A study of major American writers with concentration on Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville.

A study of major American writers with concentration on Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, James, Eliot, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Frost.

A study of major American writers from the late 20th century and contemporary literature.

An exploration of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and other writings both as literature and as political thought. Contemporary interpretations of Tolkien’s work will also be critiqued, and special consideration will be given to the political teachings within The Lord of the Rings.

A study of the literature of nations that have experienced and/or are reacting to some type of colonization. The course examines recurrent themes, such as identity, power, migration, race, gender, nation, representation, containment, and resistance.

This course engages literature in a state of entropic disillusionment over World War II, which reacts against anything resembling traditional ideals. The representative literature and social commentary is a complex, ironic, fragmented, inter-referential, parodic, non-traditional, and distrustful amalgam.

An examination of the themes and structures of drama from Brian Friel to contemporary authors, including Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr and Martin McDonagh.

Independent research and seminar discussion on a literary theme chosen by the instructor. Work in progress and results of research are presented orally to the seminar; final papers are submitted to instructor. (Prerequisites: ENG 260 and ENG 321, or departmental permission)

Research in a theme, genre, period, literary group or single author, or advanced writing in a specific mode. (Agreed upon by the student and instructor with permission of the department)

This cross-disciplinary field experience is designed to provide students with a hands-on practice in disaster response. Assigned to small teams, students are exposed to various aspects of disaster response through a realistic exercise. Throughout the three days, participants receive blocks of training (e.g., search & rescue, incident command, and first aid), and then apply the skills they learn on different training lanes. To facilitate learning, teams conduct after-action reviews, and students receive coaching at several times during the exercise.