Undergraduate Offerings

Though the Editorial Institute at Boston University does not offer an undergraduate major, undergraduate students at the university are invited to take courses in the institute. The following courses are open to undergraduates:

CAS EI 501 Literary Editing
Professor Christopher Ricks

An introduction to the theory, practice, and principles of editorial decisions, such as questions of modernization, revision, and annotation. Featuring a dozen visiting speakers and attending to notable editorial achievements.

CAS EI 503 Textual Scholarship
Professor Archie Burnett

Fundamentals of textual scholarship: bibliography, paleography, typography, textual criticism, and annotation.

CAS EI 505 Manuscripts @ Mugar
Professor Christopher Ricks

Manuscripts, letters, and rare books inspire this course, taught by Professor Christopher Ricks, in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Manuscripts @ Mugar explores these for understanding and enjoyment. Undergraduates will have the opportunity to work with original manuscripts and to discuss the basic questions of principle and practice that constitute editing. Attention will be paid to writer’s revisions, to the modernizing of texts, to annotation of many kinds and purposes, and the pleasures of getting something right and of setting others right.

CAS EI 506 Topics in Textual Scholarship and the History of Western Society

Professor Christopher Ricks

Topic for Spring 2014: Law, Language, & Literature

CAS EI 507 Publishing Procedures
Professor Marilyn Gaull

Examines the history, principles, and practice of publication from early inscriptions to the internet. Students learn the history and evolution of publishing houses, contracts, copyright, editing, design, production, dissemination, and reviews. For a term project, the students create their own book.

CAS EI 508 Editing Across the Disciplines
Professor Archie Burnett

An introduction to editorial work in several disciplines, highlighting the practices, problems, and solutions encountered in each and identifying common principles where found. Editorial case histories in English literature, the Bible, classical texts, philosophical works, and music are considered.

CAS EI 509 History of the Book
Professor Archie Burnett

The history of the book from Gutenberg to Google. Consideration is given to: parallels between the print and electronic revolutions; libraries and archives, authorship and copyright, publishing processes and reading practices, and the future of the book.