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Credits: 3.00 Credits

The Short Story introduces the student to the study and appreciation of the short story as an art form. Reading selections will include stories by such masters as Joyce, Lawrence, Faulkner, Hemingway, and O'Connor, as well as recent works by Olson, Paley, and Barthelme. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 2343  Children's Literature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

Children's Literature covers a broad range of literature for children from preschool to age twelve, as they encounter it through the home, the library, and the school. Picture books, the classics, folk and fairy tales, novels, and plays for children are presented in a critical context. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures. A required component of this course is a Service-Learning project.

LITR 2603  Introduction to Literature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course focuses on literature, thought, and language. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures. Selections include novels, short stories, poems, and plays.

LITR 2703  Sci Fi in the 20th Century

Credits: 3.00 Credits

Major representative works of science fiction are read and discussed. Works selected contain the major themes present in science fiction in the 20th century. Readings, class discussion, and lectures are the basis for oral reports and written assignments which continue training in composition and encourage a broadening of interest in science and technology. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 2813  Introduction to Film

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course focuses on film, thought, and language through the viewing and analysis of representative fiction films. Writing is continued in assignments related to film viewing, class discussions, and lectures. From readings and lectures, the student will become acquainted with basic technical terms and film theory, thus facilitating analysis of the more complex aspects of film history and production. Permission of the instructor may supersede prerequisite. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 2900  Directed Study

Credits: 1.00 TO 4.00 Credits

The student may contract for one to four credit hours of independent study through an arrangement with an instructor who agrees to direct such a study. The student must submit a plan acceptable to the instructor, and the department chairperson. To be substituted for the listed humanities requirements, a directed study course must be so designated by the department chair. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 2913  Introduction to Poetry

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course focuses on a survey of the principles of poetry, the literary traditions of poetry, and the critical terminology to understand, to define, and to analyze poetry. Special attention will be paid to underrepresented authors, movements, and schools of poetry. Classroom exercises and discussions emphasize the importance of close literary analysis. Writing skills introduced in Freshman Composition are reinforced.

LITR 3133  Creative Writing:Travel & Expr

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course will have students write creative non-fiction, focusing on the experience of travel. Student will read and be exposed to different works of non-fiction (travel writing and instructional, how-to writing), and published fiction (poetry, stories, and novels) revolving around travel. Class readings will also expose students to various writing styles and provide examples of the successes and strategies of other writers. Class time will be spent discussing the writer's craft and the assigned readings, and critiquing student writing in a workshop setting.

LITR 3233  Survey of American Lit I

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This is the first of two courses surveying American literature from the time of the Puritans to the present; it stresses the development of the American voice in literature through the critical study of such authors as Edwards, Franklin, Poe, Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville.

LITR 3333  Survey of British Literature I

Credits: 3.00 Credits

Survey of British Literature I is the first of two courses surveying British literature from the Middle Ages to the present; this course examines literature in the Middle Ages, the Early Modern Period, and the Restoration and eighteenth century. Emphasis is placed on the critical study of works such as Beowulf and authors such as Malory, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Defoe, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and Boswell. Writing is emphasized in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 4333  Survey of American Lit II

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course is a continuation of Survey of American Literature I with special attention to the works of Twain, Howells, Dickinson, James, Crane, Dreiser, Robinson, Frost, O'Neill, Eliot, Hemingway, Faulkner, Baldwin, and Updike. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 4900  Directed Study

Credits: 1.00 TO 4.00 Credits

A student may contract for an independent study through an arrangement with an instructor who agrees to direct such a study. The student will submit a plan acceptable to the instructor and to the department chairperson. The instructor and student will confer regularly regarding the process of the study.

LITR 5133  Special Topics in Literature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

Students will study selected literature of the past five centuries through the lens of a particular special topic, such as the African-American experience, or Life During Wartime, or Global Colonization, or the Women's Rights Movement, or Political Movements Left and Right, or any topic of special interest to the instructor and relevance to students. Reading from selected literary works, students will apply historical, literary, and rhetorical analyses to determine key elements of composition, argument, historical setting, sociological context, and cultural interpretation. Students will be expected to actively participate and contribute to class discussion. Typical critical approaches to literature include these: the formalist approach or "new criticism", the biographical approach, the psychoanalytic approach including the theories of Freud and Jung, the economic and social class approach, gender-focused criticism, the mythological perspective, the structuralism approach, the deconstructive approach, and the cultural studies perspective. A research paper will be required.

LITR 5900  Directed Study

Credits: 1.00 TO 4.00 Credits

The student may contract for one to four credit hours of independent study through an agreement with the instructor. The student must submit a plan acceptable for the instructor and the department chairperson. To be substituted for the listed humanities requirements, a directed study course must be so designated by the department chair. Writing is continued in assignments related to readings, class discussions, and lectures.

LITR 6003  Interactive Narratives

Credits: 3.00 Credits

In this course, students will examine interactive media, such as video games, ads, and texts, for literary techniques, including narrative approach, setting, theme, symbol, allegory, and rhetorical strategies. Students will engage various genres and forms of interactive media to compare storytelling approaches and to evaluate how literary techniques transform across media.

LITR 7003  Literature and Nature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course explores the relationship between humans and the natural world expressed in the literary form of nature writing. The thematic movement from discovery and description to environment, ecology, ecocriticism, and sustainability will be emphasized. Readings will be concentrated in American Literature, but works from other countries and cultures will be included. A variety of literary genres, including poems, journals, nonfiction essays, short stories, travel narratives, and excerpts from novels and nonfiction books will be examined. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the canon of nature writing and to track this literary movement into emerging texts that examine the political, environmental, and technological themes of ecology and sustainability in contemporary culture. Students will be required to write a substantial research paper that analyzes an issue directly related to their major, and they will present their research at the end of the semester. Short writing exercises and exams will also be required. Class sessions will center on student participation and debate, and discussions and writing strategies will employ principles of sound reasoning, critical thinking, and Information Literacy skills.

LITR 7013  Native American Literature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course will trace the evolution of Native American literature from oral tradition to written narrative. Students will analyze Native American texts for their narrative techniques, historical and cultural significance, themes, symbols, as well as their place in the American literary tradition. Course texts will include clips of oral storytelling, a selection of Native American myths, documentaries, nonfiction, fiction, and feature films produced by Native Americans. In addition, the course will investigate the myths and realities of reservation education, alcoholism, suicide, the workforce, healthcare, Hollywood portrayals, family structures, and intercultural relations. Students will be required to write a personal reflection paper, research papers on the readings/films, and a revision of one of the essays. Students must demonstrate the ability to write analytically and coherently, in ways appropriate to the discipline, and they must display the ability to revise and improve their writing in both form and content.

LITR 7023  Alternate World Literature

Credits: 3.00 Credits

This course focuses on literature set in other worlds, including alternate realities, possible universes, and imaginative realms. To discover new perspectives and deepen understanding of their own reality, students will critically analyze the extrapolation and adaptation of human life into other worlds and vice versa. Selections may include films, video games, novels, plays, poems, and short stories.