2007-2008 Undergraduate Academic Catalog - Plymouth State ...

CoursesENDI 1550 Wilderness Literature 3 creditsStudents work to redefine the concepts of “wilderness”and to explore the relationship of theindividual to the “wild.” Is “wilderness” alwaysa geographic space, or can it also be psychological,social, or political? Is it always totallyremoved from society, or does it need societyin order to exist? Texts may focus on classicnature writing, but other topics may includethe wilds of human perception, pop culturechaos, adolescent angst, cultural identity andother vexed internal and external landscapes.Challenges preconceptions of what constitutesthe “wilderness.” As students investigate theindividual’s relationship to both society andseclusion, they consider how the “self” is producedand revised by its encounters with thewild. Springs. (LITY)(SSDI)ENDI 1600 Let’s Hear It For Sports –or Not!3 creditsAre sports good for us? This course allows studentsthe opportunity to examine, through variousliterary genres, the role of sports in theirlives as well as the lives of others and to debatethe merits and drawbacks of organized as wellas individual sports in our lives and our society.Falls. (LITY)(SSDI)EN 1750 Popular Fiction 3 creditsIntroductory Course. Focuses on popularfiction such as science fiction, fantasy, westerns,mystery forms and romances. Springs.(LITY)EN 2120 Ancient Literature 3 creditsIntroductory Course. Focuses on the literatureof the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome intranslation. Selected myths, epics, dramas, lyricsand literary criticism from the earliest timesto A.D. 500. Fall of even years. (LITY)EN 2210 Love and Desire in Medievaland RenaissanceWriting3 creditsConsiders how men and women expressedlove and desire in texts from ca. 1000-1700.Students examine love letters as well as theworks of troubadours, poets, mystics, andhomilists. Analyzes romance tropes (such ascourtly love) as well as forms (such as the sonnet).Explores how cultural expectations shapethe expression of love and desire. Springs.EN 2250 Identity and Difference inAmerican Literature 3 creditsClose reading and analysis of significantAmerican texts, authors’ genres and/or periodswith a critical emphasis on relevant conceptssuch as ideology, canonicity, identity politics,difference, assimilation and cultural appropriation.Students explore how such categoriesas race, gender, ethnicity, social class, region,religion, nationality, sexual orientation and/orability have been constructed and performedthrough literature. Course content variesdepending on instructor. Falls and Springs.(DICO)ENDI 2320 Settling the American West:Women and Men on theOverland Trail 3 creditsAn examination, through readings in fiction,nonfiction and poetry and through film, of thediverse roles and experiences of women andmen who traveled the overland trails and settledin the frontier lands of the American West.Students study the impact of this migration onthe indigenous peoples of the west and learn toconnect this time period and experience withtheir own family histories and origins. Springs.(LITY) (PPDI)EN 2350 Decades in Literature 3 creditsIntroductory course. History and social contextsoften have important impacts on literatureand art in a particular period, but it is often onlyafter the fact that we see how literature can bedefined by an age. Provides an in-depth studyof one decade in literature. Depending on theinstructor and the section, students may studythe murder, jazz and mayhem of the Roaring`20s in America or the money-obsessed postimperialculture of the Big `80s in England.Through an analysis of history, politics, art andmusic along with the literature of the period,students gain a better understanding of theways culture does (or does not) influence art.May be taken a second time with a differentdecade. Falls.EN 2370 Contemporary AmericanLiterature3 creditsIntroductory Course. Focuses on Americanwriters from 1960 to the present, such asAlbee, Sexton, Vonnegut, Alexie and Morrison.Springs. (LITY)EN 2380 Contemporary BritishLiterature3 creditsIntroductory Course. Focuses on major post-World War II British writers such as GrahamGreene, Alan Sillitoe, Doris Lessing, MargaretDrabble, Angela Carter. Falls. (LITY)EN 2400 Public Speaking 3 creditsIntroductory Course. The fundamentals ofpublic speaking. Practical course that increasesskills in both formal and everyday speech situations.Springs.EN 2450 Prize Winners 3 creditsIntroductory course. What is a classic? Somegreat thinkers think the answer depends onlongevity. For instance, 18th century Britishpoet Alexander Pope wrote: “who lasts a centurycan have no flaw/I hold that Wit a Classic,good in law.” But how do we decide what makesa ‘classic’ within the last century? What criteriaare used to define ‘greatness’? And who makesthese decisions? Explores the advent of artisticprizes and their role in canon making in the20th and 21st centuries. Focuses on prizessuch as the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, theNational Book Award, the O’Henry Prize, thePushcart Prize, the Tony Awards, the AcademyAwards, the Booker Prize, etc., or the works ofone prize winner to explore questions of canonicity,aesthetics, authority and the politics andculture of ‘prize-worthiness.’ Springs.EN 2500 Studies in English 3 creditsRequired of all English majors. Acquaintsstudents with fundamental concepts such astext, genre, author, period, nation/place andreader/critic as they apply to underlying philosophyand material practice in the five majoroptions in English: Contract, Film, Literature,Teacher Certification and Writing. Falls andSprings. (WRCO)EN 2560 Introduction to EnglishTeaching3 creditsProvides broad exposure to the realities ofEnglish teaching in the secondary/middleschool, theoretical orientations to Englishteaching, the school, the adolescent, the teacherand their relationship. Observation/participationin schools required. Springs.EN 2610 Introduction to Film 3 creditsIntroductory Course. Focuses on significantfilms, some short, some full-length. Designedto develop greater understanding and appreciationof film as an art form. Falls and Springs.(ARTS)EN 2700 Creative Writing 3 creditsCritical analysis of creative efforts by bothinstructor and peers. Falls and Springs.Prerequisite(s): EN 1200 and one literaturecourse.EN 2810 The Study of Language 3 creditsParticipants examine the nature of language,language systems and language in context,including the notion of the sign–both phonologicaland orthographic–and the interfacebetween semiotics and semantics, i.e., the wayin which signs are used to convey meaning. Inexamining the various families of languagearound the world, looks specifically at the Indo-European languages, including English. Falls.Last offering Fall 2007. (QUAN)(QRCO)EN 2820 Sociolinguistics: Language andSociety3 creditsExamines language and society. Explores howindividuals use language differently, dependingon gender, ethnicity, age, social class, levelof education, written register (e-mail, chatrooms,etc.), spoken register (peer-talk, family260 Plymouth State University Academic Catalog 2007–2008