2018 Spring EH Courses

Typically, we read selections from the following writers: poetry: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats; prose: Helen Maria Williams, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More; fiction: Mary Shelley; images: Martin, Turner, and especially Blake. Recently, I have become very interested in Blake, and so we will spend a good deal of time on Blake’s written and visual works. Also, if time permits, we will study Romanticism in today’s popular culture, including Johnny Depp as William Blake (Dead Man), Shelley’s “Ozymandias” as a signifier in Breaking Bad’s sixtieth episode, van Morrison’s homage to the Romantic poets in “Summertime in England,” and more. But most of the class consists of analyzing the poetry of dead white men and is quite boring. CATEGORY 3 EH 385: Contextual Studies in World Literature Sprayberry, TTH 2:00-3:20 This course consists of a study of world literature within its cultural contexts. At present, the focus of the course is the Irish, Harlem, and American Indian Literary Renaissances and their Celtic, African, and Tribal roots. With the permission of the English faculty, students may enroll more than once for credit, providing that the focus of the course is different. Prerequisite: Any 200-level literature course. Category 3: Literature of a different time, place, or culture. CATEGORY 4 EH 395: Contemporary International Fiction (GP) Archer, MW 2:00-3:20 In this course, we will read a broad selection of novels by contemporary non-European writers. We will begin with two novels by African writers, move on to four novels by Latin American writers, read one novel from the People’s Republic of China, and finish with two novels by Japanese writers. Dates of publication range from 1959-2013. In addition to reading lots of novels, you will take part in a group report on one of the three broad regions we are studying. Because we are covering so much literature, the group reports give us a chance to look at other elements of the cultures we study. Group reports can include politics, music, art, and fashion, to name a few. Often, a group member will introduce us to the FOOD of the culture—a delicious side benefit to taking the course. If you take pleasure in reading fiction, this course will increase your skill as a reader and broaden your literary perspective beyond the traditional canon of British and American or even major European writers. I believe you will find these novels very enjoyable. I am sure you will find all of them very interesting.