Graduate Courses
Spring 2027 Graduate Courses
EH 501: INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THEORY || VRANA
T 3:00 - 5:30
EH 501 provides an introduction to some of the most essential debates within and approaches to critical theory and literary criticism. We will read excerpts by important theorists grouped topically and focus on effective methods of bringing these wide-ranging lenses to two primary texts of contemporary African American literature. Discussion, written responses, presentations and two papers will develop students' facility and comfort with engaging theory going forward, regardless of the particular object of analysis.
EH 507: TOPICS IN RHETORIC / COMPOSITION || O'CONNELL
M 6:00 - 8:30
In this class, we will explore digital writing and rhetoric! We will gain skills for analyzing, creating, researching, and teaching digital writing. Topics include histories of writing technologies, GenAI, social media, careers in digital writing, access to technology, circulation of online texts, accessibility, usability/UX, online surveillance, and web design. Our final project will involve researching a digital writing topic of your choice and representing this research through HTML/CSS webpages.
EH 513: STUDIES IN CHAUCERS || HALBROOKS
R 2:30 - 5:00
This course will survey the major works of the most important writer of the English Middle Ages, as well as the vast history of Chaucerian scholarship and criticism. Major texts will include the Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, and a selection of the Dream Visions.
EH 548: NATIVE AMERICAN FICTION || CESARINI
W 6:00 - 8:30
Students will read novels and short stories by Native American writers active from about 1940 until the present, such as Darcy McNickle, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and LeAnne Howe. Our study will be to understand as much of each writer's Native/national culture and history as needed to understand and appreciate their works of fiction. Graded work will consist of short weekly assignments and two longer essays.
EH 577: SOUND IN LITERATURE || ST. CLAIR
R 6:00 - 8:30
Want to learn how to hear literature? In EH 577, we'll listen to a handful of contemporary novels and discuss the ways in which music, sound technology, and audible culture increasingly shape literary fiction of the contemporary era. In addition to the readings, coursework in this graduate seminar will include presentations and final project.
EH 581: SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP || CULLITY
W 6:00 - 8:30
In this screenwriting workshop, we will concentrate on craft elements such as character and story, and learn how to properly identify the structure of a three-act film. Through our readings (including film scripts), film screenings, and craft-oriented assignments (including a film pitch), we will work towards the completion and polished revision of the first act of a three-act screenplay or, for those who want the challenge, a rough full draft.
EH 585/6: GRAD POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP I/II || JORGENSEN
T 6:00 - 8:30
In this course, we will read some of the foundational theories of poetry informing contemporary poetics to apply these concepts to our own writing. We will look at essays by Viktor Shklovsky, Gertrude Stein, James Longenbach, and Ellen Bryant Voight, in conversation with collections by writers publishing today such as Sasha Debevec-McKenney and Jericho Brown. Workshop will be a significant component of the class.
EH 589: CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITING || CULLITY
MWF 2:30 - 3:20
Our readings, springboards for initial writing exercises, will enhance our comprehension of how creative nonfiction can be constructed. In writing workshops, we'll focus on defining and producing all that is creative nonfiction, including memoir, personal essays, lyric essays, and literary journalism. We'll also talk about revision as part of the writing process, and where you can send your work when it's ready to submit for possible publication.
