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Special Topics (ENGLISH 113) SPRING 2027

Catalog course ENGL 113 consists of multiple topics of focus that vary each semester. Current and/or forthcoming descriptions are listed below. To see the complete list of course offerings, including dates, times, and professors, please use the Registrar’s course schedule.

ENGL 113.01 Your Language, Your Culture
All writers begin with what the poet and theorist Ellen Bryant Voigt calls their "fundamental language": the language learned during the early stages of our language development, most often during infancy and our toddler years. This is often considered the basis of a writer's core cultural identity. As adults and across different writing experiences at home and out in the world, we all manage to communicate with success. We even write differently from one place to another, depending on the context and goals—where and when we write, who we write to, and why we’re writing. This course will help us to explore 1) different contexts in which we use writing, 2) choices we make when we’re communicating in writing, and 3) how our abilities as creative people help us manage those different contexts. We will ground ourselves in our fundamental language, consider how we can adjust our goals as writers according to different cultural contexts, and establish a solid base for writing at the college level.

ENGL 113.02, 08 Analyzing Empathy
In this course, we will use the complex and sometimes controversial concept of empathy as a basis for the study of the conventions and possibilities of academic writing. Through a variety of readings — primarily essays and short fiction — we will explore the challenges that face writers endeavoring to define empathy and to determine how it can contribute to contemporary society. We will begin with texts that depict or challenge common methods, such as personal observation and storytelling, that allow us to engage with the feelings and experiences of others. We will then turn toward more specific cases, including works of historical drama and speculative fiction that attempt to give readers access to thoughts and emotions that might be drastically different from their own experiences. Throughout the course, we will think critically about this subject matter and the questions about it that our readings might raise: What are the limits of empathy? When might an empathetic approach create harm instead of helping? To what extent is it the responsibility of writers to create an easy sense of connection for their readers, and to what extent is it the responsibility of readers to engage with perspectives that differ from their own? Is empathy valuable as an abstract feeling, or does it only take on value when it translates into action?

ENGL 113.04, 06, 16 Writing as Self-Crafting: Composition and Coming-of-Age
In this core course, we will focus on writing as a tool for inquiry, expression and, above all, self-discovery. The word “essay” comes from the French for “to try” — an essay is an attempt to get to the heart of a difficult matter. As we put words on the page and subject our opinions to various tests, we often realize that our views on a given subject are more complex than we previously thought. Sometimes we even find that we hold two seemingly contradictory beliefs at the same time, and that there is much “unpacking” to do. In this sense, expository writing serves not only as a way to explain ourselves to others but also as a way to explain ourselves to ourselves. And just as writing is never finished (only due), the self is never finished with the process of its own (re-)creation. Writing can be an important part of that process, and can help us become more conscious of it and intentional about it.

This semester, we will explore the connections between writing and human development, often focusing on coming-of-age experiences. As a student, you will hone your academic writing skills, with the particular goal of learning to ask probing questions and to craft complex, well-supported arguments that matter in academic contexts. Working closely with your peers and instructor, you will develop your essays through workshops and extensive revision. The specific questions that you pursue in your essays will be guided by your own interests related to themes of coming-of-age and self-crafting.

ENGL 113.05 Writing the Self:  Identity, Culture and Voice
In this course, we will examine how identity is communicated through writing. Focusing on the intersections of who we are and how we write, students will not only explore how established writers communicate their identities and cultures, but students will also develop their individual voice while considering how their identity is informed by larger cultural contexts. The course aims to cultivate strategies for personal expression and foster critical discussions on the relationship between identity and culture through writing. Additionally, we will analyze various writing genres to understand how identity influences and is represented in each.

ENGL 113.07 RHETORIC and THE ARTS
In this course, we will engage in persuasive writing about the arts and evaluate other writers’ discourse on the arts. These activities will inevitably involve asking questions about the role of the arts in society and the ways in which the arts reflect broader cultural issues. Therefore, focusing on the arts will, beyond honing our own sensibilities and critical thinking skills, serve as a way of gaining a more sophisticated and responsible understanding of the societies in which we are citizens.

ENGL 113.11, 12 Stephen King:  Trash or Talent?
“I think with the best writing you can actually feel the writer’s joy, the writer’s vision, or something like that.” —Stephen King

Stephen King is a contemporary literary phenomenon: since the beginning of his career in the 1970s he has averaged at least one new title per year, and his books continue to sell like candy corn at Halloween. Some people dismiss his work as trash, just low-quality pop cult horror stories; even King has jokingly referred to himself as a “salami writer.” But other readers insist that throughout his page-turner fiction King addresses serious, even urgent concerns. What are we afraid of, both as a society and as flesh-and-goosebumped individuals? What are the problems of family life and interpersonal relations? How does American society deal with racial prejudice? What about the scourge of alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse? How has our history made us what we are as a nation? What explains our perennial attraction to the supernatural, even in its more ghoulish manifestations? How has the literature of the past — especially the Gothic tradition, spawned in 1764 and still proliferating — infiltrated the literature of the present?

These are some of the questions we will address in a course that is at its core an introduction to college-level writing: how to form sentences in a variety of modes, how to incorporate appropriate punctuation, how to compose a coherent and interesting academic essay, and how to produce a research project you can be proud of. King’s novels The Shining (1977) and The Green Mile (1996) will be our foundational texts, accompanied by a selection of shorter fiction that demonstrates his relation to other works of the supernatural. And we will also contemplate the transmogrification of his scenarios into film and other media (comic books, cartoons, even opera). 

ENGL 113.13 Language and Culture
This writing course explores how language creates and interprets culture. We will learn about how our attitudes about language shape our realities and about how language mediates the way we understand ourselves and our cultures. Readings and projects will cover a range of topics including the ways that language and culture influence one another, the rhetoric of social media, and analyses of cultural phenomena. Students will also develop research projects in an area of personal interest.

ENGL 113.14 LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY
(description coming soon)

Special Topics (Anchor Plan and Upper Level Courses) FALL 2026

Current and/or forthcoming descriptions are listed below. To see a complete list of courses, including dates, times, and professors, please use the Registrar’s course schedule.

ENGL 130.01 African Novels, Music, and Film
Based on the changing trends in political, social, and cultural developments in African societies from colonialism to post-independence, the course explores the literature of Africa on several fronts: the history, implementation of political oppression under apartheid, and indigenous struggles and resistance to it; post-independent corruption and disillusionment; and the current migration of the youth to Western societies in search of better opportunities. Through a combination of writing and artistic expressions as music, songs and dance, the course uses four novels (Mine Boy, Xala, So Long a Letter, and Blue White Red), two documentaries (Amandla! and The June 16 Soweto Uprising), Paul Simon’s Graceland: The African Concert of 1987, and a movie (Sarafina!) to depict the course of political oppression and economic exploitation and indigenous resistance and eventual liberation from the 1950s to the contemporary situation. Louise Meintjes’ paper, “Paul Simon’s Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning,” provides additional context for critical analysis and literary engagement of the theme of oppression. AH1, HCP, GLP

ENGL 156.01 Playwriting
This workshop course introduces students to the art and practice of writing for the stage. We will explore the elements that make playwriting unique, including dynamic dialogue, embodied storytelling, and live audience collaboration. By the end of this course, each student will have written three distinct scripts and will be able to articulate their creative processes as a playwright. ART (Cross-listed with Thea 256)

ENGL 210.01 Literature and Medicine
This course explores the depiction of illness, injury, diagnosis, and treatment across multiple genres. Through fiction, memoir, drama, and poetry, we will encounter the perspectives of doctors, nurses, patients, and researchers as they confront issues like the distribution of medical resources, the psychological impact of experiencing or witnessing pain, and the ethical questions raised by medical innovations. Authors may include Mary Seacole, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ada Limón, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and John Green. AH2, HCP

ENGL 230C.01 American Literature and the Rising of the Nation 1600-1870
What is "American literature"? How do our writers reflect the cultural origins, internal conflicts, moral failures, and inspired visions of the republic? What, if anything, makes us unique? Setting out from the era of exploration, this course investigates the lasting impact of Puritanism, the emergence of New England literary culture, the development of genres such as poetry and the novel, the confrontation with racial and ethnic diversity, and the ultimate establishment of a country pledged to "lift its lamp beside the golden door." Major writers covered include Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, Melville, Whitman, Douglass, Stowe, Alcott, and others. AH2, HCP, USD (C is for Early American Literature Survey)

ENGL 230D.02 Broadway Literature
Broadway shows are central to popular theater in the United States; both plays and musicals have the potential to reach wide audiences through New York’s Broadway theaters. While Broadway serves as the pinnacle of mainstream theater, it is also the site of many ambitious endeavors to challenge the norms of popular performance. This course will focus on these intersections of popular and experimental art through analysis of theatrical works that have brought new ideas and new approaches to performance to the Broadway stage. We will read late 20th/21st-century musicals and non-musical plays that address ideas like race, gender, sexuality, disability, class, relationships, family, labor, and art. In addition to reading scripts, we will watch several recordings of performances and will explore the reactions of critics and fans. AH2, HCP, USD (D is for Later American Literature Survey)

ENGL 230G.03 Migration and Return in Diaspora Literature
The course focuses primarily on the experiences of African migrants in America and the United Kingdom. It uses contemporary fictional narratives to explore migration in three phases: departure from place of origin, disillusionment upon arrival, and contemplations of return to the homeland. In this course, we will examine themes relating to migration and border crossing, identity construction and meaning, exclusion and belonging, cultural erasure and hybridity, and integration and return. Through selected readings, including We Need New Names, Americanah, Blue White Red, and So the Path Does Not Die, the course frames migration as a global phenomenon by exploring the experiences of African migrants in the diaspora. AH2, HCP, GLP (G is for Later Global Literature Survey)

ENGL 230J.04 Women's Voices in Literature
In this course, we will engage with literature that centers women’s voices and experiences, examining how women are depicted and how their experiences are shaped by intersecting social factors such as race, class, disability, sexuality, nationality, culture, and religion. Using literary theory and feminist methodologies, we’ll analyze a diverse range of texts to uncover common themes and understand the complexities of women’s experiences in the U.S. and beyond. Some authors we will study include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Octavia Butler, Sandra Cisneros, and Joy Harjo, among others. By the end of the course, students will be able to apply literary theory and feminist criticism, and craft well-argued papers on topics central to the course focus. AH2, HCP, USD (J is for Literature, Gender, and Culture)

ENGL 240.01 Intro to Writing in Healthcare Professions
This course is an introduction to writing effectively in a variety of healthcare professions. It is designed for future healthcare practitioners, not what are generally called “healthcare writers” (although it will be beneficial to them as well). Its primary objective is to help future practitioners succeed in professional schooling and during their early years of practice. The course will have students work through basic professional and medically-related writing tasks, both large and small, and produce writing that is clear, organized, correct and effectively communicates its point. An additional course objective is to give students necessary skills for analyzing and composing messages in basic formats such as letters, instructions, resumes and reports. The course also includes a brief review of fundamental grammar, punctuation and stylistic conventions in Standard Edited English.

ENGL 240.02 Writing in the Age of AI
This course combines theories of rhetoric, writing, and artificial intelligence in order to examine both the promise and the perils of this ubiquitous and powerful technology. Students will learn how tools like ChatGPT or Claude are trained to "think," and how to interact with them through prompt engineering and iterative processes. While students engage with this new technology, they will also grapple with questions of authenticity and what it means to be an expert in contemporary academic, civic, and professional contexts.

ENGL 260.01 Harry Potter and Virtue Ethics
The Harry Potter series has been both praised and reviled for any number of reasons, but one thing most readers hold in common is the strength of their opinions: few hold merely neutral positions about it. In this course, we’ll work through the series with a focus on examining its exposition of virtue ethics—that is, with a goal of seeing how various characters exemplify (or don’t) the living-out of various virtues. To do this, we’ll familiarize ourselves with the tradition of virtue ethics established by Aristotle and we’ll decide for ourselves whether the series will one day stand with other classics in children’s and young adult literature. AH2, HCP

ENGL 335.01 Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Fiction
Greg Tate, a prominent speculative fiction critic, famously noted that “Black people live the estrangement that science fiction writers imagine.” Unlike any other genre, Afrofuturism confronts the traumatic history of the African diaspora to reclaim, revise, and project those narratives into an empowered future. In this course, we will examine how Afrofuturist authors re-envision classic speculative tropes, including alien abductions, time travel, shapeshifting, and vampirism. Students will analyze how these creators center harrowing historical realities while simultaneously cultivating radical hope and liberation.

ENGL 370.01 Victorian Crime
In this class, we’ll dodge pickpockets in the foggy, gas-lit streets of Victorian London; visit wealthy manor houses hiding terrible secrets; and stroll across English meadows looking for buried bodies—all to understand the human fascination with murder, mystery, and mayhem. We’ll read the works of authors like Dickens, Doyle, and Poe alongside rediscovered Victorian favorites, plus modern films and tales for comparison. We’ll uncover the origin stories of many common devices found in true crime and murder mysteries today (amateur sleuths! locked rooms! dramatic trials!). We’ll debate: What makes a crime story effective? What separates “genre fiction” from “great literature”? What do tales of crime tell us about truth and justice in a time of poverty, empire, and social upheaval? As we read, we’ll also take a step-by-step journey through the Victorian archives to develop unique, interest-driven research projects, and even dabble creatively in the mystery writing genre.