Jené Schoenfeld

This discussion-based course introduces students to several of the most important approaches to the study of African diaspora experiences. Students taking this course will find themselves engaged with a variety of disciplines (e.g., anthropology, history, literary study, psychology, sociology and visual and performing arts). Though some of the texts may change extensively from year to year, the focus of this course will be to undertake a preliminary investigation into the connections and the relationship between Africa and several other parts of the world. This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement. No prerequisite. Generally offered every spring.

Each section of these first-year seminars approaches the study of literature through the exploration of a single theme in texts drawn from a variety of literary genres (such as tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, epic, novel, short story, film and autobiography) and historical periods. Classes are small, offering intensive discussion and close attention to each student's writing. Students in each section are asked to work intensively on composition as part of a rigorous introduction to reading, thinking, speaking and writing about literary texts. During the semester, instructors assign frequent essays and may also require oral presentations, quizzes, examinations and research projects. This course is not open to juniors and seniors without permission of the department chair. Offered every year.

From basic techniques of critical analysis to far-reaching questions about language, literature, culture and aesthetics, this course introduces students to many of the fundamental issues, methods and skills of the English major. Topics range from the pragmatic (e.g., how do you scan a poem? What is free indirect discourse? How do you use the M-LA bibliography, OED, JSTOR?) to the theoretical (How does a genre evolve in response to different historical conditions? What is the nature of canons and canonicity? Why are questions of race, class, gender and sexuality so important to literary and cultural analysis?). Students are given many hands-on opportunities to practice new skills and analytic techniques and to explore a range of critical and theoretical paradigms, approaches which should serve them well throughout their careers as English majors. Our discussions focus on representative texts taken from three genres: drama (Shakespeare's "The Tempest"), the novel (Shelley's "Frankenstein"; Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway") and lyric poetry (a variety of poems representing four centuries and several traditions). This counts toward the methods requirement for the major. Prerequisite: ENGL 103 or 104. Open only to first-year and sophomore students. Strongly recommended for anyone contemplating an English major.

The late 19th century was a pivotal moment in African American social and intellectual history. During Reconstruction, African Americans were elected to positions in state and national government. Later in the century, however, unprecedented racial violence threatened the social, political and economic gains achieved during Reconstruction. As the nation as a whole was still attempting to heal the wounds of sectional division caused by the Civil War, African Americans were also meditating on what it means to be a people. African American literature written during this time incorporates such meditations, chronicling African Americans' attempt to negotiate between the two poles of hope and hate, and urging individual readers to commit to the common cause of racial uplift. This counts toward the 1700-1900 and diversity requirements for the major. Prerequisite: ENGL 103 or 104. Open only to first-year and sophomore students.

Race, class, gender, religion: These categories can be the basis of identity politics that divide as much as they unite. This course considers the significance in American literary texts of friendships that transgress these categorical divisions. We contemplate what makes such transgression possible in individual instances, and why these instances are so exceptional. We expand the discussion to explore the tension between the individual and the community in the formation of identity. Texts are likely to include Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," Toni Morrison's "Sula," Langston Hughes' and Zora Neale Hurston's play "Mule Bone," Toni Morrison's short story "Recitatif" and others. This counts toward the post-1900 and diversity requirements for the major. Prerequisite: ENGL 103 or 104. Open only to first-year and sophomore students.

"Pleasurable" doesn't seem like a word that would apply to the harrowing story of a mother who kills her child rather than allow her to be enslaved. Yet Toni Morrison, consummate artist and Nobel laureate, writes prose so beautiful that one could describe reading such a story as, in some sense, pleasurable, even as this beauty deepens the powerful and sometimes painful effect of her words. In this class, we read most of Morrison's novels, some of her short fiction and some of her critical work. We discuss the craft involved in the creation of Morrison's stunning prose; her position relative to both American and African-American literary canons; and the themes of her literature, including (but not limited to) race, gender and love (familial, amorous, platonic and, perhaps most important, self). This counts toward the diversity and post-1900 requirements for the major. It also counts toward the African diaspora studies concentration, as well as the women's and gender studies major/concentration. Prerequisite: ENGL 210-291 or junior standing.

In Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," Nanny observes that African American women are "de mule uh de world." Her response to this situation is to marry her granddaughter to a man whose wealth might take Janie off her feet. Janie, in contrast, wants a man whose charm will sweep her off her feet. To what extent do historical circumstances, expressed in this case as generational differences, shape the meaning of marriage for African American women? What other kinds of hopes are invested in the institution of marriage in African American women's writing (and lives)? When might marriage cease to be regarded as a viable avenue for expanding African American women's opportunities? How do African American authors negotiate the loaded issue of African American female sexuality both within and outside of marriage? What circumstances could make death an African American mother's greatest gift, as in Toni Morrison's novel "Sula," for example? What circumstances could make abandonment a generous gesture, as in Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"? These are just a handful of the questions that stimulate our discussion over the course of the semester. This counts toward the diversity and post-1900 requirements for the major (even though the texts in this course span from 1861 to 1991). Prerequisite: ENGL 210-291 or junior standing.

The mulatto teeters on the razor-thin edge of the color line between black and white. In the antebellum era, the mulatto's proximity to whiteness made the mulatto an attractive object for Abolitionist sympathy. In the Jim Crow era, that proximity made the mulatto a threat to the security of white privilege. In our present moment, mixed race seems largely unremarkable, but holds some interest in popular culture, as attested to by the recent film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s Passing. In addition to reading some great works of literature, we use our discussions about the trope of the mulatto to consider some of the more perplexing theoretical issues concerning race in America. We begin with concerns generated specifically by the mulatto, such as: passing, racial allegiance, biological determinism, hybrid degeneracy, and the mulatto's "tragic" marginality. From there, we move to the big questions, including, but not limited to: What is race? What is its determining factor: physical features, ancestry, culture? Can it be chosen or rejected? The course concentrates on fiction of the Jim Crow era, but may also draw on other disciplines, such as science and law, and other historical moments. This course counts toward the completion of the capstone requirement or post-1900 and diversity for the English major. Permission of instructor required. Offered every three years.

This seminar, required for students in the Honors Program, relates works of criticism and theory to various literary texts, which may include several of those covered on the honors exam. The course seeks to extend the range of interpretive strategies available to students as they begin a major independent project in English literature or creative writing. The course is limited to students with a 3.33 GPA overall, a 3.5 cumulative GPA in English and an application to become an honors candidate in English. Enrollment limited to senior English majors in the Honors Program; exceptions by permission of the instructor. Undertaken in the fall semester; students register with the senior honors form as well as the individual study form. Permission of instructor and department chair required.

This seminar, required for students in the Honors Program, relates works of criticism and theory to various literary texts, which may include several of those covered on the honors exam. The course seeks to extend the range of interpretive strategies available to students as they begin a major independent project in English literature or creative writing. The course is limited to students with a 3.33 GPA overall, a 3.5 cumulative GPA in English and an application to become an honors candidate in English. Enrollment limited to senior English majors in the Honors Program; exceptions by permission of the instructor. Undertaken in the spring semester; students register with the senior honors form. Permission of instructor and department chair required.