A Selection of Courses Taught
ENGL 261: The Series Poem
Berryman’s Dream Songs, Sexton’s Jesus Papers and Bestiary, Bell’s Deadman, Ted Hughes’ Crow, Anne Carson’s Glass Essays, Komunyakaa’s Talking Dirty to the Gods, these and ample others are examples of thematically linked series or sequential poems. Character, image, music, theme; the engines that drive these poems are as different as the poets themselves, but all share interconnectedness. The poems feed into, feed from, one another. Through the authors listed above and more, by way close reading, abundant discussion, and much writing of your own series poems, we will explore the modern and contemporary manifestations of this form.
ENGL 212: Beginning Fiction Writing
This class is an exercise and discussion based exploration of the process of writing short fiction, with the focus on character. The later portion of the semester will be conducted in the workshop format, meaning that much of our time will be spent discussing your work. For now, emphasis will be placed on how we write and what influences our writing, rather than the finished product.
INART 1: The Arts
This is a team-taught course intended to give students an integrative experience of the themes and purposes common among all the arts: visual, performing, and literary, and various combinations. The goal is to create intelligent, informed observers of the arts through a diverse series of experiences with the various arts.
ENGL/INART 497: Special Topics: Words and Images
This is a project-oriented, hands-on exploration of the relationship between written text (poetry and fiction) and visual images from an “arts” perspective. Students study examples in which the two overlap, ranging from illuminated texts, through the various art movements, to contemporary works. Using the studied models, students produce a variety of written/visual assignments: individual assignments, collaborative assignments, and assignments in which the two mediums work as dialogue.
ENGL 297: Special Topics: Christ Motifs
Students analyze various interpretations of the biblical Christ story and its functions, then identify and process parallel stories in contemporary poetry, fiction, drama, and cinema, with provided source materials, paying particular attention to works that altered the traditional story. In the final weeks of the semester, students seek out their own example of an alternative Christ story, to teach to the class.
ENGL/INART 297 & 497: Writing About Art
This course focuses on written responses to the visual arts from all periods and in all mediums/styles: historic to contemporary; 2D/3D/multimedia. Students study a variety of writing about art (John Upike, David Bowie, AS Bayat, Frank Ohara, Mathew Collins, Robert Hughes, and many more) ranging from critical essays to poems and stories inspired by specific works, then produce their own writing about art in several assigned formats: critical, interpretive, creative, etc.
ENGL/INART 297 & 497: Writing About Art Travel Abroad Component
In this week-long extension to the Spring semester class, students explore historically significant museums, as well as newer venues, with the opportunity to see both world famous art and lesser-known (but no less important) work in London. In selected museums and galleries students were guided through the venue by relevant experts: lecturers, curators, etc.; while in others the experience will be self-directed. Students are exposed to the international/contemporary art world through guided visits to some of London’s most cutting edge galleries.
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