Courses
For classes in Creative Writing see additional listings under English.
Writing
Check back on December 15th for Summer 2010 courses.
Courses in: | College of Arts & Sciences | College of Communication |
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program
The purpose of the CAS Writing Program is to help students read challenging works with critical discernment, to write with a refined sense of style, and to speak with appropriate eloquence. Although the topics of the seminars differ, all seminars are designed to foster lively discussions about works of literature that serve as models for effective writing. Every writing seminar teaches grammatical correctness and stylistic versatility. All seminars lead students through a common assignment sequence that stresses the process of revision. Students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences are required to complete two courses of formal instruction in writing, reading, research, and speaking. The two-course sequence CAS WR 100 and WR 150 is the usual means of satisfying this requirement. WR 097 (not offered in summer) and WR 098 are reserved for ESL (English as a Second Language) students whose score on the BU Writing Assessment (BUWA) indicates a need for preparatory work prior to enrolling in WR 100-150. The BUWA will be administered in each of the following courses on the first day of class to ensure that students have registered at the appropriate level.
Tutorial assistance is available to students enrolled in summer composition courses. To make an appointment with a tutor, please call the Writing Center (730 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 301) at 617-358-1500.
Introduction to College Reading and Writing in English (English as a Second Language only)
CAS WR 098
Intended for students whose first language is not English. Emphasis on analytical and persuasive writing. Intensive study of prose mechanics and essay structure. Grammar and punctuation: patterns for composing sentences and paragraphs; proper citation of sources in support of a thesis. Extensive reading, including one long reading and works that exemplify a variety of styles. Individual conferences. 4 cr.
Writing Seminar
CAS WR 100
Imaginative engagement through reading and writing with a theme or topic in literature, thought, and society. Emphasis on assimilation of challenging readings into essays that are clear, accurate, persuasive, and engaging. Practice in classroom discussion of ideas and refinement of speaking skills. Special attention to comparison and synthesis. Individual conferences. 4 cr.
Seminar theme: Literature of Illness and Healing
WR 100
"Considering how common illness is, [and] how tremendous the spiritual change it brings," Virginia Woolf wrote in 1930, "it becomes strange indeed that illness has not taken its place with love and battle and jealousy among the prime themes of literature." However, many major writers have taken up this theme, composing literature that teaches us about various aspects of illness and healing that fall outside the realm of biomedical knowledge. This course covers literature by and about patients and doctors, giving us opportunity to discuss the metaphorical meanings surrounding illness, the relationship between language and the body, the narrative nature of diagnosis, and the emotional and social dimensions of healing.
Seminar theme: The Memoir
WR 100
The memoir is usually viewed as a private genre of personal recollection. Yet many important writers have used the form to explore larger questions of historical, economic, political, and religious significance. This course focuses on writers of memoir who have examined their lives and the lives of their families through lenses wider than the personal. Readings include C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, Robert Graves’s Goodbye To All That, Rick Bragg’s All Over But The Shoutin’, and Melissa Green’s Color Is The Suffering Of Light.
Seminar theme: Literature and Moral Ambiguity
WR 100
Very little serious literature depicts unambiguously good characters defeating unambiguous evil. This course looks at the development of our interest in the morbid, and our discovery of pathos in squalor, comedy in evil, and hidden virtue underlying overt vice. We will study Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, Greene’s The Power and the Glory, and poetry by Robert Browning.
Seminar theme: The Novella
WR 100
Major authors such as Tolstoy, Mann, and Joyce are noted for their long novels and concentrated short stories. They were also attracted to the novella, an intermediate form that mixes complex character development with a unified plot, setting, and mood. Our purpose in this seminar is to explore the philosophical, political, and psychological themes found within the novella. Readings include excerpts from Boccaccio's Decameron, Cervantes' Exemplary Stories, Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych and Roberto Bolaño's By Night in Chile.
Writing and Research Seminar
CAS WR 150
Imaginative engagement through reading and writing with a theme or topic in literature, thought, and society. Emphasis on research techniques, including the location, evaluation, and synthesis of secondary sources. Special attention to the role of evidence in persuasive writing. Assignments include oral presentations and two research papers. 4 cr.
Seminar theme: American Political Eloquence
WR 150
Beginning with Abraham Lincoln and the "Gettysburg Address," this writing seminar examines political oratory during times of national transition and crisis. Students’ research projects focus on significant speeches within the context of major historical events, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the World Wars. Writing assignments allow students to explore influential and competing political visions of America from its founding to the present. For a model of academic research, we read Garry Wills’ Lincoln at Gettysburg. Other readings include Lincoln’s "House Divided" and his Inaugural addresses, the war rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, the campaign speeches of John Kennedy and Barack Obama, and the eloquence of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seminar theme: Innovation in Technology and Science: Historical Perspectives
WR 150
How can we define innovation? Furthermore, how is innovation important to understanding moments of critical change within technology, science, and the economy? These are questions that underpin our summer class. We look at what scholars from various fields have to say about the process of innovation; we also examine notable innovations in technology and science within recent history; and finally, we consider the impact of these innovations on our society. Readings may include works by Eric von Hippel, Thomas Kuhn, John Maeda, Henry Petroski, and Everett M. Rogers.
Seminar theme: The Harlem Renaissance
WR 150
This seminar explores the writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a movement that encompassed many arts; thus, we will study fiction, poetry, drama, visual art, and music. In addition, we will read criticism by and about writers of the Harlem Renaissance in order to gain an understanding of their literary experiments and the political and social context of the 1920s. Readings include Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Larsen’s Passing, and Levering’s Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader.
Seminar theme: Freedom of Conscience
WR 150
This seminar explores various ideas of how social and political forces influence a citizen’s freedom of conscience. We concentrate on circumstances in which an individual’s sense of morality comes into conflict with the laws of the state. Readings include Sophocles’ Antigone, Emerson’s "Self-Reliance," and Thoreau’s "Civil Disobedience."
Seminar theme: Modernist Literature and Society
WR 150
Writers in America and Europe from the 1890s to the 1950s were acutely aware of rapid change in their societies. We examine how their formally innovative works of fiction, poetry, and drama reflect on European imperialism, struggles for gender and racial equality, two world wars, and the challenges and promises of Western modernity. Readings include T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, and W.B. Yeats's selected poems.
Seminar theme: The Gothic in Literature
WR 150
Since the publication of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto in 1764, the gothic has evoked contradictory responses. It has been praised for its ability to depict strong emotional states and challenge social conventions, yet mocked and parodied for its haunted mansions, imprisoned maidens, mad scientists, and fearsome monsters. Despite this mixed reception, the gothic continues to influence modern literature and culture. This seminar examines theories of the gothic; central themes, such as death, the double, obsession, and madness; and the ongoing relevance of the gothic in our rational, technological age. Readings include Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Seminar theme: International Travel Literature
WR 150
This course investigates how journalists, missionaries, runaways, conquerors, poets, and others use travel to capture and occasionally to define physical and cultural landscapes. We examine the relationship of travelers to their surroundings, discussing the parallels between personal and public passage. Emphasis on primary source materials, including maps, diaries, letters, and historical documents, encourage consideration of exploration and of the ways in which a traveler’s own context informs interpretation of the foreign environment. While class discussion occasionally makes reference to the American landscape, course readings focus on international writers: Conrad, Baudrillard, Calvino, Kapuciski, and Amitav Ghosh. Additional readings include essays and critical prose by Edward Said, Umberto Eco, and Chinua Achebe.
Seminar theme: The Novel Now
WR 150
For some, the interactive, instantly gratifying world of online entertainment spells doom for the art of the novel. But there are plenty of signs that fiction is not only surviving but also thriving in the new millennium. The focus of the class is on the particular kind of life – linguistic inventiveness, passion, originality, and energy – that powerful novels provide. Readings are selected from the following: Whitehead's Apex Hides the Hurt, Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart, McCarthy's The Road, and DeLillo's Falling Man.
Seminar theme: Painting, Poetry, and Myth
WR 150
In their endeavors to transform experience into a profound expression of the human condition, many great Western painters and writers have turned to the archetypes and themes that comprise the saga of Thebes, or the story of Oedipus, his ancestors and his offspring. Studying this myth in its various artistic manifestations facilitates our understanding of the nature of myth and the differences between verbal and visual expressions. Each week we will contemplate an episode of the legendary history of Thebes, from its earlier chapters involving Europa and Cadmus to its tragic conclusion with the entombment of Antigone. We contemplate paintings by Titian, Rubens, Ingres and Moreau, Sophocles’ Antigone, excerpts from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and thematically kindred works such as Shakespeare’s King Lear.
College of Communication
College of Communication Writing Program
The College of Communication Writing Center, located in Room B27A at the College of Communication, is available to Communication students who would like help with their writing. Writing fellows staff the Writing Center four hours a day, Monday through Thursday. Students may sign up for an appointment online at www.rich17.com/bu. Call 617-353-6632 for further information.
Introduction to Communication Writing
COM CO 201
Prereq: CAS WR 100 or permission of the instructor. The core writing course for communication students. Students review grammatical and stylistic skills and apply those skills to professional writing assignments: news stories, memoirs, proposals, film reviews, and profiles. Weekly written assignments and writing workshops with an emphasis on revision. Prepares students to write with confidence in communication fields. 4 cr.
