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ENGL 334 Science Fiction, Spring 2020

Course for Spring 2020

Origins and development of the science fiction genre.

ENGL 353 History of Rhetoric, Spring 2020

Course for Spring 2020

The History of Rhetoric is designed to introduce students to the study of rhetoric from the clasiccal period until the end of the 19th century.

ENGL 334 Science Fiction, Fall 2019

Course for Fall 2019

Origins and development of the science fiction genre.

ENGL 355 Rhetoric of Style, Fall 2019

Course for Fall 2019

Fosters an appreciation for and better understanding of English prose style; the history of English prose; representative prose models for analysis and imitation; the impact of computer analysis.

ENGL 354 Modern Rhetorical Theory, Spring 2019

Course for Spring 2019

This course studies the return of interest in rhetorical theory and rhetorical training in the 20th century. There are three units: 1) we explore various texts that situate modern life (cities, cars, and mass media, especially) as a problem that rhetoric can solve; 2) we look at some theories of persuasion that respond specifically to these various challenges; 3) we use these theories to explore a rhetorical case study.

ENGL 481 Is Writing a Fad?, Spring 2019

Course for Spring 2019

This senior seminar explores the question of writing by exploring both ends of written culture: debates about writing in ancient Athens and the perceived decline in literacy brought about by computers. We will be reading a variety of works from both periods, exploring them from within the rhetorical tradition, and generally attempting to account for the way media, most prominently writing, structures culture and the transmission of knowledge.

ENGL 355 Rhetoric of Style, Fall 2018

Course for Fall 2018

Fosters an appreciation for and better understanding of English prose style; the history of English prose; representative prose models for analysis and imitation; the impact of computer analysis.

ENGL 485 Writing About Science, Fall 2018

Course for Fall 2018

This independent study will answer the question “How do we write about science?”

ENGL 303 Approaches to English Studies: Cyberculture, Spring 2018

Course for Spring 2018

ENGL 667 Infrastructure Tales, Spring 2018

Course for Spring 2018

The emergence of nonhuman rhetorical theory (eg Kennedy, Rickert, Cooper) has meant, amongst other things, recent attention paid to the role infrastructure plays in facilitating, sustaining, and ultimately shaping rhetorical performances both public and private. As such, this seminar will consider the often unseen aspects of the built environment as a ground for human (and nonhuman) rhetorical performance. Course content will primarily be drawn from the growing field of “infrastructure studies” and rhetorical adaptation of social-scientific and humanistic methods used to study the built world. Specifically, our seminar readings will focus on works that use narrative and tropes of storytelling as tools for mapping rhetorical engagement across and with infrastructure. Seminar members can expect to participate in the emergence of a new mode of rhetorical theory that has started appearing in recent conferences and journal articles. Readings may include works by Nicole Starosielski (on oceanic telecommunication cables), Bruno Latour (on trains), Matthew Kirschenbaum (on word processing), Jonathan Sterne (on MP3s), John Law (on airplanes), Janet Abbate (on Internet architecture), and Bernard Seigert (on doors).

ENGL 354 Modern Rhetorical Theory, Fall 2017

Course for Fall 2017

This course introduces students to rhetoric in the 20th century. Specifically, we will be exploring two themes that inform the understanding of rhetoric during this period: the discovery of the unconscious and the belief that society is a system for exchanging messages. The unconscious describes a society dominated by primal impulses and subject to violent, erratic behavior. Systems thinking marks society as rational and manageable. The competition between these two ideas structures many of the conversations surrounding persuasion in the 20th century, a century marked by the sudden and pronounced return of the study of rhetoric and persuasion.

ENGL 353 History of Rhetoric, Spring 2017

Course for Spring 2017

The History of Rhetoric is designed to introduce students to the study of rhetoric from the clasiccal period until the end of the 19th century.

ENGL 355 Rhetoric of Style, Spring 2017

Course for Spring 2017

A class that focuses on the rhetorical choices authors make to compose texts for paricular purposes and specific audiences.

ENGL 354 Modern Rhetorical Theory, Fall 2016

Course for Fall 2016

This course introduces students to rhetoric in the 20th century. Specifically, we will be exploring two themes that inform the understanding of rhetoric during this period: the discovery of the unconscious and the belief that society is a system for exchanging messages. The unconscious describes a society dominated by primal impulses and subject to violent, erratic behavior. Systems thinking marks society as rational and manageable. The competition between these two ideas structures many of the conversations surrounding persuasion in the 20th century, a century marked by the sudden and pronounced return of the study of rhetoric and persuasion.

ENGL 655 Rhetoric's Avant-garde, Fall 2016

Course for Fall 2016

This seminar will consider a number of “post-linguistic” turns (“visual,” “new media,” “nonhuman,” “digital”) in rhetorical theory in terms of and in conversation with the idea of an avant-garde. Borrowing the concept from modernist understandings of politically and formally experimental art, this seminar will explore what it would mean to think about the recent history of rhetoric within a framework of vanguard-led experimentation. As it happens, new terrain for rhetorical study—fields such as the digital or the visual—have often been introduced into the critical conversation via experimental scholarly practices that conform to prior notions of avant-garde art. To this end, we will read work from rhetoricians whose critical practice draws from an avant-garde legacy including Geoffrey Sirc, Victor Vitanza, Gregory L Ulmer, and Jody Shipka. Additionally, we will look closely at the rise of the webtext as a rhetorical phenomenon in journals such as Kairos and Enculturation. We will also engage with the avant-garde methods these practitioners outline.

ENGL 353 The History of Rhetoric, Spring 2016

Course for Spring 2016

The History of Rhetoric is designed to introduce students to the study of rhetoric from the clasiccal period until the end of the 19th century.

ENGL 354 Modern Rhetorical Theory, Spring 2016

Course for Spring 2016

Modern Rhetorical Theory is designed to introduce students to the development of rhetoric as a concept, discipline, and series of practices in the 20th and into the 21st centuries. The class also introduces students to practices of criticism and thinking about, with, and through academic conversations as scholars.

ENG 686 Directed Reading: History & Theory of Rhetoric, Spring 2016

Course for Spring 2016

This course is intended as a fast-paced introduction to the rhetorical tradition, both in terms of the past canon and regarding the present extrapolation, amendation, and revision of that canon. The course offers readings in primary sources of the tradition before moving into critical works from recent rhetorical scholarship.

ENGL 354 Modern Rhetorical Theory, Fall 2015

Course for Fall 2015

Modern Rhetorical Theory is designed to introduce students to the development of rhetoric as a concept, discipline, and series of practices in the 20th and into the 21st centuries. The class also introduces students to practices of criticism and thinking about, with, and through academic conversations as scholars.

ENG 101 First Year Composition, Spring 2015

Course for Spring 2015

Welcome to first year composition. In this class, you will learn to develop ideas, communicate them effectively, and orient yourself to the expectations of college writing.

TWC 421 Principles of Web Authoring, Spring 2015

Course for Spring 2015

This course teachs the principles of web authoring, both design and content. Authoring effective web content involves writing words for machines and for humans while also designing documents to deliver this content in a variety of settings from cellphones to massive screens to screen readers for the blind. In this course, students will learn strategies to become effective at dealing with this multi-device ecology.

ENG 204 Introduction to Contemporary Literature, Fall 2014

Course for Fall 2014

An online course allowing students to gain an introduction to recent publishing trends and artistic developments

ENG 337 Major American Novels, Fall 2014

Course for Fall 2014

In this class, we will be reading and considering a number of the most important or most critically lauded moments

ENG 242 American Literature From 1860, Spring 2014

Course for Spring 2014

In this class we will be exploring the history of American literature from 1860 to the present.

ENG 394 H.P. Lovecraft: Style, Science, Myth, Spring 2014

Course for Spring 2014

An online course exploring the life and work of American horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft. In addition to reading a large chunk of Lovecraft’s, we will consider Lovecraft in terms of his unique style, his interest in science, and his role as a myth-maker for the twentieth century.

ENG 245 Frankenstein and His World, Fall 2013

Course for Fall 2013

This course explores the cultural context of and future cultural uses for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

ENG 337 Major American Novels, Fall 2013

Course for Fall 2013

In this class, we will be reading and considering a number of the most important or most critically lauded moments

ENG 204 Introduction to Contemporary Literature, Spring 2013

Course for Spring 2013

An online course allowing students to gain an introduction to recent publishing trends and artistic developments

ENG 394 H.P. Lovecraft: Style, Science, Myth, Spring 2013

Course for Spring 2013

In this class, in addition to reading the major works of H.P. Lovecraft, we will be considering his work in three specific ways: as a style, as a philosophy of science, and as a source of contemporary myth. Students will complete projects analyzing these three issues, as they pertain to Lovecraft’s writing and world.

ENG 204 Introduction to Contemporary Literature, Fall 2012

Course for Fall 2012

An online course allowing students to gain an introduction to recent publishing trends and artistic developments

ENG 245 Apocalypse Now?, Fall 2012

Course for Fall 2012

This course explores the continuing and rising popularity of post-apocalyptic narratives in contemporary popular culture.

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