English

• CAS EN 483: Critical Studies in Literature and Ethnicity
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  May be repeated for credit as topics vary. Topic for Spring 2020: Multiethnic Women's Literature in the U.S. Readings may include works of fiction, poetry, or drama composed by multiethnic women writers. Attention to a wide range of literary works and historical and cultural contexts.
• CAS EN 484: Critical Studies in Literature and Ethnicity
  Topic for Spring 2021: "Identity." This course takes seriously the ongoing dependence on "identity" in cultural tensions, artistic expressions and cultural debates. Where did it come from, what does it mean and why does it matter? Via a cross-cultural exploration of literary, historical and critical works we engage how "identity" is claimed, mobilized and sometimes weaponized.
• CAS EN 488: Critical Studies in African American Literature
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  Topic for Fall 2022: Gender and Sexuality in the Neo-slave Narrative. Examines how neo-slave narratives intervene in the sexual and gendered silences of slave narratives and the power relations that produced them. Students who are hesitant to study depictions of sexual violence might consider taking another course.
• CAS EN 490: The Gothic, Identity, and the Human
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  Readings in dark narratives from Mary Shelley through Toni Morrison in tandem with humanistic theory concerning identity (mind, self, agency), the character of the human (particularly in relation to the animal), hierarchies of value, and the character of evil. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
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  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS EN 491: Independent Study
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, department, and CAS Room 105.
  Application forms available in CAS Room 105.
• CAS EN 492: Independent Study
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, department, and CAS Room 105.
  Application forms available in CAS Room 105.
• CAS EN 493: Critical Studies in Literature and The Arts
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  This course examines translational practices in art, writing, and performance, considering translation between languages, genres, discourses, and media--asking about the political potentials or pitfalls along the way. Includes creative exercises and concludes with the collaborative publication of a zine. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
• CAS EN 495: Critical Studies in Literary Topics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  Topic for Fall 2021: On Feeling/s: Literature and Affect Theory. The experience of reading can elicit a complex spectrum of feelings. This course explores what new, counter or subaltern knowledges and histories such emotions might reveal. Texts from Octavia Butler, Ocean Vuong, Toni Morrison, and affect theorists are covered.
• CAS EN 497: Critical Studies in Literature and Philosophy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  Truth, beauty, reason, emotion, interpretation, justice, meaning--this course reads literature from specific philosophical perspectives, and understands philosophical texts using literary methods. It also examines historical, theoretical, and aesthetic relationships between literature and philosophy. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
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  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS EN 502: Reading and Writing Literary Nonfiction
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing; and First-Year Writing (WR 120 or equivalent).
  This reading and writing seminar explores literary nonfiction, a wide-ranging, sometimes controversial genre in which writers use techniques associated with fiction and poetry to make meaning of lives. How do writers describe their world, especially peoples, places, and things? What are different ways of using personal voice? Each weekly meeting includes discussion of published nonfiction along with writing short exercises, and workshopping writing. The learning goals of this course are to become better readers and more skillful practitioners of the craft of literary nonfiction. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 509: Playwriting 2: Writing the Social/Political Play
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play must be submitted during the period just before classes begin.
  Explores the dramatist's response to political and social events over 2,000 years from the Greeks through the modern period. Examines how playwrights dramatized the pressing issues of their times with a focus on content, historical context, and theatrical forms.
• CAS EN 510: Playwriting 1: Writing of Short Plays
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play mustbe submitted during the period just before classes begin. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
  A seminar in the writing of short, original plays, addressing structure, language, and theme. Students read and discuss the masters of modern drama. Writing exercises are assigned to stir the imagination and develop craft. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 512: Readings for Writers: Contemporary Literary Nonfiction
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  Intensive reading seminar for students interested in literary nonfiction, a wide-ranging, sometimes controversial genre in which writers use techniques associated with fiction and poetry to make meaning of facts. Explores the wealth and breadth of contemporary literary nonfiction -- memoir, personal essay, literary journalism, travel, science, and medical writing -- with an eye toward helping students think about their own nonfiction writing practices.
• CAS EN 513: Modern English Grammar and Style
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  This course shows how to systematically analyze grammar and style of sentences and longer units of discourse. Explores academic and popular debates on grammar and grammar instruction and helps the student become a better speaker and writer.
• CAS EN 517: Drama in Theory and Practice 1: Structure and the Script
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or 120) and by consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play must be submitted during the period just before classes begin.
  Structure and the Contemporary Script. A comparison and analysis of the design of plays from the last two decades, encouraging students to imitate the form, character, and plot from these plays while experimenting with their own narrative structures. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 519: Drama in Theory and Practice 2: Experiments with Character and Form
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS WR 100 or WR 120 along with the consent of the instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play must be submitted during the period just before classes begin.
  Course includes the reading and analysis of dramatic works. Classes allow experimentation with the full-length monologue and small cast plays while giving attention to dramatic structure and style. Students present their own work in a workshop format, and material is critiqued in class. Students also attend performances and write critiques of professional productions. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 520: Drama in Theory and Practice 3: Adaptation and the Theatre
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor, to whom a short play or scene from a play mustbe submitted during the period just before classes begin. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
  This playwriting seminar focuses on translation versus adaptation, comparing the two, and culling material from other writing genres. Focusing on tone, imagery, stage design, and language, students write their own stage adaptations as well as read various texts translated from World Theatre. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 537: Black Thought: Literary and Cultural Criticism in the African Diaspora
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  An introduction to literary and cultural thinking in African-America and the Black Diaspora. The course hones in on specific trends, themes, and characteristics of this work and assesses its relationship to broader political and social contexts. Also offered as CAS AA 591.
• CAS EN 538: Teaching American Literature
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  This course focuses on teaching American literature at the high school level. Goals include building a knowledge base in American literary history, modeling deep learning with selected texts, addressing theoretical questions in English Language Arts pedagogy, and learning practical classroom skills. 4 cr. 1st sem. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS EN 542: The Rise of the Novel
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing.
  The development of prose fiction in England through the eighteenth century. Major themes and genres in works by Behn, Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Smollet, Lennox, Austen, and Sterne.