Paumanok Lecture: Walter Mosley
The Department of English of Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus & The MFA Program in Creative Writing cordially invite you to attend...
STARTING FROM PAUMANOK
the Annual Reading and Talk on American Literature and Culture.
This year's Lecture will be given by...
Walter Mosley
6-8 pm, Thursday, October 2, 2008
(Walter Mosley will be introduced by Jessica Hagedorn)
Kumble Theater, Humanities Building
Long Island University, Brooklyn
Flatbush Avenue Extension and Dekalb Avenue
For further information, call (718) 488-1050
The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and reservations are required.
RSVP: 718 488 1624
kumble@brooklyn.liu.edu
Co-sponsored by the Provost's Office, the English Department, the Creative Writing MFA program, and Voices of the Rainbow reading series, this event is supported by grants from the Mellon Foundation and Long Island University's John P. McGrath Fund
WALTER MOSLEY is the author of twenty-nine critically acclaimed books which have been translated into twenty-one languages. His popular mysteries featuring Easy Rawlins began with Devil in a Blue Dress in 1990. Others in the series include A Red Death, White Butterfly, Black Betty, and A Little Yellow Dog (both of which were New York Times bestsellers). Recently, Easy Rawlins has returned in Bad Boy Brawly Brown, Six Easy Pieces, Little Scarlet and Cinnamon Kiss, a 2006 New York Times bestseller.
Mosley has written five works of literary fiction: RL's Dream; Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned; Walkin' the Dog; The Man in My Basement and Fortunate Son; three works of science fiction, Blue Light, Futureland and The Wave; and four works of nonfiction, Workin' on the Chain Gang, What Next, Life out of Context, and This Year You Write Your Novel. Two movies have been made from his work: Devil in A Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington and Always Outnumbered, starring Laurence Fishburne.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Grammy Award, the O'Henry Award, the Sundance Institute Risktaker Award for his creative and activist efforts, and the Anisfield Wolf Award, an honor given to works that increase the appreciation and understanding of race in America.
Mosley created, along with The City College, a new Publishing Degree Program aimed at young urban residents. It is the only such program in the country. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he now lives in Brooklyn.
For further information, visit Walter Mosley's website.
Voices of the Rainbow: Fall 2008 Readings
The following are the readings scheduled for this semester. More detailed announcements will appear right before each event, but mark your calendars now!
Walter Mosley (Paumanok Lecture)
Thursday, October 2, 6PM, Kumble Theatre (Humanities Building, first floor)
Walter Mosley is one of America's best-loved writers. He is the author of such mysteries as Devil in a Blue Dress, Black Betty, Blonde Faith, and Fearless Jones. He will be making the annual Paumanok Lecture on American Literature.
Program co-sponsored by the Provost's Office, the English Department, the Creative Writing MFA program, and Voices of the Rainbow.
Gary Shteyngart & Marie-Elena John
Wednesday, October 8, Noon, Health Sciences Building, Room 119
Gary Shteyngart was born in the Soviet Union. He is the author of the satiric novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan, chosen as one of the New York Times' best books of 2006.
Marie-Elena Jones, a native of Antigua, is author of the novel Unburnable, "a love story, a murder mystery, a multigenerational epic, and a reinterpretation of Black history."
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
Thursday, November 6, Noon, Humanities Building, Room 206
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based, Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist who has been featured at over 275 performances worldwide including three seasons of HBO's award-winning Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam.
Charles Dickens' Holiday Story The Chimes, performed by David Houston
Wednesday, December 10, 6PM, Health Sciences Building, Room 119
Just in time for the Christmas season, we will be presenting a one-man performance of Charles Dickens' The Chimes, a witty, ironic and poignant short novel exposing how the rich think the poor ought to live. Performed by actor/author David Houston, who has appeared in leading roles in scores of plays and musicals.
The following are the readings scheduled for this semester. More detailed announcements will appear right before each event, but mark your calendars now!
Walter Mosley (Paumanok Lecture)
Thursday, October 2, 6PM, Kumble Theatre (Humanities Building, first floor)
Walter Mosley is one of America's best-loved writers. He is the author of such mysteries as Devil in a Blue Dress, Black Betty, Blonde Faith, and Fearless Jones. He will be making the annual Paumanok Lecture on American Literature.
Program co-sponsored by the Provost's Office, the English Department, the Creative Writing MFA program, and Voices of the Rainbow.
Gary Shteyngart & Marie-Elena John
Wednesday, October 8, Noon, Health Sciences Building, Room 119
Gary Shteyngart was born in the Soviet Union. He is the author of the satiric novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan, chosen as one of the New York Times' best books of 2006.
Marie-Elena Jones, a native of Antigua, is author of the novel Unburnable, "a love story, a murder mystery, a multigenerational epic, and a reinterpretation of Black history."
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
Thursday, November 6, Noon, Humanities Building, Room 206
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based, Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist who has been featured at over 275 performances worldwide including three seasons of HBO's award-winning Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam.
Charles Dickens' Holiday Story The Chimes, performed by David Houston
Wednesday, December 10, 6PM, Health Sciences Building, Room 119
Just in time for the Christmas season, we will be presenting a one-man performance of Charles Dickens' The Chimes, a witty, ironic and poignant short novel exposing how the rich think the poor ought to live. Performed by actor/author David Houston, who has appeared in leading roles in scores of plays and musicals.
Graduate Courses, Summer & Fall 2008
Summer Session One 2008
(May 19 -- June 30)
English 636
Representations of Struggle in South African Literature and Film
Professor Patricia Stephens
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:15 PM
(May 19 -- June 30)
English 636
Representations of Struggle in South African Literature and Film
Professor Patricia Stephens
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:15 PM
In this course, our
explorations of South African literature and film will be framed by the
historical, social, political, and cultural contexts of the rise and fall of
Apartheid--a period of intense struggle for and against social change. Working
chronologically, we will explore texts (print and film) written or set within
three specific eras: 1940s-1950s (the inception and institutionalization of
formal Apartheid policies); 1960s-1980s (the rise of Black Consciousness and
anti-Apartheid movements); and 1990s-present (the rise of democracy and the
post-Apartheid years). Our print texts for the course will span several genres:
novels, memoir and/or autobiography, short stories, drama, poetry, creative
non-fiction, as well as excerpts from transcripts taken from the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission Hearings. In conjunction with our readings, we will
watch several films that document both historical events and day-to-day lives
in South Africa, past and present. Throughout the course, we will examine how
and why writers and filmmakers depict struggle in the ways they do and what
kinds of "truths" readers take from these representations. As
outsiders reading about a country still very much in transition, we will
examine our own understandings of the connections between history, politics,
culture, and the literature and film of South Africa. Written work for the
course will include short responses to the texts as well as a final research
paper (topics to be determined via conferences between the instructor and
students). Alternative projects may be considered. Below are some possible
texts for the course:
1940s-50s: Abrahams,
Peter. Mine Boy; Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country (film);
Mphalele, Ezekiel.Down 2nd Avenue; Poetry Selections (from Drum);
1960s-80s: Biko, Steven.
Excerpts from I Write What I Like; Mandela, Nelson. Excerpts from Long
Walk to Freedom and Selected Speeches; Mhlope, Gcina. "Have You Seen
Zandile?"; Wicomb, Zoë. You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town;
Poetry selections (from Staffrider); Amandla: A Revolution in Four Part
Harmony (film)
1990s-present: Krog,
Antjie. Country of My Skull; Magona, Sindiwe. Mother to
Mother. Mda, Zakes.Ways of Dying; Gordimer, Nadine. The
House Gun. Long Day's Journey into Night (film); Facing
the Truth (film),
FALL 2008
English 503: Theory of Writing:
Remembering the Present
Professor Lewis Warsh
Thursdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
Professor Lewis Warsh
Thursdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
Writing theory is an all
encompassing endeavor. It must take into account both the past and the present
while pointing instructively towards the future. Many great 20th century
theorists were fiction writers and poets themselves--their theoretical work
derived from their practice as creative writers. One goal of this course is to
develop and articulate our own sense of what we want to do as writers and what
we expect as readers. We will use the ideas expressed in these essays to
inspire and inform our own work.
Another goal is to create a dialogue between ourselves and these authors. Ezra Pound's notable quote (I'm paraphrasing) : "Don't take advice from anyone who hasn't written a great work" is something to keep in mind. What gives anyone the right to theorize? One of the ongoing threads in this class will be an attempt to understand the place of theory in our work as writers, beginning with the inescapable question: “Is it necessary?”
Among the authors we will read are Henry James, E.M. Forester, Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, Laura Riding, Gertruce Stein, Roland Barthes, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Walter Benjamin, M.M. Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Maurice Blanchot, James Baldwin, Charles Olson, Frank O’Hara, Ralph Ellison, Amiri Baraka, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Lyn Hejinian.
Another goal is to create a dialogue between ourselves and these authors. Ezra Pound's notable quote (I'm paraphrasing) : "Don't take advice from anyone who hasn't written a great work" is something to keep in mind. What gives anyone the right to theorize? One of the ongoing threads in this class will be an attempt to understand the place of theory in our work as writers, beginning with the inescapable question: “Is it necessary?”
Among the authors we will read are Henry James, E.M. Forester, Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, Laura Riding, Gertruce Stein, Roland Barthes, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Walter Benjamin, M.M. Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Maurice Blanchot, James Baldwin, Charles Olson, Frank O’Hara, Ralph Ellison, Amiri Baraka, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Lyn Hejinian.
English
523: Fiction Writing Workshop: Starting Points in Fiction
Professor Han Ong (Visiting Writer)
Thursdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
In this class we will take a look at the initial sources of inspiration writers use and build upon in crafting a novel or short story. For some writers, it's a premise: "What if ...?" For others, it's a plot, a sequence of events one leading to the other; this can be true of writers who use newspaper articles as their jumping off point. Character is key for some; for example, they want to write a piece about their grade school teacher, who was important in their life. Some writers hear a stretch of dialogue and that's where they begin. Yet others are compelled by place, setting; this might be true of some immigrant or foreign writers trying to recapture a lost world, for example. Oftentimes, where we start in our writing forecasts what the strengths of the work are going to be, as well as the weaknesses. By querying their own starting points, each student in class will begin to understand why it is that he or she runs into a set of problems in the middle of the writing process, which is different for every writer. This way, too, they can begin to identify elements that they need to strengthen to make their novel or story a more integrated and satisfying whole.
Han Ong is the author of two novels: Fixer Chao (2001) and The Disinherited (2004), both published by Picador USA. He has been the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships, as well as a fellowship to the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Natural History, BOMB, and the journal Conjunctions. He is also the author of more than three dozen plays, which have been produced across the country at such venues as the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Berkeley Rep, and the American Repertory Theater.
Professor Han Ong (Visiting Writer)
Thursdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
In this class we will take a look at the initial sources of inspiration writers use and build upon in crafting a novel or short story. For some writers, it's a premise: "What if ...?" For others, it's a plot, a sequence of events one leading to the other; this can be true of writers who use newspaper articles as their jumping off point. Character is key for some; for example, they want to write a piece about their grade school teacher, who was important in their life. Some writers hear a stretch of dialogue and that's where they begin. Yet others are compelled by place, setting; this might be true of some immigrant or foreign writers trying to recapture a lost world, for example. Oftentimes, where we start in our writing forecasts what the strengths of the work are going to be, as well as the weaknesses. By querying their own starting points, each student in class will begin to understand why it is that he or she runs into a set of problems in the middle of the writing process, which is different for every writer. This way, too, they can begin to identify elements that they need to strengthen to make their novel or story a more integrated and satisfying whole.
Han Ong is the author of two novels: Fixer Chao (2001) and The Disinherited (2004), both published by Picador USA. He has been the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships, as well as a fellowship to the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Natural History, BOMB, and the journal Conjunctions. He is also the author of more than three dozen plays, which have been produced across the country at such venues as the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Berkeley Rep, and the American Repertory Theater.
English 524: Poetry Writing
Workshop: Writing the Long Poem: Everything We Know
Professor Lewis Warsh
Tuesdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
Professor Lewis Warsh
Tuesdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
The long poem is a place where we
can include everything: knowledge of ecology and politics, all the various
emotional states and upheavals that we’ve experienced, annotation of the
present moment and the passage of time. Each student will initiate what might
be a long poem of several pages or even a book-length poem written and
accumulated over the course of the semester. We'll discuss the ways of bringing
together data by direct observation and journal writing, by reading the
newspaper (which is a kind of daily poem), and by sustaining a rhythm, a
feeling, a theme. We'll pay attention to ways of improvisation, how to
translate daily life into poetry, and how to use repetition and variation.
We'll use as models some of the great long poems of the last century, most
notably Paterson by William Carlos Williams, The
Skaters and Three Poems by John Ashbery, A by
Louis Zukofsky and Midwinter Day by Bernadette Mayer. Mostly
we'll look closely at each other's work, give each other feedback and advice,
and share each other's concerns regarding the importance of poetry in the
world.
English 525: Play Writing Workshop:
The Art of Playwriting
Professor Jessica Hagedorn
Wednesdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
Professor Jessica Hagedorn
Wednesdays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
In this workshop, we will explore
what it means to write for the theatre, how to create characters who engage and
surprise us, how to develop an ear for the poetry of ordinary speech, and how
to develop an appreciation for the power of silence. Expect in-class writing
and visualization exercises, close readings and discussions of plays,
monologues and excerpted scenes by major contemporary playwrights; expect to
write a five-to-ten minute piece to be performed, using your fellow students as
actors. Guest speaker and field trip to one Off-Broadway play, TBA.
Registration limited.
English 527: Professional Writing
Workshop: Grant Writing
Professor John Killoran
Thursdays 6:10 - 8:00 pm
This course is designed not only for English graduate students but also for students from other disciplines and for professionals who seek to develop their skills as persuasive professional writers.
Professor John Killoran
Thursdays 6:10 - 8:00 pm
This course is designed not only for English graduate students but also for students from other disciplines and for professionals who seek to develop their skills as persuasive professional writers.
Behind much of the work conducted by
cultural agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and researchers are successfully
grant proposals. The grant proposal is essentially a persuasive document, and
this course thus approaches grant writing through a rhetorical perspective. A
rhetorical perspective offers not just a wily way with words but a means of responding
to a rhetorical situation, of generating successful ideas. The rhetorical
perspective helps students define the problem, analyze the audience, and invent
the arguments that best present their case. Specifically, in the course,
students will...
1. identify a problem on campus or in their organization, social and cultural communities, or research field;
2. analyse potential sponsors who might share the goal of solving the problem;
3. and plan, draft, and revise a grant proposal.
The course is designed for those seeking to write grant proposals for cultural agencies, business RFPs, nonprofits, and research. However, students will develop knowledge and skills that can be applied broadly to the various kinds of writing required in their careers.
1. identify a problem on campus or in their organization, social and cultural communities, or research field;
2. analyse potential sponsors who might share the goal of solving the problem;
3. and plan, draft, and revise a grant proposal.
The course is designed for those seeking to write grant proposals for cultural agencies, business RFPs, nonprofits, and research. However, students will develop knowledge and skills that can be applied broadly to the various kinds of writing required in their careers.
English 579: Seminar in Special
Studies: Virginia Woolf and Modernism
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Mondays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Mondays, 6:10 to 8:00 PM
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is one of
the most challenging and beautiful writers in the English language. Every time
she began work on a new novel, she renewed her ambition to reinvent the genre
and to make it penetrate to depths of human experience never before tried by
writers of fiction. The course will trace the path from her early, tentatively
realistic fiction (The Voyage Out), through her experimental short
fiction of the late teens and early 1920s ("The Mark on the Wall,"
"An Unwritten Novel"), to the achievement of her high modernist style
in four major novels: Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To
the Lighthouse, and The Waves. Woolf was also an innovator in
the art of the essay, and we will read some of her most famous works in the
genre, including "Modern Fiction," "On Being Ill," and her
revolutionary (and very funny) manifesto for women writers, A Room of
One's Own. Because Woolf was keenly interested in painting and was
intimately associated with a circle of avant-garde artists, special emphasis
will be placed on the intersection between verbal and visual art in her life
and work.
Field trips to the Museum of Modern Art and the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library (which houses the largest collection of Woolf manuscripts in the world) will be arranged. In addition to on-going class discussion, students will write a series of short essays in response to the readings, and one longer critical essay or creative term project.
Field trips to the Museum of Modern Art and the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library (which houses the largest collection of Woolf manuscripts in the world) will be arranged. In addition to on-going class discussion, students will write a series of short essays in response to the readings, and one longer critical essay or creative term project.
English 641: Literacy and Basic
Writing
Professor Donald McCrary
Wednesdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
Professor Donald McCrary
Wednesdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
In this course we will attempt to
identify and understand what constitutes literacy in the academy and how
"basic writers" are positioned within and against this term in their
struggle to acquire academic discourse, a term we will also examine. We will
investigate our own assumptions about literacy and test those assumptions
against academy dictates and practices. We will problematize "basic
writing" in relation to theories and methods of teaching basic and college
writing. For example, is the social constructionist approach viable, or should
students' primary languages be included in the instruction and production of
college writing? What is the relationship between reading and writing, and how
might one inform the other? How might orality be utilized in the classroom to
help students increase their awareness of standard English? How do we offer
cohesive, productive instruction when students within the same class have
different levels and types of literacy? Authors we might read include Delpit,
Bourdieu, Bizzell, and Heath. The course will be particularly beneficial for
students who plan to teach in academic institutions with students from diverse
linguistic backgrounds.
English 646: Individual and Small
Group Writing Instruction
Professor Patricia Stephens
Tuesdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
Professor Patricia Stephens
Tuesdays, 4:10 to 6:00 PM
This course is designed to introduce
tutors and teachers to the theories and practices of tutoring writing (online,
face-to-face, one-to-one, and small groups). Though our work in this class will
help all tutors/teachers expand their repertoire of theoretical and pedagogical
knowledge about tutoring writing in general, we will also focus on some of the
specific needs of writers who use the LIU/Brooklyn Writing Center. As we
familiarize ourselves with the curriculum and pedagogy of the Writing Program
and interdisciplinary writing concerns (through WAC) on campus, we will locate
the work we do at our Writing Center within the broader historical and
institutional contexts of writing centers, in general. Throughout the semester,
the course will address practical concerns about tutoring: structuring sessions
and setting goals; assessing, diagnosing and responding to student writing;
learning strategies to teach planning, drafting, revising, proofreading and
editing; learning strategies to work on specific grammatical concerns; helping
students with reading comprehension; working with ESL concerns; noticing
interpersonal dynamics and maintaining boundaries; respecting and responding to
cultural and ethnic differences; working as an online tutor, and facilitating small
group sessions. We will also explore connections between writing center
histories and institutional politics in order to understand how particular
practices emerge within specific contexts. Students interested in pursuing a
specific topic not included in the general readings (such as writing center
administration) are encouraged to do so, with permission from the instructor.
Classes will be conducted as seminars/workshops so that all students have the
opportunity to participate in class presentations, mock tutorials, etc. All
students are required to tutor for one hour per week during the semester and
attend staff development meetings at the Writing Center. Each of you will write
an observation report of a session conducted by another tutor and audio/video
tape one session with a student (for use in a self-study).
Our Condolences to the Silveira Family
Gerald E. Silveira passed away early Saturday, May 10, after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.
Dean Silveira was part of Long Island University for 50 years. He taught for nearly two decades at the Brooklyn Campus, rising to the rank of professor after joining as an English instructor in 1958. He went on to fill important roles as part of the administration, serving as assistant dean of the Richard L. Conolly College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1977 to 1980 and then as associate dean until the present; for a period in 1985, he was acting dean of the College.
Through all this time, Dean Silveira never lost love for writing, literature and the performing arts. He also was an avid fan of the New York Times crossword puzzle, which never required more than 15 minutes for him to complete!
Gerry, as he was known to the many who enjoyed working with him at LIU, was a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He earned a B.A. at Boston University and an M.A. at Rutgers University, specializing in linguistics and English as a second language. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in 1954 and a Carnegie Southern Scholarship award for 1956 to 1958.
Gerry Silveira is survived by a niece and many good friends at the Brooklyn Campus. Plans for services at the Campus will be announced after commencement.
Gerald E. Silveira passed away early Saturday, May 10, after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.
Dean Silveira was part of Long Island University for 50 years. He taught for nearly two decades at the Brooklyn Campus, rising to the rank of professor after joining as an English instructor in 1958. He went on to fill important roles as part of the administration, serving as assistant dean of the Richard L. Conolly College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1977 to 1980 and then as associate dean until the present; for a period in 1985, he was acting dean of the College.
Through all this time, Dean Silveira never lost love for writing, literature and the performing arts. He also was an avid fan of the New York Times crossword puzzle, which never required more than 15 minutes for him to complete!
Gerry, as he was known to the many who enjoyed working with him at LIU, was a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He earned a B.A. at Boston University and an M.A. at Rutgers University, specializing in linguistics and English as a second language. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in 1954 and a Carnegie Southern Scholarship award for 1956 to 1958.
Gerry Silveira is survived by a niece and many good friends at the Brooklyn Campus. Plans for services at the Campus will be announced after commencement.
End of Semester Reading: Students from English 520
The April 27th Testimonio reading ran long, and not everyone got to read, so we've scheduled a second reading so that the rest of the readers can present their work.
Please join us for this end of semester reading, featuring:
Michelle Solomon
Charles Thorne
Sri Raman
Elspeth MacDonald
and more
Wednesday, May 7, 5-6PM
Humanities Building, Fourth Floor Lounge
The April 27th Testimonio reading ran long, and not everyone got to read, so we've scheduled a second reading so that the rest of the readers can present their work.
Please join us for this end of semester reading, featuring:
Michelle Solomon
Charles Thorne
Sri Raman
Elspeth MacDonald
and more
Wednesday, May 7, 5-6PM
Humanities Building, Fourth Floor Lounge
Annual English Department Awards Ceremony
Please join us today at 4:00 PM in the Fourth Floor Lounge of the Humanities Building, for our annual awards ceremony, when we will present the following prizes and awards:
Excellence in English
Undergraduate
Adynah Johnson
Kaung Set Lin
David Wheeler
Excellence in English
Graduate
Jaime Barker
Omayra Cruz
Joseph Garnevicus
Sarah Kolbasowski
Jacqueline McCormick
Sophia Mavrogiannis
Cherisse Mayers
Lindsey Miller
Margot Nasti
Helen Seo
Charles Thorne
The Edward Edelman and Susanne Popper-Edelman
English Essay Prizes
Sehrash Tanveer
Best Essay in a Developmental Freshman Writing Course
Gregory Cross
Best Essay in a Freshman Writing Course
Lisa Rathod
Best Essay in a Sophomore Core Literature Course
Jonathon Kuhr
Best Essay in an Upper-Division English Course
(There is no prize this year in the category of Best Senior Seminar Paper.)
The Esther Hyneman Graduate Awards in Poetry and Fiction
Gary Parrish (Poetry)
Jessica Rogers (Fiction)
The Louis and Ann Parascandola Graduate English Award
Jaime Barker
Excellence in English
Undergraduate
Adynah Johnson
Kaung Set Lin
David Wheeler
Excellence in English
Graduate
Jaime Barker
Omayra Cruz
Joseph Garnevicus
Sarah Kolbasowski
Jacqueline McCormick
Sophia Mavrogiannis
Cherisse Mayers
Lindsey Miller
Margot Nasti
Helen Seo
Charles Thorne
The Edward Edelman and Susanne Popper-Edelman
English Essay Prizes
Sehrash Tanveer
Best Essay in a Developmental Freshman Writing Course
Gregory Cross
Best Essay in a Freshman Writing Course
Lisa Rathod
Best Essay in a Sophomore Core Literature Course
Jonathon Kuhr
Best Essay in an Upper-Division English Course
(There is no prize this year in the category of Best Senior Seminar Paper.)
The Esther Hyneman Graduate Awards in Poetry and Fiction
Gary Parrish (Poetry)
Jessica Rogers (Fiction)
The Louis and Ann Parascandola Graduate English Award
Jaime Barker
Sigma Tau Delta Induction Ceremony: New Inductees
On Friday, May 2, the Omicron Zeta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta held its annual induction ceremony.
The Chapter's sponsor, English Professor Srividhya Swaminathan, opened the ceremony with her welcoming remarks, and then English Professor Sealy Gilles, Chair of English (and new Sigma Tau Delta member!) gave the keynote address. New members were inducted by current student members Kaung Set Lin and Nikki Alimonda.
The Chapter was pleased to induct the following new members:
Rodne Alteon
Alane Celeste
Omayra Cruz
Yanisha Daniel
Rony Enriquez
Sealy Gilles
Enid Hernandez
Lisa Huang
Adynah Johnson
Barbara Joseph
Sri Devi Raman
Amit Rao
Stephanie J. Scibilia
Carolyn A. Smith
Damaris Stevens
Charles Thorne
On Friday, May 2, the Omicron Zeta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta held its annual induction ceremony.
The Chapter's sponsor, English Professor Srividhya Swaminathan, opened the ceremony with her welcoming remarks, and then English Professor Sealy Gilles, Chair of English (and new Sigma Tau Delta member!) gave the keynote address. New members were inducted by current student members Kaung Set Lin and Nikki Alimonda.
The Chapter was pleased to induct the following new members:
Rodne Alteon
Alane Celeste
Omayra Cruz
Yanisha Daniel
Rony Enriquez
Sealy Gilles
Enid Hernandez
Lisa Huang
Adynah Johnson
Barbara Joseph
Sri Devi Raman
Amit Rao
Stephanie J. Scibilia
Carolyn A. Smith
Damaris Stevens
Charles Thorne
MFA Reading Series Event: A Reading by Students Who Are Graduating This Year
When & Where
Friday ~ May 2, 2008 @ 7pm
in the English Department
Humanities Building, Fourth Floor
Reading:
Charles Thorne
Margot Marie Nasti
Omayra Cruz
Jamie Barker
Lindsey Michael Miller
Please come out to support these soon-to-be alumni of our graduate program in the last reading of their LIU careers!
Flyer (click pic to enlarge):
When & Where
Friday ~ May 2, 2008 @ 7pm
in the English Department
Humanities Building, Fourth Floor
Reading:
Charles Thorne
Margot Marie Nasti
Omayra Cruz
Jamie Barker
Lindsey Michael Miller
Please come out to support these soon-to-be alumni of our graduate program in the last reading of their LIU careers!
Flyer (click pic to enlarge):
MFA Reading Series Event: Testimonio
The nonfiction of:
Dwayne Allen
Natasha Gilman
Omayra Cruz
Christine Gans
Joe Garnevicus
Mark Gilman
Elspeth Macdonald
Stephanie Marshall
Jalene Mojica
Jacqueline McCormick
Anna Penny
Sri Raman
Michelle Solomon
Charles Thorne
Hosted by
Deborah Mutnick
When & Where:
Sunday, April 27th
4-5:45 pm
Cornelia Street Café
29 Cornelia Street
Manhattan
ACEDF or V to West 4th
1 or 9 to Sheridan
In conjunction with the MFA Program at LIU Brooklyn
contact: danielle.delgiudice@brooklyn.liu.edu
Flyer (click pic to enlarge:
UPDATE: This event ran long, and a second reading was scheduled so that the remaining readers could present their work.
The nonfiction of:
Dwayne Allen
Natasha Gilman
Omayra Cruz
Christine Gans
Joe Garnevicus
Mark Gilman
Elspeth Macdonald
Stephanie Marshall
Jalene Mojica
Jacqueline McCormick
Anna Penny
Sri Raman
Michelle Solomon
Charles Thorne
Hosted by
Deborah Mutnick
When & Where:
Sunday, April 27th
4-5:45 pm
Cornelia Street Café
29 Cornelia Street
Manhattan
ACEDF or V to West 4th
1 or 9 to Sheridan
In conjunction with the MFA Program at LIU Brooklyn
contact: danielle.delgiudice@brooklyn.liu.edu
Flyer (click pic to enlarge:
UPDATE: This event ran long, and a second reading was scheduled so that the remaining readers could present their work.
Advanced English Courses Summer & Fall 2008
Program guidance & Early Registration Begin on Monday, April 7!
English Majors: Please make an appointment to meet with Wayne Berninger, the English Department Registration Advisor, as early as possible to register for the upper-division English classes you need. 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 being offered in Summer 2008 and Fall 2008. 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 Mr. Berninger by phone at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
Non-English Majors: 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. So even if you are not an English major, you can take upper-division English courses—as long as you have completed the prerequisites. If you really want to build up your transcript, consider an English Minor. A minor consists of any four courses numbered 100 or above. 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.
See Your Advisor now & Register Early!
----------------
Advanced English Courses Summer Session One 2008
(May 19 -- June 30)
Note: There are no advanced English courses in Summer Session Two this year.
English 150: Contemporary African American Literature
Class ID# 6457
Professor Carol Allen
Mondays & Wednesdays 1:00 to 3:40 PM
This course charts the contours of African American literature composed since 1975 and the critical discourse that surrounds it. The course will be divided into units based on genre for no other reason than that this body of writing is so diverse that thematic clustering makes little sense. Therefore, because of this decision, we will explore how contemporary African American writers are bending and blending genre to fit their needs: innovation in both form and thematic choice. Over the next few weeks, we will encounter works by the most notable contributors to this tradition. I urge you to consider that this course serves as a mere entrée to a rich and varied field. Suggestions for further study will come in the form of class discussion and your own consideration of and writing about the texts listed below and those that you will encounter invariably over the course of pursuing your own research. Texts for the class will include the following: Songlines in Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems, Michael Harper; Fences, August Wilson; Venus, Suzan-Lori Parks; Love, Toni Morrison; The Middle Passage, Charles Johnson; Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman; and Every Good-Bye Ain't Gone, Itabari Njeri.
------------------
Advanced English Courses Fall 2008
English 101: Introduction to English Studies
Class ID# 15925
Professor Leah Dilworth
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:00 to 5:15 PM
This course is REQUIRED for English majors in all three concentrations (Literature, Creative Writing, Writing & Rhetoric). You MUST take ENG 101 within the first two semesters after completing the core English courses (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 Fall 2008, then you MUST take it in Spring 2009. You MAY take other ENG courses at the same time as ENG 101.
This course offers an introduction to the field of English studies in general and to the English major at LIU. We will explore the history of English as an area of university study and what it means in the 21st century to engage in the intensive study of reading and writing. Students will learn about the three concentrations we offer in the LIU English major: Literature, Creative Writing, and Writing and Rhetoric. We will consider the many professional opportunities open to English majors. All students in the class will write a short research paper on a selected work of literature.
English 104: Creative Writing
Class ID# 15049
Professor Lewis Warsh
Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course is a prerequisite for ENG 165, 166 and 167. This course is required in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
The goal of the workshop is to expand our ideas of “what is a poem” and “what is a work of fiction.” Are poetry and fiction exclusive or related genres? Weekly assignments will question preconceived notions of form, content and gender, with emphasis on the best ways of transcribing thought processes and experiences into writing. We will also attempt to engage the present moment--the issues of our time, if any, that influence our writing. Is it possible to write in a vacuum while ignoring the rest of the world? What is the writer’s responsibility? Can writing change the world? We will read as models the work of Maurgarite Duras, Lydia Davis, William Carlos Williams, Bernadette Mayer, Amiri Baraka, Frank O’Hara, Andre Breton, Ted Berrigan, Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery and Ernest Hemingway, among others. Much of the workshop time will be spent on reading and discussing each other’s writing.
English 128: Early British Literatures: Making of English Literary Traditions
Class ID# 15285
Professor Jonathan Haynes
Mondays & Wednesdays, 4:00 to 5:15 PM
Note: Some earlier paper copies of this document (as well an early version on the English Department website) indicated that Professor Srividhya Swaminathan would be teaching this course. However, Professor Swaminathan is going to be on academic leave next year, so she will NOT be teaching English 128. This is the correct course description.
This course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
In this course we will read the authors most responsible for founding the traditions of British literature: Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlow, William Shakespeare, John Donne, and John Milton. We will plunge into the worlds created by their powerful imaginations, which in part means understanding what they do with the genres of chivalric romance, epic, comedy, and lyric poetry. We will also pay steady attention to the relations of their created worlds to the unfolding history of English society. Gender relations and the role of the outsider will be recurring themes.
English 158: Early Literatures of the United States: The American Renaissance
Class ID# 14885
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
Between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the United States witnessed one of its greatest periods of artistic achievement, sometimes known as the "American Renaissance." The course will examine representative works by the major writers of this period, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Louisa May Alcott, as well as some of the earlier colonial and revolutionary-era works that inspired them.
Readings will include fiction, poetry, philosophy, sermons, political manifestos, captivity and freedom narratives, and criticism. We will also sample the visual and musical art of the period. A field trip to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be arranged. In addition to on-going class discussion, students will write a series of short essays in response to the readings, and one longer critical essay or creative term project.
English 165: Poetry Workshop: Poets Studio: Writing, Performing, Evolving
Class ID# 15055
Professor John High
Tuesdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
ENG 104 is a prerequisite for this course. This course will satisfy a requirement in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
What if as poets we were allowed to do whatever we wanted? What would we do? In this class we'll read and perform our poems and practice critiquing/questioning our own writing via the poet's studio and workshop method. We'll encourage and push one another to go deeper into our own language and our own lives. Every innovation in poetry has grown out of tradition, and in this course we will attempt to discover and connect with our own tradition(s) and poetic. What is the relationship between tradition, innovation, and a writer's unique voice? If our own voices grow out of the past and from traditions firmly rooted in the power of language, our goal is to discover--to see what's out there, both as writers and readers--as we examine the literary voices and lineages from which we have grown. We'll do this by writing our own poems and by exploring various forms and schools of poetry and by paying close attention to the way that poetry changes through us. We'll also discuss the act of writing as one of risk-taking and journey, of reinventing traditions in our own tongue, of seeing how nothing ever changes unless we experiment and try something different. Among the poets we'll look at closely are Whitman, H.D., Williams, Pound, Stein, Bishop, Hughes, Cullen, Cane, Spicer, Levertov, Brooks, Creeley, Baraka, Whalen, Snyder, O'Hara, Zukofsky, Mayer, Howe, and Ginsberg. A final chapbook-portfolio, consisting of all your written work, is due at the end of the semester.
English 171: Introduction to Classical Rhetoric
Class ID# 18116
Professor John Killoran
Tuesdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
A new writing and rhetoric course for students in any field, this course will satisfy a requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
This course is designed not only for English majors but also for students from disciplines such as Political Science, Journalism, Education, and Media Arts who seek to develop their skills as critical readers and persuasive writers. The course will satisfy a requirement in the English Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
Classical rhetoric is among the longest enduring courses in western education. It has been at the core of students' learning since a schematized rhetoric first emerged in ancient Greek oratorical practice and was articulated in Aristotle's teaching and further developed by such famous orators as Cicero. In ancient times, rhetoric played a key role in the birth of our traditions of democratic politics, law, and formal education. In modern times, classical rhetoric has been revived as the foundation for students' effective writing, and as a framework for analyzing persuasive discourse.
In this course, students will learn the principles of classical rhetoric and apply them to analyze contemporary discourse in politics, law, the media, and society. As the Fall 2008 semester coincides with one of the most interesting federal election campaigns of modern times, we will be analyzing in particular the political rhetoric leading up to the November vote.
Students will learn perspectives to help them recognize how language persuades us of what we believe and whom we believe. By the end of the semester, students will have developed their sensitivity to the power in others' use of language and will become more empowered in their own use of language.
English 173: Writing in the Community
Class ID# 15525
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Mondays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
A new writing and rhetoric course for students in any field, this course will satisfy a requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
Writing in the Community is designed to acquaint you with writing about, in, and for communities-neighborhoods, schools, work-places, museums, organizations, and other social spaces. Through course readings, library research, fieldwork, and oral history interviews, we will learn how communities are formed, develop, thrive, decay, and sometimes "come back." We will first examine their histories, everyday practices, and rules, asking how boundaries are drawn, policy decisions made, and individuals classified as insiders or outsiders. Second, we will go into communities to record visual and verbal impressions of communities and re-present them to audiences within and outside their borders. And third, we will write for a community--a flier, brochure, proposal, report, or other type of document. In addition to encouraging the creation of multimodal digital and print essays, the class will pilot a Brooklyn Wiki based on your research projects.
Offered in the new Writing and Rhetoric concentration, English 173 is an elective for students across the disciplines as well as in English who are interested in public and professional writing. Explore social spaces ranging from the classroom to political forums and local communities. Experience field work as well as a workshop format for getting constructive feedback on your writing. Projects range from oral history to neighborhood studies and public writing in, for, and about communities. Readings tentatively include Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloane's Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America; Harvey Wang's New York; Robert Batista's novel, Brooklyn Story; Paul Kutsche's Field Ethnography; and excerpts from Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson's The Oral History Reader. The emphasis of the class, however, is on your writing, which will be discussed at least twice in workshop during the semester. You will be required to complete three 4-6-page essays, one of which will be a Wiki entry, and a 3-5 page reflective essay.
English 259: Fiction's Fiction: The Art of Retooling Classics of British Literature
Class ID# 18117
Professor Bernard Schweizer
Thursdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course will satisfy a requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course looks at classics of British literature from the 18th and 19th centuries through the lens of contemporary fictional re-workings. What happens when texts and their authors from the past are suddenly catapulted into the era of contemporary fiction? What about past stories makes them so attractive that they are being re-tooled today? We will read three successful novels published just a year ago together with the texts and authors that originally inspired them. While Tracy Chevalier has rendered a fictional biography of William Blake in her book Burning Bright (2007), Sophie Gee's The Scandal of the Season (2007) dramatizes the affair between two characters in Alexander Pope's mock epic "The Rape of the Lock," and Lloyd Jones's novel Mr. Pip (2007) is based on the idea that reading Charles Dickens's Great Expectations under special circumstances can be a life-transforming event. These pairings set up a fascinating basis for comparisons between original and derivate, between narrative and meta-narrative, between past and present. Each of these juxtapositions will give rise to discussions about literary history, literary transmission, and intertextuality. This course will also expand our notion of British literature in interesting ways: Lloyd Jones hails from New Zealand, Sophie Gee grew up in another part of "Down-Under," i.e. Australia, and Tracy Chevalier is a Swiss-American expatriate living in England. If you want to learn about classics of literature but also enjoy reading today's most vibrant authors, this elective is for you!
Program guidance & Early Registration Begin on Monday, April 7!
English Majors: Please make an appointment to meet with Wayne Berninger, the English Department Registration Advisor, as early as possible to register for the upper-division English classes you need. 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 being offered in Summer 2008 and Fall 2008. 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 Mr. Berninger by phone at 718-780-4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.
Non-English Majors: 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. So even if you are not an English major, you can take upper-division English courses—as long as you have completed the prerequisites. If you really want to build up your transcript, consider an English Minor. A minor consists of any four courses numbered 100 or above. 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.
See Your Advisor now & Register Early!
----------------
Advanced English Courses Summer Session One 2008
(May 19 -- June 30)
Note: There are no advanced English courses in Summer Session Two this year.
English 150: Contemporary African American Literature
Class ID# 6457
Professor Carol Allen
Mondays & Wednesdays 1:00 to 3:40 PM
This course charts the contours of African American literature composed since 1975 and the critical discourse that surrounds it. The course will be divided into units based on genre for no other reason than that this body of writing is so diverse that thematic clustering makes little sense. Therefore, because of this decision, we will explore how contemporary African American writers are bending and blending genre to fit their needs: innovation in both form and thematic choice. Over the next few weeks, we will encounter works by the most notable contributors to this tradition. I urge you to consider that this course serves as a mere entrée to a rich and varied field. Suggestions for further study will come in the form of class discussion and your own consideration of and writing about the texts listed below and those that you will encounter invariably over the course of pursuing your own research. Texts for the class will include the following: Songlines in Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems, Michael Harper; Fences, August Wilson; Venus, Suzan-Lori Parks; Love, Toni Morrison; The Middle Passage, Charles Johnson; Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman; and Every Good-Bye Ain't Gone, Itabari Njeri.
------------------
Advanced English Courses Fall 2008
English 101: Introduction to English Studies
Class ID# 15925
Professor Leah Dilworth
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:00 to 5:15 PM
This course is REQUIRED for English majors in all three concentrations (Literature, Creative Writing, Writing & Rhetoric). You MUST take ENG 101 within the first two semesters after completing the core English courses (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 Fall 2008, then you MUST take it in Spring 2009. You MAY take other ENG courses at the same time as ENG 101.
This course offers an introduction to the field of English studies in general and to the English major at LIU. We will explore the history of English as an area of university study and what it means in the 21st century to engage in the intensive study of reading and writing. Students will learn about the three concentrations we offer in the LIU English major: Literature, Creative Writing, and Writing and Rhetoric. We will consider the many professional opportunities open to English majors. All students in the class will write a short research paper on a selected work of literature.
English 104: Creative Writing
Class ID# 15049
Professor Lewis Warsh
Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course is a prerequisite for ENG 165, 166 and 167. This course is required in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
The goal of the workshop is to expand our ideas of “what is a poem” and “what is a work of fiction.” Are poetry and fiction exclusive or related genres? Weekly assignments will question preconceived notions of form, content and gender, with emphasis on the best ways of transcribing thought processes and experiences into writing. We will also attempt to engage the present moment--the issues of our time, if any, that influence our writing. Is it possible to write in a vacuum while ignoring the rest of the world? What is the writer’s responsibility? Can writing change the world? We will read as models the work of Maurgarite Duras, Lydia Davis, William Carlos Williams, Bernadette Mayer, Amiri Baraka, Frank O’Hara, Andre Breton, Ted Berrigan, Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery and Ernest Hemingway, among others. Much of the workshop time will be spent on reading and discussing each other’s writing.
English 128: Early British Literatures: Making of English Literary Traditions
Class ID# 15285
Professor Jonathan Haynes
Mondays & Wednesdays, 4:00 to 5:15 PM
Note: Some earlier paper copies of this document (as well an early version on the English Department website) indicated that Professor Srividhya Swaminathan would be teaching this course. However, Professor Swaminathan is going to be on academic leave next year, so she will NOT be teaching English 128. This is the correct course description.
This course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
In this course we will read the authors most responsible for founding the traditions of British literature: Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlow, William Shakespeare, John Donne, and John Milton. We will plunge into the worlds created by their powerful imaginations, which in part means understanding what they do with the genres of chivalric romance, epic, comedy, and lyric poetry. We will also pay steady attention to the relations of their created worlds to the unfolding history of English society. Gender relations and the role of the outsider will be recurring themes.
English 158: Early Literatures of the United States: The American Renaissance
Class ID# 14885
Professor Patrick Horrigan
Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course is required in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
Between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the United States witnessed one of its greatest periods of artistic achievement, sometimes known as the "American Renaissance." The course will examine representative works by the major writers of this period, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Louisa May Alcott, as well as some of the earlier colonial and revolutionary-era works that inspired them.
Readings will include fiction, poetry, philosophy, sermons, political manifestos, captivity and freedom narratives, and criticism. We will also sample the visual and musical art of the period. A field trip to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be arranged. In addition to on-going class discussion, students will write a series of short essays in response to the readings, and one longer critical essay or creative term project.
English 165: Poetry Workshop: Poets Studio: Writing, Performing, Evolving
Class ID# 15055
Professor John High
Tuesdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
ENG 104 is a prerequisite for this course. This course will satisfy a requirement in the Creative Writing concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
What if as poets we were allowed to do whatever we wanted? What would we do? In this class we'll read and perform our poems and practice critiquing/questioning our own writing via the poet's studio and workshop method. We'll encourage and push one another to go deeper into our own language and our own lives. Every innovation in poetry has grown out of tradition, and in this course we will attempt to discover and connect with our own tradition(s) and poetic. What is the relationship between tradition, innovation, and a writer's unique voice? If our own voices grow out of the past and from traditions firmly rooted in the power of language, our goal is to discover--to see what's out there, both as writers and readers--as we examine the literary voices and lineages from which we have grown. We'll do this by writing our own poems and by exploring various forms and schools of poetry and by paying close attention to the way that poetry changes through us. We'll also discuss the act of writing as one of risk-taking and journey, of reinventing traditions in our own tongue, of seeing how nothing ever changes unless we experiment and try something different. Among the poets we'll look at closely are Whitman, H.D., Williams, Pound, Stein, Bishop, Hughes, Cullen, Cane, Spicer, Levertov, Brooks, Creeley, Baraka, Whalen, Snyder, O'Hara, Zukofsky, Mayer, Howe, and Ginsberg. A final chapbook-portfolio, consisting of all your written work, is due at the end of the semester.
English 171: Introduction to Classical Rhetoric
Class ID# 18116
Professor John Killoran
Tuesdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
A new writing and rhetoric course for students in any field, this course will satisfy a requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
This course is designed not only for English majors but also for students from disciplines such as Political Science, Journalism, Education, and Media Arts who seek to develop their skills as critical readers and persuasive writers. The course will satisfy a requirement in the English Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an English elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
Classical rhetoric is among the longest enduring courses in western education. It has been at the core of students' learning since a schematized rhetoric first emerged in ancient Greek oratorical practice and was articulated in Aristotle's teaching and further developed by such famous orators as Cicero. In ancient times, rhetoric played a key role in the birth of our traditions of democratic politics, law, and formal education. In modern times, classical rhetoric has been revived as the foundation for students' effective writing, and as a framework for analyzing persuasive discourse.
In this course, students will learn the principles of classical rhetoric and apply them to analyze contemporary discourse in politics, law, the media, and society. As the Fall 2008 semester coincides with one of the most interesting federal election campaigns of modern times, we will be analyzing in particular the political rhetoric leading up to the November vote.
Students will learn perspectives to help them recognize how language persuades us of what we believe and whom we believe. By the end of the semester, students will have developed their sensitivity to the power in others' use of language and will become more empowered in their own use of language.
English 173: Writing in the Community
Class ID# 15525
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Mondays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM
A new writing and rhetoric course for students in any field, this course will satisfy a requirement in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration. It can also be used to satisfy an ENG elective requirement in the Literature concentration.
Writing in the Community is designed to acquaint you with writing about, in, and for communities-neighborhoods, schools, work-places, museums, organizations, and other social spaces. Through course readings, library research, fieldwork, and oral history interviews, we will learn how communities are formed, develop, thrive, decay, and sometimes "come back." We will first examine their histories, everyday practices, and rules, asking how boundaries are drawn, policy decisions made, and individuals classified as insiders or outsiders. Second, we will go into communities to record visual and verbal impressions of communities and re-present them to audiences within and outside their borders. And third, we will write for a community--a flier, brochure, proposal, report, or other type of document. In addition to encouraging the creation of multimodal digital and print essays, the class will pilot a Brooklyn Wiki based on your research projects.
Offered in the new Writing and Rhetoric concentration, English 173 is an elective for students across the disciplines as well as in English who are interested in public and professional writing. Explore social spaces ranging from the classroom to political forums and local communities. Experience field work as well as a workshop format for getting constructive feedback on your writing. Projects range from oral history to neighborhood studies and public writing in, for, and about communities. Readings tentatively include Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloane's Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America; Harvey Wang's New York; Robert Batista's novel, Brooklyn Story; Paul Kutsche's Field Ethnography; and excerpts from Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson's The Oral History Reader. The emphasis of the class, however, is on your writing, which will be discussed at least twice in workshop during the semester. You will be required to complete three 4-6-page essays, one of which will be a Wiki entry, and a 3-5 page reflective essay.
English 259: Fiction's Fiction: The Art of Retooling Classics of British Literature
Class ID# 18117
Professor Bernard Schweizer
Thursdays 6:00 to 8:30 PM
This course will satisfy a requirement in the Literature concentration. It can also be used to satisfy a literature requirement in the Creative Writing concentration or in the Writing & Rhetoric concentration.
This course looks at classics of British literature from the 18th and 19th centuries through the lens of contemporary fictional re-workings. What happens when texts and their authors from the past are suddenly catapulted into the era of contemporary fiction? What about past stories makes them so attractive that they are being re-tooled today? We will read three successful novels published just a year ago together with the texts and authors that originally inspired them. While Tracy Chevalier has rendered a fictional biography of William Blake in her book Burning Bright (2007), Sophie Gee's The Scandal of the Season (2007) dramatizes the affair between two characters in Alexander Pope's mock epic "The Rape of the Lock," and Lloyd Jones's novel Mr. Pip (2007) is based on the idea that reading Charles Dickens's Great Expectations under special circumstances can be a life-transforming event. These pairings set up a fascinating basis for comparisons between original and derivate, between narrative and meta-narrative, between past and present. Each of these juxtapositions will give rise to discussions about literary history, literary transmission, and intertextuality. This course will also expand our notion of British literature in interesting ways: Lloyd Jones hails from New Zealand, Sophie Gee grew up in another part of "Down-Under," i.e. Australia, and Tracy Chevalier is a Swiss-American expatriate living in England. If you want to learn about classics of literature but also enjoy reading today's most vibrant authors, this elective is for you!
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