When & Where
Tuesday, Nov. 10, noon
Health Sciences Building, Room 121
Roger Sedarat teaches in the MFA Program at Queens College. He is author of the poetry collection, Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic (winner of the Hollis Summers Prize) and the chapbook From Tehran to Texas.
Tiphanie Yanique, a native of the Virgin Islands, teaches at Drew University. She is an award-winning author of fiction, poetry, and essays. Her story collection How to Escape from a Leper Colony will be published in 2010.
Honoring Robert Donald Spector
Join us to celebrate the life of our teacher, friend, and colleague...
Robert Donald Spector
Wednesday, 11/18/2009
4pm
Kumble Theater
Brooklyn Campus, Long Island University
Please RSVP by 11/6 @ 718 488 1003.
Robert Donald Spector
Wednesday, 11/18/2009
4pm
Kumble Theater
Brooklyn Campus, Long Island University
Please RSVP by 11/6 @ 718 488 1003.
LIU English Department Book Scholarship for Spring 2010
The English department gives out FIVE $100 award certificates for books every spring and fall semester. A student may win the award multiple times in different semesters. Apply now!
Eligibility: The student must be registered for an upper-division course in English (numbered 100 and above) for Spring 2010. Majors and non-majors are welcome.
Pick up an application in the ENG Department today!
You will need to give the following information on the application:
Student name
Student ID
Email & phone contact
Your Major at LIU
List of all English courses you have taken at LIU Brooklyn
Then you must put your application in Wayne Berninger’s mail box, English Department, 4th Floor, Humanities Building.
The Book Scholarship program is generously funded by Barnes&Noble, through the Brooklyn Campus Bookstore.
Eligibility: The student must be registered for an upper-division course in English (numbered 100 and above) for Spring 2010. Majors and non-majors are welcome.
Pick up an application in the ENG Department today!
You will need to give the following information on the application:
Student name
Student ID
Email & phone contact
Your Major at LIU
List of all English courses you have taken at LIU Brooklyn
Then you must put your application in Wayne Berninger’s mail box, English Department, 4th Floor, Humanities Building.
The Book Scholarship program is generously funded by Barnes&Noble, through the Brooklyn Campus Bookstore.
ADVANCED ENGLISH COURSES SPRING 2010
Online Registration Started October 19. Meet With Your Advisor Now & Register Early!
English Majors — If you are an English major, you should meet with Wayne Berninger (the English Department’s new Registration Advisor) as early as possible to plan your schedule in preparation for the beginning of Online Registration on October 19. Doing so will help ensure that courses are not cancelled and that you don’t have to scramble to find replacement courses at the last minute. Attached to this flyer you will find descriptions of the courses we’re offering in Spring 2010. Consult the English Department website to determine which courses you still need for your particular concentration (i.e., Creative Writing, Literature, or Writing & Rhetoric). Contact Wayne Berninger in the English Department at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
Non-English Majors — Advanced English courses aren’t only for English majors! The writing and analytical skills that students gain in English classes are very useful in a variety of professional careers. Even if you are not majoring in English, you can still take upper-division English courses--as long as you have completed ENG 16 and two courses from ENG 61-62-63-64. If you really want to build up your transcript, consider an English Minor, which consists of any four English courses numbered 100 or above. Note: According to the Brooklyn Campus Undergraduate Bulletin, “Any minor satisfies the distribution requirement.” This is true no matter what division your major is in! If you’d like more information about minoring in English—or if you think you might like to major in English— contact Wayne Berninger in the English Department at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
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English 101 Introduction to English Studies (Class ID# 7293)
Professor Jonathan Haynes
Wednesdays 6-8:30 pm
This course is required for English majors in all three concentrations (Literature, Creative Writing, Writing & Rhetoric). You must take it at some point within the first two semesters after completing the core English courses (i.e., ENG 16 and two courses from ENG 61-62-63-64). If you are at this stage and you don’t take ENG 101 in Spring 2010, then you must take it in Spring 2011. Yes, you may take other advanced ENG courses at the same time as ENG 101.
This course provides students with tools and intellectual background that will serve as a basis for more advanced studies in the English major, whether in writing and rhetoric, creative writing, or literature. Much of the course will center on genre. We will examine examples of various genres (the novel, the essay, lyric poetry, drama, and cinema). Our discussions of what genres are and of how they operate will be informed by forays into the history of literature and the history of critical thinking about literature and rhetoric, including contemporary theoretical approaches. Students will integrate primary and secondary sources in a substantial essay on a topic they choose. We will also talk about what sorts of career opportunities a degree in English may lead to.
________________________________________
English 129 Later British Literatures (Class ID# 8079)
Professor Bernard Schweizer
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course has a double focus: we will explore the themes of romance and gender relations, social class conflict, war, and sanity/insanity in British literature from the mid-nineteenth century onward. At the same time, we will study the assigned texts as representatives of one of the three dominant literary modes of Western literature, i.e. realism, modernism, and postmodernism. We begin with two realistic novels: Great Expectations (1861) by Charles Dickens and Silas Marner (1861) by George Eliot. Next, we will explore Modernism, including poetry by W.B. Yeats, H.D. and T.S. Eliot, and two novels related to World War I, i.e. Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier (1918) and Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room (1922). Our postmodern segment will begin with No Man’s Land (1975), a hilarious play by Harold Pinter. We will continue with Jeanette Winterson’s intriguingly strange Lighthousekeeping (2004), and end up with a modern re-imagining of Great Expectations, i.e. Lloyd Jones’s novel Mister Pip (2006).
________________________________________
English 137 Shakespeare (Class ID# 19423)
Professor Srividhya Swaminathan
Mondays 6:00-8:30 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
William Shakespeare is considered to be the finest poet and playwright of the English language and this course will explore the reasons why. To understand Shakespeare and appreciate the legacy he has left for English drama, students will begin the exploration of his impressive oeuvre with context. The Elizabethan stage flourished after a time of enormous political, religious, and social upheaval in England. As a part of the European Renaissance, drama and other forms of literature opened up and began to explore themes and ideas beyond the divine. Theater, though not the high-brow form of entertainment that it is today, began to flourish and playwrights began writing for contemporary audiences, which included aristocrats and commoners alike. A performance did not take place in a fancy setting with hushed audiences being respectfully quiet so that every nuance of the actors’ expressions could be appreciated. Instead, theater was a rowdy affair with actively critical audiences who would not hesitate to the let the actor or playwright know if they found the show boring! Reading drama is somewhat artificial and does not fully convey this contextual meaning of the work. In order to offset this artificiality, students will view film versions and see one performance of a play. In addition, students will be expected to work in groups to reproduce a scene. Shakespeare, to be fully understood, must be read, watched, and performed!
________________________________________
English 159 Literatures of the U.S. Since 1865—High and Low Culture (Class ID# 7083)
Professor Carol Allen
Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course begins with the shift in American culture that occurred during the nineteenth century when high and low sectors began to be defined, calcified and defended, a transition that continues to impact on us today. We will chart how major American artists have responded to this dichotomy with their texts that range from novels, to drama, to poetry and essays. Following such a path will also lead us to concentrate heavily on class, public space, racial and ethnic difference, youth movements, and such ideas as margin versus center and cosmopolitanism versus regionalism. Be prepared for a variety of assignments that will include trips to cultural institutions, informal writing, presentations, in-class essays and a longer project. You will learn about the major movements in American literary development from the Civil War to present, hone your critical reading skills, perfect your writing, and command an informed opinion about the ongoing cultural “wars” that shape us today. Required texts might include Highbrow, Lowbrow, Lawrence Levine; The Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett; As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner; Sula, Toni Morrison; A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams; The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead; The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri.
________________________________________
English 166 Fiction Writing Workshop (Class Id# 7275)
Professor Lewis Warsh
Tuesdays 6:30-8:50 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a creative-writing elective requirement in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Creative Writing may take this class two times for credit.
This workshop will focus on the way autobiography overlaps with fiction and how the past is fictionalized as a way of keeping it alive. The premise is that the source of most fiction is fading memories, whether we're aware of it or not. Though Jack Kerouac is the most obvious exponent of this method, we'll look at other writers of the last century (Marguerite Duras, Thomas Bernhard, Lydia Davis, John Edgar Wideman, Georges Perec, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Laura Riding, Jamaica Kincaid, James Ellroy, Maurice Blanchot) who struggle to cross the borders between fiction and life story. We'll concentrate on the conventions of fiction—plot, character, conflict--with an eye towards expanding on what's already been done. Our writing projects will include working with secrets, memories, observations, opinions, overheard conversations—fragments of everything.
________________________________________
English 173 Writing in the Community (Class ID# 19424)
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a writing-and-rhetoric requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric may take this class two times for credit.
This course will acquaint you with writing about, in, and for communities and organizations—neighborhoods, schools, work-places, museums, non-profits, and other social spaces. Although our main focus will be on writing in and for communities, we will first consider how and why they form, develop, thrive, decay, and sometimes “come back.” We will examine their histories, everyday practices, and rules, asking how boundaries are drawn, policy decisions made, and individuals classified as insiders or outsiders, players or spectators. Second, we will go into communities to investigate and practice the kinds of writing done in communities, such as neighborhood blogs, grant proposals, organizational fliers and brochures, and museum exhibition texts. And third, we will write for a community—a flier, brochure, proposal, report, or other type of document—and possibly also facilitate writing within a community, for example, working with elders or high school youth to enable them to give voice to their ideas, hopes, and or dreams. In addition to encouraging experimentation with multimodal, digital and print essays, the class will create a blog based on your research projects.
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English 175 Writing for the Professions (Class ID# 9451)
Professor Michael Bokor
Thursdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a writing-and-rhetoric requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric may take this class two times for credit.
Most successful transactions in business rely on clear and concise communication, which makes those with effective writing skills indispensable in any organization. An essential aspect of this success is targeted, persuasive writing. The results writers want from their e-mails, proposals, recommendation reports, and other documents hinge on their ability to grab their audiences’ attention and persuade them to act on the ideas in the documents they produce. But what exactly do writers do at the work place to write successfully? This course will focus on strategies for effective writing at the work place; it is good for students looking for opportunities to improve their skills for professional writing in their careers. Through practical hands-on exercises in this course, you will:
• Acquire specific skills to analyze and solve your writing problems;
• Learn how to develop effective writing skills to generate documents that convey credible messages and project a professional image;
• Learn how to eliminate barriers between you and your audience(s); and
• Develop skills for conducting effective research in a workplace setting.
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English 190 Senior Seminar in Literature (Class ID# 6759)
Professor Leah Dilworth (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Tuesdays 6:00-8:30 pm
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Literature. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
This course will guide students through the process of writing a long research paper (20-25 pages) on topics of their own choosing. Students will use a range of research resources and write an informal proposal, a formal proposal, a first draft, and a final draft of the paper. Students will also read and critique each other’s work. Required reading will include essays on research methods and writing as well as a literary text and selected critical essays.
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English 191 Senior Seminar in Creative Writing (Class ID# 7869)
Professor Lewis Warsh (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Day/Time TBA
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Creative Writing. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
We will investigate the lives and writings of various authors (Gertrude Stein, Arthur Rimbaud, Robert Creeley, Zora Neale Hurston and Frank O’Hara, among others); attend and report on poetry readings—and give readings ourselves; go to museums; listen to music; keep intensive reading journals. Our final project will be putting together a manuscript of our writing.
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English 192 Senior Seminar In Writing & Rhetoric (Class ID# 7099)
Professor Deborah Mutnick (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Day/Time TBA
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
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English 207 Existence in Black: Black Existentialism in American Literature and Philosophy (Class ID# 19895) / Cross-listed with PHI 180 & HUM 180, each with its own Class ID#.
Professor Joseph Filonowicz (Philosophy) &
Professor Orlando Warren (English)
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:00-1:15 pm
Prerequisites: ENG 16 and one philosophy core course (PHI 61 or 62; or HHP 21 or 22), or permission of the instructors. For English majors, this course will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
Black existentialism is a modern American intellectual tradition that is perhaps best summed up in a single question: “What is to be done in a world of nearly a universal sense of superiority to, if not universal hatred of, black folk?” (Lewis Gordon, introduction to Existence in Black). Born from the soil of the actual historical experience of blacks, it stands at the intersection of three distinct philosophical and literary forces: first, the European tradition of existentialism that culminates in the works of Jean Paul Sartre and Simone deBeauvoir; secondly, the work of Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, who first documented the historical constitution of black defiance to black devaluation as “a madness or social deviance”; finally––and importantly––black American social thought as represented in the poems, plays, essays and narratives of Frederick Douglass, Alain Locke, W. E. B. DuBois, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Elison, James Weldon Johnson, Ann Petry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Malcolm X and other prominent black writers. A new generation of black American authors has recently stepped forth to synthesize these forces explicitly into a coherent and exciting philosophy of human existence, addressed to thoughtful people everywhere.
In this new course a professor of literature and a professor of philosophy will collaborate in guiding students on an adventure of reflection, a study of the existential dilemmas that have always confronted black thinkers and writers (indeed all black people) simply in virtue of their being black. The object is to gain rich insight into a major concern of both modern literature and modern philosophy: the walls that isolate and separate men and women from one another and alienate them even from themselves. What does the “curtain of color” do to people on both sides of that curtain? In the words of Abraham Chapman (in his introduction to Black Voices), “If, in addition to aesthetic delight, we turn to literature for its power of human illumination, both as mirror and lamp, then certainly the mirrors and lamps created by the black writers have a special value for America––if we are ready to look at the truths they expose.”
Students who participate actively and study carefully should achieve just such insight and illumination, as well as improve their analytical and argumentative writing skills. An atmosphere of mutual respect and consideration in the seminar will hopefully also assist students in improving their interpersonal skills, especially when discussing with others matters of identity and race. Weekly in-class and bi-weekly formal written assignments will be read and evaluated (but not formally graded) by both professors; students will revise these and incorporate them into a final (fully annotated) project (portfolio), which will be graded. Attendance and participation will determine approximately half of students’ final grades in the course, with the quality of their final portfolios counting for the other half. The course will be enhanced by visits from guest speakers and at least one (optional) field trip. Participants in this seminar will be asked to present some of their conclusions in an “open class” for the benefit of interested students from across the campus. Our texts will be Lewis R. Gordon, editor, Existence in Black: An Anthology of Black Existential Philosophy; and Abraham Chapman, editor, Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature. These will be supplemented by brief photocopied excerpts from recent scholarship in the area of black existentialism.
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FOR ENGLISH MAJORS WHO ARE IN HONORS—
Tthe following Honors electives (taught by English Department faculty) will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. They can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. Please discuss your situation with Wayne Berninger in the English Department before you register for any of these. Again, you may only register for these courses if you are in the Honors Program.
HHE 150 Mythology of Ireland (Class ID# 19466), Professor Maria McGarrity, Th 3-5:30
HHE 153 Life Journeys: Wisdom and Forgiveness (Class ID# 19469), Professor John High, M 2-4:30
HSM 110 Myth & Gender in Ancient World (Class ID# 8803), Professor Sealy Gilles, M 6-8:30
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STUDY ABROAD AND EARN CREDIT THAT CAN BE APPLIED TOWARD YOUR MAJOR
The Global College Program of Long Island University invites English majors to study abroad for a semester or a year at one of our centers—Costa Rica, Japan, China, or India. Not only will you have the opportunity to study and travel in a foreign country while earning credit towards your major, but you will also become immersed in another culture, develop your global awareness and cross-cultural communication skills, and be provided with a variety of internship and service learning opportunities. At all centers, students are encouraged to engage in independent-study projects relevant to their academic interests.
The Costa Rica Program in Heredia offers home stays with Costa Rican families, internships throughout the region, and courses in writing, Latin American studies, cross-cultural research methods, Latin American literature, Spanish language, global health and traditional healing, peace and reconciliation studies, environmental studies, and an introduction to experiential education.
The India Program in Bangalore enables students to explore the country’s religious and cultural diversity, the caste system, travel writing, environmental issues, the situation of Tibetan refugees, and the status of women. Students also have the opportunity to study India’s art forms, dance, and music.
The China Program in Hangzhou allows students to study a wide range of topics including the history of China, religious life in China, traditional Chinese medicine, poetry, women’s issues, calligraphy, taiji, Mandarin Chinese language and modernization and economic development.
The Comparative Religion and Culture Program enables students to engage in intensive study of the teachings, rituals, and spiritual practices of the world’s major religions while exploring cross-cultural issues such as identity, human rights, peace and reconciliation, and world citizenship. During the fall semester, students travel in Taiwan and Thailand, and during the spring semester, students travel throughout India and Turkey while they immerse themselves in the religions and cultures of these countries. The courses offered in the fall include: Comparison: Theory and Method, Religions and Modernity in Taiwan, Culture and Society of Taiwan, and Religions and Modernity in Thailand. The following courses are offered in the spring: Comparison: Practice and Critique, Religions and Modernity in India, History and Society in India, and Religions and Modernity in Turkey.
The Australia Program in Byron Bay is offered only during the spring semester. Students explore the relationships between people and their environment from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students travel throughout Australia and take courses that focus on indigenous peoples, the natural history, ecological diversity and related social and cultural contexts of Australia through seminars, field trips, service learning and internships.
Long Island University Financial Aid can be applied to all Global College overseas programs. For more information call 718 488 3409 or e-mail globalcollege@liu.edu.
Fifteen (15) $5000 scholarships are available to study on Global College programs during the Spring 2010 semester.
English Majors who are interested in Global College should see the back of this page for the English Department’s Guidelines for English Majors Studying Abroad in the Global College Program—please do not register for Global College without meeting with us first!
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GUIDELINES FOR ENGLISH MAJORS STUDYING ABROAD IN THE GLOBAL COLLEGE PROGRAM
The following are guidelines for undergraduate English majors who wish to study abroad through the Global College Program and apply the credits earned toward their upper-division English major requirements.
Student must receive permission from Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger) and Chair of English to enroll in Global College. See Mr. Berninger FIRST, before you do anything else.
Before going abroad, student must have completed ENG 16, COS 50, and six credits from ENG 61-62-63-64.
A maximum of 12 Global College credits may be applied toward upper-division English major requirements.
During any semester abroad, student must take 6 credits (or equivalent) in English. Independent study may be arranged, in consultation with Undergraduate Advisor and Chair of English.
Notes
Tuition, fees, and room & board abroad is about the same as tuition, fees, and room & board at the Brooklyn Campus.
University financial aid and scholarships are transferable to Global College. However, students should be aware that there are no work-study opportunities abroad. Also, athletes who receive free room and board at the Brooklyn Campus are not automatically eligible for same while abroad. Department of Athletics may agree to provide athletes with a stipend to cover Global College room & board fees. Students are urged to discuss this possibility with the Department of Athletics before they decide to study abroad.
Global College has additional sources of scholarships for students studying abroad.
English Majors — If you are an English major, you should meet with Wayne Berninger (the English Department’s new Registration Advisor) as early as possible to plan your schedule in preparation for the beginning of Online Registration on October 19. Doing so will help ensure that courses are not cancelled and that you don’t have to scramble to find replacement courses at the last minute. Attached to this flyer you will find descriptions of the courses we’re offering in Spring 2010. Consult the English Department website to determine which courses you still need for your particular concentration (i.e., Creative Writing, Literature, or Writing & Rhetoric). Contact Wayne Berninger in the English Department at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
Non-English Majors — Advanced English courses aren’t only for English majors! The writing and analytical skills that students gain in English classes are very useful in a variety of professional careers. Even if you are not majoring in English, you can still take upper-division English courses--as long as you have completed ENG 16 and two courses from ENG 61-62-63-64. If you really want to build up your transcript, consider an English Minor, which consists of any four English courses numbered 100 or above. Note: According to the Brooklyn Campus Undergraduate Bulletin, “Any minor satisfies the distribution requirement.” This is true no matter what division your major is in! If you’d like more information about minoring in English—or if you think you might like to major in English— contact Wayne Berninger in the English Department at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
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English 101 Introduction to English Studies (Class ID# 7293)
Professor Jonathan Haynes
Wednesdays 6-8:30 pm
This course is required for English majors in all three concentrations (Literature, Creative Writing, Writing & Rhetoric). You must take it at some point within the first two semesters after completing the core English courses (i.e., ENG 16 and two courses from ENG 61-62-63-64). If you are at this stage and you don’t take ENG 101 in Spring 2010, then you must take it in Spring 2011. Yes, you may take other advanced ENG courses at the same time as ENG 101.
This course provides students with tools and intellectual background that will serve as a basis for more advanced studies in the English major, whether in writing and rhetoric, creative writing, or literature. Much of the course will center on genre. We will examine examples of various genres (the novel, the essay, lyric poetry, drama, and cinema). Our discussions of what genres are and of how they operate will be informed by forays into the history of literature and the history of critical thinking about literature and rhetoric, including contemporary theoretical approaches. Students will integrate primary and secondary sources in a substantial essay on a topic they choose. We will also talk about what sorts of career opportunities a degree in English may lead to.
________________________________________
English 129 Later British Literatures (Class ID# 8079)
Professor Bernard Schweizer
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course has a double focus: we will explore the themes of romance and gender relations, social class conflict, war, and sanity/insanity in British literature from the mid-nineteenth century onward. At the same time, we will study the assigned texts as representatives of one of the three dominant literary modes of Western literature, i.e. realism, modernism, and postmodernism. We begin with two realistic novels: Great Expectations (1861) by Charles Dickens and Silas Marner (1861) by George Eliot. Next, we will explore Modernism, including poetry by W.B. Yeats, H.D. and T.S. Eliot, and two novels related to World War I, i.e. Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier (1918) and Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room (1922). Our postmodern segment will begin with No Man’s Land (1975), a hilarious play by Harold Pinter. We will continue with Jeanette Winterson’s intriguingly strange Lighthousekeeping (2004), and end up with a modern re-imagining of Great Expectations, i.e. Lloyd Jones’s novel Mister Pip (2006).
________________________________________
English 137 Shakespeare (Class ID# 19423)
Professor Srividhya Swaminathan
Mondays 6:00-8:30 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
William Shakespeare is considered to be the finest poet and playwright of the English language and this course will explore the reasons why. To understand Shakespeare and appreciate the legacy he has left for English drama, students will begin the exploration of his impressive oeuvre with context. The Elizabethan stage flourished after a time of enormous political, religious, and social upheaval in England. As a part of the European Renaissance, drama and other forms of literature opened up and began to explore themes and ideas beyond the divine. Theater, though not the high-brow form of entertainment that it is today, began to flourish and playwrights began writing for contemporary audiences, which included aristocrats and commoners alike. A performance did not take place in a fancy setting with hushed audiences being respectfully quiet so that every nuance of the actors’ expressions could be appreciated. Instead, theater was a rowdy affair with actively critical audiences who would not hesitate to the let the actor or playwright know if they found the show boring! Reading drama is somewhat artificial and does not fully convey this contextual meaning of the work. In order to offset this artificiality, students will view film versions and see one performance of a play. In addition, students will be expected to work in groups to reproduce a scene. Shakespeare, to be fully understood, must be read, watched, and performed!
________________________________________
English 159 Literatures of the U.S. Since 1865—High and Low Culture (Class ID# 7083)
Professor Carol Allen
Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course begins with the shift in American culture that occurred during the nineteenth century when high and low sectors began to be defined, calcified and defended, a transition that continues to impact on us today. We will chart how major American artists have responded to this dichotomy with their texts that range from novels, to drama, to poetry and essays. Following such a path will also lead us to concentrate heavily on class, public space, racial and ethnic difference, youth movements, and such ideas as margin versus center and cosmopolitanism versus regionalism. Be prepared for a variety of assignments that will include trips to cultural institutions, informal writing, presentations, in-class essays and a longer project. You will learn about the major movements in American literary development from the Civil War to present, hone your critical reading skills, perfect your writing, and command an informed opinion about the ongoing cultural “wars” that shape us today. Required texts might include Highbrow, Lowbrow, Lawrence Levine; The Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett; As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner; Sula, Toni Morrison; A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams; The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead; The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri.
________________________________________
English 166 Fiction Writing Workshop (Class Id# 7275)
Professor Lewis Warsh
Tuesdays 6:30-8:50 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a creative-writing elective requirement in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Creative Writing may take this class two times for credit.
This workshop will focus on the way autobiography overlaps with fiction and how the past is fictionalized as a way of keeping it alive. The premise is that the source of most fiction is fading memories, whether we're aware of it or not. Though Jack Kerouac is the most obvious exponent of this method, we'll look at other writers of the last century (Marguerite Duras, Thomas Bernhard, Lydia Davis, John Edgar Wideman, Georges Perec, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Laura Riding, Jamaica Kincaid, James Ellroy, Maurice Blanchot) who struggle to cross the borders between fiction and life story. We'll concentrate on the conventions of fiction—plot, character, conflict--with an eye towards expanding on what's already been done. Our writing projects will include working with secrets, memories, observations, opinions, overheard conversations—fragments of everything.
________________________________________
English 173 Writing in the Community (Class ID# 19424)
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a writing-and-rhetoric requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric may take this class two times for credit.
This course will acquaint you with writing about, in, and for communities and organizations—neighborhoods, schools, work-places, museums, non-profits, and other social spaces. Although our main focus will be on writing in and for communities, we will first consider how and why they form, develop, thrive, decay, and sometimes “come back.” We will examine their histories, everyday practices, and rules, asking how boundaries are drawn, policy decisions made, and individuals classified as insiders or outsiders, players or spectators. Second, we will go into communities to investigate and practice the kinds of writing done in communities, such as neighborhood blogs, grant proposals, organizational fliers and brochures, and museum exhibition texts. And third, we will write for a community—a flier, brochure, proposal, report, or other type of document—and possibly also facilitate writing within a community, for example, working with elders or high school youth to enable them to give voice to their ideas, hopes, and or dreams. In addition to encouraging experimentation with multimodal, digital and print essays, the class will create a blog based on your research projects.
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English 175 Writing for the Professions (Class ID# 9451)
Professor Michael Bokor
Thursdays 4:30-5:45 pm
For English majors, this course will satisfy a writing-and-rhetoric requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric may take this class two times for credit.
Most successful transactions in business rely on clear and concise communication, which makes those with effective writing skills indispensable in any organization. An essential aspect of this success is targeted, persuasive writing. The results writers want from their e-mails, proposals, recommendation reports, and other documents hinge on their ability to grab their audiences’ attention and persuade them to act on the ideas in the documents they produce. But what exactly do writers do at the work place to write successfully? This course will focus on strategies for effective writing at the work place; it is good for students looking for opportunities to improve their skills for professional writing in their careers. Through practical hands-on exercises in this course, you will:
• Acquire specific skills to analyze and solve your writing problems;
• Learn how to develop effective writing skills to generate documents that convey credible messages and project a professional image;
• Learn how to eliminate barriers between you and your audience(s); and
• Develop skills for conducting effective research in a workplace setting.
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English 190 Senior Seminar in Literature (Class ID# 6759)
Professor Leah Dilworth (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Tuesdays 6:00-8:30 pm
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Literature. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
This course will guide students through the process of writing a long research paper (20-25 pages) on topics of their own choosing. Students will use a range of research resources and write an informal proposal, a formal proposal, a first draft, and a final draft of the paper. Students will also read and critique each other’s work. Required reading will include essays on research methods and writing as well as a literary text and selected critical essays.
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English 191 Senior Seminar in Creative Writing (Class ID# 7869)
Professor Lewis Warsh (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Day/Time TBA
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Creative Writing. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
We will investigate the lives and writings of various authors (Gertrude Stein, Arthur Rimbaud, Robert Creeley, Zora Neale Hurston and Frank O’Hara, among others); attend and report on poetry readings—and give readings ourselves; go to museums; listen to music; keep intensive reading journals. Our final project will be putting together a manuscript of our writing.
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English 192 Senior Seminar In Writing & Rhetoric (Class ID# 7099)
Professor Deborah Mutnick (Instructor Subject to Change Depending on Enrollment)
Day/Time TBA
This course is required for English majors concentrating in Writing & Rhetoric. If you register for this course, and it cancels due to low enrollment, consult one of the Co-chairs of the English Department (either Professor Leah Dilworth or Professor Sealy Gilles) or the Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger). We can arrange for you to take it as a Tutorial.
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English 207 Existence in Black: Black Existentialism in American Literature and Philosophy (Class ID# 19895) / Cross-listed with PHI 180 & HUM 180, each with its own Class ID#.
Professor Joseph Filonowicz (Philosophy) &
Professor Orlando Warren (English)
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:00-1:15 pm
Prerequisites: ENG 16 and one philosophy core course (PHI 61 or 62; or HHP 21 or 22), or permission of the instructors. For English majors, this course will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
Black existentialism is a modern American intellectual tradition that is perhaps best summed up in a single question: “What is to be done in a world of nearly a universal sense of superiority to, if not universal hatred of, black folk?” (Lewis Gordon, introduction to Existence in Black). Born from the soil of the actual historical experience of blacks, it stands at the intersection of three distinct philosophical and literary forces: first, the European tradition of existentialism that culminates in the works of Jean Paul Sartre and Simone deBeauvoir; secondly, the work of Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, who first documented the historical constitution of black defiance to black devaluation as “a madness or social deviance”; finally––and importantly––black American social thought as represented in the poems, plays, essays and narratives of Frederick Douglass, Alain Locke, W. E. B. DuBois, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Elison, James Weldon Johnson, Ann Petry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Malcolm X and other prominent black writers. A new generation of black American authors has recently stepped forth to synthesize these forces explicitly into a coherent and exciting philosophy of human existence, addressed to thoughtful people everywhere.
In this new course a professor of literature and a professor of philosophy will collaborate in guiding students on an adventure of reflection, a study of the existential dilemmas that have always confronted black thinkers and writers (indeed all black people) simply in virtue of their being black. The object is to gain rich insight into a major concern of both modern literature and modern philosophy: the walls that isolate and separate men and women from one another and alienate them even from themselves. What does the “curtain of color” do to people on both sides of that curtain? In the words of Abraham Chapman (in his introduction to Black Voices), “If, in addition to aesthetic delight, we turn to literature for its power of human illumination, both as mirror and lamp, then certainly the mirrors and lamps created by the black writers have a special value for America––if we are ready to look at the truths they expose.”
Students who participate actively and study carefully should achieve just such insight and illumination, as well as improve their analytical and argumentative writing skills. An atmosphere of mutual respect and consideration in the seminar will hopefully also assist students in improving their interpersonal skills, especially when discussing with others matters of identity and race. Weekly in-class and bi-weekly formal written assignments will be read and evaluated (but not formally graded) by both professors; students will revise these and incorporate them into a final (fully annotated) project (portfolio), which will be graded. Attendance and participation will determine approximately half of students’ final grades in the course, with the quality of their final portfolios counting for the other half. The course will be enhanced by visits from guest speakers and at least one (optional) field trip. Participants in this seminar will be asked to present some of their conclusions in an “open class” for the benefit of interested students from across the campus. Our texts will be Lewis R. Gordon, editor, Existence in Black: An Anthology of Black Existential Philosophy; and Abraham Chapman, editor, Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature. These will be supplemented by brief photocopied excerpts from recent scholarship in the area of black existentialism.
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FOR ENGLISH MAJORS WHO ARE IN HONORS—
Tthe following Honors electives (taught by English Department faculty) will satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration. They can also satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. Please discuss your situation with Wayne Berninger in the English Department before you register for any of these. Again, you may only register for these courses if you are in the Honors Program.
HHE 150 Mythology of Ireland (Class ID# 19466), Professor Maria McGarrity, Th 3-5:30
HHE 153 Life Journeys: Wisdom and Forgiveness (Class ID# 19469), Professor John High, M 2-4:30
HSM 110 Myth & Gender in Ancient World (Class ID# 8803), Professor Sealy Gilles, M 6-8:30
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STUDY ABROAD AND EARN CREDIT THAT CAN BE APPLIED TOWARD YOUR MAJOR
The Global College Program of Long Island University invites English majors to study abroad for a semester or a year at one of our centers—Costa Rica, Japan, China, or India. Not only will you have the opportunity to study and travel in a foreign country while earning credit towards your major, but you will also become immersed in another culture, develop your global awareness and cross-cultural communication skills, and be provided with a variety of internship and service learning opportunities. At all centers, students are encouraged to engage in independent-study projects relevant to their academic interests.
The Costa Rica Program in Heredia offers home stays with Costa Rican families, internships throughout the region, and courses in writing, Latin American studies, cross-cultural research methods, Latin American literature, Spanish language, global health and traditional healing, peace and reconciliation studies, environmental studies, and an introduction to experiential education.
The India Program in Bangalore enables students to explore the country’s religious and cultural diversity, the caste system, travel writing, environmental issues, the situation of Tibetan refugees, and the status of women. Students also have the opportunity to study India’s art forms, dance, and music.
The China Program in Hangzhou allows students to study a wide range of topics including the history of China, religious life in China, traditional Chinese medicine, poetry, women’s issues, calligraphy, taiji, Mandarin Chinese language and modernization and economic development.
The Comparative Religion and Culture Program enables students to engage in intensive study of the teachings, rituals, and spiritual practices of the world’s major religions while exploring cross-cultural issues such as identity, human rights, peace and reconciliation, and world citizenship. During the fall semester, students travel in Taiwan and Thailand, and during the spring semester, students travel throughout India and Turkey while they immerse themselves in the religions and cultures of these countries. The courses offered in the fall include: Comparison: Theory and Method, Religions and Modernity in Taiwan, Culture and Society of Taiwan, and Religions and Modernity in Thailand. The following courses are offered in the spring: Comparison: Practice and Critique, Religions and Modernity in India, History and Society in India, and Religions and Modernity in Turkey.
The Australia Program in Byron Bay is offered only during the spring semester. Students explore the relationships between people and their environment from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students travel throughout Australia and take courses that focus on indigenous peoples, the natural history, ecological diversity and related social and cultural contexts of Australia through seminars, field trips, service learning and internships.
Long Island University Financial Aid can be applied to all Global College overseas programs. For more information call 718 488 3409 or e-mail globalcollege@liu.edu.
Fifteen (15) $5000 scholarships are available to study on Global College programs during the Spring 2010 semester.
English Majors who are interested in Global College should see the back of this page for the English Department’s Guidelines for English Majors Studying Abroad in the Global College Program—please do not register for Global College without meeting with us first!
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT GUIDELINES FOR ENGLISH MAJORS STUDYING ABROAD IN THE GLOBAL COLLEGE PROGRAM
The following are guidelines for undergraduate English majors who wish to study abroad through the Global College Program and apply the credits earned toward their upper-division English major requirements.
Student must receive permission from Undergraduate Registration Advisor (Wayne Berninger) and Chair of English to enroll in Global College. See Mr. Berninger FIRST, before you do anything else.
Before going abroad, student must have completed ENG 16, COS 50, and six credits from ENG 61-62-63-64.
A maximum of 12 Global College credits may be applied toward upper-division English major requirements.
During any semester abroad, student must take 6 credits (or equivalent) in English. Independent study may be arranged, in consultation with Undergraduate Advisor and Chair of English.
Notes
Tuition, fees, and room & board abroad is about the same as tuition, fees, and room & board at the Brooklyn Campus.
University financial aid and scholarships are transferable to Global College. However, students should be aware that there are no work-study opportunities abroad. Also, athletes who receive free room and board at the Brooklyn Campus are not automatically eligible for same while abroad. Department of Athletics may agree to provide athletes with a stipend to cover Global College room & board fees. Students are urged to discuss this possibility with the Department of Athletics before they decide to study abroad.
Global College has additional sources of scholarships for students studying abroad.
Voices of the Rainbow Event: Kevin Baker
When & Where
Monday, October 26, 6 PM
Health Sciences Building, Room 121
Kevin Baker has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, and Harper’s magazine. He is the author of the historical novels Sometimes You See It, Paradise Alley, Strivers Row, and Dreamland, set largely in Coney Island.
Monday, October 26, 6 PM
Health Sciences Building, Room 121
Kevin Baker has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, and Harper’s magazine. He is the author of the historical novels Sometimes You See It, Paradise Alley, Strivers Row, and Dreamland, set largely in Coney Island.
Book Party in Honor of Maria McGarrity & Srividhya Swaminathan
Join us for a book party to celebrate the publication of two new books by English Department Faculty.
Maria McGarrity – Washed by the Gulf Stream: the Historic and Geographic Relation of Irish and Caribbean Literature
&
Srividhya Swaminathan – Debating the Slave Trade: Rhetoric of British National Identity, 1759–1815
Monday, November 16
4:30 – 6 pm
Humanities building
4th floor lounge
Maria McGarrity – Washed by the Gulf Stream: the Historic and Geographic Relation of Irish and Caribbean Literature
&
Srividhya Swaminathan – Debating the Slave Trade: Rhetoric of British National Identity, 1759–1815
Monday, November 16
4:30 – 6 pm
Humanities building
4th floor lounge
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