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Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • CAS EN 792: Introduction to Recent Critical Theory and Method
    Graduate Prerequisites: Graduate standing. - Selective survey of recent literary theory and method. Representative topics: Post- Structuralism; Marxism; Frankfurt School; Film Studies; New Historicism; Science and Technology Studies; Performance Theory; Genre; Post-Colonial Studies; Book History; Gender Theory; Disability Studies.
  • CAS EN 794: Professional Seminar
    Graduate Prerequisites: English PhD students in their final semester of coursework. - Developing professional skills and preparing for advanced independent scholarship for English doctoral students in the last semester of coursework. Course includes preparation for comprehensive exam and dissertation prospectus; conference paper submission; publication; fellowship and job applications.
  • CAS EN 795: World Literature: Theory and History
    Graduate Prerequisites: Graduate standing. - We consider whether postcolonial studies might be expanded to include approaches whose primary aim is not to "subvert" empire. Imperial histories as well as Anglophone fictions and autobiographies by minorities will be studied with this in mind.
  • CAS EN 799: Topics in Contemporary Literature and Culture
    Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. Explores texts, contexts, and theories that have shaped contemporary literary cultures. Interconnections between modern and contemporary literatures alongside theoretical paradigms such as critical studies of gender, race, sexualities, and class, global and comparative approaches to challenges, aesthetic experimentation, and more.
  • CAS EN 993: Directed Study in English
    DS ENGLISH 1
  • CAS EN 994: Directed Study in English
    DS ENGLISH 2
  • CAS EN 996: Directed Study in Play Production
    Graduate Prerequisites: thesis-level student in the MFA in Playwriting. - Directed study devoted to production of the student's thesis play.
  • CAS HI 500: Topics in History
    May be repeated for credit as topics vary. Topics for Spring 2026 - Section A1: Indigenous Cinematic Pasts and Futures. Examines how Indigenous Peoples have interacted, influenced, and involved themselves in cinema from 1894 to the present, exploring concepts of visual sovereignty, cultural activism, and Indigenous futurism. Throughout the course, we examine the arguments pertaining to three central questions on visual sovereignty. Section B1: The Life, Times and Work of W. E. B. Du Bois. Traces the life, intellectual career and dominant themes animating the art and activism of W. E. B. Du Bois. Historically contextualizes Du Bois and his work to demonstrate his importance to Black Studies and African diasporic history. Section C1: African City Life. Explores the lives of Africans in urban areas during different historical periods. Examines cities as sites of political, social, and cultural innovation, debates and negotiations among urban residents, and the relationship between urban and rural spaces.
  • CAS HI 502: Drafts of History: Reporting, Revising, and Renewing Modern US History
    Considers episodes from US history, comparing initial reports and subsequent historical accounts. Analyzes how new evidence alters understanding of events, but also how different eras ask different questions about the past, interrogate different sources, and appeal to different audiences. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry 2, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS HI 503: Race, Ethnicity, and Childhood in US History
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar. - The history of childhood in US History intersects with the interdisciplinary area of childhood studies. Within that, the histories of Black children and children of ethnic minorities and historically marginalized young people is a burgeoning subfield. This course examines how identities inclusive of (and structural inequities associated with) race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexuality have differently affected the lives and experiences of young people in the United States from the colonial period through to the 21st century. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness (HCO), Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS HI 504: The Civil War in American Memory
    From the immediate post-war years through very recent political conflicts, Americans have vigorously contested the memory of their Civil War. This course considers this question by exploring literature, film, and historical documents. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS HI 505: The American South in History, Literature, and Film
    Explores the American South through literature, film, and other sources. Considers what, if anything, has been distinctive about the Southern experience and how a variety of Americans have imagined the region over time. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS HI 462. Also offered as CAS AM 505. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS HI 506: The Transformation of Early New England: Witches, Whalers and Warfare
    New England’s history is filled with religious turmoil, warfare, political upheaval, and technological innovation. Come learn how religious schisms, witchcraft, conflict between Puritans and Native Americans, the American Revolution, and commerce transformed Puritan New England into an urbanized, industrial democracy. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry 1.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS HI 507: Three Revolutions
    The course examines how the English civil wars, the Glorious Revolution, and the American Revolution altered Anglo-American political thought and encouraged the rise of a democratic order and changed the nature of governance. Writers from Hobbes and Milton to Burke and Jefferson grappled with these transformations that created political modernity. The course situates these changes within their broader social and spiritual contextes and explores the continuation of inequality within a democratic order. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS HI 514: Enlightenment and Its Critics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Explores how eighteenth-century criticisms of the Enlightenment have been taken up by twentieth-century thinkers such as Heidegger, Horkheimer, Adorno, Gadamer, and Foucault; discusses recent defenses of Enlightenment ideals of reason, critique and autonomy by Habermas and others. Also offered as CAS PO 592 and CAS PH 412.
  • CAS HI 516: The Life, Times and Work of W. E. B. Du Bois
    Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120), History, African American and Black Diaspora Studies major or minor or consent of instructor. - Traces the life, intellectual career, and dominant themes animating the art and activism of W. E. B. Du Bois. Historically contextualizes Du Bois and his work to demonstrate his importance to Black Studies and African diasporic history. Effective Fall 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS HI 525: Development in Historical Perspective
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120 or 150) - A critical investigation of modern "development" practices and projects in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Explores the rise of development paradigms in the nineteenth century and key twentieth-century transformations; interrogates challenges to, critiques of, and reaffirmations of global development schemes. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS HI 526: Poverty and Democracy: Modern India and the United States in Comparative Perspective
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Through an examination of historical, empirical, and journalistic evidence, students examine the peculiar and pernicious nature of modern and contemporary poverty in the context of two large democracies, India and the United States. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS HI 527: Getting Around: Transportation, Cars, and Community in the Modern World
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or 120) - Explores the history of transportation and mobility and its impact on daily life, community, environment, and justice, examining automobiles, walking, biking, and mass transit in diverse global contexts from the nineteenth century to the present day. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS HI 528: Engineering Boston
    Examines how governments, companies and residents have constructed Boston, its neighborhoods and its transportation systems. The class studies shifting immigration and development patterns, produce photographic essays, and construct maps analyzing urban renewal, while visiting neighborhoods every week. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression

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