Department of English

Taught by Dr. Kristen Highland

From ancient cuneiform to Gutenberg’s printing press to today’s AI text generators, technologies of writing and reading have shaped our world and our understanding of it. These technologies influence how we communicate with each other, how we tell stories and share information, and even how we think. This course examines the long history and potential futures of innovation in reading and writing technologies. In this class, we will explore and experiment with diverse text technologies and critically reflect on our own practices in this historical moment of technological change.

Taught by Dr. Brian McAllister

This course offers an introduction to literature in its many forms. We’ll explore a range of literary texts that employ a variety of genres within an array of historical and cultural contexts—from lyric poetry to dramatic narrative, from science fiction to nature writing, from Renaissance England to contemporary Abu Dhabi. Through these texts and our engagement with them, we’ll consider not just how literature constructs and gives us access to multiform worlds, but also how those literary worlds can reflect upon, complicate and enrich our engagement with the world around us.

Taught by Dr. Adnan Ajšić

Language, as Steven Pinker has noted, is one of the wonders of the natural world.  We all use it, we use it nearly all the time, and we can express almost anything, existing or imagined, in it.  Perhaps most importantly, language is a uniquely human tool for understanding the world, and the production and transmission of knowledge between individuals and groups, as well as between generations.  But where does this fascinating ability that distinguishes us from all other living things come from?  How does it work?  How and what do we use it for in our modern world and how does it intersect with technology?  Join us in ENG 223: Introduction to Language Study as we explore the origins of language(s), language structure (sounds, words, sentences, meaning), language evolution and change, and the link(s) between language and our societies and cultures.

Taught by Dr. Maya Aghasi

This spring, we travel not only in space but in time in ENG 250: World Literature. We will read some of the oldest texts we have in existence to explore what it means to be a god/goddess, hero/heroine, human. On our journey, we will meet the likes of Gilgamesh, Achilles and Hector, Odysseus, and Genji, but also Scheherazade, Don Quijote, and Sancho Panza (because we all need some fun in our lives!). In the final portion of the semester, we will see how contemporary artists and writers reread these masterpieces and discuss how they continue to resonate with us today.

In terms of workload, expect lots of exciting reading, discussion-based classes, weekly responses, a presentation, short essays, and a final paper. Also expect a creative assignment in which you contribute your own modern adaptation of one of these classics. 

Taught by Dr. Khawlah Ahmed

You speak the English language, but do you know how that language came about and what are its origins? What languages (and even cultures) played a role in its development? These, and many other interesting information and facts about the English language, are addressed in ENG 326 (Development of the English Language), a course that traces the development of the English language from its Indo-European roots to the present day.

Taught by Dr. Ji Young Shim

If you and I speak the same language, we are supposed to understand what each other says, and we usually do. I understand what you mean when you say something. Likewise, you understand what I say, like you’re reading what I wrote and understand what I mean, right?

Sometimes, though, we may say, "That's not what I meant!". Why does this happen? You and I speak the same language and understand the exact meaning of each word, so why does our communication sometimes break down? Do we mean the same thing with a set of words? In fact, what does it mean to mean?

In this course, we will examine the meaning of language from two important perspectives. First, the meaning of words and sentences are composed by following linguistic rules. In addition, speakers may use these words and sentences differently in context. Thus, to understand what others say, it is important to identify the linguistic rules that are shared by other speakers as well as recognize the role of context and the speaker’s intention.

By the end of the course, you will understand that the meaning of language is composed by following a set of intricate rules.

Taught by Dr. Una Tanovic

“I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas.
I'm frightened of the old ones.” - John Cage

What are we doing with our digital tools? And what are our digital tools doing to us? How are they changing the ways we live, learn, communicate, and create?

We will think through these questions as we explore the worlds of artificial intelligence, cybernetics, virtual reality, geeks, gamers and hacktivists through new media art and electronic literature. You will encounter and analyze new genres and media formats, including hypertext fiction, flash poems, video games, net.art, codework, interactive fiction, and database art.

Our aim is to question dominant narratives about digital technology and to revise our assumptions about identity, self-expression, community and belonging in a digital world. In addition to thinking about digital culture, you will also practice it. You will experiment hands-on with using digital tools for scholarship and creativity: together, we will learn how to use software to “read” a novel, how to approach X/Twitter as a historical archive, how to translate a song into an image, etc.

(You do not need any programming knowledge or experience to succeed in this course. You should, however, be prepared to experiment with digital tools and to work together to troubleshoot problems.)

Taught by Dr. Brian McAllister

This course explores the novel from the 18th Century to the present, considering ways that the genre has changed and developed in those four hundred years. We will study ways that it has represented, reflected on, and been a part of culture and history during that time. More specifically, we will approach these issues by thinking about ways that novels have sought to define the concept of “the human” and, in turn, separated the human from the nonhuman. Our goal is one novel from each century, supplemented by critical and theoretical readings. Some questions we’ll consider: In Robinson Crusoe, how does the castaway establish and exploit boundaries between humans and nonhuman on his desert island? How does Frankenstein respond to and complicate those boundaries? How does a novel told from an animal’s perspective represent nonhuman consciousness? How does science fiction challenge boundaries between human and nonhuman that result from our present world’s combination of climate chaos and radical technological integration? Classwork will culminate in a research paper that explores issues and critical conversations that we will discuss throughout the semester.