writing as search and re-search") for the class to explore both through the reading of selected theoretical and/or exemplary texts and through a series of writings (10-16) in which students examine the issues, produce original texts, and comment on their own and others' texts. Though each instructor will assign, respond to, and use writing in ways that seem suitable to the aims and focus of the course, all sections of the course will have these assumptions and practices in common: 1) "Writing" is the major subject for the course; 2) Student writing constitutes one of the "texts" in the course; 3) Teachers will attend to the development of each student writer as needed at every stage of the writing process (composing, revising, editing).