Provides a close reading of a selection of literary masterpieces. Readings vary from year to year.
A gateway course introducing students to basic concepts and skills, and to the particular features of the English department and its faculty.
A selection of his major plays.
The great tradition, from Homer, Greek drama, Plato, and Virgil to the Bible and Dante. Same as REL 140.
An introductory study of early British literature, its forms and themes, and the development of our literary tradition.
Major themes and central ideas in British literature of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.
Significant achievements by American writers of poetry, fiction, and other prose in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
A survey of African-American literature, fiction, and nonfiction, beginning with the late eighteenth century.
As an introduction to the art of film, this course will present the concepts of film form, film aesthetics, and film style, while remaining attentive to the various ways in which cinema also involves an interaction with audiences and larger social structures. Same as AH 112 and FMS 132.
The development of the English language from the Anglo Saxon period on up, focusing on texts from representative periods.
Literature written in England before the Norman Conquest. Latin works are read in translation; vernacular works, in the original.
Poetry, prose, and drama of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, exclusive of Chaucer. Readings in Middle English.
English drama from its beginnings until 1580, including material from the mystery cycles, moralities, and early Tudor drama.
The principal works of Chaucer, in their historical and intellectual context. Readings in Middle English. Same as REL 208.
Varying topics relating to the literature and culture of the Middle Ages.
Sixteenth-century literature from Sir Thomas More to Spenser, with some attention to the continental background.
English Renaissance drama through 1642, exclusive of Shakespeare.
This course explores the life and works of Shakespeare.
Readings of a selection of Shakespeare’s plays.
The works of Milton in their historical and intellectual context.
Varying topics relating to the literature and culture of the Renaissance and Early Modern periods.
The writings of John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, and their contemporaries.
The novel from its beginnings to the early nineteenth century, emphasizing such novelists as Defoe, Fielding, Richardson, and Austen.
Varying topics relating to the literature and culture of England in the period from roughly 1660 to 1800.
From 1630 to 1830, including Puritan nonfiction and poetry; exploration narrative; and fiction, drama, and poetry of the Revolutionary and early national eras.
Major writers, other than novelists, of the early nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on poets from Blake through Keats.
The major intellectual, cultural, and artistic developments of the Victorian period (1830–1900), in prose, drama, verse, and related arts.
Emphasizing such novelists as Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot, and Hardy.
Varying topics relating to the literature and culture of England in the nineteenth century.
From 1830 to 1865, including Emerson and the transcendental movement, abolitionist writing and slave narrative, representative fiction, and poetry by Poe, Whitman, Melville, Stowe, and others.
From 1886 to 1912, including poetry by Dickinson and Frost; realist and naturalist fiction by Twain, Wharton, James, Dreiser; representative nonfiction and philosophy.
From 1913 to 1941, including Eliot, Stevens, Cather, Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, O’Neill, W. C. Williams, and others.
Study of dramatic works by African-American playwrights during the twentieth and twenty-first century.
Varying topics relating to the literature and culture of the Americas.
The novel from 1900 to the present, emphasizing such novelists as Conrad, Joyce, Woolf, and Lawrence.
A study of English, Irish, and American literature of the early and mid twentieth century, with a focus on the exploratory work of writers such as W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf.
An introduction to representative twentieth-century poetry.
Studies in the principle writers of novels and short fiction in the early and mid twentieth century.
Great modern dramas from Ibsen to Ionesco as reflectors of the main currents in modern thought and feeling.
Readings in American, British, and Anglophone fiction from the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Poetry in English from around 1945 to the present, emphasizing latter-day transformations.
Varying topics relating to the literature—prose, poetry, and drama—of the later twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Study of the methods and conceptual backgrounds of the theoretical study of literature and literary analysis.
A study of the ways of reading shorter poems in English.
Readings vary according to subject.
Intensive study of the writings of a single author or small group of authors from British or American literary traditions.
A study of a body of works of literature seen through their particular links to a tradition or historical genre.
Readings vary according to subject.
Examines some of the major authors and books of detective fiction, both British and American, concentrating on the twentieth century.
Examines a range of science fiction texts and issues, including works by Mary Shelley, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Samuel R. Delany, and more.
Writings by women—both literary and non-literary—from a variety of periods and cultures.
The interrelation among the gendered dimensions of writing and representation.
A review of the interrelated concepts.
Students will study and discuss popular literature.
This four-credit intersession course is conducted in London, UK, from late December through early January. We will see, discuss, and write on 16 to 18 plays. The itinerary this year will include world premieres of plays by Alan Bennett, John Logan, Lee Hall, and David Hare; Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; John Guarre's Six Degrees of Separation; Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn's Every Good Boy Deserves a Favour; several musicals; and splendid extravaganzas from the National Theatre such as War Horse and Nation, to name a few. The fee for the course is $2550. Instructor's permission is required. Please visit http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/england/.
The study of the narrative and poetic art of selected biblical texts.
The origins and later developments of the chivalric romance tradition centering on the legends of King Arthur and his knights.
Advanced seminars focus on a particular body of works (literary or cinematic), a special research topic, or a particular critical or theoretical issue. One or more extended critical essays will be required. Open to junior and senior English majors. Others may be admitted by permission of instructor.
Introductory workshop exploring multiple genres.
Short story workshop.
Poetry writing workshop.
Credit—2 hours. A course devoted to the understanding and execution of dramatic writing that is unique to the theater.
A creative writing course dedicated to commercial and/or literary fiction with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, and magic realism.
The writing and study of such nonfictional forms as memoir and autobiographical narrative.
A workshop that offers students a chance to write creatively in the genres of fiction and creative nonfiction. With focus on the imaginative representation of real places in fiction, travel literature, and autobiography. Reading list includes: diverse group of writers—Thoreau, Barry Lopez, Bruce Chatwin, James Joyce, Isak Dinesen, Italo Calvino, and Annie Dillard.
Seminar in fiction writing. Emphasis on individual development of style.
Seminar in poetry writing. Emphasis on individual development of style.
The primary text for this course is students’ own scripts in progress. The course also examines various professional scripts, both film and television.
Read short stories by contemporary writers along with fiction by the students in the workshop, and discuss ways writers can sharpen the conversation between text and reader. Also consider editing and reviewing techniques. Students expected to write and revise at least three original stories or three sections of a longer work of fiction.
An advanced workshop in poetry. Students' poems are discussed weekly. Creative writing assignments are combined with brief essay responses to a selection of contemporary poetry books.
Students read and write essays on a range of topics in the arts and sciences. Topics vary from year to year. The course emphasizes mastery of voice, argument, and rhetorical strategy.
A laboratory course (requiring typing) on the fundamentals of gathering, assessing, and writing news.
A workshop administered by the Department of English and the Gannett Newspapers.
Practicum seminar on editing a newspaper, with special attention to the Campus Times.
Practice in effective small-group communication and the presentation of expository and persuasive speeches.
Critical thinking and reasoned decision making through argumentation.
Debate theory and practice through varsity-level intercollegiate competition and research.
This course explores the controversies surrounding censorship, free speech, and hermeneutics.
The study and analysis of a few high-impact news stories. Through readings and interviews with the reporters and editors who worked on the story as well as interviews with the subjects of the stories, the class will gain an understanding of the issues involved in covering major news events.
Literary journalism.
Students study works as selected by instructor and write their own pieces in this genre.
Provides a historical and critical introduction to the idea of medium and media, including books, paint, electronic files, music, photography, etc.
An inquiry into how literacy capability at different historical moments has affected the uses of texts, performances, and speech genres. Attention is given to literary, sacred, and secular texts.
This course prepares selected undergraduates for work as writing advisors.
Critical examination of the public rhetoric and political themes of the modern American presidency.
A study of the theoretical backgrounds, practical challenges, and creative activity of literary translation.
Same as FMS 132.
The cultural, aeshetic, and economic history of visual media. Same as FMS 131.
Introduction to history, technology, cultural significance of motion pictures of the "pre-sound" era; screenings of 35mm prints accompanied by live music in the Dryden Theatre. Special attention to major pioneers—Dickson, Porter, Lumière, Méliès, and Griffith—including a variety of internationally produced films selected from the world-famous archival film collection of George Eastman House. Same as FMS 233.
A transnational survey of film history, examining the technical and formal aspects of the medium in its production and exhibition. Same as FMS 234.
This course will explore the developments in world cinema—industrial, technological, social, and political—in the second half of the sound period (1959 to the present). What brought about the collapse of the Hollywood studio system? What's new about the French New Wave? What do we mean by "Third Cinema"? How do different national cinemas influence each other?
An intensive study of selected types of popular films in their larger cultural context. Same as FMS 251.
Special topics in the history of film, including specific periods, movements, or comparative topics.
An introduction to the history, the theory, and especially the practice of criticism. Same as FMS 255.
Films from a particular national cinema—British, Japanese, German, French, Italian, and others from various periods. Same as FMS 256.
This course addresses the history and theory of a range of communications media and visual technologies in science, industry, and popular culture. Same as FMS 257.
Intensive study of the body of work of a single film director.
The course takes up particular concepts, ideas, and ideology in film, often spanning periods, nations, and genres. Same as FMS 252.
Focus on the technological, cultural, and theoretical histories of film sound throughout the twentieth century. Particular attention to the role of voice (and song) in cinema, as well as the various ways that sound technology and sound practices affect our understanding of narrative space, the body, and social identity. Same as FMS 244.
Same as FMS 259.
Instruction in curatorial and preservation standards for motion picture, video, digital, and audio materials with a contextual focus on museum, library, and archive institutions. Same as FMS 254.
Provides a historical and critical introduction to the idea of medium and media, including books, paint, electronic files, music, photography, etc. Same as FMS 249.
Credit—2 hours. A course devoted to the understanding and execution of dramatic writing that is unique to the theater.
This course introduces the basic aesthetic and technical elements of video production. Emphasis is on the creative use and understanding of the video medium while learning to use the video camera, video editing processes, and the fundamental procedures of planning video projects. Video techniques will be studied through screenings, group discussions, readings, practice sessions, and presentations of original video projects made during the course.
An introductory course to the theories, methods, and practice of set construction, power tools, rigging, stage lighting, drafting, sound, and scene painting. Lab participation in theater program productions required.
This course investigates technical theater beyond the realms of Eng 170/171 (Technical Theater). It focuses on work related to the scenic design and technical production of the semester's Theater Program productions. Working in small seminars and one-on-one tutorials, the instructor will assist students in learning more in the chosen technical areas and about problem-solving scenic and technical questions raised by the set/s being built. Course work will consist of supervisory responsibilities, one major and several smaller research projects.
The course undertakes to introduce students to the various elements of theater design. Lighting techniques, sound design, and set design are all covered from time to time.
Training in the techniques by which individual actors set forth the characters recorded in dramatic texts.
This is an introductory course on voice and movement for the actor.
Training in the methods by which actor and director embody the dramatic text; emphasis on studio practice. Limited to one or two students. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Set building, prop and costume development, and publicity for current production.
For actors and stage managers working on the current production.
Students in Stage Management I and/or II (fall/spring) will get an in-depth introduction to and immersion in stage managing a theatrical production. In addition to class work covering all areas of management skills, safety procedures, technical knowledge, and paperwork, students will be expected to serve as an assistant stage manager or production stage manager on one (or both) Theater Program productions in their registered semester.
Students in Stage Management I and/or II (fall/spring) will get an in-depth introduction to and immersion in stage managing a theatrical production. In addition to class work covering all areas of management skills, safety procedures, technical knowledge, and paperwork, students will be expected to serve as an assistant stage manager or production stage manager on one (or both) Theater Program productions in their registered semester.
Credit—2 hours. Mandatory acting lab for students in ENG 291.
Credit—2 hours. Mandatory acting lab for students in ENG 293.
Can be offered either semester.
Advanced seminars focus on a particular body of works (literary or cinematic), a special research topic, or a particular critical or theoretical issue. One or more extended critical essays will be required. Open to junior and senior English majors. Others may be admitted by permission of instructor.
This course number designates special sections of regular English courses in which writing and research assignments are arranged so that the work will fulfill the requirement for an “advanced seminar” for English Literature majors. Instructor permission required.
A course of reading, research, and writing on topics not covered by the existing curriculum, developed between the student and a faculty advisor.
Special seminar for senior majors accepted into the English honors program. Topics vary each year.
Limited to students completing the English honors program.
Limited to students completing the English honors program.
Qualified undergraduates may enroll in advanced seminars at the 400 level by permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies in English and the instructor.
