University of St. Thomas

4 Credit Hours

Is the world sane or insane? Is a little madness part of everyday life? Our course will examine issues of madness as explored in literature and culture, especially as portrayed in issues of politics, war, religious experience, love, and work. Questions we will ask include: What is madness? What is the distinction between madness and insanity and who gets to decide? How is madness presented in popular culture? Do "mad" characters across a wide variety of genres act as a way of critiquing our culture? Possible texts to be explored include: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (fiction), WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME (science fiction), THE CRUCIBLE (drama), a few short stories, and "JOSE CHUNG'S FROM OUTER SPACE" (X-Files TV Show). The writing load for this course is a minimum of 15 pages of formal revised writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 111 or 121. This course replaces ENGL 112 as the second course in the core Literature and Writing sequence. ENGL 190 students should take an ENGL 205 or above literature course to satisfy the core Literature and Writing requirement.

4 Credit Hours

Is the world sane or insane? Is a little madness part of everyday life? Our course will examine issues of madness as explored in literature and culture, especially as portrayed in issues of politics, war, religious experience, love, and work. Questions we will ask include: What is madness? What is the distinction between madness and insanity and who gets to decide? How is madness presented in popular culture? Do "mad" characters across a wide variety of genres act as a way of critiquing our culture? Possible texts to be explored include: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (fiction), WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME (science fiction), THE CRUCIBLE (drama), a few short stories, and "JOSE CHUNG'S FROM OUTER SPACE" (X-Files TV Show). The writing load for this course is a minimum of 15 pages of formal revised writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 111 or 121. This course replaces ENGL 112 as the second course in the core Literature and Writing sequence. ENGL 190 students should take an ENGL 205 or above literature course to satisfy the core Literature and Writing requirement.

4 Credit Hours

"Wake up, Neo..." "Knock, knock, Neo..." "Did you ever have that feeling that you didn't know if you were awake or still dreaming?" (From THE MATRIX). Think of this class as a "window washer" for your mind. You have the opportunity to wake up to the fact that, when you read a text, you are living within your own world view and already are applying a specific kind of interpretation whether you are aware of it or not. That unexamined, perhaps even invisible world view is the prison whith which your mind currently encounters texts. Like all recently freed prisoners, you probably will be suspicious of other world views, but until you try thinking with their rules, "seeing" by their light, you have no idea whether they are valid or invalid, powerfully liberating or merely coercive, useful, or toys. The texts we read this semester will offer us other world views. The question for us is whether these world views are valid or not. Likely texts to be examined include Dick's BLADERUNNER, Holmqvist's THE UNIT, Le Guin's THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, and Hagen's NATIVE TONGUE. Selections from the movies DISTRICT 9 and THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU may also be shown. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 111/121 and ENGL 112/201-204, or ENGL 190.

4 Credit Hours

"Wake up, Neo..." "Knock, knock, Neo..." "Did you ever have that feeling that you didn't know if you were awake or still dreaming?" (From THE MATRIX). Think of this class as a "window washer" for your mind. You have the opportunity to wake up to the fact that, when you read a text, you are living within your own world view and already are applying a specific kind of interpretation whether you are aware of it or not. That unexamined, perhaps even invisible world view is the prison whith which your mind currently encounters texts. Like all recently freed prisoners, you probably will be suspicious of other world views, but until you try thinking with their rules, "seeing" by their light, you have no idea whether they are valid or invalid, powerfully liberating or merely coercive, useful, or toys. The texts we read this semester will offer us other world views. The question for us is whether these world views are valid or not. Likely texts to be examined include Dick's BLADERUNNER, Holmqvist's THE UNIT, Le Guin's THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, and Hagen's NATIVE TONGUE. Selections from the movies DISTRICT 9 and THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU may also be shown. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 111/121 and ENGL 112/201-204, or ENGL 190.

4 Credit Hours

This course will focus on extensive reading of a broad selection of British authors from the medieval period through the eighteenth century. Students will engage in close analysis of literary texts by such authors as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Behn, with some attention to historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190

4 Credit Hours

This course will focus on extensive reading of a broad selection of British authors from the medieval period through the eighteenth century. Students will engage in close analysis of literary texts by such authors as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Behn, with some attention to historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190

4 Credit Hours

This course will focus on extensive reading of a broad selection of British authors from the medieval period through the eighteenth century. Students will engage in close analysis of literary texts by such authors as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Behn, with some attention to historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190

4 Credit Hours

This course will focus on extensive reading of a broad selection of British authors from the medieval period through the eighteenth century. Students will engage in close analysis of literary texts by such authors as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Behn, with some attention to historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190

4 Credit Hours

This course will offer an intensive focus on a body of literature defined by its association with a special genre, locale, or theme. Such specialized topics as the epic poem, contemporary autobiography, Minnesota literature, or Genesis in literature might be studied. Students will also consider relevant critical approaches and issues. Credit may be earned more than once under this number for different emphases. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190

4 Credit Hours

This course will offer an intensive focus on a body of literature defined by its association with a special genre, locale, or theme. Such specialized topics as the epic poem, contemporary autobiography, Minnesota literature, or Genesis in literature might be studied. Students will also consider relevant critical approaches and issues. Credit may be earned more than once under this number for different emphases. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190