Fall 2008 Undergraduate Course Offerings

• For the most current schedule information, please visit iCampus.
• For more information about 300-level courses, please visit our page about fall graduate classes.

ENG 100, Introduction to English Studies
Introduction to literature, rhetoric, and language and to the concept of English Studies.

Section 01, MW, 9:35-10:50, Torri Thompson
Section 02, TR, 9:35-10:50, Cynthia Huff
Section 03, TR, 11:00-12:15, Robert McLaughlin
Section 04, TR, 12:35-1:50, Kirstin Zona
Section 05, MW, 2:00-3:15, Karen Coats
Section 06, TR, 2:00-3:15, Ricardo Cortez Cruz
Section 07, TR 3:35-4:50, Gabriel Gudding

ENG 102, Section 01, English Studies Prosemin, M, 6:00-6:50

ENG 110, Section 01, British Literature and Historical Contexts, TR at 8:00, Ron Strickland
This course seeks to give students a cursory familiarity with some of the landmarks of the English literary canon. I have designed the course to focus on broad thematic trends with some attention to representative generic forms. In particular, the course is conceived as an exploration of the concept of "British-ness" as a "national character," and of the role of literature and the teaching of literature in producing that concept.

IDS 121.19, Texts and Contexts
Interdisciplinary writing-intensive course focusing on significant humanities texts in relationship to their historical and cultural contexts.

Section 01, TR at 11:00, Staff
Section 02, MWF at 1:00, Staff

IDS 121.52, Texts and Contexts, Susan Kalter
This Texts and Contexts course will focus on Ethnic Studies and selected texts both literary and cultural that have shaped or reshaped our ideas about race and ethnicity both in the United States and globally.

Section 01, TR at 3:35
Section 02, TR at 2:00

ENG 124, Literature & Film Style, TR at 12:00 and T at 7:00 PM, Bill McBride
An introduction to the application of specialized terms and concepts whereby films and their literary components are analyzed by means of their style.

ENG 125, Literary Narrative
Critical reading and analysis of a variety of literary narratives that reflect on human experience.

Section 01, MWF at 12:00, Staff
Section 02, TR at 12:35, Staff

ENG 128, Gender in the Humanities
Examination of gender roles, norms, and stereotypes from a broad range of perspectives within humanities cross centuries and cultures.

Section 01, TR at 2:00, Staff
Section 02, MWF at 2:00, Staff

ENG 130, Survey of American Literature, MWF at 10:00, Staff
A historical study of the main movements in American literature. Readings of entire works representative of the movements.

ENG 160, Section 01, Women in Literature, MWF at 9:00, Staff
Women's experiences in literature. A variety of genres and historical periods.

ENG 170, Foundations in Literature for Children
Introduction to genres of children’s literature, including mythologies, fairy tales, picture books, poetry, and historical, multicultural, and current prose.

Section 01,TR at 8:00, Staff
Section 02, MWF at 9:00, Staff
Section 03, MWF at 10:00, Staff
Section 04, MWF at 1:00, Staff
Section 05, MWF at 2:00, Staff
Section 06, MWF at 3:00, Staff
Section 07, TR at 3:35, Staff

ENG 201, Section 01, Specialized Knowledge and Integrative Contexts in English Studies, TR at 11:00, Kirstin Zona
Study of a specialized topic (a writer, a literary form, a concept in linguistics or in writing, etc.) from several disci;linary perspectives within English Studies.

IDS 203, Section 01, Nations & Narrations (IDS 604), MWF at 11:00, Shushan Avagyan
Construction of national identities from cultural, philosophical, religious, and political empires using narrative discourse as a lens.

ENG 206, Section 01, Cultural Expressions in Social Contexts: Women of Asia, Latin America and Africa, MWF at 1:00, Staff
Interdisciplinary study of varieties of women's cultural expressions within distinct social contexts including comparative emphasis on different regions of concern.

IDS 207, Representation Knowledge and Power (IDS 604), Bruce Hawkins
Theory, practice, and history of the use of representational signs -- language, images, sounds, etc. -- to communicate knowledge about the world and to exercise power.

Section 01, MW at 2:00
Section 02, MW at 3:35

ENG 216, Section 01, British Literature of the Eighteenth Century, TR at 9:35, Katherine Ellison
A Battle of Wits: Humor and Satire in the Eighteenth Century
Say what you like about their curs’d use of apostrophes, harrowing heroic couplets, breathlessly long titles, and uppity fluttering fans: the eighteenth century was one of the funniest periods in history. During what other century would doorways need to be widened so that the dresses could fit, would wigs reach preposterously exaggerated proportions, and would satire become even more wildly popular than during the days of Horace and Juvenal or, dare we admit it, The Daily Show and Borat? Eighteenth-century writers and citizens loved poking fun at their universe, a universe so new, hopeful, and yet frightening since civil war, the invention of the microscope, and the disputation of the Great Chain of Being that all one could sometimes do was . . . laugh. In this class on drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction of the eighteenth century, we will focus on the literary uses of humor, jokes, wit, insults, and satire as they define a culture and help a society cope with collective trauma. What do the comics of today owe to the Scriblerians of yesterday? How is the novel, as we know the genre now, indebted to the satirists of the past for its depiction of character and culture? How does the mocking insult change the literary market and shape what we today call the “canon”? How is the language of wit a reflection of and a challenge to class, education, and religious systems? How is humor revolutionary?

ENG 218, Section 01, British Literature of the Victorian Period, TR at 11:00, Cynthia Huff
Emphasis on major British poetry, prose and/or drama with appropriate attention given to noncanonical authors.

ENG 227, Introduction to Creative Writing

Section 01, TR at 9:35, Staff
Section 02, MWF at 11:00, Staff
Section 03, MWF at 12:00, Staff

ENG 229, Introduction to Literary Genres
Formal and historical study of literary genres—poetry, drama, prose narrative—as structures of knowledge.

Section 01, MW at 2:00, Kass Fleisher
Section 02, MWF at 9:00, Staff

ENG 231, Section 01, American Literature 1607-1830, MW at 2:00, John Shields
Colonial American writers from the beginnings of American literature through the early national period.

ENG 232, Section 01, American Literature 1830-1870, TR at 11:00, Kristin Dykstra
Main figures and movements of mid-19th century American literature. http://www.ilstu.edu/~kadykst/html/232s2008.htm

ENG 236, Section 01, American Literature: 1945-Present, TR at 12:35, Robert McLaughlin
We’ll be exploring the theory, aesthetics, and social practice of postmodernism, as well as some of the things that are happening is post-postmodern literature. Among the authors I anticipate our reading are Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Rick Moody, Ishmael Reed, Mary Caponegro, Carol DeChellis Hill, Lydia Davis, and Suzan-LoriParks. There will be two 6-9 page research-based papers, a midterm and final, and a class presentation.

ENG 239, Section 01, Multimodal Composition, R at 2:00, Cheryl Ball

ENG 241, Growth and Structure of the English Language, TR at 3:35, Susan Kim and K. Aaron Smith
An introduction to the history of English designed to help students understand language change and the state of contemporary English.

ENG 243, Traditional and Non-Traditional Grammars
Various grammatical descriptions of English: traditional, structural, and transformational generative systems.

Section 01, MWF at 11:00, Susan Burt
Section 02, MWF at 10:00, Susan Burt
“Ha-ha, at last!” you think, perhaps with a low cackle. “After I take the Dreaded Grammar Course, I will be able to wield the Wicked Red Pen, instead of suffering as a low peon beneath it!”
That’s not you? That’s not what you’re thinking? OK, me neither. That’s lucky, because the goals of this course do not include recruiting you into the ranks of the Grammar Police or any other law enforcement organization (for law enforcement, please choose a different major).
Rather, I will expect you to gain a broad and basic understanding of the aims and means of different types of grammatical description, specifically pertaining to English. You should acquire a basic competence in grammatical description, including a very basic understanding of English morphology, and an understanding of English phrase and sentence syntax. Most importantly, the student will acquire the ability to evaluate and critique claims about grammatical “correctness.” In this course, we will see Grammar as a set of descriptive tools and terms, and style as a set of optional, variable and conventional preferences, closely linked with specific genres and uses.

Section 03, MW at 3:35, Mahide Demirci

ENG 244, Section 01, Applied Grammar and Usage for Writers, MWF at 10:00, Staff
Traditional, structural, and transformational grammars applied to needs of writers. Choosing among alternative grammatical strategies. Usage; semantics of punctuation. Revising.

ENG 246, Advanced Exposition
Extensive writing of essays developed in greater depth and sophistication in subject matter than those written in previous writing courses. Computer-assisted.

Section 01, TR at 11:00, Ron Fortune
Section 02, MWF at 12:00, Staff
Section 03, TR at 12:35, Ron Fortune
Section 04, MWF at 1:00, Staff

ENG 247, Intermediate Creative Writing

ENG 247.01, Section 01, Poetry, MW at 2:00, Joe Amato
ENG 247.03, Section 02, Nonfiction, TR at 12:35, Kass Fleisher

ENG 249, Technical and Professional Writing
Introduction to technical and professional writing. Includes study of manuals, reports, proposals, audience analysis, formatting, and style.

Section 01, MWF at 9:00, Godwin Agboka
Section 02, TR at 9:35, Lee Brasseur
Section 03, MWF at 10:00, Devon Fitzgerald
Section 04, TR at 11:00, Staff

Section 05, TR at 2:00, Lee Brasseur
This course will allow students to both practice technical writing and study the rhetorical nature of communication in the workplace. The class consists of short lectures, small group work and hands-on computer writing and revision. Grading will consist of participation, quizzes, minor and major assignments and a group assignment. Students will be expected to submit drafts of major assignments to a peer group before submitting it for a grade. We will also be participating in the Expanding Your Horizons Conference here at ISU. This is a conference where junior high/middle school girls come from all over the state for a day of workshops that are designed to get them interested in technology professions. We will be participating in this conference by designing take-home instructions on technical, scientific and mathematical projects, software and learning modules.

ENG 254, Section 01, Introduction to Professional Publishing, R at 5:30, Sarah Haberstich

IDS 254, Section 01, Religions and Cultures (IDS 604), TR at 2:00, Curt White

ENG 255, Section 01, Modern World Literature, 1800-Present, TR at 12:35, Rebecca Saunders
Comparative study of significant texts of modern world literature.

ENG 260, Section 01, History of Literature by Women, TR at 2:00, Cynthia Huff

ENG 261, Women's Literature, TR at 2:00, Rebecca Chase
Literature by women of diverse ethnicities to examine varieties of texts and their cultural construction.

ENG 265, Foundations of African American Literature and Culture, Section 01, MW at 2:00,
Christopher De Santis
English 265 is designed as an intensive introduction to the African American literary and cultural tradition. By studying some of the major texts, writers, and themes that have shaped African American literature from its beginnings in the folklore and sorrow songs of slaves to the present, we will gain an understanding of key concepts, such as the quest for literacy and freedom, call and response, masking, signifying, passing, miscegenation, and double consciousness; themes, such as bondage and freedom, family, and identity; conventions of various genres, such as the use of authenticating devices in slave narratives, the use of black speech as literary diction, and the impact of folk material on all genres; historical events, such as the Middle Passage, slavery, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement; and figures, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Ralph Ellison.

ENG 271, Literature for Young Adults

Section 01, TR at 9:35, Nathalie op de Beeck
Section 02, TR at 11:00, Nathalie op de Beeck
This is a course in children's literature that will focus on texts that appropriate for child readers and pre-readers from age five to nine. The course will examine wide variety of children’s texts including fairy tales, pictures books, nursery rhymes and poetry, music, television, films, informational books and chapter books that have been created for or given to children. The focus attempt to understand how children understand these texts and how this children's book help to express and confirm certain ideologies and beliefs concerning children and childhood.

Section 03, MW at 2:00, Anita Tarr

ENG 272, Literature for Pre-Adolescents
Analysis of works written for children ages 9 to 14, including multicultural novels and information books, children’s media, and culture.

Section 01, TR at 9:00, Eileen Bularzik
Section 02, MWF at 11:00, Eileen Bularzik

ENG 283, Rhetorical Theory and Applications
Critical and analytical examination of the nature and historical development of rhetorical theory and its applications to contemporary discourse.

Section 01, TR at 11:00, Amy Robillard
Section 02, TR at 12:35, Amy Robillard
Section 03, MW at 2:00, Gerald Savage

ENG 284, Poetry
Critical and analytical examination of the nature and historical development of poetry.

Section 01, MWF at 11:00, Staff
Section 02, MW at 12:35, Joe Amato

ENG 285, Section 01, Drama, TR at 3:35, Robert McLaughlin
We will examine drama as a genre, becoming familiar with how its conventions have changed over time. Among the playwrights I anticipate we’ll be reading are Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Ibsen, O’Neill, Stoppard, Vogel, Parks, and Wolfe. There will be two 6-9 page research-based papers, a midterm and final, and a class presentation. You will also need to attend a performance of a play.

ENG 286, Prose

Section 01, TR at 12:35, Kristin Dykstra
Section 02, TR at 3:35, Kristin Dykstra
We'll read a series of narratives about outsiders, also insiders—border crossers whose experiences are both here and there. They are idiosyncratic yet in some ways historically representative. Many of our readings recount histories of movement across the Americas. This movement was sometimes forced rather than chosen. Several narratives focus on the Caribbean region and/or follow the traces of colonization and the slave trade, institutions that were international, pragmatic, and inherently violent. Characters include sailors, warriors, traders, translators, indigenous royalty, slaves, plantation owners, suitors, dreamers, intellectuals, monarchs, exiles, laborers, murderers, artists, and more.

Temporally, the prose that we'll read moves across modernity, as that period has been defined in very broad terms, beginning with European contact with the Americas: from the sixteenth-century Spanish relación to memoirs, long fictions from various centuries, the contemporary short story, the essay, and creative nonfiction. Some of our books will contain related historical documents, allowing us to look at how they resonate with the primary text.

As we move across land, water, and centuries, we'll discuss different kinds of value that we give to writing and reading. Thematically, the literary explorations take up displacement & settling, unity & fragmentation, memory & forgetting, and narrative contestation--all relevant to the shifting identities of central characters. Are the “historical value” and the “literary value” of this writing the same thing? How do we describe the values (aesthetic, historical, social, political, etc.) of reading prose from or about the past? And as readers in the “age of globalization,” what do we need or want to learn about authors and characters whose AmericasAméricas may seem far removed in time or space from our own (home on the prairie)?

ENG 290, Section 01, Language Arts, MWF at 10:00, Eileen Bularzik
This course is particularly aimed at providing content in the study of the English language that will be helpful for future teachers of grades 1-8. (Other students are also welcome.) Topics considered are: language variation in the United States; language and literacy in homes, communities, and schools; and the structure of English, particularly its sound system, spelling, and syntax.

ENG 295, Section 01, Teaching Literature and Writing in the Middle School, MWF at 1:00, Eileen Bularzik
Surveys recent scholarship on composition and literary theory and examines implications for teaching literature and writing at the middle school level. Computer assisted.

ENG 296, The Teaching of Literature
Examines current scholarship in the teaching of literature at the secondary level; integrates theories of teaching literature with teaching practice.

Section 01, TR at 11:00, Staff
Section 02, MW at 12:35, Staff

ENG 297, The Teaching of Writing
Examines current scholarship in the teaching of writing at the secondary level; integrates theories of teaching writing with teaching practice.

Section 01, TR at 9:35, Staff
Section 02, MW at 12:35, Linda Lienhart
Section 03, M at 5:30, Staff

ENG 300, Senior Seminar
Capstone course for English majors, synthesizing the main dimensions of English studies. Requires senior project and portfolio.

Section 01, TR at 11:00, Kathryn Ellison
Section 02, TR at 2:00, Susan Kim

Section 03, MW at 3:35, Hilary Justice
Students in this course will receive a theoretical introduction to textual criticism and deploy its methodologies in multi-draft manuscript examinations of selected short stories of Ernest Hemingway.  By reconstructing the creative process, revision techniques and self-editing practices of a single writer, students will develop facility in deploying various kinds of textual evidence in support of larger, self-directed critical inquiries along axes ranging from gender to aesthetics to emergent issues in privacy theory.   Texts to be considered include, in addition to pre-publication and published versions of Hemingway's short fiction, various biographical and critical materials pertaining directly to individual works, Jerome McGann's The Textual Condition and D.C. Greetham's Textual Scholarship: An Introduction.

Section 04, MW at 3:35, Chris Breu
As the capstone class for English majors at Illinois State University, the senior seminar is designed to give students the tools to reflect critically on the forms of pedagogical, literary, and cultural knowledge they have gained in their English classes, on the larger cultural role and value of English studies as an academic discipline and, most broadly, on their relationship and responsibilities to the world at large. This version of the course will introduce students to one of the most important and dynamic theoretical approaches to emerge in the academy in the last thirty years: cultural studies. The course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of  culture, detail a number of different approaches within the broad rubric of cultural studies, situate the theoretical approach in relationship to the dominant theoretical perspectives within writing pedagogy, and apply cultural studies approaches to an exemplary object: Daniel Clowes’s celbrated Ghost World. We will employ the cultural studies approach to think about questions of cultural production, distinction, and reception. We will also use it to address questions, of economics, education, race, class, gender, and sexuality. Finally we will use the critical thinking skills gained from our theoretical readings to reflect on the place of the humanities and English studies in the contemporary world.

Coming Soon: For 300 level courses available to undergraduates, see the Fall 2008 Graduate Course Offerings.