Fall 2025
ENGL 10000-01 Exploring the Major
4 Credits
Meeting Times: M 1-1:50pm
INSTRUCTOR: Derek Adams, Muller 304
ENROLLMENT: 25 students per section
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course intends to assist scholars interested and/or majoring in Literatures in English (primarily those in their first or second year) with understanding and exploring opportunities available to them during their time at Ithaca College and after graduation. As part of this, you will learn about the mission of a liberal arts education and contemplate the purpose of college. You will also work to define your own purpose in coming to Ithaca College and choosing your major. Though the course is primarily discussion-based, current faculty members and students in the major will deliver guest presentations to introduce you to important information and connect you to useful resources. You will actively pursue knowledge of yourself, your educational options, extra-curricular and professional interests, and you will learn research, writing and decision-making strategies that will benefit you while in college and beyond. We will also dedicate time in class for your own questions to be discussed.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion with the occasional context-setting lecture
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: One 500-word personal reflection, and active participation in class discussions.
ENGL 10500 Introduction to American Literature, 01, 02
4 Credits
ICC PERSPECTIVES: Humanities and Creative Arts; Fulfills the Diversity requirement
INSTRUCTOR: Paul Hansom
ENROLLMENT: 25 students per section
PREREQUISITES: None
MEETING TIMES: T/TR 8:10/ 1pm
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This class is a general introduction to a few of the main currents, themes, and questions raised by three hundred years of literary production in “America.” While by no means exhaustive, we will examine the idea of “Americanness,” and the peculiar emergence of a national “personality”; other strands will investigate the ongoing struggles between individuals and their respective groups, the politics of individualism, and the complex development of racial, gender and class consciousness in the Republic. Through these themes we will also try and understand the social value and aesthetic functions of particular literary genres, including the autobiography, essay, novel, play, short story and poem. Writers covered include Whitman, Douglass, Dickinson, Fitzgerald, Miller, Rodriguez, Hong-Kingston, and Delillo. Hopefully, along the way, your own capacities as critical thinkers will improve as you pay closer attention to the vibrant and dynamic literary heritage offered by these United States.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Short writing assignments, several shorter papers, active discussion.
ENGL 11200-01, 02 INTRODUCTION TO SHORT STORY: THIS AMERICAN LIFE (LA)
4 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Hugh Egan
ENROLLMENT: 25 students per section
PREREQUISITE: None
MEETING TIMES: MW 10-11:15, F 10-10:50
COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this course we will read a wide range of American short fiction, gathered loosely around the themes of childhood, adolescence, adult relationships, aging and death. In the course of our reading and discussion, we will traverse issues related to American identity, especially as they are inflected by race, ethnicity, and gender. We will also become familiar with formal elements of the short story, including point of view, plot, tone, and dialogue. Over the course of the term, we will read a combination of classic and contemporary American stories. We will end the term by reading Alexander Weinstein’s collection, Children of the New World.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Largely discussion.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Two short essays (2 pages), two longer essays (5-6 pages), a mid-term, a final exam, and class participation. Grading will be A-F. Because of the discussion-oriented format, class participation will be an important part of students’ final grades.
ENGL 11300, Introduction to Poetry
4 Credits
INSTRUCTOR: Alexis Becker, Dan Breen
ENROLLMENT: 20 students per section
PREREQUISITES: None
MEETING TIMES:
Becker: MWF, 2 & 4 PM
Breen: M 9AM/ TR 10AM
COURSE DESCRIPTION: How does a poem produce meaning? What does poetry do with language? This course is an introduction to a) the constituent elements of poems and the vocabulary with which we can analyze them and b) the extraordinary variety and capaciousness of texts we call “poems.” The aim of this course is to arrive at a sense, both ample and precise, of what a poem is, what it does, how it does what it does, and, perhaps, why we should care.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Short writing assignments, recitations, poetic compositions, annotated poetry anthology, lively participation.
ENGL 18200-01, 02 The Power of Injustice & the Injustice of Power
TOPIC: Life at the Margins in American Literature
4 Credits
INSTRUCTOR: Derek Adams, Muller 304
ENROLLMENT: 20 per section
PREREQUISITES: None
MEETING TIMES: MW 2-3:10PM/ F 2-2:50
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Many individuals continue to feel as though they live at the margins of society, despite the “melting pot” rhetoric of inclusivity and acceptance that dominates narratives of American identity. While we commonly consider purposeful exclusion an act of injustice on the part of the powerful, we are often unaware of the way that subtle, hidden forms of power render particular groups and individuals powerless. American literature is one of the most widely utilized platforms for articulating the specific issues that arise in response to these forms of power. This course will use an array of American literary texts to explore the complexities of the life experiences of those who are forced by the powerful to live at the margins. We will read the work of Rebecca Harding Davis, Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Junot Diaz, Adam Mansbach, ZZ Packer, and Tommy Orange.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion with the occasional lecture
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students will closely examine course materials, actively engage in class discussions, write short textual analysis essays
ENGL 20100-01 APPROACHES TO LITERARY STUDY
4 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Jennifer Spitzer
ENROLLMENT: 15 students per section
PREREQUISITES: One course in English.
MEETING TIMES: Tuesday and Thursday, 1-2:40, and Friday, 12PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION: How and why do we read literature? How do we frame our interpretations of poems, novels, and short stories? Focusing on these foundational questions, this class introduces students to the diverse ways that critics and theorists interpret literary texts. It shows how the discipline of English has developed, and explores influential and emerging methods of literary analysis, from New Criticism to postcolonial theory, with an emphasis on the relationship between literature’s competing discourses of philosophy, history, politics, and science. In the process, it provides students with critical tools for examining literature and the world around them. A central goal of the class is to help students to become confident and sophisticated literary critics, and adept readers of interdisciplinary theoretical work. Readings include literary criticism and theory, and may include works by Hoagland, DeLillo, Eliot, Coetzee, Ishiguro, Faulkner, and others.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Largely discussion.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Two 5 page essays, an in-class presentation, a midterm, and a longer final research project.
ENGL 22100-01 African American Literature Survey
4 Credits
ICC Attribute: Diversity
INSTRUCTOR: Jeong Yeon Lee
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITES: One course in the Humanities or social sciences, or sophomore standing
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This survey course traces the development of African American literature from the colonial era to the present. It is organized through the conventions of genre rather than chronology. Primarily our interest will be in how authors represent what is commonly (and problematically) known as “the black experience.” Our exploration will consider the role of violence, cultural memory, gender and sexuality, trauma, folklore, signifying, humor, and family in shaping this experience. As we proceed, we will also focus on the unique relationship between this body of literature and the American literary canon overshadowing it. **This version of the course is distinctive as it will be closely linked with a sister course at Elmira College (ENGL 230 – African American Literature) , taught by Dr. Tom Nurmi, Assistant Professor of English. The two courses will share common readings, lectures, a field trip, and an assignment which will require students from both colleges to read and respond to a partner’s writing and research.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion with the occasional lecture
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Active and regular participation is a substantive factor in the grading. There will be three textual analysis essays, an in-class presentation, a reading journal, and a final exam.
ENGL 23100 Ancient Literature
4 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Robert Sullivan
ENROLLMENT: 20
MEETING TIMES: Tuesday and Thursday, 1-2:40PM
Literatures (and cultures) have roots that nurture and, to some extent at least, determine their subjects, attitudes, and forms. This course will take us to the Greco-Roman roots that have nourished Western textual traditions for over 2500 years. Together we will encounter lyric poetry, tragic and comedic theatre, and epic, as one might expect, as well as other genres such as panegyric, mythology, biography, epistles, oratory, or varieties of philosophical literature with which one might well be less familiar. Particular emphasis will be placed on bodies of work that have had powerful influences on later literatures, including those of Homer, Vergil, Ovid, Seneca, Plautus, Isocrates, Cicero, Euripides, Sophocles, Lucretius, and Sappho. We’ll also read some of the critical texts by which the scholars of antiquity, such as Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, and the pseudo-Longinus, sought to make sense of what they were reading. All our readings will be in English translations.
PREREQUISITE: One course in the humanities or social sciences, or sophomore standing.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Active class participation, short writing assignments, one term paper.
ENGL 23600 Children’s and Young Adult Graphic Novels: History and Emerging Texts
4 CREDITS
Meeting Times: T/TR 3-4:15, W 3-3:50PM
INSTRUCTOR: Katharine Kittredge, 317 Muller
ENROLLMENT: 20 students per section
PREREQUISITES: none.
Description: This course looks at a wide range of texts, from the earliest comic images of children, to contemporary graphic novels. We begin by looking at the late nineteenth-century Yellow Kid comics, and then spend time on the “realistic/surreal” comics of the twentieth century, including Nancy, Little Lulu , Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes . Although we will spend some time on super-hero titles like Power Pack Kids and the Runaways , our focus will primarily be on realistic titles such as American Born Chinese , El Deafo , and New Kid . We will be considering the role that current graphic novels can play in increasing representation, promoting literacy, and encouraging empathy among children and young adults.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Largely discussion.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING: Daily reading quizzes or weekly blog posts, mid-term paper or exam, an in-class presentation, and a longer final project that may include a creative element.
ENGL 29700 (02) Professional Development Practicum (Graphic Novels)
2 Credits
Meeting Times: TR 10-11:15AM
INSTRUCTOR: Katharine Kittredge, Muller 317, Ext. 4- 1575
ENROLLMENT: 10
PREREQUISITES: none
MEETING TIMES: Thursday 10:50 AM-12:15 PM
OBJECTIVES: The "Graphic Novel Advisory Board" is a group of IC students who get together to review children's and teen's graphic novels. They share their findings with rural librarians and discuss ways for them to enhance their collections of graphic novels. The group puts out a monthly newsletter reviewing a wide range of graphic novels. This 1.5 credit experimental course is a great opportunity for anyone interested in education, promoting reading, or marketing/publishing graphic novels. If the pandemic allows, we also host community events promoting reading and collaborate with ITHACON to provide a whimsical reading room.
FORMAT/STYLE: Small group collaborative activities, regular writing assignments, weekend site visits.
GRADING: Performance of assigned tasks, participation in site visits, regular writing assignments, end-of-semester assessment based on personal goals (may involve event planning, reviewing, editing, or doing website enhancement), reflection on event and personal achievement.
ENGL 31100-01 DRAMATIC LITERATURE I
4 CREDITS
Meeting Times: T/TR 1-2:15PM
ICC DESIGNATION: Writing Intensive
INSTRUCTOR: Dan Breen, 302 Muller, ext. 4-1014
ENROLLMENT: 20 students per section
PREREQUISITE: Any three courses in English, history of the theater, or introduction to the theater.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: “Comedy” and “tragedy” are ancient categories, invoked originally to describe different kinds of dramatic composition. Though this distinction remains a convenient (and relevant) one for contemporary readers and audiences, it is also the case that these seemingly simple, seemingly antithetical terms convey a range of emotion and experience that is not always easily divisible. Tragic—or potentially tragic—situations often arise in comedy, and there are moments in most tragedies at which the plays seem as though they might begin to move in more optimistic or affirming directions. This course will begin with the hypothesis that the terms “comedy” and “tragedy” describe actions taken by dramatic characters in response to crisis, and the specific consequences of those actions. As such, we will attempt to locate “comedy” and “tragedy” within fundamental elements of human experience, and examine the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of each. We will read a selection of plays from the Classical, Renaissance English, and Restoration traditions including Sophocles’ Ajax, Plautus’ Pseudolus, Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II and Aphra Behn’s The Feigned Courtesans.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion, with some context-setting lectures.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Two 5-7-page essays, a short (2-3 pages) response paper, a take-home final exam, and class participation. Grading will be A-F. Because of the discussion-oriented format, class participation will be an important part of students’ final grades.
ENGL 37100-01 Studies in African American Lit
4 CREDITS
Meeting Times: MWF 4PM
INSTRUCTOR: Jeong Yeon Lee
ENROLLMENT: 20 students per section
PREREQUISITE: Any three courses in English, history of the theater, or introduction to the theater.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores the aesthetic and political uses of apocalypse in 19th-century African American literature. Originally wielded by black writers as a mode of anti-slavery critique, apocalyptic writing shifted after formal Emancipation to become a method of interrogating the cyclical nature of catastrophe in African American life. We will read an exciting range of writing—pamphlet manifestos and speeches, sermons, memoirs, novels, and poetry, and engage with scholarship in the fields of literary studies, history, and religious studies. Our goal will be to think alongside the authors we study, to historicize and theorize their dynamic uses of apocalypse: how do these works innovate literary genres? How do they create new modes and claims of knowledge itself? How does the practice of apocalyptic writing in African American literature become a regenerative sign of power? Ultimately, this course draws attention to the contestations, collaborations, and innovations that transformed Black apocalyptic writing in the 19th century and continue to sustain visions for full freedom in the present.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion, with some context-setting lectures.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Two 5-7-page essays, a short (2-3 pages) response paper, a take-home final exam, and class participation. Grading will be A-F. Because of the discussion-oriented format, class participation will be an important part of students’ final grades.
ENGL 38000-01 Studies in World Literature: Capitalism and Other Fictions
4 CREDITS
Meeting Times: T/TR 10-11:15AM
INSTRUCTOR: Chris Holmes
ENROLLMENT: 20 students per section
PREREQUISITE: Any three courses in English, history of the theater, or introduction to the theater.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Whether you find it a reassuring ideology or not, Capitalism, the dominant form of economic, political, and social being in the contemporary world rests upon some illusions, one might even say narrative fictions about money, work, values, and, most importantly, the relationship we have one to another. This class will look at 20/21st century novels and short stories that directly confront the illusions of capitalism. This will not be a study driven by one particular vision of Capitalism, and therefore we will read a variety of theories of capital written by antagonists (famously Marx) and proponents (JM Keynes).
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Discussion, with some context-setting lectures.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Two 5-7-page essays, a short (2-3 pages) response paper, a final exam, and class participation. Grading will be A-F. Because of the discussion-oriented format, class participation will be an important part of students’ final grades.
ENGL 41000-01 Seminar in Medieval English Literature: Medieval Race-Making
4 credits
Meeting Times: MW 12-1:15PM
INSTRUCTOR: Alexis Becker
ENROLLMENT: 12
PREREQUISITE: 4 courses in ENGL, including ENGL 23200 (Medieval Literature), or permission of instructor
ATTRIBUTES: EP19, ERGC, WGSS
Course Description: In this advanced seminar, we’ll think through projects of racialization and race-making in the literature of the Middle Ages as well as the investments in whiteness that are often embedded in the study of medieval literature (as well as in the very idea of the “medieval”). Texts include Crusades literature from different sides of the conflict, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Richard Coeur de Lyon, the writings of Ibn Fadlān, the Vinland Sagas , The King of Tars, and a rich set of scholarly texts.
COURSE FORMAT/STYLE: Seminar Discussion with independent Advanced Supplemental Instruction component
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Rigorous participation in class discussion, presentation on a post-medieval remnant of something we study, midterm essay, research paper or project, end of semester symposium presentation of research paper.
ENGL 46000-01, SEMINAR IN JAMES JOYCE’S ULYSSES
4 CREDITS
Meeting Times: T/TR 1-2:15PM
INSTRUCTOR: Kasia Bartoszynska
ENROLLMENT: 12 students
PREREQUISITE: Any four courses in English, or permission of the instructor
COURSE DESCRIPTION. James Joyce’s Ulysses is a famous, and famously difficult, novel. A defining work of European modernism, it is a complex experimental text; a radical exploration of what a novel can be, or do. And so, of course, it is also a major object of study for literary scholars: one can find an interpretation of the book from every imaginable theoretical perspective (the postcolonial reading, the psychoanalytic reading, the feminist reading — you name it). In addition to being a study of Ulysses , then, this course also involves deep dive into the history of literary criticism, as we try out whatever tools we can find to help us make sense of this bewildering book. Our semester culminates in a symposium where students share their final projects — their own original contribution to Ulysses scholarship.
PLEASE NOTE! Students will be expected to read Homer’s Odyssey over the summer before the class begins!
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Engaged class participation, weekly writing, presentation with accompanying short essay, final project.