English Literature
College of Arts & Sciences
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Representing Boston
CAS EN 128
Literary and cultural geography of Boston, from Puritan sermons to modern crime fiction. Readings by Winthrop, Wheatley, Emerson, Hopkins, Antin, Lowell, Lehane and others; required fieldwork, including: Freedom Trail, Black Heritage Trail, MFA, the North End, and the West End. Effective Summer 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Mon./Wed. 9 am-12:30 pmWilliam Howell -
The Ethics of Art
CAS EN 162
Does art make you good? How does it shape our values and sense of justice? Ancient thinkers (Plato, Horace) and modern theorists (Wollstonecraft, Wilde), followed by contemporary case studies. Topics may include propaganda, body aesthetics, animals, disability, pornography, graffiti, censorship. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (LEC) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pmRobert Chodat -
Reading Shakespeare
CAS EN 163
A critical introduction to Shakespeare through intensive analyses of six or seven plays. Possible attention to such topics as literary sources, early modern stagecraft, performance history, and contemporary film adaptation. Effective Summer 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)
B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pmLiam Meyer -
The Graphic Novel
CAS EN 170
Examination of the rise, nature, and status of the contemporary book-length graphic novel. Topics include graphic vs. traditional novel, word and image, style and space, representations of subjectivity, trauma, and history. Authors may include Spiegelman, Bechdel, Nakazawa, Sacco, Satrapi, Backderf. Effective Summer 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pmJessica Ruliffson -
Introduction to Film & Media Aesthetics
CAS EN 176
Online offering. Introduction to fundamental concepts for the analysis and understanding of film and media. Key concepts of formal composition (e.g., editing, mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and more) over a diverse set of media texts. Foundational skills in analysis appropriate to film, television, and moving-image media. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 14)
O2 (IND) ArrangedJonathan FoltzOnline section O2: Meets online every Mon & Wed 10-11 am for a live class. Nonstandard course dates. Meets w/CAS CI 200For information about technology requirements for online courses at Boston University, see bu.edu/online/technology. BU Virtual can be reached at buvirtual@bu.edu or 617-358-1960 for additional information. -
Introduction to Asian-American Literature
CAS EN 177
Undergraduate Prerequisites: None - Explores Asian American literature from the early twentieth century until today. Addresses questions of identity, immigration, national belonging, diaspora, war, and global capitalism. Authors include John Okada, Maxine Hong Kingston, Chang-Rae, Jhumpa Lahiri, Monique Truong, and Ha Jin. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-intensive Course. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Mon./Wed. 1-4:30 pmTakeo Rivera -
Seminar in Literature
CAS EN 220
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., EN 120 or WR 100 or WR 120). - Why do we adapt books into movies? How does the experience of a story we first encounter as a text change when we see it on screen? Are filmmakers obligated to be "faithful" to their sources, or do they have artistic license to innovate? Is literature an inherently "higher" form of art than movies? In this course, we consider these and other questions about cinematic adaptation in order to develop our skills as critical readers of texts and movies, and as proficient researchers and writers. We examine film adaptations of work by English-language authors such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and August Wilson. Our goal is to produce well-researched, clear, and persuasive analyses of how film adaptation can enhance or sometimes challenge our understanding of literary masterpieces. Satisfies CAS WR 150 requirement. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing, Research and Inquiry, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pmBrian WalshTopic: English and American Literature on Film -
Major Authors I
CAS EN 221
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Introduction to the major works of ancient and medieval literatures that influenced later Continental, English, and American literature: the Bible, Homeric epic, Greek tragedy, Vergil's Aeneid, and Dante's The Divine Comedy. Required of concentrators in English. (Cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course by the same title that was formerly numbered CAS HU 221.) 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)
B1 (IND) Mon./Wed. 9 am-12:30 pmEric Bjornson -
Arts of Gender
CAS EN 326
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one previous literature course of junior or senior standing - Examines representations of gender and sexuality in diverse art forms, including drama, dance, film, and literature, and how art reflects historical constructions of gender. Past topics include Gendered Utopias, Gendered Dystopias, the Nature of Gender. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pmErin MurphyMeets w/CAS WS 326 -
Film Genres & Movements
CAS EN 329
An intensive exploration of a particular cinematic genre or movement, paying special attention to how individual films respond to existing traditions and to the historical and cultural contexts underpinning artistic change. How do genres grow and evolve across historical, cultural and institutional settings? How do particular cinematic movements respond to particular cultural changes? Course content varies by semester. Topic for Summer 2026: Black Horror. Released in 2017 to universal acclaim, Jordan Peele's "Get Out" sparked a Black Horror renaissance in Hollywood that garnered the attention of both mainstream and academic audiences alike. This interdisciplinary, discussion-based seminar strives to answer the questions: What is Horror Noire? How do histories of oppression, anti-Blackness, gender, and sexuality find purchase in the horror genre? Divided into two - 'Before' and 'After' Peele - this course approaches the difficult task of defining Black Horror by first moving chronologically through the earliest examples of films that fall into this subgenre. For example, beginning with Spencer Williams Jr.'s "Son of Ingagi" (1940) and George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), we eventually move to Blaxploitation horror films like William Crain's "Blacula" (1972) and William Gunn's "Ganja & Hess" (1973), before closing out the 'Before Peele' half of the course with Bernard Rose's "Candyman" (1992). The contemporary half of the syllabus will include films such as Jordan Peele's "Get Out" (2017), Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.'s "Black Box" (2020), and Nia DaCosta's sequel to the original "Candyman", to name a few. Time permitting, students will be given the opportunity to submit and vote on additional films to include in the latter half of the syllabus. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)
B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pmArianna JamesMeets w/CAS CI 330 -
Shakespeare I
CAS EN 363
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one previous literature course or junior or senior standing. - Six plays chosen from the following: Richard II, Henry IV (Part I), Troilus and Cressida, As You Like It, Hamlet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Winter's Tale. Some attention to the sonnets. For students who have declared an English major prior to Fall 2022: fulfills Pre-1800 British or American Literature requirement. For students declaring an English major in Fall 2022 and after: fulfills British or American Literature before 1700 requirement. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)
B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pmJoshua Cohen -
Introduction to African American Women Writers
CAS EN 370
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one previous literature course, or junior or senior standing. First-Ye ar Writing Seminar (e.g., WR120) - Prereq: junior or senior standing or one previous literature course. Topic for summer 2021: Toni Morrison's American Times. Examines how Morrison's Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz, and Love depict crucial times in American history, using historical and literary sources to make visible the interactions between the world of the novel and that of American history. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)
B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pmJewel PereyraMeets w/CAS AA 304 -
Reading and Writing Literary Nonfiction
CAS EN 502
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing; and First-Year Writing (WR 120 or equivalent). - Prereq: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS EN 120 or CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120) and two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing. 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. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380
Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)
A1 (IND) Mon./Tues./Thurs. 1-3:30 pmChris Walsh