Department of English

Andreea Ritivoi, Department Head
Location: Baker Hall 259
https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/

The Department of English at Carnegie Mellon engages students in the important study of reading and writing as intellectual activities embedded in historical, cultural, professional, technological, and literary practices. Working with experts in their areas, students become effective writers and analysts of various kinds of texts in a range of media, from traditional print documents to film, multimedia, and on-line texts. Faculty use distinctive methods of studying texts, but all share a deep commitment to working in small and intense workshops and seminars to help students learn to become experts in analyzing existing texts, and in producing original and distinctive work of their own.

The English Department offers the following degree programs:

  • B.A. in Creative Writing
  • B.A. in Film & Visual Media
  • B.A. in Literature & Culture
  • B.A. in Professional Writing
  • B.S. in Technical Writing

All five majors are structured to allow students to balance liberal and professional interests. Students in the Creative Writing program focus on analyzing and learning to produce poetic and narrative forms. Students in the Film & Visual Media program focus on cultural analysis, writing, production, and digital media. Students in the Literature & Culture program focus on the production and interpretation of print texts and other media in their social and cultural contexts. Students in the Professional Writing program focus on analyzing and producing non-fiction for a variety of professional contexts. Students in the Technical Writing program focus on integrating writing with technical expertise in a chosen area of concentration (Technical Communication or Science & Medical Communication). In addition to the five majors, we offer five departmental minors as well as two interdisciplinary minors, and we strongly encourage non-majors in the campus community to join us in English courses, beginning with offerings at the 200-level.

Students also get involved in a range of complementary activities, including a reading series of distinguished writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction; publishing, editing, and marketing through involvement with The Oakland Review and The Carnegie Mellon University Press; writing and editorial positions on the student newspaper, The Tartan, and other campus publications. We also offer a strong internship program that places student writers in media, non-profit, arts, corporate, and technical internships before they graduate. The end of every year culminates in a gala event to celebrate our students and their writing achievements in literary, academic, and professional writing. For this event, known as the Pauline Adamson Awards, we invite a well-known writer to do a public reading and then present and celebrate student writing awards in over a dozen categories, all judged anonymously by writing professionals from outside the university.

Majoring in English: The Five English Degree Options

The department of English offers students five degree options:

  • The B.A. in Creative Writing
  • The B.A. in Film & Visual Media
  • The B.A. in Literature & Culture
  • The B.A. in Professional Writing
  • The B.S. in Technical Writing 

Students who wish to broaden their experience with English courses may do so by taking more than the minimum requirements for each major or by combining two of the majors within the department for an additional major in English. Common combinations include, but are not limited to, a B.A. in Professional Writing with an additional major in Creative Writing; a B.A. in Creative Writing with an additional major in Literature & Culture; or a B.A. in Literature & Culture with an additional major in Professional Writing. Due to significant course overlap, students are not permitted to major in both Professional Writing and Technical Writing together. Consult the English Department and the section on “Completing an Additional Major in English” for further detail. 

All of the English majors may be combined with majors and minors from other Carnegie Mellon departments and colleges. The English Department advisor can help you explore the available options so that you can choose a major or combination of programs that is appropriate for your interests and goals.

How the Curriculum is Structured

In addition to Dietrich College requirements, English majors complete 11 to 13 courses (99 to 117 units) specifically related to their chosen major within English and structured as indicated below. Please note that courses between majors/minors in the Department of English may not double count, with the exception of the Film & Visual Media major, due to its courses being pulled from multiple programs within English. A maximum of two courses may double count between Film & Visual Media and programs inside the Department of English. A maximum of two courses may double count for programs outside of the Department of English. 

Core Requirements for the Specific Major (7 to 10 courses, 63 to 84 units)

Complete seven to ten courses.

The Core Requirements differ for each major and are designed explicitly to provide both breadth and depth within the specific major the student has chosen.

English Electives (3 to 4 courses, 27 to 36 units)

Complete three to four elective courses.

Elective Electives for the majors are designed to add breadth to each student’s study within English and to provide experience with the range of approaches to reading and writing available within the department. Students in all English majors are encouraged to sample widely from the Department’s offerings.

The B.A. in Creative Writing

Carnegie Mellon is one of only a few English departments in the country where undergraduates can major in Creative Writing (CW). In the CW major, students develop their talents in writing fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction. While studying with faculty members who are writers, CW majors read widely in literature, explore the resources of their imaginations, sharpen their critical and verbal skills, and develop a professional attitude toward their writing. The extracurricular writing activities and a variety of writing internships available on and off campus provide Creative Writing majors with valuable experiences for planning their future.  After graduation, our Creative Writing majors go on to graduate writing programs and to careers in teaching, publishing, public relations, advertising, TV and film, freelance writing, and editing.

Students in the CW major are required to take two of the introductory genre writing courses: one in the spring of their first year, and one in the fall of their sophomore year. Choices include: 76-260 Introduction to Writing Fiction, 76-261 Introduction to Writing Creative Nonfiction, 76-265 Introduction to Writing Poetry, and 76-269 Introduction to Screenwriting. In order to proceed into the workshop courses, students must do well in these introductory courses (earn a grade of A or B). Creative Writing majors take four workshops in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, or nonfiction where the students’ work is critiqued and evaluated by peers and the faculty. They also take courses in literature, including a Readings in Forms course where they spend a semester reading extensively in one genre.

Opportunities

During their senior year, students may write a Senior Project or Honors Thesis (if they qualify for Dietrich College honors) under the supervision of a faculty member.

Carnegie Mellon also offers CW majors various extracurricular opportunities for professional development, including internships both on- and off-campus. For example, they may work as interns with the Carnegie Mellon University Press, which is housed in the English Department. The Press publishes scholarly works, as well as books of poetry and short stories by both new and established American writers.

Students may help edit and submit their work for publication to The Oakland Review, a Carnegie Mellon University sponsored and student-run annual journal. 

Students also have opportunities to read their works in a series of readings by student writers held in the Gladys Schmitt Creative Writing Center (also known as The Glad) and to hear nationally known authors as part of the Carnegie Mellon Visiting Writers series. Additionally, the English Department offers prizes for students each year in the writing of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and screenwriting. Student writers are celebrated during The Adamson Awards ceremony.  

Curriculum

In addition to satisfying all of the Dietrich College degree requirements for B.A. candidates, Creative Writing majors must complete 11 courses in the following areas:

Creative Writing Core (7 courses, 63 units)

Introductory Genre Writing Courses* (2 courses, 18 units):
Units
76-260Introduction to Writing Fiction9
76-261Introduction to Writing Creative Nonfiction9
76-265Introduction to Writing Poetry9
76-269Introduction to Screenwriting9

* * A student must earn a grade of A or B in the introductory genre writing class in order to be eligible to enroll in a workshop of that same genre. A student who earns a grade of C in an introductory genre writing course may enroll in a related workshop only with the permission of the workshop professor. A student who earns a D or R in Survey of Forms may not take a workshop in that genre.

Reading in Forms (1 course, 9 units):
Units
76-362Reading in Forms: Nonfiction9
76-363Reading in Forms: Poetry & Prose
(or Reading in Forms: Poetry)
9
76-364Reading in Forms: Fiction9
Four Creative Writing Workshops (4 courses, 36 units)

Complete four Creative Writing workshops, at least two in a single genre. Workshops in all genres may be taken more than once for credit, except for Literary Journalism. Additionally, if a student has been accepted into the Dietrich College Senior Honors Program and is completing their thesis in the field of Creative Writing, they may use one semester of thesis credit (66-501 Dietrich College Senior Honors Thesis I or 66-502 Dietrich College Senior Honors Thesis II) to fulfill a workshop requirement. 

Units
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-365Beginning Poetry Workshop9
76-460Beginning Fiction Workshop9
76-462Advanced Fiction Workshop9
76-465Advanced Poetry Workshop9
76-464Creative Nonfiction Workshop9
76-469Screenwriting Workshop9

English Electives (4 courses, 36 units)

Complete four additional courses from the English Department’s offerings. Two of the four English Electives must be courses that are designated as fulfilling the literature requirement and focus on close reading of literary texts. Please consult the list of courses published each semester by the Department for current offerings. English Electives may include any course offered by the Department at the 200 level or above. Additionally, English Electives can include no more than one course at the 200 level. The remaining English Electives must be at the 300 or 400 level. In choosing Electives, students are encouraged to sample courses from across the Department.

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two courses with other programs outside of the Department of English. NOTE: courses being used for the Dietrich General Education requirements do not have a double-counting limit.

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer up to two courses from other non-CMU programs/institutions toward the primary or additional major in Creative Writing or the BHA in Creative Writing, with the exception of one of the two required Introductory Genre Writing courses. Other transfer courses will be considered for general education requirements and free electives for graduation. Please see the Dietrich College Advanced Standing and Transfer Credit Policy for more information.

Recommended Curriculum Pathway: B.A. in Creative Writing

This plan is the recommended pathway for completing the B.A. in Creative Writing in four years. While it is not required for students to follow this pathway precisely, it is highly recommended for students to do so, and we recommend students begin the major’s courses as early as possible. Students in Dietrich College may declare their primary major as early as the middle of their second semester. Students who have not declared their major in the Department of English may still take courses with us.

Students may also view the four-year plan (also known as a Pathway) for the B.A. in Creative Writing via the Stellic Degree Audit Application.

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Communication CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Data Analysis CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Scientific Inquiry CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Intercultural & Global Inquiry Course
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Social Sciences CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Computational Thinking CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Logic/Math Course
GEN ED: Grand Challenge Seminar CourseIntroductory Genre Writing Course #1Introductory Genre Writing Course #2GEN ED: Equity & Justice Course
Free ElectiveFree ElectiveReading in Forms CourseCreative Writing Workshop #1
Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree ElectiveFree Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual Thinking CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Additional Discipline Course (Business, Design, Engineering)OPTIONAL GEN ED: Senior Capstone OR Free Elective
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: The Arts CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. Creative Writing Literature Elective #2Creative Writing Workshop #4
Creative Writing Literature Elective #1Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. Creative Writing English Elective #1Creative Writing English Elective #2
Creative Writing Workshop #2Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. Creative Writing Workshop #3Free Elective
Free ElectiveOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. Free ElectiveFree Elective

The B.A. in Film & Visual Media

The Film & Visual Media major trains students through a combination of coursework in:

  • visual media,
  • film history and analysis,
  • screenwriting,
  • and production of film and other visual media.

This major offers a comprehensive education in film and visual media, from theoretical framing and historical-cultural contextualization to training skills in both creating and analyzing film, as well as the development of a complex blend of creative, professional and technical competencies.

CMU's Department of English is an ideal home for the Film & Visual Media major due to the department’s combination of creative writers, film and media studies scholars, film makers, digital humanities and visual communication researchers.

Curriculum

In additional to satisfying all of the Dietrich College degree requirements for B.A. candidates, Film & Visual Media majors must complete 12 courses in the following areas. Note: courses cannot double count between areas. For example, if you take 76-429 Introduction to Digital Humanities for the Digital Media area, you cannot also count that course for your Literature & Culture area.

Required introductory courses (2 courses, 18 units)
Course Units
76-239Introduction to Film Studies9
76-259Film History9
Production Courses (2 courses, 18-21 units)
Required Course Units
76-292Introduction to Film Production *9
*

Students who have completed 76-239 Introduction to Film Studies and/or 76-269 Introduction to Screenwriting will be given registration preference.

Additional Production Course (options include but are not limited to:) Units
54-191Acting for Non-Majors9
60-110Foundations: Time-Based Media10
60-125IDeATe: Introduction to 3D Animation Pipeline12
60-141Black and White Photography I10
60-218IDeATe Portal: Real-Time Animation10
60-220IDeATe: Technical Character Animation10
60-245Portrait Photography10
60-333IDeATe: Animation Rigging10
60-415Advanced ETB: Animation Studio10
60-416Advanced ETB: Documentary Storytelling10
76-374Mediated Narrative9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design12
Screenwriting Courses (2 courses, 18 units)
Required Courses Units
76-269Introduction to Screenwriting9
76-469Screenwriting Workshop9
Digital Media Courses (2 courses, 18-20 units)
Options include but are not limited to: Units
15-104Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice10
60-125IDeATe: Introduction to 3D Animation Pipeline12
60-142Digital Photography I10
60-242Digital Photography II10
62-150IDeATe Portal: Introduction to Media Synthesis and Analysis10
76-314Data Stories9
76-388Coding for Humanists9
76-429Introduction to Digital Humanities9
Literature & Cultural Studies Courses (2 courses, 18 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-203Literature & Culture in the 18th Century9
76-207Special Topics in Literature & Culture9
76-210Banned Books9
76-221Books You Should Have Read By Now9
76-232Introduction to Black Literature9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances9
76-310Advanced Studies in Film and Media9
76-313Creative Visual Storytelling in Film Production9
76-314Data Stories9
76-337Intersectional Feminism9
76-353Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film9
76-429Introduction to Digital Humanities9
76-439Seminar in Film and Media Studies9
76-440Postcolonial Theory: Diaspora and Transnationalism9
76-448Shakespeare on Film9
Topics in Film & Visual Media Studies Courses (2 courses, 18 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-312Crime and Justice in American Film9
76-339Topics in Film and Media
(Can be taken more than once for credit, provided the course topic is new each time).
9
76-353Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film9
76-367Fact Into Film: Translating History into Cinema9
76-448Shakespeare on Film9
76-439Seminar in Film and Media Studies9
79-225West African History in Film9
79-306Fact into Film: Translating History into Cinema9
79-308Crime and Justice in American Film9
79-309The Chinese Revolution Through Film (1949-2000)9
79-319India Through Film6
79-326Shall We Dance? Culture, Politics, and Movement in the 20th Century6
79-339Juvenile Delinquency & Film: From Soul of Youth (1920) to West Side Story (1961)6
82-215Arab Culture Through Dialogues, Film, and Literature9
82-278Japanese Film and Literature: The Art of Storytelling9
82-284Multicultural Pittsburgh: VR Storytelling9
82-296World War I - the View from Paris & St. Petersburg6
82-355Tpcs in Hispanic Std: Beyond the Film Screen: The Hispanic World Through Film9

Recommended Courses

While not required, a few courses are recommended as a part of the curriculum. They include:

76-310Advanced Studies in Film and Media9
76-323Text to Screen9
76-374Mediated Narrative9

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two courses with other programs outside of the Department of English. NOTE: courses being used for the Dietrich General Education requirements do not have a double-counting limit.

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer up to two advisor-approved courses from other programs outside of Carnegie Mellon University toward the primary or additional major in Film & Visual Media Studies, with the exception of 76-239 Introduction to Film Studies and 76-259 Film History Other transfer courses will be considered for general education requirements and free electives for graduation.  Please see the Dietrich College Advanced Standing and Transfer Credit Policy for more information.

Recommended Curriculum Pathway: B.A. in Film & Visual Media

This plan is the recommended pathway for completing the B.A. in Film & Visual Media in four years. While it is not required for students to follow this pathway precisely, it is highly recommended for students to do so, and we recommend students begin the major’s courses as early as possible. Students in Dietrich College may declare their primary major as early as the middle of their second semester. Students who have not declared their major in the Department of English may still take courses with us.

Students may also view the four-year plan (also known as a Pathway) for the B.A. in Film & Visual Media via the Stellic Degree Audit Application.

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Communication CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Data Analysis CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Scientific Inquiry CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Intercultural & Global Inquiry Course
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Social Sciences CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Computational Thinking CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Logic/Math Course
GEN ED: Grand Challenge Seminar Course76-310 Advanced Studies in Film and Media (recommended course, but not required)76-259 Film History76-469 Screenwriting Workshop
76-239 Introduction to Film Studies (Also counts as GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: The Arts)Literature & Culture Course #176-269 Introduction to ScreenwritingDigital Media Course #1
Free ElectiveFree Elective76-292 Introduction to Film ProductionTopics in Film Course #1

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual Thinking CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. OR Topics in Film Course #2GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Additional (Business, Design, Engineering)OPTIONAL GEN ED: Senior Capstone OR Free Elective
GEN ED: Equity and Justice CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. OR 76374 Mediated Narrative (recommended course, but not required)Topics in Film Course #2 OR Free Elective76-374 Mediated Narrative (recommended course, but not required) OR Free Elective
Production Elective Course or 323 Text to Screen (which is a recommended course, but not required)Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. OR Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree Elective
Literature & Culture Course #2Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. OR Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree Elective
Digital Media Course #2Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc. OR Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree Elective

The B.A. in Literature & Culture

The Literature & Culture Major teaches students how to read, interpret and write persuasively about novels, poems, plays and other imaginative works across a variety of genres and media forms. Along with teaching students the analytical skills and methodological tools to interpret these works, this major teaches the importance of understanding imaginative works within their cultural and historical contexts. In addition, the major is designed to train students in strong professional and academic skills like critical thinking, inductive reasoning and persuasive argumentation that are applicable to other fields of study and a variety of career paths.

Curriculum

In additional to satisfying all of the Dietrich College degree requirements for B.A. candidates, Literature & Culture majors must complete 13 courses in the following areas:

Requirements

13 courses, 117.0 units total

Required Introductory Courses (3 courses, 27 units)
Course Units
76-26XIntroductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories9
or 76-247 Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
76-275Introduction to Critical Writing9
200-Level Literature & Culture Courses (2 courses, 18 units)

One course must cover the period of 1830 or before. NOTE: a single course cannot double count for both the Required Introductory Courses and the 200-Level Literature & Culture Courses. For example, you cannot count 76-245 Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories as a Required Introductory Course as well as for the 200-Level Literature & Culture Course for the 1830 or Before requirement.

Options include but are not limited to:

Courses 1830 or Before
76-203Literature & Culture in the 18th Century9
76-230Literature & Culture in the 19th Century9
76-233Literature and Culture in the Renaissance9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories
(if not taken as one of the required introductory courses)
9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
(if not taken as one of the required introductory courses)
9
Additonal 200-Level Courses Units
76-207Special Topics in Literature & Culture9
76-236Major Fiction Then and Now9
76-278Japanese Film and Literature: The Art of Storytelling9
76-282Disability in Pop Culture9
76-210Banned Books9
76-217Literature & Culture of the 20th and 21st Century9
76-221Books You Should Have Read By Now9
76-239Introduction to Film Studies9
76-241Introduction to Gender Studies9
76-242American Woman Writers9
76-243Introduction to Television9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories9
76-244Immigrant Fictions9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances9
76-259Film History9
76-287Sex & Texts9
​300-Level Literature & Culture Courses (2 Courses, 18 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-310Advanced Studies in Film and Media9
76-312Crime and Justice in American Film9
76-313Creative Visual Storytelling in Film Production9
76-314Data Stories9
76-317Contemporary American Fiction9
76-326Contemporary Global Literature9
76-329Performing Race in Early Modernity9
76-337Intersectional Feminism9
76-339Topics in Film and Media9
76-341Race & Gender in the Age of Jane Austen9
76-343Rise of the American Novel9
76-349Climate Fictions9
76-367Fact Into Film: Translating History into Cinema9
76-392Special Topics in Literature & Culture9
Theory Course (1 course, 9 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-337Intersectional Feminism9
76-350Critical Theories about Literature9
76-376History of Critical Ideas9
Rhetoric Course (1 course, 9 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-325Intertextuality9
76-327Equity & Communication: Strategies for Institutional Change9
76-351Rhetorical Invention9
76-373Argument9
76-384Race, Nation, and the Enemy9
76-388Coding for Humanists9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-415Mediated Power and Propaganda9
76-418Rhetoric and the Body9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-457Rhetorical Invention9
76-473Rhetoric & the Construction of Race9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-483Research Methods in Technical & Professional Communication9
76-492Rhetoric of Public Policy9
400-Level Capstone Seminar Course (1 course, 9 units)

Each semester, a 400-level course is designated as the Capstone Seminar. Literature & Culture majors are required to take this course in their final semester. Course options may include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-408Culture and Globalization9
76-410The Long Eighteenth Century9
76-423Transnational Feminisms9
76-424Theories of Social Class9
76-429Introduction to Digital Humanities9
76-431Gender Play in Early Modern Drama9
76-439Seminar in Film and Media Studies9
76-440Postcolonial Theory: Diaspora and Transnationalism9
76-445Milton9
76-446Revenge Tragedy9
76-448Shakespeare on Film9
76-449Race and Media9
76-450Law, Culture, and the Humanities9
76-452Generations and Culture9
76-453Literature of Empire9
76-467Crime Fiction and Film9
76-468Space and Mobilities9
76-495Other People's Words: The History, Theory, and Practice of Interviews9
English Elective Courses (3 courses, 27 units)

Courses for the English Elective requirement can be fulfilled by choosing any of our 200- to 400-level courses. Students are encouraged to sample courses across our programs.

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two courses with other programs outside of the Department of English. NOTE: courses being used for the Dietrich General Education requirements do not have a double-counting limit.

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer up to two advisor-approved courses from other non-CMU programs/institutions toward the primary or additional major in Literature & Culture or the BHA in Literature & Culture, with the exception of the Required Introductory Courses. Other transfer courses will be considered for general education requirements and free electives for graduation. Please see the Dietrich College Advanced Standing and Transfer Credit Policy for more information.

Recommended Curriculum Pathway: B.A. in Literature & Culture 

This plan is the recommended pathway for completing the B.A. in Literature & Culture in four years. While it is not required for students to follow this pathway precisely, it is highly recommended for students to do so, and we recommend students begin the major’s courses as early as possible. Students in Dietrich College may declare their primary major as early as the middle of their second semester. Students who have not declared their major in the Department of English may still take courses with us.

Students may also view the four-year plan (also known as a Pathway) for the B.A. in Literature & Culture via the Stellic Degree Audit Application.

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Communication CourseGEN ED: Foundations Data Analysis CourseGEN ED: Foundations Scientific Inquiry CourseGEN ED: Foundations Intercultural & Global Inquiry Course
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Social Sciences CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Computational Thinking CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Logic/Math Course
GEN ED: Grand Challenge Seminar Course76-245 Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories (also fulfills the GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual Thinking requirement) if not fulfilled in Fall of First-Year, OR Free Elective)GEN ED: Equity and Justice Course200-Level Literature & Culture Course #1
76-247 Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances (also fulfills the GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual Thinking requirement), OR Free ElectiveFree Elective76-275 Introduction to Critical Writing200-Level Literature & Culture Course #2
Free ElectiveFree Elective76-26x Introductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)Free Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: The Arts CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Additional Course (Business, Design, Engineering)76-4xx Capstone Seminar
300-Level Literature & Culture Course #1Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.300-Level Literature & Culture Course #2English Elective Course #2
Theory CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.English Elective Course #1English Elective Course #3
Rhetoric CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Free ElectiveFree Elective
Free ElectiveOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Free ElectiveFree Elective

The B.A. in Professional Writing

Professional Writing (PW) combines a professional education with a strong foundation in rhetorical studies. The major prepares students for successful careers as writers and communications specialists in a range of fields, including but not limited to: editing and publishing, government, law, journalism, the non-profit sector, education, public and media relations, corporate communications, advocacy writing, and the arts.

The PW major includes 13 courses: 10 PW Core Requirements + 3 English Electives. The 10 Core Requirements include foundations courses in genre studies, editing, and argument, a professional seminar, plus a cluster of advanced rhetoric and specialized writing courses, all designed to closely integrate analysis and production. Through special topics courses— journalism, web design, advocacy writing, document design for print, science writing, public relations and corporate communications, writing for multimedia — students can pursue specializations while working with faculty who are both experts and practicing professionals in these fields. The 3-unit professional seminar, 76-300 Professional Seminar, which meets weekly during the fall term, provides majors with the opportunity to meet and network with practicing professionals in a range of communications fields. PW majors also gain experience in working on team- and client-based projects and receive focused support to develop a portfolio of polished writing samples to use in applying for internships and employment. Through English Electives in Rhetoric, Creative Writing, and Literary and Cultural Studies, students gain additional practice in the careful reading, writing, and analysis of both literary and non-fictional texts and important insights into how texts function in their historical and contemporary contexts. As a capstone experience, senior PW majors have the opportunity to complete a Senior Project or, upon invitation from the college, a Senior Honors Thesis in Rhetoric or Professional Writing. PW students can also apply for research grants through the Undergraduate Research Office to work on independent research projects with faculty.

While the major appeals to students with strong professional interests, both core and elective requirements develop the broad intellectual background one expects from a university education and prepare students to either enter the workplace or pursue graduate study in fields as diverse as communications, law, business, and education. PW majors also have the opportunity to apply for the Department's accelerated MA in Professional Writing, the MAPW 4+1, which allows them to complete the degree in 2 semesters instead of the usual 3. Because the major in Professional Writing is deliberately structured as a flexible degree that allows a broad range of options, PW majors should consult closely with their English Department advisors on choosing both elective and required courses and in planning for internships and summer employment.Various opportunities for writers to gain professional experience and accumulate material for their writing portfolios are available through campus publications, department-sponsored internships for academic credit, and writing-related employment on and off campus.

PW majors also have the option of taking writing internships for academic credit during their junior or senior year and are also strongly encouraged to seek professional internships throughout their undergraduate years and during their summers. Opportunities in public and media relations, newspaper and magazine writing, healthcare communication, publishing, technical writing, public service organizations, and writing for the web and new media illustrate both internship possibilities and the kinds of employment that Professional Writing majors have taken after graduation.

Curriculum

In addition to satisfying all of the Dietrich College degree requirements for B.A. candidates, Professional Writing majors must fulfill 13 requirements in the following areas:

Professional Writing Core (10 courses, 84 units)

Departmental Core Requirement (1 courses, 9 units):
Introductory Genre Writing Course
76-260Introduction to Writing Fiction9
76-261Introduction to Writing Creative Nonfiction9
76-265Introduction to Writing Poetry9
76-269Introduction to Screenwriting9
Professional Writing Core Requirements (4 courses, 30 units):
76-271Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing9
76-300Professional Seminar3
76-373Argument9
76-390Style9
Rhetoric/Language Studies Requirement (1 course, 9 units):

Complete one course from a set of varied offerings in Rhetoric/Language Studies as designated each term by the English Department. These courses focus explicitly on language and discourse as objects of study and emphasize the relationships of language, text structure, and meaning within specific contexts. Courses include but are not limited to the following:

Course Units
76-301InternshipVar.
76-319Environmental Rhetoric9
76-325Intertextuality9
76-327Equity & Communication: Strategies for Institutional Change9
76-351Rhetorical Invention9
76-359User Experience Methods for Documents9
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-384Race, Nation, and the Enemy9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-396Non-Profit Message Creation9
76-415Mediated Power and Propaganda9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
Advanced Writing/Rhetoric Courses (4 courses, 36-42 units):

Complete four courses from a set of varied offerings in Advanced Writing/Rhetoric as designated each term by the English Department. Options include all courses that fulfill the Rhetoric requirement, plus additional courses in specialized areas of professional writing. Students should select courses in consultation with their English Department advisor or the Director of Professional Writing. Courses include but are not limited to the following:

Units
76-301InternshipVar.
76-302Communication Support Tutoring Practicum6
76-314Data Stories9
76-319Environmental Rhetoric9
76-351Rhetorical Invention9
76-354Watchdog Journalism9
76-359User Experience Methods for Documents9
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-372News Writing9
76-378Literacy: Educational Theory and Community Practice9
76-380Methods in Humanities Analytics9
76-388Coding for Humanists9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-391Document & Information Design9
76-395Science Writing9
76-396Non-Profit Message Creation9
76-415Mediated Power and Propaganda9
76-418Rhetoric and the Body9
76-420The Cognition of Reading and Writing: Introduction to a Social/Cognitive Process9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-457Rhetorical Invention9
76-464Creative Nonfiction Workshop9
76-474Software Documentation9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design12
76-484Discourse Analysis9
76-485The New Public Sphere9
76-492Rhetoric of Public Policy9
76-487Information Architecture & Content Design (formerly titled Web Design)
76-494Healthcare Communications9
76-496Research Methods in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
(instructor permission required)
9

English Electives (3 Courses, 27 Units)

Complete three courses from any of English Department’s offerings (exceptions include 76-270, which is designed for non-majors). One may be at the 200-level or above; the remaining two must be at the 300- or 400-level. Two must be courses designated as Text/Context Electives, which focus on the relationship between texts and their cultural and historical contexts.

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two courses with other programs outside of the Department of English. Note: courses being used for the Dietrich General Education requirements do not have a double-counting limit.

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer up to two advisor-approved courses from other non-CMU programs/institutions toward the primary or additional major in Professional Writing or the BHA in Professional Writing, with the exception of the Departmental Core Requirement course and the Professional Writing Core Requirement courses. Other transfer courses will be considered for general education requirements and free electives for graduation. Please see the Dietrich College Advanced Standing and Transfer Credit Policy for more information.

Recommended Curriculum Pathway: B.A. in Professional Writing

This plan is the recommended pathway for completing the B.A. in Professional Writing in four years. While it is not required for students to follow this pathway precisely, it is highly recommended for students to do so, and we recommend students begin the major’s courses as early as possible. Students in Dietrich College may declare their primary major as early as the middle of their second semester. Students who have not declared their major in the Department of English may still take courses with us.

Students may also view the four-year plan (also known as a Pathway) for the B.A. in Professional Writing via the Stellic Degree Audit Application.

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Communication CourseGEN ED: Foundations Data Analysis CourseGEN ED: Foundations Scientific Inquiry CourseGEN ED: Foundations Intercultural & Global Inquiry Course
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Social Sciences CourseGEN ED: Foundations: Computational Thinking CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Logic/Math Course
GEN ED: Grand Challenge Seminar Course76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing76-26x Introductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)GEN ED: Equity and Justice Course
Free ElectiveFree Elective76-300 Professional Seminar76-390 Style
Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree ElectiveText/Context Course #1
Free Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual ThinkingOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Additional Course (Business, Design, Engineering)Optional GEN ED: Senior Capstone
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: The Arts CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Advanced Writing/Rhetoric Course #276-373 Argument
Rhetoric/Language Studies CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Advanced Writing/Rhetoric Course #3Advanced Writing/Rhetoric Course #4
English Elective Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Text/Context Course #2Free Elective
Advanced Writing/Rhetoric Course #1Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Free ElectiveFree Elective

The B.S. in Technical Writing 

The B.S. in Technical Writing (TW) is one of the oldest undergraduate technical communication degrees in the country with a history that stretches back to 1958. The degree is specifically designed to prepare students for successful careers involving scientific, technical, and computer-related communication, including writing and designing for digital media.

Today’s technical communicators have the strong backgrounds in technology, communication, and design needed to enter a broad range of information-based fields, and do work that both includes and goes well beyond writing documents for print distribution. The expanding range of options includes positions that involve organizing, managing, communicating, and facilitating the use of both technical and non-technical information in a range of fields and media.

Technical communicators develop and design web sites, explain science and technology to the public, develop print and multimedia materials, develop information management systems, design and deliver corporate training, and develop support systems for consumer products ranging from software for word processing or personal finances to complex data management systems.

The B.S. in TW recognizes the important changes taking place in communication-based careers and includes two distinctive “tracks,” one in Technical Communication (TC) and one in Scientific and Medical Communication (SMC). Both tracks begin with a common core of foundation courses in print and on-line communication as well as a shared set of prerequisites in math, statistics, and computer programming. The two tracks differ in the set of theory/specialization courses beyond the core, with each track including a specialized set appropriate to its focus.

In both tracks, TW students work on real projects for actual clients, learn group interaction and management skills, and develop a flexible repertoire of skills and strategies to keep up with advances in software and technology. Above all, they focus on developing structures and information strategies to solve a broad range of communication and information design problems.

TW students are able to draw on exceptional resources on and off campus to enhance their education. Most obvious are the course offerings of Carnegie Institute of Technology, the Mellon College of Science, and the School of Computer Science. Additional course offerings in business, organizational behavior, policy and management, psychology, history, and design are also encouraged. As a capstone experience, Seniors have the opportunity to complete a Senior Project or, upon invitation from the college, a Senior Honors Thesis. TW students can also apply for grants and fellowship through the Undergraduate Research Office to work on independent research projects with faculty.

While the major appeals to students with strong professional interests, both core and elective requirements develop the broad intellectual background one expects from a university education and prepare students to either enter the workplace upon graduation or pursue graduate study in fields as diverse as communications, business, instructional design, information design, education, and science and healthcare writing.

Various opportunities for writers to gain professional experience are available through campus publications, department-sponsored internships for academic credit, and writing-related employment on and off campus. TW students have the option of doing internships for academic credit during their junior or senior year and are encouraged to pursue a series of internships throughout their 4 years and during their summers.

All TW students are required to enroll in the English Department’s 3-unit course, Professional Seminar (76-300), which meets once a week during the fall term and provides majors with the opportunity to meet and network with practicing professionals in a range of communications fields.

The Technical Communication (TC) Track

The Technical Communication track (TC) prepares students for careers in the rapidly changing areas of software and digital media. Students learn the fundamentals of visual, verbal, and on-line communication as well as the technical skills needed to design, communicate, and evaluate complex communication systems and to manage the interdisciplinary teams needed to develop them. Students become fluent in both print-based and electronic media across a variety of information genres and learn to design information for a range of specialist and non-expert audiences. The TW/TC major can be pursued as a primary major within Dietrich College or as an additional major for students in other Colleges with an interest in combining their specialized subject matter knowledge with strong writing and communications skills. Graduates of this track are likely to follow in the footsteps of previous TW students from Carnegie Mellon who are currently employed as web designers, information specialists, technical writers, and information consultants in a range of technology and communication-based organizations including Salesforce, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, and HP Vertica.

The Scientific and Medical Communication (SMC) Track

The Scientific and Medical Communication track (SMC) is designed for students who seek careers that focus on communication and information design problems in health, science, and medicine. It should appeal to students with interests in the health care professions, science and public policy, patient education, scientific journalism and related fields. Like the TC track, the SMC track is designed to provide both the technical and the communication skills needed to analyze and solve complex communication problems. Students learn the fundamentals of visual, verbal, and on-line communication as well as the technical skills needed to design, communicate, and evaluate complex information systems and to manage the interdisciplinary teams needed to develop them. Students become fluent in both print-based and electronic media across a variety of information genres and learn to design information for a range of specialist and non-expert audiences The TW/SMC major can be pursued as a primary major within Dietrich College or as a secondary major for students in other Colleges, such as MCS, with an interest in science or medicine.

Curriculum

All Technical Writing majors must satisfy the Dietrich College requirements for the B.S. degree, and a set of 3 to 4 prerequisite courses in calculus, statistics, and computer science. All prerequisites should be completed by the beginning of the fall semester, junior year. Prerequisites may double count toward Dietrich College Requirements or requirements for other majors or minors.

Mathematics Prerequisite (1 course, 10 units):
Complete one of the following: Units
21-111Calculus I10
21-112Calculus II10
21-120Differential and Integral Calculus10
21-127Concepts of Mathematics12
Statistics Prerequisite (1 course, 9 units):
36-200Reasoning with Data9
Computer Science Prerequisites (1 - 2 courses*, 10 - 22 units):
Students in the Technical Communication track must complete two required Computer Science courses: Units
15-110Principles of Computing10
15-112Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science12
Students in the Scientific and Medical Communication track complete one required Computer Science course: Units
15-110Principles of Computing10

15-110 Principles of Computing is designed for students with little or no prior programming experience and is appropriate for students in both the SMC and TC tracks. 15-112 Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science prepares students in the TC track for all other advanced Computer Science courses.

Beyond these prerequisites, students in both TC and SMC tracks take a common set of 5 TW Core Requirements in writing, communication, and information design. To complement these foundations courses, TW students take a set of 3 Theory/Specialization courses specific to either TC or SMC. In addition, students in the SMC track take a series of 3 courses in the natural sciences or engineering relevant to their areas of interest, while TC students take 3 electives in management, technology, and social issues.

DEPARTMENTAL CORE REQUIREMENT (1 COURSE, 9 UNITS):
Introductory Genre Writing Course
76-260Introduction to Writing Fiction9
76-261Introduction to Writing Creative Nonfiction9
76-265Introduction to Writing Poetry9
76-269Introduction to Screenwriting9
TW Core Requirements (5 courses, 45 units):
76-271Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing9
76-300Professional Seminar3
76-390Style9
76-391Document & Information Design *9
76-487Information Architecture & Content Design (formerly titled Web Design) **

*  prerequisite = 76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
**prerequisite = 76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing + 76-391 Document & Information Design

Theory/Specialization Courses (3 courses, 27 units):

Complete 3 courses to deepen your area of specialty and complement your chosen track (TC or SMC) in the major. One must be chosen from among courses designated as Recommended Options for TW majors. Theory/Specialization courses, including those marked as Recommended Options, are advertised by the English Department on a semester-by-semester basis. TW students should select courses in consultation with their academic advisor.

Recommended courses include but are not limited to the following: Units
76-319Environmental Rhetoric9
76-359User Experience Methods for Documents9
76-395Science Writing9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-474Software Documentation9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design *12
76-491Rhetorical Analysis9
76-494Healthcare Communications9
Additional Options include but are not limited to the following: Units
76-301InternshipVar.
76-302Communication Support Tutoring Practicum6
76-318Communicating in the Global Marketplace9
76-319Environmental Rhetoric9
76-325Intertextuality9
76-351Rhetorical Invention9
76-355Leadership, Dialogue, and Change9
76-359User Experience Methods for Documents9
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-372News Writing9
76-378Literacy: Educational Theory and Community Practice9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-395Science Writing9
76-396Non-Profit Message Creation9
76-419Media in a Digital Age9
76-420The Cognition of Reading and Writing: Introduction to a Social/Cognitive Process9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-474Software Documentation9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design12
76-484Discourse Analysis9
39-605Engineering Design Projects12
Electives (3 courses, 27 units):

TW majors take 3 courses outside of English to deepen their area of specialty in their track. Typically, students in the Technical Communication (TC) track select courses that focus on management, technology, and social issues. Students in the Science and Medical Communication (SMC) track select courses in the natural sciences, engineering, statistics or (for example) healthcare-related courses in the Heinz College. Students should work with their academic advisor and the Program Director to select courses that are meaningful for their track.

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two courses with other programs outside of the Department of English. NOTE: courses being used for the Dietrich General Education requirements do not have a double-counting limit. Also, the Mathematics and Computer Science prerequisite requirement courses for the Technical Writing major do not have a double-counting limit, nor do the Electives required for each specific track (TC track or SMC track).

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer up to two advisor-approved courses from other non-CMU programs/institutions toward the primary or additional major in Creative Writing or the BHA in Technical Writing, with the exception of the Introductory Genre Writing Course and Technical Writing Core Requirement Courses. Other transfer courses will be considered for general education requirements and free electives for graduation. Please see the Dietrich College Advanced Standing and Transfer Credit Policy for more information.

Recommended Curriculum Pathway: B.S. in Technical Writing

This plan is the recommended pathway for completing the B.S. in Technical Writing in four years. While it is not required for students to follow this pathway precisely, it is highly recommended for students to do so, and we recommend students begin the major’s courses as early as possible. Students in Dietrich College may declare their primary major as early as the middle of their second semester. Students who have not declared their major in the Department of English may still take courses with us.

Students may also view the four-year plan (also known as a Pathway) for the B.S. in Technical Writing via the Stellic Degree Audit Application.

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Communication CourseGEN ED: Foundations Data Analysis CourseGEN ED: Foundations Scientific Inquiry CourseGEN ED: Foundations Intercultural & Global Inquiry Course
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities CourseGEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Social Sciences Course15-112 Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science (for TC Track students) OR Free Elective (for SMC Track students)GEN ED: Equity and Justice Course
GEN ED: Grand Challenge Seminar Course15-110 Principles of Computing 76-26x Introductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)76-390 Style
Mathematics Prerequisite Course for TW Major76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing76-300 Professional SeminarTechnical Communication Elective #1 (TC Track students) OR Free Elective (SMC Track students)
Free ElectiveFree ElectiveFree ElectiveFree Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
GEN ED: Foundations: Contextual ThinkingOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: Additional Course (Business, Design, Engineering)Optional GEN ED: Senior Capstone
GEN ED: Disciplinary Perspectives: The Arts CourseOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Theory and Specialization Course #1 (from Recommended List)Theory and Specialization Course #3
76-391 Document & Information DesignOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Theory and Specialization Course #276-487 Information Architecture & Content Design (formerly titled Web Design)
Technical Communication Elective #2 (TC Track students) OR Natural Science & Engineering Elective #1 (SMC Track students)Open for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Technical Communication Elective #3 (TC Track students) OR Natural Science & Engineering Eletive #2 (SMC Track students)Free Elective (TC Track students) OR Natural Science & Engineering Elective #3 (SMC Track students)
Free ElectiveOpen for course exploration, requirements for other majors/minors, study abroad, etc.Free ElectiveFree Elective

*These courses must be taken in the sequence indicated. 76-271 is offered all semesters and therefore can be taken fall or spring of sophomore year. 76-271 is a prerequisite for 76-391, and 76-271 + 76-391 are the prerequisites for 76-487. 76-391 is typically only offered in the fall semesters, and 76-487 is typically only offered in spring semesters.

Completing an Additional Major in English

For Students with a Primary Major in the English Department

Students with a primary major in the English Department who have interests that include more than one of the department's majors have the option of completing an additional major within the department. Students may combine any of the departmental majors with one another, with the exception of Professional Writing and Technical Writing. Students may not combine these two majors because so many of the courses overlap.

Students with a primary major in the English Department and one or more additional majors in the English Department must fulfill the Core Requirements for each of those majors. The Survey of Forms requirement, common to all 5 majors, needs to be taken only once, with the exception of Creative Writing, which requires two Survey of Forms courses. For the English Department majors that require English Electives, students must complete the number of English Electives required by the major with the higher number of Electives. For example, a student with a primary major in Creative Writing and an additional major in Professional Writing would take 4 English Electives, as Creative Writing requires 4 English Electives, and Professional Writing requires only 3 English Electives.

Because students are only required to take a minimum of one Survey of Forms course, with the exception of Creative Writing, which requires two Survey of Forms courses, as well as the number of English Electives that is greater between the primary and additonal major(s), students can generally add an additional major within the English Department by completing 6 to 9 additional courses.

An example:

A student who has fulfilled all 11 departmental requirements for the B.A. in Creative Writing can complete the additional major in Professional Writing by adding 9 courses: 4 courses of the PW Core (76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing, 76-300 Professional Seminar, 76-373 Argument, 76-390 Style), one Rhetoric/Language Studies course, and 4 Advanced Writing/Rhetoric courses.

Because sequencing of courses can become an issue when doing multiple majors, students are strongly advised to consult closely with the English Department academic advisor about the sequence of their courses. The English Department academic advisor can also provide students with documents that clearly outline the requirements for additional majors based on their primary majors within the Department.

For Students with a Primary Major Outside of the English Department

Students in other departments who wish to complete an additional major in the English Department should contact the English Department's academic advisor. Additional majors in the five English programs are required to complete all requirements for the chosen major. The English Department will allow a maximum of two courses from the additional major to double count with the primary major requirements. (The types of courses that apply to this policy are predetermined by the Department of English. See the English Academic Advisor for more details.) The only exceptions to this rule are the Technical Communication Electives for the Technical Communication concentration in the Technical Writing major and the Natural Science and Engineering Electives for the Science & Medical Communication concentration in the Technical Writing major. All of those electives may double count with programs outside of the English Department. In planning schedules for an additional major, it is critically important that students consult with academic advisors in both departments in which they are majoring to be sure that all requirements for graduation can be met.

Minor in English

The English Department also offers minors in Creative Writing, Humanities Analytics, Literature & Culture, Professional Writing, and Technical Writing. We also house two Dietrich College interdisciplinary minors in Film and Media Studies and Gender Studies. All of these minors are available to all undergraduate students, including English majors.

Double Counting

Students who have a minor in English as well as a primary and/or an additional major in English may not double count any English courses with that minor. (Please see the separate double counting rules for the interdisciplinary minors in Film and Media Studies and Gender Studies.) Otherwise, up to two courses from the minor may double count with programs outside of the English Department. Courses that meet the various requirements are advertised on a semester-by-semester basis. Full descriptions are available each semester on the Department's Courses web page. 

Transfer Courses

Students may transfer in a maximum of one advisor-approved course from an institution outside of Carnegie Mellon University, with the exception of the following courses, to count toward a minor:

  • Creative Writing: 76-26x Introductory Genre Writing Course
  • Humanities Analytics: 76-275 Introduction to Critical Writing and 76-380 Methods in Humanities Analytics
  • Film & Visual Media: 76-239 Introduction to Film Studies
  • Literature & Culture: 76-275 Introduction to Critical Writing, 76-245 Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories, and 76-247 Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
  • Professional Writing: Required Intro Course and the Core Writing Courses
  • Technical Writing: Required Intro Course and the Core Writing Courses

Courses that meet the various requirements are advertised on a semester-by-semester basis. Full descriptions are available each semester on the Department's Courses web page. 

Creative Writing Minor

Complete 6 courses and a minimum of 54 units, which includes First-Year Writing.

Course Units
First-Year Writing *9
One Introductory Genre Writing Course 9
76-xxxTwo 300/400 level Fiction, Poetry, and/or Screenwriting Workshop Classes18
76-3xxOne Reading in Forms Course9
76-2xxOne 200-level or above English Elective9
*

Course options include 76-101, 76-102, [76-106 and 76-107], [76-106 and 76-108], or [76-107 and 76-108].

+

A student must earn a grade of A or B in the Introductory Genre Writing course in order to be eligible to enroll in a workshop of that same genre. A student who earns a grade of C in an Introductory Genre Writing course may enroll in a related workshop only with the permission of his/her/their workshop professor. A student who earns a D or R in an Introductory Genre Writing course may not take a workshop in that same genre.

Course options include 76-26076-26176-265, and 76-269.

Humanities Analytics Minor

Tech CEOs and data scientists are increasingly calling for employees with more exposure to the humanities.  

At the same time, the human experience that is traditionally at the core of a humanities education is being dramatically transformed by the emergence of big data, digital platforms, computational thinking, and digital connectivity. 

Spurred by such developments, the minor in Humanities Analytics (HumAn) trains students in the processes involved in analyzing, digitizing, questioning, quantifying, and visualizing different types of humanities and cultural phenomena, such as printed books, fan fiction, manuscripts, historical records, art, music, and film.

The minor is open to students across multiple colleges and degree programs and enriches their education in distinct ways that complement their primary majors. For example, students with a primary major in a humanities or social science department will learn the foundational methods used in the computational analysis of text. Students with a primary major in a non-humanities field will use technology as a lens into cultural history and will develop skills for making humanities knowledge visible and appealing. The minor bridges divides not only between the "digital/technological" and the "humanistic," but also between the qualitative and quantitative, between theory and application, and between critiquing and making.

HumAn prepares students for careers in: 

  • Technology

  • Data Science

  • Data Journalism

  • Cultural Commentary

  • Natural Language Processing

  • Professional Writing

  • Publishing

  • Museums

  • Libraries

  • Academia

Curriculum

Required Courses6 courses, 54 units minimum
Required Courses Units
76-275Introduction to Critical Writing9
76-380Methods in Humanities Analytics9
Two core courses from the following list: Units
76-314Data Stories9
76-388Coding for Humanists9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-429Introduction to Digital Humanities9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
Electives2 courses, 15-24 units

Choose two courses from the following categories. One course must come from List A, and one from List B. Additional courses not on List A or List B may also be approved as electives; please speak with the English Department academic advisor for more information.

List A
Course Number & Title Units
05-391Designing Human Centered Software12
05-434/11-344Machine Learning in Practice12
11-411Natural Language Processing12
11-441/741Machine Learning for Text and Graph-based Mining 19
15-104Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice10
15-110Principles of Computing10
15-112Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science12
16-223IDeATe Portal: Creative Kinetic Systems10
16-385Computer Vision12
17-340Green Computing9
17-450Crafting Software12
17-562Law of Computer Technology9
18-090Twisted Signals: Multimedia Processing for the Arts10
36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
36-204Discovering the Data Universe3
36-226Introduction to Statistical Inference9
36-311Statistical Analysis of Networks9
36-315Statistical Graphics and Visualization 29
36-350Statistical Computing 29
36-462Special Topics: Methods of Statistical Learning9
48-095Spatial Concepts for Non-Architecture MajorsVar.
48-120Digital Media I6
51-229Digital Photographic Imaging9
53-451Research Issues in Game Development: Designing for XR12
60/62-142Digital Photography I10
62-150IDeATe Portal: Introduction to Media Synthesis and Analysis10
1

Course is very mathematical and is therefore appropriate only to students with such a preparation.

2

This course has prerequisites.

List B
Course Number & Title Units
76-210Banned Books9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances9
76-325Intertextuality9
76-373Argument9
76-385Introduction to Discourse Analysis9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-491Rhetorical Analysis9
79-200Introduction to Historical Research & Writing9
79-234Technology and Society9
80-180Nature of Language9
80-280Linguistic Analysis9
80-381Meaning in Language9
80-383Language in Use9
82-282Interpreting Global Texts & CulturesVar.
82-283Language Diversity & Cultural Identity9
82-383Second Language Acquisition: Theories and Research9
82-480Translation Technologies9

Literature & Culture Minor

Complete 6 courses and a minimum of 54 units, including First-Year Writing as a prerequisite.

Curriculum 
Required Courses6 courses, 54 units
Two Introductory Courses Units
76-275Introduction to Critical Writing9
76-26xIntroductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)9
 18
200-Level Literature & Culture Courses (2 courses, 18 units)

One course must cover the period of 1830 or before. For example, Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Courses for 1830 or Before Units
76-203Literature & Culture in the 18th Century9
76-230Literature & Culture in the 19th Century9
76-233Literature and Culture in the Renaissance9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances9
Courses include but are not limited to: Units
76-203Literature & Culture in the 18th Century9
76-207Special Topics in Literature & Culture9
76-210Banned Books9
76-217Literature & Culture of the 20th and 21st Century9
76-221Books You Should Have Read By Now9
76-230Literature & Culture in the 19th Century9
76-232Introduction to Black Literature9
76-233Literature and Culture in the Renaissance9
76-239Introduction to Film Studies9
76-290Literature & Culture in the 20th Century9
76-241Introduction to Gender Studies9
76-245Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories
(if not taken for pre-1830 requirement)
9
76-247Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
(if not taken for pre-1830 requirement)
9
76-259Film History9
76-287Sex & Texts9
​300- or 400-Level Literature & Culture or Theory Courses (2 Courses, 18 units)

Course options include but are not limited to the following:

Courses include but are not limited to: Units
76-310Advanced Studies in Film and Media9
76-313Creative Visual Storytelling in Film Production9
76-314Data Stories9
76-31519th Century American Literature9
76-317Contemporary American Fiction9
76-326Contemporary Global Literature9
76-329Performing Race in Early Modernity9
76-333Race and Controversy in the Arts9
76-337Intersectional Feminism9
76-339Topics in Film and Media9
76-343Rise of the American Novel9
76-350Critical Theories about Literature9
76-352Music, Technology, and Culture9
76-353Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film9
76-367Fact Into Film: Translating History into Cinema9
76-429Introduction to Digital Humanities9
76-439Seminar in Film and Media Studies9
76-440Postcolonial Theory: Diaspora and Transnationalism9
76-445Milton9
76-448Shakespeare on Film9
76-449Race and Media9
76-452Generations and Culture9
76-453Literature of Empire9
76-454Rise of the Blockbuster9
76-467Crime Fiction and Film9

Professional Writing Minor

Complete 6 courses and a minimum of 54 units.

Required Intro Course Units
76-270Writing for the Professions9
or 76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
Two 200- or 300-Level Core Writing Courses Units
76-26xIntroductory Genre Writing Course (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting)9
76-373Argument9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-390Style9
Two 300- or 400-Level Writing Courses (18 units minimum) Units
76-306Editing and Publishing
(requires instructor permission)
Var.
76-308Literary Journal PublishingVar.
76-314Data Stories9
76-318Communicating in the Global Marketplace9
76-325Intertextuality9
76-351Rhetorical Invention9
76-354Watchdog Journalism9
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-372News Writing9
76-384Race, Nation, and the Enemy9
76-388Coding for Humanists9
76-391Document & Information Design9
76-395Science Writing9
76-396Non-Profit Message Creation9
76-397Instructional Text Design9
76-415Mediated Power and Propaganda9
76-418Rhetoric and the Body9
76-420The Cognition of Reading and Writing: Introduction to a Social/Cognitive Process9
76-425Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere9
76-457Rhetorical Invention9
76-474Software Documentation9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design12
76-484Discourse Analysis9
76-492Rhetoric of Public Policy9
76-487Information Architecture & Content Design (formerly titled Web Design)
76-494Healthcare Communications9
76-496Research Methods in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
(requires instructor permission)
9
One 200-Level or Above English Elective Units
Students may choose from the Department's listings. Please contact the academic advisor for more information.9

Technical Writing Minor

Complete 6 courses and a minimum of 54 units.

Required Intro Course Units
76-270Writing for the Professions9
or 76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
Two 200- or 300-Level Core Writing Courses Units
76-373Argument9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-390Style9
76-391Document & Information Design9
Two 300- or 400-Level Theory/Specialization Courses (18 units minimum) Units
76-301Internship
(requires department approval)
Var.
76-302Communication Support Tutoring PracticumVar.
76-314Data Stories9
76-318Communicating in the Global Marketplace9
76-380Methods in Humanities Analytics9
76-395Science Writing9
76-397Instructional Text Design9
76-474Software Documentation9
76-476Rhetoric of Science9
76-481Introduction to Multimedia Design12
76-483Research Methods in Technical & Professional Communication9
76-487Information Architecture & Content Design (formerly titled Web Design)
76-496Research Methods in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
(requires instructor approval)
9
Additional 300- or 400-Level Theory/Specialization Course Units
In addition to any of the courses above that have not already been taken, courses include but are not limited to:
76-306Editing and Publishing
(requires instructor approval)
Var.
76-318Communicating in the Global Marketplace9
76-325Intertextuality9
76-354Watchdog Journalism9
76-360Literary Journalism Workshop9
76-372News Writing9
76-384Race, Nation, and the Enemy9
76-389Rhetorical Grammar9
76-415Mediated Power and Propaganda9
76-418Rhetoric and the Body9
76-457Rhetorical Invention9
76-464Creative Nonfiction Workshop9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
76-492Rhetoric of Public Policy9
76-494Healthcare Communications9

Senior Honors Thesis

Seniors in all five majors in the English Department who meet the necessary requirements are invited by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Dietrich College) to propose and complete a Senior Honors Thesis during their final year of study. The thesis may focus on research and/or original production in any of the areas offered as a major within the Department. To qualify for the Dietrich College Honors Program, students must have a cumulative Quality Point Average (QPA) of at least 3.50 in their major and 3.25 overall at the end of their junior year and be invited by Dietrich College to participate. Students then choose a thesis advisor within the Department and propose and get approval from Dietrich College for a Senior Honors Thesis. The Honors Thesis is completed over the two semesters of the senior year (9 units each semester) under the direction of the chosen advisor. By successfully completing the thesis, students earn 18 units of credit and qualify for graduation with “College Honors.”

Creative Writing majors participating in the Senior Honors Thesis program may petition to have one semester of their thesis work count as one of their Workshop course requirements. Students interested in this option should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
 

Internship Program

Qualified students in all five of the Department’s degree programs have the option of doing a professional internships for academic credit during their junior or senior years. These opportunities help students explore possible program-related careers as well as gain workplace experience. Each internship is arranged, approved, and overseen by the Department’s Internship Director. Particular attention is given to matching students to internship sites of specific interest to them. Students have interned in a wide variety of communications-related positions including placements at local radio, television, and print publications; museums, theaters, and cultural organizations; non-profit and public service organizations; public relations, advertising, and marketing firms; software and technology companies; new media organizations; and hospitals and healthcare communication organizations.

To be eligible for an internship, students must have a Quality Point Average (QPA) of 3.0 or better and credit for at least one writing course (including Survey of Forms) beyond First-Year Writing (e.g. 76-101 Interpretation and Argument). Internships generally carry 3-12 units of credit. A 9-unit internship is the standard and requires a minimum of 120-140 hours (8-10 hours per week over a 15-week term) of work at the internship site during the term. In addition, interns complete a reflective journal and a series of short research and writing assignments relevant to the specific internship. Students doing an internship for credit must be registered for the internship during the term (including summer) when they are working at the internship site. Majors in the Department may count one 9- to 12-unit internship for one of their major requirements, generally an English elective, but sometimes as an Advanced Writing requirement for Professional Writing majors.

Students may pursue additonal internships for credit, which may count toward their overall units for graduation. For details, see the Dietrich College's Academic Standards, Regulations, and Protocols in the current Undergraduate Catalog.
 

The Accelerated MA in Professional Writing: MAPW 4+1

The Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW) 4+1 is an accelerated masters program under which Carnegie Mellon students (usually majors or minors in the English department or BHA or BHS students with relevant coursework) can qualify to complete the M.A. in Professional Writing in 2 semesters and a required full-time internship instead of the usual 3 semesters and a summer internship. Most 4+1 students complete their internship requirement during the summer after their graduation.

Students apply for admissions during their senior year (the GRE is not required) and, following admission and evaluation of their transcripts, may receive credit for up to four courses, or one full semester of work, toward their M.A. requirements. The degree provides the advantages of an M.A. degree in an accelerated time frame, features intensive work in writing and visual design for both print and new media, and prepares students for a range of communications careers.

The coursework and career options most commonly pursued by students in the degree include:

  • Technical Writing
  • Science and Healthcare Writing
  • UX Writing/Content Design
  • Information Architecture
  • Public & Media Relations / Corporate Communications
  • Nonprofit & Policy Communication
  • Editing and Publishing

Students interested in applying to the 4+1 program should consult the Director of the MAPW program early in their junior year for further details and advice on shaping undergraduate coursework to qualify for this option. 

Course Descriptions

About Course Numbers:

Each Carnegie Mellon course number begins with a two-digit prefix that designates the department offering the course (i.e., 76-xxx courses are offered by the Department of English). Although each department maintains its own course numbering practices, typically, the first digit after the prefix indicates the class level: xx-1xx courses are freshmen-level, xx-2xx courses are sophomore level, etc. Depending on the department, xx-6xx courses may be either undergraduate senior-level or graduate-level, and xx-7xx courses and higher are graduate-level. Consult the Schedule of Classes each semester for course offerings and for any necessary pre-requisites or co-requisites.


76-050 Study Abroad
All Semesters
No course description provided.
76-100 Reading and Writing in an Academic Context
Fall and Spring: 9 units
76-100 is an academic reading and writing course for multilingual students, especially those who are not native speakers of English or who consider English to be their weaker language. The course emphasizes reading comprehension strategies for reading a variety of text types in English (e.g., journalism, textbook selections, popular press arguments, and academic journal articles). Throughout the semester, students use these sources to write summaries and short position papers. The course introduces students to readers' expectations for North American rhetorical style at the sentence, paragraph, and whole text or genre levels. Within the course we discuss explicit genre and linguistic norms for writing in academic English so that writers can connect with their readers. Students who take this course qualify through an online placement test that is administered through the university prior to the fall semester. (All sections are offered MWF). Each 76-100 course is structured by the reading and writing objectives of the course as well as a vocabulary for writing in English, but some courses present different themes (or content) in their readings.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-101 Interpretation and Argument
All Semesters: 9 units
Interpretation and Argument is a foundational, inquiry-driven writing course that introduces students to a variety of strategies for making compositional decisions in writing and communication. Within the course, students learn genre-based skills applicable to a variety of different fields. Students use a comparative genre analysis method to learn how to use models to take on new writing tasks, including an academic research proposal and a research article that contributes to an ongoing academic conversation. Faculty who teach 76-101 typically select texts, ranging from scholarly texts, journalism, and film, about an issue so that students can identify interesting questions for their own research projects. Students should expect explicit, research-based instruction, practice, and reflection to build knowledge in controlling their writing processes and writing clear, well-supported, reader-oriented arguments. Because the course emphasizes the real stakes of communicating with readers and listeners, students share with their peers both low and high stakes written work within an interactive and collaborative classroom environment. Due to the limits of our schedule, we are unable to meet each student's individual preferences for course topics, but we do offer a wide variety from which to choose. Section descriptions are posted at the course URL below.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-102 Advanced First Year Writing: Special Topics
Fall and Spring: 9 units
76-102, Advanced First-Year Writing courses are designed for students who have demonstrated an understanding of academic writing that most incoming freshmen have not. Because of the students' level of preparedness, the First-Year Writing Program provides intensive, advanced courses for students to work closely with senior faculty within the English department. Advanced courses assume that students have established strong reading and synthesizing skills, as well as a demonstrated interest in writing and communication, prior to entering Carnegie Mellon. The course topics shift each semester. Students enroll through special invitation. Class size for 76102 is capped at 19 and there are no prerequisites for the course. Advisors will be notified if their students qualify for the advanced writing courses.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-106 Writing about Literature, Art and Culture
Fall and Spring: 4.5 units
This mini course (one of two minis students can choose to fulfill their FYW requirement) uses artistic, literary, and cultural texts (e.g., poetry, short story, lyrics, video clips) to introduce students to a variety of academic reading and writing practices that enable students to engage with texts and write about them with complexity and nuance. Within the course, we will discuss texts and evidence from multiple perspectives. We will examine how literary and cultural scholars write about texts (defined broadly), how they make claims, provide reasoning, and use textual support to argue for particular ways of seeing cultural objects. Throughout the semester, students will draw upon prior strategies and develop new ones for close reading and for critical analysis in order to produce their own thesis-driven arguments about why texts matter. We will consider and write about the extent to which these reading strategies are relevant for other kinds of reading and analysis by comparing texts from a variety of different disciplinary contexts.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-107 Writing about Data
Fall and Spring: 4.5 units
Our lives are increasingly shaped by writing that involves numbers: newspapers routinely report the latest medical fads; politicians support their political agendas with both dubious and credible statistics; parents use data to decide where to buy a house and where to send their kids to school. This course (one of two minis students can choose to fulfill their FYW requirement) focuses upon interpreting and making arguments using mainly numerical data but also qualitative data. We will look at research in a range of disciplinesincluding psychology, education, medicine, engineering, and the sciencesand note how writers select and analyze the data they collect. We will also examine what happens to this research when it is picked up by the popular media. Students will also practice collecting and analyzing their own data and reporting it to suit the needs of various stakeholders. There are two primary audiences for this section. Students in data-driven majors will find the section useful preparation for communicating in their disciplines. Students in other fields will learn how to critique and respond to the many ways that numbers shape our lives. This section presumes a basic ability to calculate averages, percentages, and ratios, but no advanced mathematical or statistical preparation. Instead, this section provides a fascinating look at how numbers and words intersect to create persuasive arguments in academic, professional, and popular contexts. Students will compare and analyze texts that make arguments with data, practice rhetorical strategies for synthesizing and representing data so that by the end of the class, students will apply these strategies to write an original data-driven research proposal.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-108 Writing about Public Problems
Fall and Spring: 4.5 units
If all problems required a simple fix, we could don our Avenger costumes, pick up Thors hammer, and right the worlds wrongs. But most problems arent so simple. Most of the problems we encounter require careful investigation and research so that we might propose solutions that connect with others to make change. In this 76101 class (one of two minis students can choose to fulfill their FYW requirement), we will learn how public problems are defined and argued across a range of texts, including proposals, op-ed genres, and white papers. By analyzing a range of proposal texts, we will identify the different kinds of legwork necessary to write a successful proposal, arguably one of the most challenging aspects of writing a persuasive recommendation for change. We will examine how writers unpack problems rhetorically and use evidence to argue solutions for different stakeholders who may not share common values. We will learn strategies for evaluating and synthesizing data from existing research to use in a proposal argument. By the end of the course, students will write their own proposal that recommends a solution and a feasible plan for solving a real problem.

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-203 Literature & Culture in the 18th Century
Fall: 9 units
Topics vary by semester. Fall 2022 This section will examine race, gender, and their intersections as points of entry into the major literary and cultural movements of the long eighteenth century, which continue to shape our present. From about 1660 to 1820, historical phenomena such as European empires, the Rights of Woman, and slavery and abolition coincided with changes in print and media culture to produce the rich literary productions we will study. Through reading and graded assignments such as short essays and oral presentations, students will learn methods for analyzing the formal features of literary texts (such as narrative structure and poetic rhythm) and how such texts respond to the pressures of history. Furthermore, students will develop their ability to think critically about race and gender, to argue persuasively, and to express ideas clearly. Examples of readings include Aphra Behn's Ooronoko, Jonathan Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room," Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Mary Prince's The History of Mary Prince, and William Wordsworth's "To Toussaint L'Ouverture."
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-204 Race, Ethnicity, Controversy
Intermittent: 9 units
Coverage of police violence. Condemnations of Critical Race Theory. Book bans. "Kung flu." In recent years, current issues around race have proliferated, and with them, complex layers of discourse and controversy. This course examines current issues around race through the twin lenses of rhetoric and ethnic studies, asking how power is expressed through rhetorics of race and controversy. What are the communicative practices involved in framing or responding to racial violence, prejudice, and controversy? How do these practices harness various cultural, political, and historical forces, and to what effect? How do these discourses contribute to racialization, and where, and how, are differential distributions of power being expressed? We will seek to understand discourses around these issues and the backgrounds of various debates, from policing and abolition, to recurring anti-Asian racism, to affirmative action debates, to transracial adoption. Students will learn to analyze discourses around race rhetorically, identify structures of power at work in these discourses, and produce a final paper analyzing the rhetorics of a current issue or controversy around race.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-206 Intro to Creative Writing
Intermittent: 9 units
In this course we will explore how stories work and why we tell them. Using screenplays, short fiction and personal essays, we will analyze how narratives function and how, upon reflection, narratives often function in very similar ways no matter what the genre. Storytelling has a shape. It dominates the way all stories are told and can be traced back in history to the very beginning of the recorded word. We will study traditional structure in screenplays and contemporary prose pieces, and consider stories from fairy tales to serialized television shows. These master texts will be used to guide the students as they write and develop their own stories.
76-207 Special Topics in Literature & Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics very by semester and section. For Fall 2023 section descriptions, visit the course URL.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Course Website: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HzTjLjBFM73kSJver61zYwMb2GfFYzS7zFdxzMyH6Ig/edit?usp=sharing
76-210 Banned Books
Fall: 9 units
Literature is powerful! Indeed, we're interested in books that are so controversial that people will shout, argue, and try to change laws in order to have a book removed from a curriculum, a school or public library, or a prison. At the same time we'll learn about how, in response, other people work extremely hard to defend books against removal and censorship. The term "banned books," can be a bit misleading in the US context; only in very rare cases does the US federal government get involved in trying to ban or censor a published work. Nonetheless, the US is a hot spot for those who seek to attack books, and for those who seek to defend them. In this course you will find that the actions of attackers and the actions of defenders are often mutually reinforcing. Every student in this course will contribute to a public facing website called The CMU Banned Books project. This website is used by journalists, scholars and activists around the world. This semester's books for reading and discussion include some of the most frequently banned and challenged books of the last five years, including The Handmaid's Tale, Gender Queer, The 1619 Project, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Since 2020, organizations that track book banning tell us that the numbers of books banned and/or challenged are at an all-time high.
76-214 Understanding Cultural Complexities
Fall and Spring: 9 units
In today's society that explores Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, one can ponder if Arab societies have made progress to achieve DEI towards minorities of religions (Muslims, Christians, Jews), sects (Sunni and Shi'a), ethnicities (Copts, Nubians, Kurds), Palestinians in Israel, homosexuals, and physical disabilities. This course aims to enrich students' understanding of the diversity of Arab countries and histories of intercommunal relations and conflict, explore the progress made in equating minorities to majorities, including them in various sectors, and granting them more rights. We will use readings, films, arts, and music, to engage with students in 4 Arab countries to further their learning.
76-217 Literature & Culture of the 20th and 21st Century
Intermittent: 9 units
Spring 2022: If you're in college now, you're probably a member of "Generation Z." There are a number of studies of Generation Z and its disposition, habits, and interests. While we are familiar with factors that make up our identities and #8212;nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, income, and abledness and #8212;one's generation is probably just as influential, and according to some sociologists, more important than those other factors. In this class we will look at portraits of American generations in fiction, from the Baby Boomers and Generation X through Millennials and Generation Z. We will also look at some of the sociology and see how it bears on the fiction. In addition, we might look back at past generations, such as the generation that came of age after World War I, the Lost Generation, which inspired writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the Beat Generation, which inspired Jack Kerouac. In more recent fiction, we might read fiction such as Coupland's Generation X, Lauren Groff's portrait of the sixties generation in Arcadia, or Ling Ma's portrait of Millennials in Severance. We will also look at film along with novels, possibly including The Big Chill, Reality Bites, and other movies.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-219 Law & Blame
Intermittent: 9 units
How do we use language to accuse and defend? How do we attribute responsibility to specific individuals or institutions and dispute such claims, either by debunking them or shifting the blame? What makes the stories we tell and the arguments we make about responsibility succeed or fail? What unintended consequences can they produce and for what groups? This course will examine these and related questions through the lens of legal cases in which individuals or institutions are accused of responsibility for harm, from vehicular accident cases to criminal trials. The study of these questions is not only valuable for understanding the legal process, participating in it, or writing about it, but the practice of attributing responsibility is common in many social and institutional contexts beyond law, even in daily conversation. The course explores fundamental questions about culture, ethics, and politics, including issues involving systematic and structural inequalities involving race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and national origin, which are evident both in the legal cases studied and in the public imagination and controversy beyond the courtroom. The societal implications explored include inequitable constraints on freedom in criminal justice and economic inequalities perpetuated through civil lawsuits, as well as inequalities in cultural power and status in the ways some voices are recognized in the legal process and others are not. Drawing on readings from rhetoric, linguistics, and legal studies, as well as briefs, opening and closing arguments, direct and cross-examinations of witnesses, physical and documentary evidence, and judicial opinions from legal cases, we will examine the strategies advocates use to attribute responsibility, enhance equity, and manage such disputes.
76-221 Books You Should Have Read By Now
Fall and Spring: 9 units
Topics vary by semester and section. Fall 2023: Medical Triumphs and Transgressions - How can literary stories enable us to understand the social possibilities and problems involved in medical advancement, research, and practice? What does good medical care look likedoes it focus on bodily wellbeing alone, or does it also account for psychological and socioeconomic dimensions of wellbeing? How do our social views shape and infiltrate medical discourse, and vice versa? In this class, we will read and discuss novels and occasional creative nonfiction works about a variety of topics: reproductive health and rights, psychiatric care, racial and gender discrimination in healthcare, advances in medical technology (including cloning and the use of human body parts in medical research), and more. We will examine how literature represents medicine's social impacts, revealing both hopes and anxieties about our contemporary world and its future. We will consider: What does the literature say about medicine's values, problems, and goals? What is at stake in medical advancement? Who gets to access medical care, and who experiences barriers?
76-223 Contemporary Black Literature
Spring: 9 units
This course will take a transatlantic approach to what constitutes blackness as well as black literature and expression from the turn of the 20th century until the present. We will investigate the relationship between poetic forms and expressions of social and self-representation. However, this class will primarily focus on prose works (novels, memoirs and non-fiction essays) that span a multitude of genres from mystery to literary and science fiction. Authors include: W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Zadie Smith, Claude McKay, Amiri Baraka, Franz Fanon, Marlon James, Edouard Glissant, Nnedi Okorafor, Merle Collins and Jamaica Kincaid to name a few.
76-230 Literature & Culture in the 19th Century
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics vary by semester. Fall 2023: Literature and amp; Social Change - From the French Revolution to the beginning of the twentieth century, literature began to play an explosive role in the forces of political transition and the struggle for social justice. This course studies novels, poetry and prose in relation to both political and industrial revolutions during the rise of empire and capitalism and the road to climate change. We will study apocalyptic novels like Mary Shelley's The Last Man and novels of empire like Jane Eyre and its retelling in Wide Sargasso Sea; poetry about living in revolutionary times by Wordsworth and Phillis Wheatley Peters; and anti-capitalist anti-slavery writing such as Ottobah Cugoano's "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery."
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-232 Introduction to Black Literature
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will take a transatlantic approach to what constitutes blackness as well as black literature and expression from the turn of the 20th century until the present. We will investigate the way authors and artists use literature and other mediums of expression for social and self-representation. Our primary focus will be on prose works (novels, memoirs and non-fiction essays) that span a multitude of genres from mystery to literary and science fiction. There will also be sections of the course that focus other mediums such as visual art, comics, music, film and television. We will cover figures such as: Fredrick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Amiri Baraka, Franz Fanon, Toni Morrison, Merle Collins, Kyle Baker, Kara Walker and Beyonce to name a few.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-233 Literature and Culture in the Renaissance
Intermittent: 9 units
Combining theology, politics, history, and art, this course begins with the question that preoccupied English Renaissance (1500-1700) writers: how should power be represented? The course will look at how canonical poets including Sidney, Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton depicted angels and diplomats and how such images combined with writers' ideas of linguistic, political, and sexual power. Among topics we will likely consider are the linguistic contract, mediation, gender, non-binary identities, immunity, license, infidelity, automation, accommodation, and representation of popular sovereignty.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-236 Major Fiction Then and Now
Intermittent: 9 units
We read newspapers for reports about what is happening in our world. But we also read fiction and #8212;novels and stories and #8212;that tell us about imaginary worlds. Sometimes they are very much like our world, sometimes different. In this course we'll read classic novels like Charles Dickens' Great Expectations or Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment up to contemporary ones like Station Eleven or Severance. We will consider how they represent the world, their use of literary forms, and how they lead us into their alterior world. We will also consider what they say about their culture and society. Do they make a statement about the world, or are they more for entertainment? This course is based on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, and will be taught at SCI Somerset, a nearby prison. The course will include both "outside" students from CMU, as well as "inside" students at SCI Somerset. The course focuses on active participation and discussion between students. It runs from 2:30-5:10 on Friday afternoon. CMU students will travel together by bus, leaving our campus at 12:30 and returning by 6:30. To enroll, students in the course will submit a brief application and interview with faculty. The course is part of an exciting new initiative by CMU to bring education into America's prisons.
76-238 What Was the Hip-Hop Generation?
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will attempt to answer a simply stated but not so simply answered question: What is (or was) the "hip-hop" generation? Bakari Kitwana gives us a very broad but useful rubric to understand whom that generation was in his 2002 book, The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis of African-American Culture. For Kitwana it defines the first generation of African-American youth that grew up in post-segregation America. While useful, Kitwanas definition is also quite provocative since many of the earliest practitioners (and consumers) of what would eventually be called "hip-hop" were not all African-Americans but Greeks, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Jamaicans, Germans, Trinidadians, Mexicans, etc..., many of whom lived in America but also encountered hip-hop elsewhere on the planet. In our class we will take a broad, global perspective on the question of "what is/was the hip-hop generation" through scholarly and popular works by Kitwana. Jeff Chang, Tricia Rose and many others. Given the significant media studies components of this course our class will lean heavily on musical, cinematic and televisual sources. Not only will you watch early fictional films about hip-hop like Wildstyle and Krush Groove but others like Matthieu Kassovitzs La Haine and Rick Famuyimas Brown Sugar which are influenced by hip-hop culture. We will also watch music videos as well as listen to singles and select albums like Queen Latifahs All Hail the Queen, Kendrik Lamars To Pimp A Butterfly, Die Antwoords Tension as well as read memoirs such as Jay-Zs Decoded.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-239 Introduction to Film Studies
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course is an introduction to the history, technology, aesthetics, and ideology of film. Our main focus is the narrative fiction film, but we will also discuss documentaries, avant-garde work, and animation. The central organizing principle is historical, but there are a number of recurring thematic concerns. These include an examination of the basic principles of filmmaking, the development of film technology, the definition of film as both art and business, and the history of film as an object of critical and cultural study. The goals of this course are threefold. First, it will provide you with a solid grounding in the key issues and concepts of film studies. Second, it will expand your ability to knowledgeably critique individual cinematic works and their relationship to the larger culture. Lastly, it will provide you with experience in expressing your critiques in writing.
76-241 Introduction to Gender Studies
Fall and Spring: 9 units
Intersectional feminism. Structural oppression. Biological sex vs. gender roles. LGBTQIA+ rights. Consent. Masculinity. #metoo and gender-based violence. Sexual politics. Global feminism. This course offers students a scholarly introduction to these social and political issues through critical readings, literature and film. In this discussion-based class, students read and discuss contemporary gender studies that speaks to questions of identity, race, nation, sexuality, and disability. Critical readings include work by Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Judith Butler, Kimberl and #233; Crenshaw, Sara Ahmed, Eve Sedgewick, Raewyn Connell, Mari Matsuda, Mona Eltahawy, Rosemarie GarlandThomson, and Kate Bornstein. Fiction might include Toni Morrison, Ocean Vuong, and Alison Bechdel.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-242 American Woman Writers
Intermittent: 9 units
In 1855, Nathaniel Hawthorne lamented to his publisher that "America is now wholly given to a damned mob of scribbling women and I should have no chance of success while the public taste is occupied with their trash." Even today, The New York Times Book Review and other gatekeepers rarely give women writers the coverage that male writers receive. In this course we will trace the multiple traditions of 20th century American women's writing and examine how women writers question, resist, subvert, and revise traditional gender roles. Our readings will address: the social construction of gender; the relationship between gender and genre; the cultural positions of women as writers and readers; women's rights and suffrage; women and work; female sexuality and sexual freedom; constructions of motherhood; intersections of gender with race, class, and ethnicity. Readings include: The House of Mirth, Pale Horse Pale Rider, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Raisin in the Sun, To be Young, Gifted and Black, Woman Warrior, Fun Home, and The Namesake. Every other week (or so) we will be reading excerpts from Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism.
76-243 Introduction to Television
Intermittent: 9 units
Television is a ubiquitous vehicle of mass culture that cannot be casually dismissed or uncritically celebrated. This course approaches television as an industry, a global mass medium, and a site of social and political discourse. It will provide an overview of various critical frameworks for understanding television. It will contextualize the ways that television affects and mediates configurations of class, race, gender, and sexuality. We will also reflect on our viewing practices: from contemplation to binge-watching and guilty pleasures. To do this, the course will engage with a wide variety of popular American TV genres and formats, including sitcoms, reality TV, dramas, and news and talk shows. It will also provide a historical overview of the medium. The course will conclude with the rise of digital streaming platforms and examine how they have impacted network television.
76-244 Immigrant Fictions
Intermittent: 9 units
Contemporary writers offer vibrant portrayals of questions around identity and belonging that accompany migration and immigration to the United States. Their works show how displaced people and their children reinvent themselves, even as they look back to other homelands. This contemporary literature course combines fiction, poetry, drama and scholarly non-fiction readings to examine the experiences of the transnational movement of people to the United States, including international students, refugees, and documented and undocumented migrants and their families. We will consider not only the experience of personal migration, but also the global social, economic and political processes that structure that movement. Possible fiction readings draws from Asian American studies, Latinx studies, and African American studies, and might include Jhumpa Lahiri, Valerie Luiselli, Chimamanda Adichie, Christina Garcia, Juno D and #237;az, Lisa Ko, Cathy Park Hong, and Edwidge Danticat.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-245 Shakespeare: Tragedies & Histories
Spring: 9 units
In the closing decades of the sixteenth century, enterprising cultural producers in early modern London began to develop a new commercial venture called 'playing': a business that offered ordinary people a few hours of dramatic entertainment for the price of one penny. In addition to watching the professional players onstage, spectators also participated in a form of play themselves (in a sense) because theatrical experience provided a unique opportunity to engage imaginatively with otherwise inaccessible people, worlds, and ideas. More than four hundred years later, the drama of the period now ranks among the most esteemed texts in all English literature, and the name 'Shakespeare' has become a byword for literary genius. This course will offer an overview of Shakespeare's tragedies and histories. As we read through these works, we will endeavor to understand what, and how, they meant in their original context, thereby developing a historically informed perspective on their influence over our own cultural landscape.
76-247 Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances
Fall: 9 units
Sometime around the late sixteenth century, enterprising cultural producers in early modern London began to develop a new commercial venture called 'playing': a business that offered ordinary people a few hours of dramatic entertainment for the price of one penny. In addition to watching the professional players onstage, spectators also participated in a form of play themselves, in a sense, because theatrical experience provided a unique opportunity to engage imaginatively with otherwise inaccessible people, worlds, and ideas. More than four hundred years later, the drama of the period now ranks among the most esteemed texts in all English literature, and the name 'Shakespeare' has become a byword for literary genius. This course will offer a selection of Shakespeare's delightfuland sometimes surprisingly edgycomedies and late romances. As we read through these works, we will endeavor to understand what, and how, they meant in their original context, thereby developing a historically informed perspective on their influence over our own cultural landscape.
76-251 Exploring Creative Writing in Community
Intermittent: 9 units
This creative writing course will be taught in a prison. Students will read and write and be in conversation with incarcerated men in Somerset, PA. The course will expose students to all three genres of creative writing, and will require intensive reading Transportation will be provided, but since the prison is an hour and a half away, students need to be willing to dedicate an entire Friday and #8212; leaving at 12:30 and returning at 7:00pm. This course is based on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, and will be taught at SCI Somerset, a nearby prison.
76-253 Information Graphics
Intermittent: 3 units
This micro-course introduces the basics of designing information graphics to students in all disciplines who are interested in learning to communicate complex information clearly and ethically using information graphics. Information graphics are ubiquitous. They are used by both practitioners and academics across many disciplines to communicate complex ideas, processes, and systems. While millions of decisions are made based on information graphics daily, creating an effective graphic is not simple. Designing information graphics requires careful consideration from multiple perspectives, including visual perception, social psychology, semiotics, and design ethics. What makes information graphics effective? What is required to optimize the design of an information graphic? How should information graphics be evaluated? Can information graphics be neutral, without bias? In this introductory course, we will address these and other questions through a hands-on project and discussions on various threads of studies around the analysis of information graphics. Assigned readings will complement the projects allowing students to examine information graphics from the perspectives of relevant theories and research findings. Class discussions and critiques are an essential part of this course.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-259 Film History
Fall: 9 units
This introductory course will focus on the history of the American film industry, 1930-1980. On most weeks, we will screen two films that reflect the most important genres and most enduring achievements of the era. We will be concerned with understanding how the studio system produced and marketed these works, and how that system changed significantly from the 1950s-1970s. By focusing on individual studios (for example, MGM and Warner Bros.) as "test cases," the class will also examine how particular companies produced films of a certain type in terms of such parameters as genre, theme, player, class address, and/or style. Readings will deal with the history of Hollywood, the various films, stars and/or filmmakers considered, as well theoretical/critical issues such as authorship, reception, and high vs. low culture. Students will learn important skills for film history, including reception study, archival research, and contextual analysis. Grades will be based on three papers that require different kinds of historical research, a midterm, and a final.
Prerequisite: 76-239
76-260 Introduction to Writing Fiction
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This is an introduction to the reading and writing of short fiction. Character development and the creation of scenes will be the principal goals in the writing of short stories during the course of the semester. Revisions of the stories will constitute a major part of the final grade. Reading assignments will illustrate the different elements of fiction reviewed and practiced, and students will analyze and discuss stories from a writer's point of view.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-261 Introduction to Writing Creative Nonfiction
Intermittent: 9 units
In this course we will analyze the different types of narrative structure, narrative suspense, voice, metaphor, and point of view that make for effective nonfiction writing. We will also examine the difference between good writers and good work, the functions of objective distance from and intimate investment in a subject, as well as the philosophical questions spurred by nonfiction writing. What is the nonfiction writer's role, and how does it differ from that of the fiction writer? Where do the two genres overlap? What gives nonfiction writing integrity? What does the term "creative nonfiction" mean? How have the form and aims of nonfiction writing - from memoir to essays to long-form journalism - evolved for better and for worse?
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-265 Introduction to Writing Poetry
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course is meant to serve as an introduction to the craft of poetry. We'll look closely at traditional forms in an effort to understand the effects of more formal choices on the page, and we'll examine the craft choices of modern and contemporary poets to expand our understanding of poetic approaches. Our analysis of poetry will begin at the level of the syllable and progress to words, lines, stanzas, series, and collections. You will be required to read both published work and the work of your classmates with a critical eye, to write your own poems, both formal and not, to write several short analysis essays, to write a longer critical essay, and to demonstrate your knowledge on one in-class exam. The most important take-away from this class is the ability to talk knowledgeably and critically about poetry. What you learn here will pave the way for your future as both a writer and a reader.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)

Course Website: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AGv7Ix7ovF0FSaJw8-Sx5ekefMYdNPkr5qv0GniJjEg/edit?usp=sharing
76-269 Introduction to Screenwriting
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This is a course in screenplay narrative. The screenplay has a certain format observed by every screenwriter. It is not so difficult to learn the format. The difficulty is in developing a screen story populated by believable characters, creating an expressive and logical relationship between the scenes by manipulating screen space and screen time (knowing what to omit from the story and what to emphasize), and finally writing dialogue that sounds real, but that does not simply copy everyday speech. The class will be structured into weekly writing exercises, discussion of the narratives under consideration, presentation and discussion of student work, and a final writing project.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-270 Writing for the Professions
All Semesters: 9 units
Writing in the Professions is a writing course specifically designed for mainly sophomores and juniors (although it is relevant for some freshmen and seniors) in all majors other than English. The course is appropriate for upper-level students in all CMU colleges and assumes that you may not have had much college-level writing instruction past your first year. The basic idea of the course is to give you experience in developing the writing skills you will be expected to have as you make the transition from student to professional. The course will cover some foundational principles of designing multimodal writing and communication within a variety of tasks including resume and cover letter writing, proposal writing and writing instructions. Students will discern the difference between writing for general and specific audiences, and analysis of visual aids in various texts. The course requires that students work both independently and in groups.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html
76-271 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
Spring: 9 units
Professional and technical communicators use words and images to connect people with information. With a strong foundation in rhetoric, this course will sharpen your abilities to communicate information clearly, effectively, and responsibly to real readers, stakeholders, and decision makers. Our assignments and conversations will include a wide range of genres and rhetorical situations you can expect to encounter as a professional and technical communicator, including job application genres, narrative genres like feature articles that blend subject matter interviews with keen observation, research genres like proposals, and team writing genres like technical documentation. A high level goal for the course is to combine theory, methods, and best practices for putting real readers and users of information at the center of our communication strategies. By the end of the course, you will have a portfolio of polished work that you can use to narrate your professional strengths and interests. This course is designed for undergraduates pursuing majors and minors in a writing and communication field, and who want to explore professional and technical communication as a discipline and career area.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-275 Introduction to Critical Writing
Fall: 9 units
(This course was formerly titled Critical Writing Workshop.) The goal of this course is to sharpen your ability to read and write about literary and other imaginative works. Critical reading and writing mean gathering and evaluating language and images to form an interpretation of a print, visual, or other media text. To that end, you will learn analytical keywords and terms from literary and cultural theory and how to apply them to texts and other objects. The focus will be on theories of race and gender and how they inform literary texts and our reading of them. Our course's method for critical writing instruction will be to workshop drafts of your essays. To that end, you will write four short interpretive papers in the course. You will also gain practice at oral presentation, peer-review and critique. To help us fine tune and integrate our critical skills we will spend the semester writing and thinking though genre, the categories by which we name and understand literature, and other media. Since this is a writing workshop and our time for reading will be somewhat limited, we are focusing on "the gothic" and its literary legacies from the 18th into the 20th century. The communication and analytic skills you acquire in this class will transfer to your work in a wide range of academic disciplines and professional contexts.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-278 Japanese Film and Literature: The Art of Storytelling
Intermittent: 9 units
This course explores how the art of storytelling is in tandem with the vicissitudes of the human condition as illustrated in Japan's variety of fictions, non-fictions, and films in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Analyses of each storytelling not only reveal the cultural dynamics behind Japanese modernity, but also invite students to find new insights into Japanese culture and their ways of perceiving our globalized world. What kind of cultural exchanges took place between modern Japan and the West? How are Japan's traditional values transformed in the face of modern technicalization and industrialization, compared to the modernization of other countries? And, in turn, what kind of impact has modern Japanese culture had on today's world? Tackling these questions among others, the course also extends to such issues as the legacy of traditional Japanese culture, the modern Emperor system, World War II experiences, emerging voices of minorities, and popular culture (e.g., anime and subculture).
76-280 Gender and Sexuality in Performance
Intermittent: 9 units
"Performance" describes a wide range of practices, from the everyday to the artistic. Gender and sexuality are key elements in everyday, political, and artistic performances, from the very personalhow you order a latte at Tassa D'Oro, tell a lover goodbye at the airport or comfort a crying childto the very publicperforming a Bach cello suite or an iconic King Lear, staging a demonstration against police violence or marketing a new app. This course will bring performance and theory into a practical partnership to create and critique social and individual narratives. We will also take an intersectional approach to gender and sexuality, mindfully mapping these performances in relation to race, class, and ability. We raise questions such as, How does everyday performance define gender and sexual identity? How do gender and sexuality define everyday performance? How does aesthetic performanceart, theater, film, digital media, poetryintervene in the ways in which gender and sexuality are performed? Readings in theory at the intersection between gender studies, queer theory, intersectional feminism, and performance studies will help us explore these questions. We will also consider a variety of cultural and artistic practices. Since this class will be in a remote format, we will focus on performances that are digitally accessible, both for the performances that we study and those we create for the class. This course counts towards the Gender Studies Minor.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-282 Disability in Pop Culture
All Semesters: 9 units
In 2016, ABC debuted the show Speechless, which follows the life of JJ, a high school teenager with cerebral palsy. In 2015, Deaf West Theatre premiered a revival production of Spring Awakening on Broadway, debuting a cast of both deaf and hearing actors who performed the show using American Sign Language and English simultaneously. In 2013, Allie Brosh released a book version of her blog titled Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happeneda combination of web comics and stories that included discussions of depression. These examples are a mere few of more recent representations of disability in pop culture. In this course, we will investigate how representations of disability tell stories about difference. Using the tools of rhetorical analysis, we will ask the following questions: How do memoirs, films, comics, health initiatives, advertisements, blogs, laws, and poetry use language and images to influence or construct our understanding of disability? How do these representations engage differences of gender, race, class, and sexuality? And finally, how does this work expand broader cultural, aesthetic, and political views of embodiment, disability, and difference? This course has two major parts: 1) We will examine various models of disability in order to theorize concepts such as normal, the gaze, passing, and access. In the process, we will consider how these concepts intersect with gender, race, class, and sexuality. 2) We will engage these theories through close reading of actual representations of disability that circulate in our worlds around us and shape our understandings of disability. We will pay particular attention to the rhetorical elements central to these representations such as purpose, genre, audience, context, form, and style.
76-286 Oral Communication
Intermittent: 6 units
Oral presentations are essential to professional success. Yet many people find themselves growing weak in the knees at the thought of presenting in front of a group. They read off of notes, speak too fast, or pepper their speech with nervous filler words such as "um" or "you know." 76-286 Oral Presentations is a mini intended for students who want to boost their confidence in presenting in front of others. You will learn strategies for structuring the content of a presentation, designing effective presentation slides, and controlling your voice and body language to produce a smooth, confident-sounding oral delivery. We will begin with giving short informal presentations and gradually increase the stakes as your confidence improves. You will have weekly opportunities to practice and improve your skills. We will also find opportunities to practice in a variety of physical settings so you can envision yourself as a calm, confident speaker no matter your surroundings. Grades in the course will be based on improvement and effort to encourage students to focus on their development rather than on final outcomes.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-287 Sex & Texts
Intermittent: 9 units
Please see *Content Warning* Below In this course, we will consider how writing and communication serve as means to create, define, and bound our worlds, shaping our ideas about "sex" and "sexuality" at their intersections with gender, disability, race, geographic location, religion, age, and so on. Using a rhetorical perspective, we will interrogate how everyday experiences with and performances of sex and sexuality are tied to legal, medical, corporate, cultural, and historical practices and ideologies. Readings will consist of public, scholarly, and creative genres such as Roxane Gay's Unruly Bodies, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Cardi B's "WAP" (feat. Megan Thee Stallion), and the Hulu series Shrill and will address topics including but not limited to bathroom bills, rape culture, the beauty industry, intellectual property, citizenship, and marriage equality. Students in this course will 1) develop a vocabulary for talking about sex and sexuality; 2) examine how sex and sexuality are shaped by public, historical, and cultural norms; and 3) practice analyzing rhetorical elements such as purpose, genre, audience, context, form, and style. Student projects will include weekly discussion posts, two shorter papers, and one creative project. This course meets the Dietrich College Communicating Gen Ed requirement. *Content Warning* Because this course takes up questions of sex and sexuality, we will discuss the body/embodiment and issues related to violence (sexual, racial, intellectual, domestic, linguistic, etc.). While projects will ask students to examine questions of sex and sexuality, students will not be required to write about issues related to violence.
76-289 Billingual & Bicultural Experiences in the US
Intermittent: 9 units
What does it mean to be bilingual in the USA, when approximately 80% of Americans are monolingual English-speakers? In this course, we will learn about the nature and experience of bilingualism and biculturalism (past and present) and how it shapes different perspectives and worldviews and #8212;within an individual, between individuals, and on a larger (societal, cultural) level. The course highlights the experiences of groups such as immigrants, racial/ethnic minorities, indigenous communities, and users of signed languages to foreground experiences that may be similar to or different from those of the students. We use a variety of resources (e.g., social media, film and documentaries, historical documents, literature, music, art) to accomplish this, and students are encouraged to be creative in the ways they design their own hands-on projects. This discussion-based course is taught in English and is open to all students, whether they identify as bilingual/bicultural, or are simply interested in the course topic.
76-290 Literature & Culture in the 20th Century
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics vary by semester and instructor. For example: Spring 2020: Black Fiction This course will take a transatlantic approach to what constitutes black literature and artistic expression from the nineteenth until the early twenty-first century. We will investigate how black authors use literature and other mediums of expression for social, political and self-presentation. Our primary focus will be on fiction with some memoir, poetry and non-fiction essays thrown into the mix. We will cover canonical black writers of the diaspora as well as key literary periods and movements. Along with these more conventional ways of accounting for literary history we will look at the way gender, sexuality, (trans) national belonging, ideology and political economy shape the reception, aesthetics and context of black writing. Authors covered in this course include: Fredrick Douglass, Nella Larson, Audre Lorde, Ralph Ellison, Melvin Tolson, Percival Everett, Merle Collins, Claudia Rankine and Tayari Jones to name a few.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-291 Getting Heard/Making a Difference
Intermittent: 9 units
How can a college student get people to pay attention to a problem, whether it is a personal, social, environmental, ethical, or public issue? In particular, how do people who don't already have what is called "standing"such as the authority or credentials to speakget their community to listen? In this course you will learn how to create real dialogue and carry out effective (not simply adversarial) engagement within a university and later in your professional lives. It introduces you to the rhetorical art of savvy, issue-centered social engagement. Drawing on research, theory, and our own campus investigation, we will try out methods for collecting competing perspectives, for framing a shared actionable problem, and for creating well-supported, persuasive and motivating accounts in proposals, reports, editorials, stories, or media. The theory and strategies we study are designed to create what is called a rhetorical presence for your ideas, to put them into circulation, and help create a more engaged local public. This course meets the Dietrich College Communicating Gen Ed requirement.
76-292 Introduction to Film Production
Fall: 9 units
This course is an introduction to the process of filmmaking. Students will develop a personal cinematic language and create a short final film from the ideation, to the synopsis and shot list, the set then to the editing room. The course will introduce technical tools to create audio and visual forms that serve the content developed in a film treatment through filming assignments, planning and producing a short film, peer review and group work. The focus will be on understanding shots and coverage of a scene, the various aspects of the cinematic language, with an emphasis on the basic visual components such as space, movement, and rhythm - and how they are used to tell the story visually. Audio layering to create a meaningful soundscape and the art of Editing will be discussed extensively.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-293 Writing about Research in Your Discipline
Intermittent: 9 units
This course introduces the characteristics and types of writing required of students at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate levels while building sentence-level editing skills. Topics addressed include the role of writing in the academy, the writing process including editing and revision strategies, expectations for content associated with different genres, bibliographic styles and reference management software, and an introduction to the reporting of empirical research. Students will work through modules on sentence structures associated with academic language as well as workshop their own writing projects. This course is appropriate for students considering writing a senior thesis and/or applying to graduate school.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/courses/fall-2020-course-descriptions.pdf
76-295 Russian Cinema: From the Bolshevik Revolution to Putin's Russia
Fall: 9 units
"Last night I was in the kingdom of shadows," said the writer Maxim Gorky in 1896 after seeing a film for the first time. "How terrifying to be there!" Early film inspired fear and fascination in its Russian audiences, and before long became a medium of bold aesthetic and philosophical experimentation. This seminar-style course surveys the development of Russian and Soviet film, paying equal attention to the formal evolution of the medium and the circumstanceshistorical, cultural, institutionalthat shaped it. We will examine Sergei Eisenstein's and Dziga Vertov's experiments with montage in light of the events of the Bolshevik Revolution and the directors' engagement with Marxism; Georgi Alexandrov's and the Vasiliev brothers' Socialist Realist production against the backdrop of Stalinist censorship; Andrei Tarkovsky's and Kira Muratova's Thaw-era films within the broader context of New Wave Cinema; and the works of contemporary directors, including Aleksei Balabanov, Alexander Sokurov, and Andrey Zvyagintsev, in connection with the shifting social and political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Besides introducing students to the Russian and Soviet cinematic tradition, this course will hone their skills in close visual analysis. No prior knowledge of Russian language or culture is required. The course is conducted in English, but students will have the option to do work in Russian for three extra course units.
76-296 20th Century Russian Masterpieces
Intermittent: 9 units
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire underwent a series of dramatic changes in quick succession: industrial modernization, the unsuccessful 1905 rebellion, terrible losses in the First World War, finally culminating in the 1917 October Revolution. The literature and culture of the era were deeply impacted by these upheavals as artists and writers of the era attempted to capture and convey the world rapidly shifting around them. This course will acquaint students with canonical texts from 20th-century Russian literature and will also examine the highly specific context in which they were produced. From the fin-de-si and #232;cle aesthetics of a crumbling Russian Empire to the avant-garde experimentalism of the Russian Revolution and Civil War era, to the establishment of Socialist Realism and the implementation of a Totalitarian regime under Stalin, the course invites students to think about both the realities of life and artistic production in a rapidly transforming country as well as the ways in which these works bring contemporary readers to the inner lives of Soviet citizens.
76-300 Professional Seminar
Fall: 3 units
This weekly, 3-unit seminar is designed to give professional and technical writing majors an overview of possible career and internship options and ways to pursue their professional interests. Each session will feature guest presenters who are professionals working in diverse communications-related fields such as web design, journalism, public relations, corporate and media relations, technical writing, medical communications, and working for non-profits. The visiting professionals talk about their own and related careers, show samples of their work, and answer student questions. The course is required for first-year MAPW students and is open to all English undergraduates, who are urged to participate in their sophomore or junior years to explore options for internships and careers.
76-301 Internship
All Semesters
This course is designed to help you explore possible writing-related careers as you gain workplace experience and earn academic credit. You'll work on- or off-campus as an entry-level professional writer for 8-10 hours per week in a field of interest to you (public relations, journalism, advertising, magazine writing, non-profit, healthcare, etc.). You are responsible for finding an internship. Most of your class time for the course will be completed at your internship site - a minimum of 120 hours (8-10 per week) over the semester for 9 units of credit. As the academic component of the course, you'll keep a reflective journal and meet periodically with the internship coordinator to discuss your internship and related professional issues. You must register for the course before the add/drop deadline of the semester in which you want to do your internship. Before you can register, you must contact the internship instructor listed above to express your interest in the course and to be cleared for registration. Credit for the internship course cannot be retroactively awarded for past internships.
76-302 Communication Support Tutoring Practicum
Fall
The Communication Support Practicum is designed to introduce students to communication scholarship and pedagogy as well as the methods and theories that inform them for the purpose of communication support and tutoring in CMU's Student Academic Success Center. Students will explore communication (written, oral, and visual) in multiple disciplines and genres with a focus on gaining knowledge and skills to respond to communicators and their texts. Lectures, discussion, and assignments will offer a chance to think critically about tutoring practices and the ideologies and values on which they are based as well as ways to challenge the bias inherent in them. There will be many occasions to reflect on and evaluate tutoring skills, observe others in tutoring situations, and practice a variety of methods that consider the different needs of communicators. Students will gain awareness of how various spaces, identities, technologies, and abilities inform textual production as well as how to create a meaningful response to meet the diverse needs.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/gcc/faqs/index.html
76-303 Independent Study in Creative Writing
All Semesters
An Independent Study course is a course taken with faculty supervision that goes beyond the courses offered in a particular area of interest. It should not duplicate a course offered in the regular schedule of classes. A student wishing to take an independent study needs to locate a faculty member whose research interests are close to the area of proposed study and meet with the faculty member to discuss whether it is something the faculty member is interested in doing. The department requires that the student and instructor submit a written contract (available in the English Department) detailing the expectations (description of course of study, readings, how often the student/faculty member will meet) and requirements for the completed independent study project (number and amp; length of papers) and a time-line for completion of the work. You should think of this as developing the equivalent of a detailed course syllabus/schedule, and typically involves development of a bibliography of readings.
76-306 Editing and Publishing
Fall and Spring
Note: Registration in this course is by permission only. In this course students will work closely with the editors of Carnegie Mellon University Press to learn many of the facets of producing books. These range from business management and marketing to the elements of editing, book design, and production.
76-307 Advanced Editing and Publishing
Fall and Spring
Note: Registration in this course is by permission only. In this course students will work closely with the editors of Carnegie Mellon University Press to learn many of the facets of producing books. These range from business management and marketing to the elements of editing, book design, and production.
Prerequisite: 76-306
76-308 Literary Journal Publishing
Intermittent
In this course, students will learn about the landscape of and publication process for literary journals in the United States. We will read a variety of literary journals in print and online, will host guest speakers, and will do a variety of hands-on activities related to editing and publishing. Students will gain experience by working on The Oakland Review, an international literary journal run out of CMU, in capacities as varied as editorial, design and production, or promotion. If you are interested in registering for this course, please go to the Course URL and fill out the questionnaire. Thank you.
Prerequisites: 76-260 or 76-265
Course Website: https://form.jotform.com/CMUEnglish/literary-journal-publishing-course
76-310 Advanced Studies in Film and Media
Spring: 9 units
This course will focus on several key technical components of filmmaking and the ways they function within the film text, as well as the ways they can be read as an indication of the underlying ideology of a work. Individual units of the course will concentrate on performance, production design, photography, editing and music. Films will be drawn from a variety of national cinemas from around the world. A primary goal of the course will be the development of skills useful for filmmaking, film analysis and scholarship. Students will engage in focused projects designed to facilitate the pedagogical goals of each unit.
Prerequisite: 76-239
76-311 Acting Out in the London Theatre
Intermittent: 9 units
More Londoners went to the theater between 1660 and 1800 than read novels or newspapers. The theater was THE social media of this formative period in the history of an English-speaking, urban public, and this course explores the power of the theater as a means of both social control and political resistance. Instead of taking a traditional "survey" approach to this period in the English theater, we will study a succession of "nights at the theater," specific performances of plays that happened on particularly eventful evenings when the playwhile significantwas not the only important performance. The farewell turn of a beloved actor, the presence in the house of a visiting African prince, violent protest by audiences against a play, an actoror pretty much anythingcould charge that evening's performance of a play with meaning beyond the script. We will approach plays from this period historically by reading, viewing, and listening to print and visual documents and music that inform the historical moment of the play. Most importantly, we will workshop scripts in class in order to learn from performance how these plays conveyed the power relations of race, class, and gender both then and today.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-312 Crime and Justice in American Film
Intermittent: 9 units
Films dealing with criminal activities and criminal justice have always been popular at the box office. From the gangsters of the Thirties and the film noir of the Fifties to the more recent vigilante avenger films of Liam Neeson, the film industry has profited from films about crime and its consequences. How those subjects are portrayed, however, tells us a great deal about larger trends in American history and society. Every imaginable type of criminal activity has been depicted on screen, as have the legal ramifications of those acts. But these films raise profound questions. What is the nature of crime? What makes a criminal? Are there circumstances in which crime is justified? How do socioeconomic conditions affect the consequences? How fair and impartial is our justice system? Perhaps most importantly, how do depictions of crime and justice in popular media influence our answers to these questions? This class will utilize a variety of films to discuss the ways in which popular media portrays the sources of crime, the nature of criminals, the court and prison systems, and particular kinds of criminal acts. Films to be screened may include such titles as The Ox-Bow Incident, Out of the Past, 12 Angry Men, Young Mr. Lincoln, Brute Force, The Equalizer, Jack Reacher and Minority Report. By thoroughly discussing these films and related readings we will be able to trace the various changes in attitude towards crime and justice in America over the last century.
76-313 Creative Visual Storytelling in Film Production
Intermittent: 9 units
Visual storytelling cuts to the heart of the filmmaking process, combining all elements of the craft to engage the viewer. Every picture is comprised of a story, visuals, and, sometimes, sounds. This class is about learning how to understand and control time-based images to better tell your story. We will learn essential skills for becoming a creative technological storyteller - how to think visually and aurally. Fundamental focus will be on understanding the basic visual components -using space, tone, line, shape, color, movement and rhythm- and how they are used to visually tell a story, define characters, communicate moods, emotions, thoughts and ideas. We often are not consciously aware of them within a film but are critical in establishing the relationship between story structure and visual structure. Through readings, film analysis, creative brainstorming, assignments and individual critiques this class will guide each student into translating their creative vision into a short final film.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-314 Data Stories
Fall: 9 units
Every dataset has a story. In the age of big data, it is vital to understand the unlikely casts of algorithms, data miners, researchers, data janitors, pirates, data brokers, financiers, etc. whose activities shape culture. This course will feature a range of "farm to table" data stories, some going back hundreds of years, and introduce students to resources and strategies for contextual research. It will explore cases such as the London cholera epidemic, Google Books, Netflix, the Oxford English Dictionary, the Strava map, and the Queen Nefertiti scan alongside several pieces of art and fiction that capture aspects of data stories typically obscured elsewhere. Research methods introduced will include book history, media archeology, history of information, infrastructure studies, ethnography, narratology, and digital forensics. Students will read scholarly articles, novels, journalism, and popular non-fiction; they will test algorithms; and they will develop individualized long-form research and writing projects informed by computational methods in data studies, journalism, and art.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-315 19th Century American Literature
Intermittent: 9 units
These days, it's pretty easy to get to Walden Pond. It's right off route 126 South (not too far from Concord) and there is a nice little farm stand there called the Farm at Walden Woods, where you can get corn and raspberries and freshly baked bread. In this class we'll go back in time to the Walden Pond of Thoreau's time, with a focus on the Green Nineteen and #8212;-writers and thinkers who considered the relationship between human civilization and the American wilderness (Thoreau, Emerson and Hawthorne). We will think about the interrelationship between the environment and nascent capitalist industries by reading the poetry and prose by young women who worked in the Lowell Mill (The Lowell Mill Offerings). We will also think about the environment in relation to two slave narratives (Douglass, The Slave Narrative of Frederick Douglass and Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Finally we will consider the environmental consciousness of the two most important poets of the 19th century, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. As for coursework, we will use the class to practice meditation, natures walks, and one group project in which you will design your own environmentally conscious Utopian community.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-316 Topics in Literature: Watching HBO's The Watchmen
Intermittent: 9 units
This course is centered on the graphic, social and political universe created by HBO's The Watchmen series. Course viewings/readings will include: the 9-episode HBO series from 2019, the original The Watchmen comic series from the 1980s, and various cultural influences on the HBO series, including the musical Oklahoma, and the 1930s era singing group the Ink Spots, whose hit, "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire," is featured in the series. The course will include the intro to film studies text, Writing about Movies, and one of the goals of the course will be for students to write original, accessible, and interesting 1000 word essays about the series to be published on a public website.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-317 Contemporary American Fiction
Intermittent: 9 units
No one seems to know quite how to define contemporary American fiction. It's clear that fiction has changed since the 1960s and 70s, the heyday of postmodernism, but it's hard to pin down what characterizes the work that has come since. In this course, we will read a selection of American fiction from the 1980s to the present and try to get a sense of its main lines. In particular we'll look at the turn to "genre," the expansion to multicultural authors, and the return to realism. Also, we will consider how it relates to American society. Authors might include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alison Bechdel, Junot Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Chang-Rae Lee, Emily St. John Mandel, Weike Wang, and Colson Whitehead.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-318 Communicating in the Global Marketplace
Intermittent: 9 units
We live in an interconnected global world that presents us with many complex challenges and also rewards. Are you prepared for the challenge of working with professionals from all over the world, whether you are physically located in the United States or somewhere else on the globe? Speakers of the English language continue to grow in numbers, often at the detriment of other languages. Yet speaking the same language does not mean we share the same cultural values and beliefs, or that we even understand and are aware of other cultural values and beliefs. While English might be the language of many organizations and professional settings, globalization brings along several pressing questions: How can professional communicators maximize productive and respectful communication across cultural contexts, and avoid conflict without imposing a particular culture's norms? How can professional communicators contribute to shaping a workplace discourse that can reach a wide, diverse, global audience? How can professional global communication be effectively planned, measured, and improved? This course addresses these questions by explaining the specific ways in which our backgrounds (from personal to social and even national) influence professional and technical communication; the impact of globalization on the workplace, especially in times of crisis; and the ways in which we can rely on general concepts and principles in order to communicate effectively in specific international settings and situations.
Prerequisites: 76-272 or 76-271 or 76-270
76-319 Environmental Rhetoric
Fall: 9 units
Should you take a hike or seize the mic? Environmental rhetoric combines commitment with contention We start by exploring its multiple discourses, from Muir's vision of conservation, to Leopold's introduction of ecology, to Carson's call for public action, to contemporary scientific research and competing public discussions. To uncover their hidden logic, we study rhetorical strategies first, for analyzing arguments (over issues such as wolves, clean water, or sustainable design), and then for communicating risk (in the face of climate change, fracking, as well as wind power). In response, this course will prepare you to act as a research-based rhetorical consultant for a group of your choice, analyzing the issues and arguments it faces, in order to propose a rhetorically effective response, supported by your own imaginative prototype of a brochure, web page, press release.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-322 Gender and Sexuality in Performance
Intermittent: 4.5 units
"Performance" describes a wide range of practices, from the everyday to the artistic. Gender and sexuality are key elements in everyday, political, and artistic performances, from the very personalhow you order a latte at Tassa D'Oro, tell a lover goodbye at the airport or comfort a crying childto the very publicperforming a Bach cello suite or an iconic King Lear, staging a demonstration against police violence or marketing a new app. This course will be co-taught by a specialist in gender and queer theory and a practitioner of performance art. We plan to bring performance art and theory into a practical partnership in the creation and critique of social and individual narratives about gender and sexuality. How does everyday performance define gender and sexual identity? How do gender and sexuality define everyday performance? How does aesthetic performanceart, theater, film, digital media, poetryintervene in the ways in which gender and sexuality are performed? Readings in theory at the intersection between gender studies and performance studies will help us explore these questions. We will also consider a variety of cultural and artistic practices. The addition of simple performance prompts and exercises for students to incorporate into their research will blur theory and studio practices. Students will be encouraged to practice their theories surrounding performance within the classroom and in public space.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-323 Text to Screen
Intermittent: 9 units
This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of narrative filmmaking and the attendant creative processes. Students will explore the symbiosis between film literature, visual storytelling, team building and the practical planning essentials universal to making film.
Prerequisite: 76-269
76-324 Topics in Rhetoric: Language and Place
Intermittent: 9 units
TBD
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106)

Course Website: http://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/index.html
76-325 Intertextuality
Spring: 9 units
What do we mean when we say that someone has "twisted" our words, or that our words have been "taken out of context"? Why is Martin Luther King Jr. best remembered for saying, "I have a dream," and not for saying, "War is the greatest plague that can affect humanity"? What are political "talking points" and how are they perpetuated? How does a claim (unfounded or not) become a fact? How does a fact become a myth? These are just some of the questions that we will consider. More specifically, this is a course in how meaning changes as texts created in one context and for specific purposes are repeated, cited, and used in other contexts and for other purposes, sometimes related and relevant, sometimes not. More technically, we'll be focusing on the rhetorical nature of intertextual discourse. Our goal will be to examine the ways that people of all kindsincluding politicians, journalists, and scientistsstrategically draw upon and transform the statements, arguments, and evidence of other people to promote their own viewpoints or purposes. We will begin by investigating scholarship that views language as an extended conversation in which people struggle to have their own voices heard, and other voices countered or even suppressed. Later, we will survey a number of studies that suggest how individuals and organizations recontextualize and reinterpret prior discourse for persuasive ends. More specifically, we will analyze how the micro-features of the language (for example, qualifications, evaluations, and attributions) are used to persuade audiences that certain assertions are (not) factual, that certain speakers are (not) authoritative, and that certain proposed actions are (un)desirable. Ultimately, you can conduct your own research on intertextual rhetoric on a topic of specific interest to your academic or professional goals.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-326 Contemporary Global Literature
Intermittent: 9 units
In this course, students will read, interpret, discuss and write about novels and short stories written in English in the past ten years by writers originally from Africa, South Asia, East Asia and the Caribbean. While these works represent the "large stories" of economic globalization, refugee migration, and ecological catastrophe, they are crafted around the "small stories" of love, longing, friendship and family.We will talk about both kinds of narratives, tracing the entanglements of one in the other.Students will reflect on the relationship between history, society and culture in a global context, situating the contemporary within the longer trajectories that mark the legacies of colonialism and imperialism. This course is virtual and almost entirely synchronous; barring unexpected situations, attendance is expected for what should be a lively class discussion.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-327 Equity & Communication: Strategies for Institutional Change
Intermittent: 9 units
Communication is always embedded in power relationships with unstated social rules that govern who is able to say what when. But communication also offers us a tool for rewriting oppressive social scripts. In this class, we will look both at inequities built into our communication and strategies for overturning these inequities. The focus will be on practical actions that you can take to improve your school, workplace, or extracurricular groups. Our readings will come from diverse sources and fields, including sociolinguistics, psychology, education, organizational communication, rhetoric, and writing studies. While our readings might occasionally depress (or enrage) you, the overall focus of the course will be optimistic, challenging you to imagine solutions to the problems we discuss.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-328 Introduction to Corpus Linguistics
Intermittent: 9 units
This is a hands-on, project-based class that will help students build a methodological toolkit for computer-based textual analysis. That toolkit will include methods for the collection of data, its processing via off-the-shelf software and some simple code, as well as its analysis using a variety of statistical techniques. In doing so, the class offers students the opportunity to engage in scientifically oriented inquiry, giving priority to the use of corpus evidence to answer research questions. The first part of the term will be devoted to introducing fundamental concepts and taking a bird's eye view of the potential application of corpus methods in domains like academic writing, technical communication, and social media. From there, students will initiate projects of their own choosing and develop them over the course of the semester. The goal is to acquaint students with the strengths and limitations of computer- based textual analysis and to provide them with the necessary foundational skills to design projects, to apply appropriate quantitative methods, and to report their results clearly and ethically to a variety of audiences. This class requires neither an advanced knowledge of statistics nor any previous coding experience, just a curiosity about language and the ways in which identifying patterns in language can help us solve problems and understand our world.
76-329 Performing Race in Early Modernity
Intermittent: 9 units
The earliest known use of the term "white" in reference to Europeans occurs in The Triumphs of Truth, a 1613 play by Shakespeare's contemporary, Thomas Middleton. In addition to suggesting an important connection between race and drama in 17th-century England, this simple historical note raises a range of questions that have a direct bearing on some of the most pressing issues of the 21st century: Where do ideas about race come from? By what processes do the distinctions of racial concepts emerge, evolve, calcify, and mutate? How does the conceptualization of race relate to media? How do racial representations bolster and conduct political power? In this course, we will broach these questions by taking a close look at the race-making function of drama in early modernity, a period when race was an inchoate, incipient concept, caught up with the emergence of colonialism, capitalism, and increasing interconnection between peoples, cultures, and worlds. As we think, read, and converse together, we will endeavor to come to terms with the problems and paradoxes of racial representation in the early modern theater, a forum that offered access to innovative, daring thinking about human equality and ethical responsibility, but was also a site for the perpetuation of hateful stereotypes and exploitative theories of white supremacy. In a wide-ranging survey of drama, historical documents, and contemporary criticism, we will work toward an understanding of how race-based concepts operated in the theater, and how the drama early of modernity continues to influence thinking about race in our own time. This course meets the Dietrich College Reflecting Gen Ed requirement.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-331 Dissenters and Believers: Romantics, Revolution, and Religions
Intermittent: 9 units
This course examines the relation of Romantic writing to religion in the age of revolutions. We will read a number of Romantic-age writersWilliam Blake, S. T. Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Edmund Burke, Monk Lewis, Percy Shelley and #8212;in relation to the most "orthodox" religious modes (Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, and Evangelical) and the most "heterodox"Enthusiasm, Rational Dissent, Unitarianism, Deism, Pantheism, or atheism. We will also distinguish between "religions" (as formally institutionalized) and "religiosity"defining religiosity as more diffused or displaced feelings, ideas and practices that are often not clearly marked as religious or related to any one institutional religion. Two papers are required.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106)
76-332 Writing about Research in Your Discipline
Intermittent: 9 units
This course introduces the characteristics and types of writing required of students at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate levels while building sentence-level editing skills. Topics addressed include the role of writing in the academy, the writing process including editing and revision strategies, expectations for content associated with different genres, bibliographic styles and reference management software, and an introduction to the reporting of empirical research. Students will work through modules on sentence structures associated with academic language as well as workshop their own writing projects. This course is appropriate for students considering writing a senior thesis and/or applying to graduate school.
Prerequisite: 76-101
Course Website: http://www.cmu.edu/hss/english/courses/courses.html
76-333 Race and Controversy in the Arts
Intermittent: 9 units
In the last three years, social media platforms have given artists and consumers of art an unprecedented platform to engage with the commercial art world as both activists and critics. 2017's trending hashtag #oscarssowhite remarked on long-standing issues of inclusion within commercial filmmaking in the United States. Twitter also spread news from art worlds that were not always in the limelight; like Dana Schultz's painting "Open Casket" at the Whitney Biennial or Kenneth Goldsmith found poem "The Body of Michael Brown", read at an obscure conference at Brown University. Our course will put these and other controversies surrounding the politics of representation in the arts into broader historical and artistic contexts. We will approach the topic through particular case studies - from The Merchant of Venice to 2 Live Crew's obscenity trial - that highlight the confluence of social, political and artistic forces that frame these controversial works.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-335 20th and 21st Century American Fiction
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will examine American fiction from 1900 to the present. It will cover the movement from modernism, through midcentury realism and postmodernism, to the contemporary. We will look at scholarly definitions of those modes, as well as some of the cultural context that has informed American literature. Some of the authors will include modernists like Stein and Faulkner; midcentury writers and postmodernists like Ellison, McCarthy, and Pynchon; and contemporary writers like Diaz, Lahiri, and Franzen.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-337 Intersectional Feminism
Intermittent: 9 units
The concept of intersectionality first appeared in African-American feminist legal theory, but it rapidly spoke to other ideas and movements authored by other women positioned on the margins in the United States and beyond. Now widely disseminated as a feminist practice embraced by many identities, intersectional feminism acknowledges how interlocking power structures produce systematic oppression and discrimination to create distinctive gender identities in terms of such aspects as sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, religion, language (and accent), and neuro- and physical diversity. In this class, we will consider a wide variety of texts that mobilize this movement, including fiction, poetry, memoir, scholarly works, drama, popular media and films. We will consider voices from the "global south," non-Western countries that are speaking back to the economic and political centers of globalization. Pairing analysis with these texts with some examples of praxis, or political practice, we will think through and debate how critiques of power can move toward social change. Students will be encouraged to use these texts and a series of shorter writing assignments about texts to build toward a final project relevant to their own discipline. Readings might include Kimberl and #233; Crenshaw, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Roxane Gay, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mona Eltahawy, Erika L. S and #225;nchez, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Fatima Mernissi and Mari Matsuda, Fatima Mernissi, and Aiwah Ong.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-338 Internship Mini
Intermittent
This course is designed to help you explore possible writing-related careers as you gain workplace experience and earn academic credit. You'll work on- or off-campus as an entry-level professional writer in a field of interest to you (public relations, journalism, advertising, magazine writing, non-profit, healthcare, etc.). You are responsible for finding an internship. Most of your class time for the course will be completed at your internship site. As the academic component of the course, you'll keep a reflective journal and meet periodically with the internship coordinator to discuss your internship and related professional issues. You must register for the course before the add/drop deadline of the semester in which you want to do your internship. Before you can register, you must contact the internship instructor listed above to express your interest in the course and to be cleared for registration. Credit for the internship course cannot be retroactively awarded for past internships.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-339 Topics in Film and Media
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics very by semester and section. For Fall 2023 section descriptions, visit the course URL.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Course Website: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HzTjLjBFM73kSJver61zYwMb2GfFYzS7zFdxzMyH6Ig/edit?usp=sharing
76-341 Race & Gender in the Age of Jane Austen
Intermittent: 9 units
From Bridgerton (Netflix) to Sanditon (ITV), there is a current boom in Regency adaptations that practice "colorblind" or "color-conscious" casting while interrogating the period's gendered and racial dynamics. But how were race and gender, and their intersections, actually forged and navigated in the age of Austen? This 300-level course will look at Romantic-era in both a historical and a contemporary context. Through reading, viewing, and graded assignments including short essays and oral presentations, we will practice methods for analyzing the formal features of literary and visual texts, such as the structure of a novel, the rhythms of poetry, or the costuming of period drama. In doing so, we will ask: how do these texts respond to historical phenomena such as empire, the rights of women, and slavery and abolition? How and why do contemporary adaptations take up these questions? Examples of readings include Aphra Behn's Ooronoko, Jonathan Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room," Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Mary Prince's The History of Mary Prince, and William Wordsworth's "To Toussaint L'Ouverture."
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-342 Love: A Cultural History
Spring: 9 units
This is a course about the cultural history of love. We will focus on romantic love, with an emphasis on how ideas about love have been a dynamic part of our social, political and economic world. Some of the questions to be addressed include: How, historically, did the idea of love become coupled with freedom? How did romantic love come to be considered the epitome of self-fulfillment and what are the problems with that idea? How has the idea of romantic love been mobilized on behalf of things like the state, the nation, capitalism or revolution? How do types of love function as a measure of belonging or deviance? How does the discourse of love enter different kinds of institutional arrangements, such as marriage or state citizenship? As a way to explore these questions, this course looks primarily to literature, including fiction, poetry, and drama, but also to philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology and law. Students will immerse themselves in an interdisciplinary range of material as they read, discuss and write about these representations. We will roam through cultural theory of affect, psychoanalytic notions of love, historical constructions of marriage, and feminist discussions of love and sexuality. The emphasis will be on Euro-American narrative traditions, but the final part of the course will include a contemporary global comparative context.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-343 Rise of the American Novel
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will survey American fiction from the beginning of the nation through the first half of the twentieth century. We will look at early fiction, like Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and mid-1800s classics like Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, up to twentieth-century works like The Great Gatsby and perhaps some contemporary novels. Through the term, we will ask how the fiction represents the special character of American experience. Alongside readings, you will write several short papers and present some of your research to the class.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-347 Recent American Fiction
Intermittent: 9 units
We will read very recent American fiction, from about 1990 to the present. Authors might include Chimamanda Adichie, Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Bret Easton Ellis, Jonathan Lethem, and Colson Whitehead. We will try to gather trends or tendencies that distinguish it from previous fiction. Does it suggest a different moment in fiction from postmodernism? And does it have a comment about American culture and its relation to the contemporary world?
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-106)
76-349 Climate Fictions
Intermittent: 9 units
During the last 20 or so years, a new kind of fiction has emerged responding to scientific models of climate change. Climate fiction, or "cli-fi," most often imagines a future in which nothing has been done or done soon enough to limit global warming. Much of this literature fits into the broad genre of science fiction, but some of it uses other fictional modes, including realism and postmodernism. This course will look at a variety of fictional approaches to climate change, including a few in visual media. We will consider why fiction is a necessary component of our understanding climate changecomputer models are fictions of a sortbut also whether and how fictional narratives such as novels and films can help motivate action. We may also read some earlier narratives of environmental catastrophe, and some nonfictional discussions of climate change. Likely authors include Amitav Ghosh, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Richard Powers.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-350 Critical Theories about Literature
Intermittent: 9 units
This course studies the long-debated problem of how readers or spectators respond to texts (in print, performances, film, or painting) from ancient rhetoric and tragedy to contemporary mass culture.We will read in a range of critical theories, from thinkers like Aristotle, Plato, and Longinus to recent theorists in poststructuralism, gender studies, Marxism, and affect theory. How have such critics and theorists thought about the nature of the text and of representation and #8212;or the relation of authorship to reading, ideas, and affects? What techniques of analyzing literary texts have such theories stimulated? Two papers and vigorous in-class discussion will be required.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-351 Rhetorical Invention
Intermittent: 9 units
Rhetorical invention is a discursive approach to the process of inquiry, discovery, and problem solving, or how we decide what to say, what arguments to advance, and what means of persuasion to use in any situation. In other words, it is a rhetorical approach to content generation in any speaking or writing situation. Although invention is centrally important to rhetoricwithout it rhetoric becomes a superficial and marginalized study of style and arrangementfrom the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment through the mid-twentieth century invention all but disappeared as a topic of rhetorical study, influenced by the view that the content of communication should be exclusively governed by deductive logic and the scientific method rather than rhetorical considerations such as audience, situation, or the history and figurality of language. This repudiation of rhetorical invention fundamentally shaped modern thought and continues to influence the ways we think and communicate today. In this course, we examine the status of rhetorical invention in the development of modern thought and then attend to scholarly efforts to revive a rhetorical understanding of invention from the mid-twentieth century forward, surveying contemporary theories of rhetorical invention including those promoted by postmodern, posthuman, and digital rhetorics. The course is designed to explore the central importance of invention to contemporary rhetorical theory through a pairing of historical and contemporary readings. In addition to regular reading responses, students select a research project examining the history or theory of rhetorical invention.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-352 Music, Technology, and Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
Music has been a part of our individual and communal lives for 40,000 years. We developed the technology to record and playback music for about 140-years ago. In this seminar we will study the relationship of music, technology and culture from a variety of disciplinary approaches including science and technology studies, musicology and ethnomusicology, neuroscience, sound studies, Black studies, political economy, cultural studies and media archeology. The course will focus on the impact mediating technologies like vinyl, cassette tapes, mp3s, film and television, the development of music journalism and of course live human performance have had on our social, political and personal interactions with music. We have built the course around case studies that illustrate the intersection of music, technology and culture such as audio analgesia devices, movie soundtracks, streaming services, the rise of internet "listicles" and other crucial moments in twentieth and twenty-first century musical culture. Students in this course will develop critical projects that cross technological, humanistic, and musical boundaries. We hope that students come away from this class with better a host of critical tools to better think about what music means to us and how mediating technologies redefine these meanings.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-353 Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film
Intermittent: 9 units
How do controversial practices related to women become touchstones that draw women together across cultures or, conversely, push them into separate cultural and political spheres? This introductory-level course familiarizes students with the challenges transnational feminism has posed to Western notions of feminism. To explore these contestations, we will look at a series of controversies. We will read these controversies through novels, drama, short stories and films, with some secondary theoretical readings. This course will take six case studies concerning cultural practices that have generated global debates about the status of women and issues like consent, freedom, and equality. Beginning with several works about regional/Islamic practices of veiling, we will look specifically at the close connections made between womens practices and elements of tradition, including religion. With an eye toward historicizing feminist interventions, we will look at 19th century debates on sati, commonly called widow burning, in India, to see how certain issues became loci for global intervention during colonial periods and, later, for global feminist movements. Within the contemporary period, we will turn to cultural, economic and political practices like female genital cutting, transnational domestic labor, global sex trade, and transnational forced marriage. For each of these controversies, we will be reading a range of positions represented in different types of writing across genre, with a focus on literary and filmic depictions.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-354 Watchdog Journalism
Intermittent: 9 units
The practice of journalism involves covering the news of the day. Investigative journalism uncovers it, digging through public records and data to expose corruption or correct social injustices. The process takes patience and persistence, as well as familiarity with right-to-know laws, to find that gold nugget of information that exposes secrets or becomes the missing piece to a larger puzzle. In this course, students will learn investigative techniques that make the powerful accountable, using government documents, financial filings and databases to spot undetected crime patterns, an unfair housing policy or perhaps questionable spending by a non-profit charity. Investigative journalism has a storied history of exposing wrongdoing and today many of the tools historically used to tell those stories are available to everyone. This course will help budding journalists, researchers and anyone else interested in addressing societal problems find those tools and learn how to use them. This course meets the Dietrich College Deciding Gen Ed requirement.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-355 Leadership, Dialogue, and Change
Fall: 9 units
This course offers an alternative to the "great man" theory of leadership and #8212;in which success is built on charisma, power, status, or institutional authority. The contemporary model of "adaptive leadership," however, depends on an ability to draw a divided community into a dialogue that re-frames the problem and may even call on us to re-interpret our values. We will see this in action, comparing the methods of Martin Luther King to the radical community organizing of Saul Alinsky, and in the influential of African-American cultural critiques of Cornel West and bell hooks, and in the work of students calling for change on campuses. All this work poses a question: how does dialogue work in the rhetoric of making a difference? So in the second half, we put theory into practice, organizing a CMU Community Think Tank on a campus issue, in this case on student empowerment will learn strategies for analyzing a problem, framing, issues, giving rhetorical presence to those problems and creating counterpublics that put new ideas into circulation. The class collects data across diverse, often competing perspectives, to create a Briefing Book, that will guide your live Round Table problem-solving dialogues, and then document, write and publish your Findings www.cmu.edu/thinktank. Aa a portfolio project it will demonstrate your ability to support problem-solving dialogues across difference in a community or organization.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106)
76-357 Linguistic & Social Aspects of Immigration
Intermittent: 9 units
This course introduces students to the linguistic and social aspects of immigration in today's global society. Immigration will be studied as a socio-political construct with an emphasis on the linguistic, socio-cultural, and political challenges and opportunities that migration creates for the individual and society. Throughout the course we will explore one key question: What challenges and opportunities do different aspects of migration posses for multilingual societies and individuals? A great deal of the course focuses on the linguistic challenges that migration creates for the individual and society, with a special emphasis on the development of bilingualism and the education of immigrant children. From a larger socio-political perspective, the course focuses on various case studies of immigrant populations throughout the world in order to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics, opportunities, and challenges faced by immigrant populations internationally.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-359 User Experience Methods for Documents
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will be useful for any student who is interested in learning more about user experience methods that are widely used in professions such as designing/writing for new media, technical writing, science and healthcare communication, public media relations, policy and non-profit communication. You will deepen your mastery of the following research skills associated with planning and testing documents: interviewing in context, retrospective interviewing, focus groups, surveys, and think-aloud usability testing of documents. In addition to specific research methods and skills, we will cover issues that pertain to all research methods: How many people do I need to include in my study? How should I select them? Are my results valid? Is what I think I'm finding out reliable? What are the ethical issues in my study? We will use a combination of lecture, discussion, exercises and projects to achieve these objectives.
Prerequisites: (76-390 and 76-270) or (76-271 and 76-390)
76-360 Literary Journalism Workshop
Intermittent: 9 units
S23: How can storytelling and reading literature help us understand the worlds of healing and illness? We'll read texts focusing on doctors, nurses, patients, caregivers, those living with chronic illness, and disability. Students will write about their own experiences, and those of loved ones.
Prerequisites: 76-260 or 76-261 or 76-270 or 76-271 or 76-372 or 76-472 or 76-262 or 76-265
76-361 Corpus Rhetorical Analysis
Intermittent: 9 units
The Digital Humanities is a huge and growing field spanning many disciplines and skill sets. The focus of this course is on tools and methods that allow students to analyze textual corpora as purveyors of stories, information, and arguments that seek to influence cultural thinking, reveal existing cultural mindsets, and often both in tandem, either synchronically or diachronically. This is the point of view often taken by analysts who work for universities, think tanks and intelligence agencies who seek to understand cultural trends and mindsets from volumes of digital texts. For such analysts, close reading is an indispensable part of their work and computing tools help focus their reading while reading helps refine their understanding of the computer output. The course will give students intensive practice with methods and tools for analyzing corpora of text at the word, phrase, and sentence level, and with working with large scalable dictionaries and multivariate statistics.
Prerequisites: (76-108 or 76-106 or 76-102 or 76-101 or 76-107 or 76-106 or 76-107 or 76-108) and 76-380
76-362 Reading in Forms: Nonfiction
Intermittent: 9 units
In this reading-intensive course we will analyze and discuss different types of narrative structure, narrative suspense, voice, metaphor, and point of view that make for effective non-fiction writing. We will also examine the difference between good writers and good work, the functions of objective distance from and intimate investment in a subject, as well as the philosophical questions spurred by non-fiction writing. What is the non-fiction writer's role, and how does it differ from that of the fiction writer? Where do the two genres overlap? What gives non-fiction writing integrity? What does the term "creative non-fiction" mean? How have the form and aims of non-fiction writing - from memoir to essays to long-form journalism - evolved for better and for worse? We'll be reading a selection of essays from a variety of writers, as well as full works from a few writers considered masters of the form.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-363 Reading in Forms: Poetry & Prose
Intermittent: 9 units
This course demands intensive reading of contemporary novels, stories, essays, and poetry. We will read works created by writers from wide variety of cultures, including but not limited to Indian, Korean, Palestinian, Brazilian, Irish, and African American. Students will be asked to write in response to readings, and will also produce their own creative work in all three genres.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-364 Reading in Forms: Fiction
Fall and Spring: 9 units
Topic varies by instructor and semester. Fall 2022: What does it mean to live in a family? In this course, we will read and discuss fiction and memoir that centers on the complex experience of living in a family. We'll look at different kinds of families and the way each is shaped by culture, economics, and the psychology of its members. We'll encounter stories of families that bond and those that fray, at families people have been born into, and ones they have chosen in later life. A response papers will be due for each class. Active participation in discussions is a major part of your course work. Students will also be responsible for presenting one of the creative works and a final paper.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-365 Beginning Poetry Workshop
Fall and Spring: 9 units
In this course students will read and discuss the poems and collections of contemporary poets, attend outside readings and events, critique their classmates' poems, and create a body of poetic work. We will look closely at such things as lineation and form, hybrid and multimedia poetics, and the role of poetry in a charged political and pandemic landscape. I will encourage students to experiment and to take their craft in new directions through weekly writing assignments and in-class exercises. Ultimately, this course will help students become stronger writers, readers, and critics.
Prerequisites: (76-102 or 76-107 or 76-106 or 76-101 or 76-108) and 76-265 Min. grade B
76-366 Essay Writing Workshop
Intermittent: 9 units
In this course we will analyze the different types of narrative structure, narrative suspense, voice, metaphor, and point of view that make for effective non-fiction writing. We will also examine the difference between good writers and good work, the functions of objective distance from and intimate investment in a subject, as well as the philosophical questions spurred by non-fiction writing. What is the non-fiction writer's role, and how does it differ from that of the fiction writer? Where do the two genres overlap? What gives non-fiction writing integrity? What does the term creative non-fiction mean? How have the form and aims of non-fiction writing - from memoir to essays to long-form journalism - evolved for better and for worse? We will scrutinize the writing of Eula Bliss, Kate Fagan, Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Jo An Bear, Gary Younge, David Foster Wallace, Umberto Eco, and many others. In addition to critical writing assignments, students will have several opportunities to write their own non-fiction pieces.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-367 Fact Into Film: Translating History into Cinema
Intermittent: 9 units
From the very beginning, film has provided a window into the past. But how useful are the images we see through that window? For every person who reads a work of history, thousands will see a film on the same subject. But who will learn more? Can written history and filmed history perform the same tasks? Should we expect them to do so? How are these two historical forms related? How can they complement each other? This course will draw examples from across the history of film in order to examine how the medium of film impacts our understanding of facts and events, the ways that film transfers those facts to the screen, and how that process affects the creation of historical discourse. Films may include such titles as The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Saving Private Ryan, World Trade Center, Enemy at the Gates, Lagaan and Hero.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-368 Role Playing Game Writing Workshop
Fall: 12 units
Role playing games (RPGs) are a vibrant and viable popular medium for interactive storytelling. This workshop builds upon dramatic theory DNA existing in plays, TV and film. Gameplay is performance. The skills developed when creating any time-bound media transfer well to games but must be seen through a different lens - the lens of the player. To do so, we first examine and dissect both RPG story and game design (using pencil and paper examples) seeking an understanding of both game systems as well as narrative best practices. In class we focus our examination on the most popular existing intellectual property (The Lord of the Rings). Students who desire admittance to this class should be at least somewhat familiar with that world to succeed in the class. Each student works on a four-person team to create an original RPG campaign-style adventure for an already existing story world. The final product is a portfolio-quality set of dramatic scenes, epic tabletop encounters, and character sketches. This is not an RPG design course. Any level of writing experience is welcome, BUT experience playing RPGs and #8212; either tabletop or video game and #8212; is a must. Experience as a GM for an RPG is a big plus, and applicants who possess such experience should be sure to let the instructor know in advance.
Prerequisites: 76-269 Min. grade C or 76-260 Min. grade C
76-370 Independent Study in Literary and Cultural Studies
All Semesters
An Independent Study course is a course taken with faculty supervision that goes beyond the courses offered in a particular area of interest. It should not duplicate a course offered in the regular schedule of classes. A student wishing to take an independent study needs to locate a faculty member whose research interests are close to the area of proposed study and meet with the faculty member to discuss whether it is something the faculty member is interested in doing. The department requires that the student and instructor submit a written contract (available in the English Department) detailing the expectations (description of course of study, readings, how often the student/faculty member will meet) and requirements for the completed independent study project (number and amp; length of papers) and a time-line for completion of the work. You should think of this as developing the equivalent of a detailed course syllabus/schedule, and typically involves development of a bibliography of readings.
76-371 Teamwork for Innovators
Intermittent: 9 units
Academic teams, campus organizations, workplaces are all dynamic activity systems, organized and driven by institutional habits and rules, by roles, status and power, and by the material and conceptual tools we draw on. Yet as we have all observed, these Rules, Roles and Tools often operate in contradictory ways, even in conflict with one another. Effective team leaders are able to recognize these contradictions and draw a writing group, a project team, a social organization or a workplace into what is called an "expansive transformation." That is, to innovate new ways of working together. In this course, you will learn how to become more effective not only as a team member, but also a project leader, and even group consultant in your college work and workplace. Looking at films, case studies, research, and your own experience, we will learn how to analyze how teams of all sorts are working, to communicate more effectively across different expectations and values, and to collaboratively innovate new ways of working together. Your final project will let you document your ability to be a knowledgeable team leader and effective collaborator.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-372 News Writing
Fall: 9 units
In this course, we will study and learn the fundamental skills of journalistic writing as well as discuss topics related to how different media outlets cover news. On the writing side, we will start with the basics - the importance of accuracy, clarity and fairness, writing for audience, striving for objectivity, judging newsworthiness, meeting deadlines. The core class work (and most of your grade) will be based on seven writing assignments due approximately every two weeks throughout the semester. Expect to do some writing each class period. We will learn how to write a story lead, how to structure a story and how to write different kinds of news stories, from crime news to features to editorials and commentary. We also will learn how to research a news story, conduct an interview and sort through mountains of information to discern what's important so we can write about it in a clear, concise manner.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-373 Argument
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course introduces the fundamentals of argumentation theory and offers guided practice in analyzing and producing arguments. Through analysis, we will learn what an argument is, how to identify one, and what the names and functions of a variety of argument features are. We will also explore the production of argument by pursuing the questions: What are my argumentative goals? How do I build a theory of my audience? What means of persuasion are available for me to achieve my goals? And how should I order the contents of my argument? To answer these questions, we will explore argument in a variety of genres including visuals, op-eds, presidential speeches, and congressional testimonies.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-374 Mediated Narrative
Spring: 9 units
This course is structured as a project-based class where students will explore the properties of non-linear, multi-linear, and interactive forms of narratives and apply them to create a computer-based media project about the future of humankind in the year 2073. Students will be encouraged to think critically considering broader issues of analytical representation such as environment, sustainability, communication, culture, economy, labor, politics, social order, architecture, transportation, biology, etc. Students will work in the areas of research, creative writing, video production, interactive media, data visualization and programming. Based on all the evidence and existential variables investigated during the class students will have to create their own version of the future in the year 2073 and #8212;Fifty years from now.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-375 Magazine Writing
Intermittent: 9 units
In this course we'll be reading lots of great nonfiction, some of which has appeared in magazines during the past few years. We'll look at how excellent nonfiction for magazines has to employ a strong narrative voice, and the techniques of storytelling. Students will be asked to research and write their own articles, based on a variety of assignments. The class will be conducted as a discussion, and demands participation from each class member.
Prerequisites: 76-260 or 76-262 or 76-372 or 76-272 or 76-271 or 76-270
76-377 Shakespeare on Film
Intermittent: 9 units
The dramatic works of William Shakespeare have inspired an extraordinarily rich and varied corpus of films that includes legendary performances, adaptations from across the full breadth of world cinema, and experiments in every major genre. This course will consider a selection of key Shakespeare films alongside critical readings centered on questions of authorship, adaptation, technology, and performance. As we watch, read, write, and converse together, we will work toward a broader understanding of what Shakespearean drama means in a 21st century context and how film has helped to shape Shakespeare's unparalleled cultural influence.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-378 Literacy: Educational Theory and Community Practice
Spring: 9 units
Literacy has been called the engine of economic development, the road to social advancement, and the prerequisite for critical abstract thought. But is it? And what should count as literacy: using the discourse of an educated elite or laying down a rap? This course combines theory, debate, and hands-on community engagement. Competing theories of what counts as "literacy"and how to teach itshape educational policy and workplace training. However, they may ignore some remarkable ways literacy is also used by people in non-elite communities to speak and act for themselves. In this introduction to the interdisciplinary study of literacyits history, theory, and problemswe will first explore competing theories of what literacy allows you to do, how people learn to carry off different literate practices, and what schools should teach. Then we will turn ideas into action in a hands-on, community literacy project, helping urban students use writing to take literate action for themselves. As mentors, we meet on campus for 8 weeks with teenagers from Pittsburgh's inner city neighborhoods who are working on the challenging transition from school to work. They earn the opportunity to come to CMU as part of Start On Success (SOS), an innovative internship that helps urban teenagers with hidden learning disabilities negotiate the new demands of work or college. We mentor them through Decision Makers (a CMU computer-supported learning project that uses writing as a tool for reflective decision making.) As your SOS Scholar creates a personal Decision Maker's Journey Book and learns new strategies for writing, planning and decision making, you will support literacy in action and develop your own skills in intercultural collaboration and inquiry.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-380 Methods in Humanities Analytics
Spring: 9 units
The computer-aided analysis of text has become increasingly important to a variety of fields and the humanities is no exception, whether in the form of corpus linguistics, stylometrics, "distant reading," or the digital humanities. In this course, we will build a methodological toolkit for computer-aided textual analysis. That toolkit will include methods for the collection data, its processing via off-the-shelf software and some simple code, as well as its analysis using a variety of statistical techniques. In doing so, the class offers students in the humanities the opportunity to put their expertise in qualitative analysis into conversation with more quantitative approaches, and those from more technically-oriented fields the opportunity to gain experience with the possibilities and pitfalls of working with language. The first part of the term will be devoted to introducing fundamental concepts and taking a bird's eye view of their potential application in domains like academic writing, technical communication, and social media. From there, students will initiate projects of their own choosing and develop them over the course of the semester. The goal is to acquaint students with the strengths and limitations of computer-aided textual analysis and to provide them with the necessary foundational skills to design projects, to apply appropriate quantitative methods, and to report their results clearly and ethically to a variety of audiences. This class requires neither an advanced knowledge of statistics nor any previous coding experience, just a curiosity about language and the ways in which identifying patterns in language can help us solve problems and understand our world.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-384 Race, Nation, and the Enemy
Intermittent: 9 units
Conflicts over racial and national identity continue to dominate headlines in the United States as they often have during the nation's history, from debates regarding the immigration, naturalization, and birthright citizenship of racial minorities to debates regarding racial disparities in access to civil rights. This course explores the discursive practices through which racial and national identities are formed and the frequent conflicts between them, particularly by focusing on the role of enemies, threats to the nation, and sacrifices made on behalf of the nation in American public discourse. Alongside primary sources of public discourse regarding wars, the immigration and citizenship of racial minorities, racial segregation and civil rights, and the criminal prosecutions of dissidents during periods of crisis, we will read secondary sources offering multiple theoretical and disciplinary approaches to the study of racial and national identity formation. Along with regular brief responses to readings, assignments will include a short rhetorical analysis paper and a longer research paper.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-385 Introduction to Discourse Analysis
Intermittent: 9 units
"Discourse" is language: people talking or signing or writing. Discourse analysts ask and answer a variety of questions about how and why people do the things they do with language. We study the structure of written texts the semi-conscious rules people use to organize paragraphs, for example as well as the unconscious rules that organize oral discourse such as spontaneous stories and arguments. We study how people signal their intended audience-interpretations of what they say as foreground or background information, a casual remark or solemn promise, more of the same or change of topic. We look at how grammar is influenced by what people need to do with language, and how discourse affects grammar over time. We ask how children and other language learners learn how to make things happen with talk and writing. We ask how people learn what language is for, from exchanging information to writing poetry to perpetuating systems of belief. We analyze the choices speakers and writers make that show how they see themselves and how they relate to others. (Choices about how to address other people, for example, both create and reflect relationships of power and solidarity). We study how people define social processes like disease, aging, and disability as they talk about them, and how language is used to mirror and establish social relations in institutional settings like law courts and schools as well as in families and among friends. This course touches on a selection of these topics and gives students practice in analyzing the complex nuances of language. The course is meant for anyone whose future work is likely to involve critical and/or productive work with language: writers and other communication designers, critics who work with written or spoken texts, historians, actors, sociologists, and so on.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106)
76-386 Language & Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
This course is an introduction into the scholarship surrounding the nature of language and the question of how language shapes and is shaped by social, cultural and political contexts. We will begin by studying important literature in linguistics and language theory, both to introduce us to how scholars think about language and to give us a shared vocabulary to use for the rest of the semester. We will then move into case studies and theoretical works exploring the intersections of language use, individual and group identities, and the exercise of power, in its many forms. In particular, we will focus on the relationship between language and culture by asking, in what ways does language influence and constitute social change? How is social change reflected by changes in the way we use language? Over the course of the semester, you will work on applying the knowledge and theoretical tools you gain to your own analysis of a linguistic artifact that you choose.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-387 Writing in the Disciplines
Intermittent: 6 units
This mini will introduce you to the theory and practice of writing instruction in contexts outside of English studies. We will learn about the distinction between Writing across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines and challenges to providing integrated, high quality writing instruction across the university. We will explore the implications of the wide variety of forms of academic writing for instruction in English classrooms, including high school and first-year writing classrooms. Assessments will include reading responses and a final paper reviewing research on writing in a specific writing context of your choosing. Students enrolled in the course for six units will be expected to do additional readings and give an oral presentation. Please note that in terms of time commitment, a 3-unit mini will require approximately six hours per week (three hours homework and three hours class meetings) and a 6-unit mini will require twelve hours per week.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-106)
76-388 Coding for Humanists
Intermittent: 9 units
This course provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills to develop and/or utilize computer-aided research tools for text analysis. Through a series of hands-on coding exercises, students will explore computation as a means to engage in new questions and expand their thinking about textual artifacts. This course is designed for students with no, or very little, coding experience. So, if you have already taken a programming course, this course is most likely not for you. Students who have taken 15-110 and/or 15-112 may not take this course. For the final project, you will develop a small research project involving a computational analysis of a corpus of texts. You will plan, design, and write a computer program that processes and analyzes a textual corpus of your choice. Students who are taking the course for 9-unit will write a brief project report (3-5 pages) that summarizes your final project. Graduate students in the MA in Rhetoric/PhD programs must register for 12-unit, and will complete a research paper (4,000-5,000 word).
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-389 Rhetorical Grammar
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This is a course in fundamental grammatical structures of English and how these structures fit into the writer's toolkit. This means you will learn a lot about English-language grammar in this course en route to understanding a lot about English language writing. This course is designed for MA students in professional writing and undergraduates who want to improve their grammar, their writing, and their depth of understanding of how improvement in grammar impacts improvement in writing.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-390 Style
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course teaches you how to write clearly. Specifically, the principles you learn in this course will help you 1) to clearly represent actions and the characters responsible for them; 2) to make your paragraphs coherent and cohesive; 3) to write sentences that stress important information; 4) to cut unnecessary prose; and 5) to reshape lengthy sentences so as not to perplex your reader.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-391 Document & Information Design
Fall: 9 units
This course provides students who have already learned the foundation of written communication with an opportunity to develop the ability to analyze and create visual-verbal synergy in printed documents. Students will be introduced to the basic concepts and vocabulary, as well as the practical issues of visual communication design through a series of hands-on projects in various rhetorical situations. Assigned readings will complement the projects in exploring document design from historical, theoretical, and technological perspectives. Class discussions and critiquing are an essential part of this course. Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator will be taught in class, and used to create the assigned projects.
Prerequisites: 76-270 or 76-271
76-392 Special Topics in Literature & Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics vary by semester. Fall 2022: The American Novel - This course will survey the history of American fiction. We will look at novels and short stories in three broad periods: from the early 19th century to the Civil War (Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne); from the late 19th century (Howells, James, and Jewett); and from the early 20th century (Hemingway, Stein, and Le Sueur). While we will try to cover well-known figures, we will also look at some lesser-known ones, such as Rebecca Harding Davis, who wrote about factory life in the 1850s, and George Schuyler, who wrote science fiction in the 1930s. Typically, American fiction is said to move from Romance to realism to modernism to postmodernism. One of our tasks is to consider what these mean and how they apply. In addition, we will consider some of the cultural, social, and institutional conditions that create fiction. How does fiction respond to shifts in printing and book production? to industrialization after the Civil War? How do ideas of gender and race shape the fiction? Alongside our readings, you will also have three papers and presentations drawing on them to build our archive of what we know about this fiction.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-393 Narrative & Argument
Intermittent: 9 units
This is course for non-English majors interested in understanding and practicing writing as an art of design thinking and decision-making. We work through seven writing exercises divided into "experiential" and "informational" clusters and we discuss the underlying design principles that unite and divide these clusters. Experiential writing (think character-based fiction, personal profiles, travel writing, narrative histories) supports reader learning but in an indirect, unsupervised fashion. Students write short papers within each of these clusters to glimpse and grapple with the different compositional (design) challenges. Within experiential writing, students practice making themselves (from the first person) and third parties characters readers can come to know and care about. They practice immersing readers within immediate and historical scenes by creating the feel of extended space or elapsed time. Within information writing, students practice presenting readers with new ideas by following the readers' native curiosity (exposition), guiding readers through manual tasks (instruction), and structuring readers' decision-making (argument) in controversies when there are multiple decision paths. Argument is a capstone of information writing that bids for social and political change. While writing for experience and writing for information are distinct clusters, they are highly interactive and the best information writers routinely import techniques of experiential writing into their craft to enliven and layer the reader's experience. Technologies for making visible for students their tacit decision-making over hundreds and thousands of compositional moves when writing experience and information are introduced and provide students a literal "lens" on the texts they write as an endlessly curious design artifact.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-395 Science Writing
Spring: 9 units
You will learn how to write clear, well-organized, compelling articles about science, technology and health topics for a general audience. You will learn how to carry out research on scientific topics using primary and secondary sources, how to conduct interviews, and how to organize that information in a logical fashion for presentation. For writing majors, the course will increase their understanding of scientific research and how to describe it accurately and in a compelling manner to a general audience. For science majors, this course will teach them how to craft fluid, powerful prose so that they can bring their disciplines to life. The course is not intended just for those who want to become science writers, but for anyone who may have the need to explain science, medicine, or technology to a general audience, whether it is an engineer describing a green building project at a public hearing or a computer programmer describing new software to a firm's marketing staff. Scientists and educators today are increasingly concerned about the public's lack of understanding about scientific principles and practices, and this course is one step toward remedying that deficit. You will get a chance to read several examples of high-quality science writing and interview researchers, but the primary emphasis will be on writing a series of articles, and rewriting them after they've been edited. Your assignments will range from profiles of scientists to explanations of how something works. In particular, this year's class will focus on how science and society interact, whether that means the way that science writers write about public health and the COVID pandemic or climate change. The class will be run partly as a writing workshop where students will be organized in teams where they will discuss ideas, as well as edit and critique each other's work in class, in a process similar to what journalists routinely go through.
Prerequisites: (76-102 or 76-101 or 76-106 or 76-108 or 76-107) and (76-270 or 76-472 or 76-375 or 76-372 or 76-271)
76-396 Non-Profit Message Creation
Intermittent: 9 units
Non-profit organizations support a multitude of causes ranging from the arts to animals to the environment to health care to human rights to scientific research to many great causes in between. Non-profits achieve their missions by advocating on behalf of their organization's cause, raising public awareness about issues surrounding their cause, and fundraising to make their advocacy possible. In this course, students will select a local, Pittsburgh-area non-profit to examine and produce materials based on the organization's needs. Over the course of the semester students will research the organization's persona and values via interviews with chosen organization's staff and analysis of existing communication channels and different forms of content currently used by the organization. Students will use this research and analyses to inform and shape a final project that should meet the specified, needed deliverables from the selected non-profit. Previous example projects include: Revising a newsletter and specifying future best practices for an organization; developing new format and copy for an organization's website; developing a social media campaign for an upcoming event; developing a grant proposal for an organization's project; among many others. Students will have a wide selection of organizations to choose from and know projects associated with the organization at the beginning of the semester, as these will be organized by the professor. At the end of the course, students will have a portfolio ready material and an increased understanding as to how non-profit organizations advance their causes.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-397 Instructional Text Design
Intermittent: 9 units
This course focuses on the planning, writing, and evaluating of instruction of various kinds, especially instructional texts. It is particularly appropriate for professional and technical writers, but also a good option for anyone interested in fields that involve substantial instruction, such as teaching or employee training. In the first part of the course, we'll examine the recent history of instructional design and the major current theories. Then we'll take a step back and study the concepts of learning upon which these theories are based, with particular attention to their implications for how instruction is structured. You'll find that different learners (e.g., children, older adults) and goals (e.g., learning concepts and principles, learning to apply principles to solve novel problems, learning a procedure, learning to change one's behavior, etc.) require different types of instruction. In the second part of the course, we'll look in detail at models of how people learn from texts and what features (e.g., advanced organizers, examples, metaphors, illustrations, multimedia) enhance learning under what circumstances. We will study and analyze particular types of texts. Some possible examples include an introduction to the concept of gravity; a tutorial for computer software; a self-paced unit in French; adult educational materials in health care; a workshop on sexual harassment in the workplace; or a unit to train someone how to moderate a discussion. We will also look at various methods (concept mapping, think-aloud, comprehension tests, etc.) that are used to plan and evaluate instructional text. You will do a project, either individually or in a small group (2-3), in which you design, write and evaluate instruction.
Prerequisites: 76-270 or 76-271
76-401 Hollywood vs. the World
Intermittent: 9 units
For almost a century the American film industry has dominated popular media worldwide. Anywhere in the world, American stars, American films, and American modes of storytelling are never far away. Why and how was that dominance achieved, and how have other cultures and industries challenged it? Film and television account for billions of dollars of U.S. exports and provide one of the key sources of global "soft power" and cultural influence. Understanding how that dominance works is therefore crucial to the question of America's economic, political and cultural place in the world. This course will examine ways in which other national cinemas have fought, or are currently fighting, against the hegemony of American popular film culture, and the ways in which the American film industry has maintained its dominant position in world markets for nearly a century.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-403 The Crucible of Modernity:Vienna 1900
Intermittent: 9 units
Vienna at the turn of the century (that is, at the turn of the last century, 1900) was many things: the political center of the Habsburg dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the meeting place of Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Slavs, Poles, Italians, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Germans; the center of German-language music and theater; the birthplace of Zionism and of psychoanalysis; the battleground for liberalism and anti-Semitism; a haven for socialism; the home of caf and #233;-culture and the waltz; the garrison for an outdated army; the city of baroque urban palaces and squalid backyard tenements; the center for Enlightenment public policy and reactionary bureaucracy; and the showcase for historicism. And while the story of Viennas cultural and political turmoil is interesting, it probably would not command our attention today were it not for its role as the birthplace of Modernism. In an effort to understand todays intellectual environment, therefore, we will examine Vienna before the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. We will be looking at a huge and at times confusing canvas which by necessity includes almost every aspect of culture. We will start with politics and history and move on through art, architecture, crafts, psychoanalysis, literature, music, and philosophy. We will be looking at art nouveau buildings and furniture, reading literature, viewing films, and listening to recordings - and we will build 3D models on a digital map which will help us understand how the different arts were all connected and influenced each other. Language of instruction: English
76-404 Critical Race & Ethnicity Studies
Intermittent: 4.5 units
Terms commonly associated with the academic study of race and ethnicity have gained or regained prominence within our always volatile political discourse: intersectionality, identity politics, white supremacy and blackness. But what is critical race and ethnic studies? What are the "theories" about race, ethnicity, art, subjectivity, power, knowledge and the human that have driven the scholarship and intellectual work for scholars committed to an interdisciplinary exploration of race and ethnicity? This course will introduce students to some of the key figures, terms, debates that have emerged out of critical race and ethnicity studies with a particular focus on how the "structuralist controversy", which foregrounded critiques of the "subject" have changed the way scholars talk about race, ethnicity and identity since the middle of the twentieth-century. Given the wide ranging and interdisciplinary nature of critical race and ethnicity studies our readings will inherently cover disciples such as literary criticism and theory, legal studies, anthropology, linguistics, science and technology studies and film studies to name a few. Readings may include: W.E.B. Du Bois, Kimberly Crenshaw, bell hooks, Richard Dyer, Edward Said, Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Claudia Sharpe, Denise D' Silva, Gayatri Spivak, Eduardo Bonilla Silva and Achille Mbembe. There will be two short papers.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-405 Institutional Studies: English as a Discipline
Intermittent: 4.5 units
The institution on which this course will focus is the academic discipline, the specific historical form that the production of knowledge in the modern research university has assumed. This course will examine the historical development of the discourses, practices, organs, and associations that have defined English as a discipline. While we will of necessity also look at the theories and values that the discipline has proclaimed at different times, this will not mainly be a course in the history of criticism. Criticism will be considered as one practice among others including philology, literary history, literary theory, rhetoric, and composition. In order to understand the broader context, we will read work by Foucault and others on disciplinarity. We will also examine allied institutions, including the professions and the university.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-406 Introduction to Black Studies
Intermittent: 9 units
This seminar will take an interdisciplinary, historical and transnational approach to the field of Black Studies. We will focus on key figures, events, debates, terms, books, essays, and anthologies that anticipate as well as constitute the emergence of Black Studies as a discipline in the wake of Black student protests in the 1960s. Since this seminar is being offered in an English Department, we will spend a significant part of our seminar discussing the political, methodological and institutional impact of Black Studies on English Departments after 1968. In particular we will explore the fraught relationship between Black Studies and African-American Studies as well as investigate the intertwined institutional history of these two fields throughout the late twentieth and into the twenty-first century. We will undoubtedly read and read about figures like W.E.B Du Bois, Sylvia Wynter, Franz Fanon, C.L.R. James, Angela Davis, Molefi Kete Asante and Saidiya Hartman to name a few.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-407 Topics in Literary & Cultural Studies
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics vary by semester. Spring 2022: There Are Black People in the Future. In 2018 the African American artist and CMU professor, Alisha Wormsley created a slogan for a billboard in Pittsburgh's East Liberty that read: THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE. The billboard had featured many artists and slogans over a period of years, but this one was taken down when the building's landlord objected to the content. The controversy over this piece of art gives this course its name. There are black people in the future, and there are extraordinary black artists in Pittsburgh at this very moment. This special topics course will consider what some are calling a new Pittsburgh Renaissance in the black arts, from art to literature to film and music. Featured writers include Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Life of Church Ladies, Brian Broome, Punch Me Up To The Gods, and Damon Young, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker. We will also look at the work of the writer Jason England, the artists Alisha Wormsley, Vanessa German, Devan Shimoyama, the rapper Jasiri X, and the film maker Chris Ivey. An in depth look at these artists will be paired with an examination of the history of African Americans in Pittsburgh, and current economics, sociology and politics surrounding race in the city.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-408 Culture and Globalization
Intermittent: 9 units
We are often told we live in a period of globalization, but what that means differs widely. Theories of globalization describe such diverse processes as international capital and markets, neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism, environmental devastation, transnational labor and migration, modernity, shifts in spatial and temporal relations, cosmopolitanism, global cultural production and consumption, and the resurgence of nationalism. In this course we will explore and historicize the concept of globalization from both a global literary perspective and an interdisciplinary lens. Pairing literary works from around the world with scholarship from sociology, political science, gender and critical race studies, and anthropology, we will examine the contradictions, conflicts and possibilities of associated changes in the world. We will investigate the role of representation and aesthetics by considering the work of literary writers as well as some filmmakers, journalists and activists. The course will be organized as a series of topical foci that might include neoliberalism and labor, the local and the global, environmental changes, secularism and tradition, the globalization of feminism, and global migration and border control.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-410 The Long Eighteenth Century
Intermittent: 9 units
Angela Davis wrote that "freedom is a constant struggle": how do the freedom struggles of the long eighteenth century continue into the present? How were "modern" categories of race and gender forged and navigated in the long eighteenth century? In this course, we will study literature and culture between roughly 1660 and 1820, an era in which historical phenomena such as European empires, the Rights of Woman, and slavery and abolition coincided with changes in print and media culture to produce profound cultural changes that are still with us. Through reading, discussion, and graded assignments including short essays and oral presentations, we will examine the interanimating relationship of literature and history in moments of crisis. Examples of primary readings include Aphra Behn's Ooronoko, selections from Milton's Paradise Lost, Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Mary Prince's The History of Mary Prince, and William Wordsworth's "To Toussaint L'Ouverture." Secondary readings will draw from a variety of critical traditions such as post- and de-colonial studies, Black studies, post-structuralism, and material culture studies.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-412 Performance and 18th Century Theatrical Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
This course has the dual purpose of introducing students to performance and celebrity studies and giving them experience in using these analytic frameworks to study 18th-century literature and culture. Celebrity is a very modern phenomenon that first became a visible part of political, religious, and artistic culture over the course of the long 18th century, between 1660 and 1800. We will investigate the genealogies of modern celebrity, considering such questions as, what do the Kardashians have to do with dead English kings? What can cross-dressing actresses teach us about 21st-century drag performances? (Full disclosure: Dead English kings and cross-dressing actresses will get far more of our attention than the Kardashians or modern drag artists.) We will study some of the most powerful recent theories of performance and celebrity; we will read plays and other performance genres that took up time and space on the 18th-century stage. In addition, we will explore beyond the London theaters to consider the nature of performance in its many cultural forms: What are the connections between theater and the quieter performances of political pamphlets, newspapers, and novels as they occupy physical and mental space in coffee houses and libraries? Can a print text be performative? Finally, we will examine various relationships between performance and culture. How does performance in the early modern period shape gender and sexuality as well as class and race relations? This course will count as an upper-level course for the Gender Studies Minor, as well as a pre-1900 period course for the EBA.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-413 Book Design: A Cultural History
Intermittent: 9 units
Today the book is thriving despite earlier predictions of its "death" at the hands of the digital media. What has made the book so powerful a medium over six centuries? This course will take you into the book's makeup, design, and impact over time. We study how the book was made at different times in its historyfor instance, the manuscript book (medieval), the hand-press book (Renaissance and eighteenth century), the machine-made book (1800s to present). We also ask how today's databases like Google Books make us see new dimensions of the print medium that were not visible earlier. Likewise we will study theories of the print medium and the cultural effects of the book among readers and social groups. Students will have hands-on experience with a printing press and the Rare Book archives at Hunt and Hillman libraries. Two papers and shorter assignments will be required. Please note: first-year students are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-414 Politics, Media, and Romantic Literature 1789-1830
Intermittent: 9 units
The Romantic period in Britain was a volatile era of political and literary revolutions - but also of print-media revolutions that transformed reading, writing, and publishing. This course focuses the question of books, periodicals, and reading audiences through case studies of several Romantic writers: Mary Robinson, William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, William Hazlitt, and William Wordsworth. Reading a selection of their poems, essays, and critical theory in the context of contemporary debates, we will aim to understand the relation between print as a set of material forms, and political as well as literary ideas and discourses that contended for attention in the period's innovative print media We will also try to grasp some wider cultural processes at work in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. These included disintegration of the early modern Republic of Letters and the reconfiguration of its knowledges in the nineteenth-century cultural fields; the forming and division of new reading publics and their ways of reading print; important changes in book production, typography, printing methods (hand-press to steam press), and bookselling; and the crucially important relation between the aesthetic powers of the ?text? and the material pleasures of the "book." Research papers using rare-book materials at the Hunt or Hillman library Special Collections will be especially encouraged; and the course will sometimes meet in the archive to examine "rare and curious" modes of print. One short paper and one research paper will be required.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-415 Mediated Power and Propaganda
Intermittent: 9 units
For most of us, the word "propaganda" triggers a familiar script. We tend to think of totalitarian regimes where the State controls information and prohibits the expression of dissenting views. We also tend to associate propaganda with certain rhetorical techniques - highly emotional words, deceptive representations, and glittering generalities that inhibit rational thought and manipulate public opinion. According to such popular views, propaganda is linked to the dissemination of false information and is antithetical to the norms of democratic society. Our class will challenge these assumptions. First, instead of confining propaganda to authoritarian governments, we will examine how propaganda functions within democratic society. Indeed, we will focus on domestic propaganda in America, especially political propaganda but also propaganda in advertising and public relations. Next, instead of focusing exclusively on deceptive rhetorical techniques, we will ask a more elemental question: What enables propaganda to circulate? Answering this question will force us to consider the routines and values of corporate media as well as the power relations that give some people special access to channels of mass communication. Certainly, we will also examine propaganda messages themselves, attending to manipulative tactics as well as rhetorical strategies used to induce uptake in the mainstream press. We begin our seminar by studying key theories of propaganda, looking at primary texts for various definitions and criticisms of the concept. We will then examine how powerful institutions, especially media organizations, manage the dissemination of propaganda in democracies. Finally, we will consider how to analyze propaganda, generating methodological prerequisites for scholarly study. Ultimately, students will have the opportunity to conduct their own research on propaganda as it relates to their academic and professional goals.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-418 Rhetoric and the Body
Intermittent: 9 units
This course offers an introduction to rhetorical studies of the body and is centered on the following three questions: What is the role of the body in rhetorical theory? What role does rhetoric play in constructing the body as a raced, gendered, dis/abled, cultural, fleshy, and political entity? And, how might moving, feeling bodies challenge, regulate, or disrupt these rhetorical constructions and furthermore, our theories of rhetoric? Our readings will explore the role of embodiment in rhetorical theory, examining a number of contemporary and historical theories of the body. In the process, we will explore how to put rhetoric and the body into conversation with one another and what methodological implications this conversation has for rhetorical studies more broadly. The goal of this course is to provide breadth rather than depth, with the assumption that most students, even those relatively familiar with body and/or rhetorical theory, will approach rhetorical studies of the body as novices. Students will conduct their own research on a topic related to rhetorical studies of the body that also aligns with their professional and academic goals. Graduate students interested in research will benefit from this course's focus on theory and the professional genres central to rhetorical studies. Undergraduates students (both majors and non-majors) will have the opportunity to examine how the body intersects with communication and writing contexts in their everyday public and professional lives. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-419 Media in a Digital Age
Intermittent: 9 units
How are media in a digital age changing? And how are they changing us? What does it mean to be living in today's communication technology "revolution"? In a time when many forms of communication are digitally based, traveling as bits at e-speeds on global computer networks? To begin answering these questions, we will take as case studies several new discursive digital media formations, such as digital books, on-line newspapers, blogs, wikis, and so forth, along with related social formations, such as social media networksand distributed non-profit activist organizations. The readings will provide a range of lens by which to understand these developments, including cognitive, social, political, economic and technological aspects. We will briefly put the development of communication technologies in their historical context: How were new forms of communication received in the past? How were they used? How did they affect communication? How did they influence political and social institutions? We will focus, however, on using knowledge of historical developments to inform our understandings of current digital communication developments. Along the way we will ask questions, such as " What are some of the challenges that new digital formations present to traditional communication theories (e.g., How is trust established when speakers are anonymous and globally distributed? How is the "public sphere" constituted when Internet search engines dynamically construct it?). Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-420 The Cognition of Reading and Writing: Introduction to a Social/Cognitive Process
Spring: 9 units
Ever wondered how a reader is interpreting a text you wroteand how that compares to what you thought it said? Or how does your own process of writing that text compare to the problem-solving strategies experts draw upon? This course explores reading and writing as a social/cognitive processrevealing conscious and unconscious problem-solving strategies with which readers comprehend and interpret texts, and writers construct and communicate their meaning. To get at the why behind the surprising things readers do with a text, we will draw on the psychology of reading, where socially constructed memory networks, cognitive schemas, and meta-knowledge actively shape interpretation. To uncover readers' interpretations, we put our knowledge to work trying out user-testing methods that help writers build effective audience-based presentations, applications, websites, or guides. We then take the same approach to writers as thinkers, examining the key problem-solving processes, from task representation, to planning, to revision, on which expert and novice writers often differ. Learning to track problem-solving through process tracing methods, will let you carry out two case studies of your own. The first will uncover the (sometimes radical) differences in how a small set of readers actually interpret a text you find significant. The second will be a case study of your own thinking process on a real task you are doing outside this class. Here you are likely to uncover old unconscious habits, problems you had to solve, as well as unrecognized successful strategies, giving you a new reflective insight into your own thinking as a writer. Freshmen prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-422 Gender and Sexuality Studies
Intermittent: 4.5 units
We will anchor our introduction to this broad and diverse field of theory in the admittedly very limited historical period of feminist, queer, and transgender political activism, circa 1970 to the present day. Instead of attempting "coverage" (an impossible task), we will shuttle between recent work in queer, transgender, and feminist theory and a few key texts that are foundational to the development of academic theory as a reaction to and extension from the political activism of these social movements. Our goals are to strengthen our understanding of the continuities and breaks in politically informed thinking about gender and sexuality, and to deepen our knowledge of the theoretical frameworks available to us from these areas of study. Students will write short response papers to course readings that will help us focus our discussions on their particular interests in literary and cultural studies.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-423 Transnational Feminisms
Intermittent: 9 units
How do controversial practices related to women become touchstones that draw women together across cultures or, conversely, push them into separate cultural and political spheres? This course introduces the challenges transnational feminism has posed to Western notions of feminism. To explore these contestations, we will look at a series of controversies. This course will take six case studies concerning cultural practices that have generated global debates about the status of women and issues like consent, freedom, and equality. Beginning with several works about regional/Islamic practices of veiling, we will look specifically at the close connections made between women's practices and elements of tradition, including religion. With an eye toward historicizing feminist interventions, we will look at 19th century debates on sati, commonly called widow burning, in India, to see how certain issues became loci for global intervention during colonial periods and, later, for global feminist movements. Within the contemporary period, we will turn to cultural, economic and political practices like female genital cutting, transnational domestic labor, global sex trade, and transnational forced marriage. For each of these controversies, we will be reading a range of positions represented in different types of writing across genre, including scholarly writing, legal cases, media debates, films and literature.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-424 Theories of Social Class
Spring: 9 units
How do we define social class? And how do we define popular culture? And what is the relationship between the two? In this class we'll try to answer these questions by looking at the history of class identity in the US, the rise of staggering inequality in the 21st century, and what Newman calls the "labor theory of culture," juxtaposed against the "commodity theory of culture." Texts for the course will include: White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America, Robert Reich's documentary Inequality for All, the Oscar winning film Parasite, Netflix's TV series The Maid as well as readings from Marx/Marxist influenced cultural theory.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-425 Rhetoric, Science, and the Public Sphere
Intermittent: 9 units
In the 21st century science and technology are ubiquitous presences I our lives. Sometimes these phenomena spark our imagination and affirm our confidence in a better future. In other instances, they create fear and generate protests over the risks new technologies and scientific ideas pose to prevailing social, cultural, economic, and political orders. In this course we will examine the complex dynamics in the relationships between science, technology, and society. Towards this end we will engages with questions such as: How do we decide who an expert is? To what extent do scientists have an obligation to consider the social and ethical consequences of their work? Is public education about science and technology sufficient for addressing social concerns about risk and controversial scientific ideas? We will grapple with these and other questions by exploring public debates including conflicts over global warming, vaccinations, and the AIDS crisis. With the help of analytical theories from sociology, rhetoric, and public policy, we will develop a framework for thinking about argument and the dynamics of the relationship between science, technology, and the public. We will also look to these fields for tools to assess public debate and to complicate and/or affirm prevailing theories about the relationship between science and society.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-428 Visual Verbal Communication
Fall: 9 units
People create a wide range of communicative artifacts that integrates visual and verbal elements-newsletters, product brochures, web pages, graphical novels, journal articles, resumes, software references, yellow stickies, etc. Yet, such visual-verbal discourse has only recently attracted the serious attention of research communities. Some of the relevant research questions include: Why do visual variations exist across different contexts? (e.g., Popular science looks different from Discover.) Why and how do visual styles change over time? (e.g., Magazines from the 1950s don't look like present day magazines.) Do visual elements have persuasive power? If so, what roles do they play in shaping an argument? How do people learn to communicate using visual-verbal artifacts? In this seminar, we will address these and other questions through readings and discussions on various threads of studies around the analysis of communicative artifacts that integrate visual and verbal expressions. We will review key research publications concerning visual-verbal communication from relevant disciplines, including professional and amp; technical communication, rhetoric, argumentation, and literacy. Particular attention will be paid to descriptive methods (e.g., social-semiotic analysis, visual argument, and rhetorical structure theory) and the types of questions these methods can help us answer. Throughout the semester, students will be encouraged to explore the visual-verbal communication artifacts found around them and use those to connect class discussions to the practice of design. Required assignments include a brief bi-weekly response to the readings, several short analysis papers, and a longer term paper with a topic chosen by students based on their professional or research interests. Please see English Dept. for full course description.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-429 Introduction to Digital Humanities
Intermittent: 9 units
This course is a "learn by doing" introduction to questions and methods in digital humanities, with special emphases on common tasks in digital history, digital literary studies, library science, and cultural analytics. Students will likely partner with a national humanities organization to tackle real-world humanities problems while developing core computational competencies such as those required for gathering data (text mining, APIs), transforming data (OCR, regular expressions, natural language processing, image magick), file management (shell commands), data visualization (matplotlib, arcGIS), and more.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-431 Gender Play in Early Modern Drama
Intermittent: 9 units
The playhouses of early modern London offered access to an astonishing spectacle that would be difficult to find anywhere else in the city: men dressed as women, skillfully reproducing (but also exposing, interrogating, and refining) the significations that structure concepts of gender difference. In addition to this fundamental condition of performance and theatrical experience, the plots of the plays themselves regularly engaged with issues pertaining to gender and sexuality, an interest that runs through the raunchy satires performed by companies of adolescent boys, the innumerable comedies of cross-dressing and mistaken identity, and the equally numerous tragedies centered on problems of inequality and imbalances of power. This course will consider a wide range of drama from the period alongside a selection of readings in sexuality and gender theory, thus bringing early modern dramatists such as William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton into conversation with contemporary thinkers such as Judith Butler and Sarah Ahmed. The body of core texts will include Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Roaring Girl, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tamer Tamed, The Island Princess, The Witch of Edmonton, The Silent Woman, Women Beware Women, and Galatea. Please note: First-year students are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomore students must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-433 Love: A Cultural Introduction
Intermittent: 9 units
This is a course about the literary and cultural history of love. We will focus on romantic love, with an emphasis on how ideas about love have been a dynamic part of our social, political and economic world. Some of the questions to be addressed include: How, historically, did the idea of love become coupled with freedom? How did romantic love come to be considered the epitome of self-fulfillment and what are the contradictions in that idea? How has the idea of romantic love been mobilized on behalf of things like the state, the nation, capitalism or revolution? How do types of love function as a measure of belonging or deviance? How does the discourse of love enter different kinds of institutional arrangements, such as marriage or state citizenship? As a way to explore these questions, this course focuses on literature, reading canonical and non-canonical texts through philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology and law. Students will immerse themselves in an interdisciplinary range of material as they read, discuss and write about these representations. We will roam through cultural theory of affect, psychoanalytic notions of love, historical constructions of marriage, and feminist discussions of love and sexuality. The emphasis will be on Euro-American narrative traditions, but the final part of the course will include a contemporary global comparative context. Literary readings might include William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Arundhati Roy and Jeanette Winterson. This course is an advanced undergraduate-only English course with intensive reading. Note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisite: 76-101
76-435 Politics and Popular Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
Over the course of the last one hundred years what has been the influence of left-wing social movements on popular culture? Michael Kazin, in his recent best seller American Dreamers argues that the left has had a more powerful effect on culture than on politics. But what about the idea that cultural influence is inherently political? In this class we will read a mix of cultural history, film studies, music studies, literary studies, art history, television studies, and cultural theory. We will look at the intersection of radical movement politics and high modernism in the 1930s and 1940s. We will look at how left culture survived under the cloud of the blacklist. We will look at the Civil Rights culture and Feminist culture that emerged out of the 1950s and 1960s. Finally, we will look at how the left/right debates and struggles over the thirties, fifties and sixties have persisted into our current political/cultural narrative forms. Key texts for the course include Michael Kazin, American Dreamers: How the Left Changed the Nation, Paul Buhle, Hide in Plain Sight, the Hollywood Blacklistees in Film and Television, T.V. Reed, The Art of Protest, Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with Mass Media, Sasha Torres, Black, White and In Color: Television and Black Civil Rights, and Judith Halberstam, The Queer Art of Failure.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-438 The Wire: Crime, Realism, and Long-Form TV
Intermittent: 9 units
The HBO series The Wire (2002-2008) has been called the greatest TV show ever. Part of the first wave of "quality television" series by which HBO changed the way people conceived of the artistic possibilities of the medium, the Wire differed from its contemporaries like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under in its realism and its smaller audience. Unlike most other shows on television, The Wire addressed the racism, poverty, the failures of the criminal justice system, and other social problems head on. It was able to do this in part because it had enough time to develop complex story threads. This moment of TV history produced what I am calling "long-form" TV, in which narrative continuity was stretched over multiple seasons. TV in this form resembles 19th century novels that were first released serially in magazines and newspapers. In both cases, audiences waited expectantly for new episodes, since they could not be "binge-watched." The Wire was rooted in producer/writers David Simon and Ed Burns' experiences in Baltimore, where the former had been a crime reporter and the latter a police detective. Simon has said that he made the series in order to tell truths about the city he could not tell in the newspapers. This course will consider the wire in the context of realist fiction of the 19th century, twentieth-century crime fiction, earlier TV crime series, and other long-form TV, including Mad Men. We will try to explore The Wire's realism, its continuing appeal, and its impact. We will probably watch 3 seasons of The Wire.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-439 Seminar in Film and Media Studies
Intermittent: 9 units
Topics vary by semester. Fall 2023: Novelistic Television - Topics vary by semester. Fall 2023: Novelistic Television: In this course we will look at television series defined by narrative complexity developed over the course of a season and beyond. We will watch whole seasons of such shows as The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and Slings and Arrows, which bear greater similarity to the novel than to traditional, episodic TV. We will trace the development of the novelistic form of television from the first wave of "quality television" series in the 1990s, in which HBO changed the way people conceived of the artistic possibilities of the medium, through the 2000s, when The Wire and Mad Men fully exploited the new form, and finally into the streaming era, when it has become common but less innovative. We will read media history and theory, and narrative theory to develop an understanding how and why the new form emerged. We will endeavor to understand these shows as expressions of and commentaries on the social and political conditions under which they were produced. We may read a novel or two for purposes formal comparison, and we will watch some episodes of more traditional TV series. Likely theorists include Raymond Williams, Linda Williams, Jason Mittell, Pierre Bourdieu, and Fredric Jameson.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-440 Postcolonial Theory: Diaspora and Transnationalism
Intermittent: 9 units
Arjun Appadurai argues that one of the primary transformations in this period of globalization has been in the capacity for people to imagine themselves or their children will live and work in places other than where they were born. Although the novel has long been considered a national form, contemporary novels frequently represent transnational mobility, both in their plots and as global commodities. A significant body of contemporary fiction focuses on imaginative and physical movement across national borders. This global literature course combines literary and theoretical readings to examine the experiences of transnationalism and diaspora. Theories of transnationalism look at the interconnections that cut across nations. The concept of diaspora, a term first used to reference the movement of a people out of a homeland, has become a way to think about the identities of immigrants, migrant workers, and refugees. Readings for the course will be drawn from a diverse group of writers from around the globe. Literary readings might include works by Caryl Phillips, Jamaica Kincaid, Christina Garcia, Nadeem Aslam and Jhumpa Lahiri; theoretical readings might include works by Salman Rushdie, Paul Gilroy, Gloria Anzaldúa, Arjun Appadurai, Inderpal Grewal and Avtar Brah.
76-441 Theorizing Sexuality
Intermittent: 9 units
This course offers a foundation in the history of theorizing sexuality that brings us from the Greek classical concept of man/boy love, through medieval concepts of the "one-sex body," and up to contemporary transgender theory. We will read canonical theories of sexuality in the modern period, such as Freud's psychoanalytic Three Essays on Sexuality and Michel Foucault's revisionist History of Sexuality. To ground our theoretical investigations in social and historical context, we will focus on three discursive sites: the feminist "sex wars" of the 1980s, the theory and practice of "trans" both gender and sexuality from modern and contemporary periods, and late 20th and 21st century queer concepts of sexuality.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-443 Restoration & 18th-Century Theatre
Intermittent: 9 units
London theaters turned on their lights (or more properly, lit their candles) in 1660 when the Puritan regime ended and Britain returned to monarchical rule. The newly opened theaters quickly became spaces for political and social performances by both actors and audiences. The theater was the place not only to see plays but to hear the latest gossip about the glitterari of the court, to monitor political plots, and to speculate on which pretty actress was current mistress to the King. It was literally a space in which society performed itself, to itself. We will look at the development of the theater as an important social institution and trace its development, up to the mid 1700s, as a media hub that spread its tentacles into newspapers, visual materials, and other popular culture media. Of course, we will read some of the most important plays of this time period, but we will also pay attention to the print and visual culture that grew up around and in response to the theater. In addition to building knowledge about this important chapter in the development of modern media culture, this course will introduce students to performance studies as a framework for the study of culture in any historical period.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-444 History of Books and Reading
Intermittent: 9 units
Rather than putting an end to the book, digital media have had the oddly exhilarating effect of making us look at all kinds of print, past and present, through newly focused lenses. This course will introduce you to the history of books and reading, a cross-fertilizing field of study that is having an impact on many disciplines, from the history of science to literary history, cultural studies, and the arts. Scholarship in this still-emerging field will include work by Roger Chartier, Michel Foucault, Elizabeth Eisenstein, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel de Certeau, , and the current scholars who appear in one of our key books, "Interacting with Print: A Multigraph." We'll also read primary texts by Joseph Addison, Jane Austen, Samuel Coleridge, and Wilkie Collins to see how differing modes of print and reading became highly contested cultural and political matters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Other topics include the division between new reading publics and their ways of reading books; important changes in book production, typography, printing methods (hand-press to steam press). Such knowledge of the history of print has become especially crucial in an era of emerging "new media" and the field of digital humanities in the university. Two papers will be requiredone shorter paper (5-7 pp.) and a longer research paper on the uses of books and print by producers and readers. Though the course meets in Baker Hall, you will have hands-on experience with early books and other forms of print as we also meet periodically in the Rare Book Room at Hunt Library.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-445 Milton
Intermittent: 9 units
Although censored and reviled by many in his own day, John Milton (1608-1674), author of Paradise Lost among other powerful anti-monarchical writings of the English Revolution, has influenced writers as varied as William Blake, Mary Shelley, Thomas Jefferson, Friedrich Engels, C.S. Lewis, Malcolm X, and Philip Pullman. This course will investigate what has made Milton a writer at once so much imitated and beloved by his admirers and loathed and denigrated by detractors. The bulk of this course will center on a careful, challenging, and chronological reading of Milton's works, primarily Paradise Lost but also his great shorter poems including Lycidas, Paradise Regain'd, and Samson Agonistes, and selections of his voluminous prose (Areopagitica, Of Education, Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, Readie and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth). Studying Milton's development as a poet, controversialist, and pamphleteer, students will examine Milton's contexts (chiefly, literary, political, and theological) in order gain further insights into the complex relations between Milton's 17th-century world and his major poems and prose. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-446 Revenge Tragedy
Intermittent: 9 units
Attendants to the early modern English theater seem to have had an almost insatiable appetite for revenge tragedy: a lurid, blood-soaked genre distinguished by plots involving insanity, skulls, ghosts, poisonings, stabbings, suicide, and other forms of unnatural death. This course will cover key examples of the genre, putting particular emphasis on the depiction and interrogation of justice, analyses of death, and playful engagement with theatricality. Our central curriculum will include the following plays: Thyestes (Seneca), The Spanish Tragedy (Kyd), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare), Hamlet (Shakespeare), The Revenger's Tragedy (Middleton), and The Duchess of Malfi (Webster). We will also read a selection of critical essays and related literature from the period.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-448 Shakespeare on Film
Intermittent: 9 units
The dramatic works of William Shakespeare have inspired an extraordinarily rich and varied cinematic legacy that began in the era of silent films and now boasts masterpieces by directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski, Peter Greenaway, and Orson Welles, not to mention history-making performances by icons including Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Olivier, Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ian McKellen (among many others). This course will consider a selection of key Shakespeare films alongside critical readings centered on questions of adaptation and performance. As we watch and read together, we will work toward a broader understanding of what Shakespearean drama means in a 21st century context, and how film has helped to shape the author's massive cultural impact.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-449 Race and Media
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will introduce students to useful methodological approaches to analyze race and representation within a variety of media formats. Media in this course is understood broadly: technologies used to store and deliver information. With this rather broad understanding in mind our course will look at how artists and intellectuals use discrete formats (print, film/video, electronic, and other recording mediums) to imagine, remediate and study the circulation of racialized bodies and identities within global capitalism. We will also think about the concept of race itself as another, particularly problematic "media" format used to store and deliver information about the human for political, economic, ideological and juridical purposes. The class will be organized around specific material and "immaterial" media objects that will allow us to explore the processes of (re)mediation that characterize racialized bodies and formats. We will look at a range of formats from literature and music to film, television, and social media. The course is structured to provide both a chronological and historicist approach to the discourses that define race and media. More than likely, we will watch and (or) read the works of D.W. Griffith, Nella Larson, Melvin Van Peebles, Lizzie Borden, Audre Lorde, Claudia Rankine, Alex Rivera and Nia DaCosta. We will also read the theoretical works of Jacques Ranciere, Huey P. Newton, Dallas Smythe, Lisa Gitelman and Michael Gillespie, Simone Browne, Theodore Adorno, Sara Ahmed and many others. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-450 Law, Culture, and the Humanities
Intermittent: 9 units
"I'm not a lawyer, but..." How many times have you heard this disclaimer, closely followed by a lay analysis of law? This course, an introduction to the cultural study of law for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students, can be seen as an introduction to what goes into the making of such a statement. Where do we get our ideas about law? What do we mean when we say "law"? What counts as law? How does culture influence law, and law, culture? And to what degree should historical context condition any answers we might be tempted to give? Students in the course will study works in a range of genres (novels, plays, poems, judicial opinions, pamphlets) and develop methods for investigating ways that law and culture have been made by one another from the 16th-century to the present. Readings will include influential theoretical accounts of law (Aristotle, Hobbes, Cover, Habermas, Bordieu, MacKinnon, Alexander), canonical texts in Law and Literature (Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Melville's Billy Budd, Kafka's The Trial) and some "weird fiction" by the novelist/legal theorist China Mi and #233;ville. As a counterpoint to the fiercely anti-historical "law and economics" movement, however, the course will put special emphasis on rooting intersections of law and culture in rich historical context, considering both local and international legal contexts (sometimes in fairly technical detail) alongside so-called "ephemera" of culture. Students will tackle the especially fruitful "case" of Renaissance Britain before developing final research projects, whether on the Renaissance or another period of their choosing.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-452 Generations and Culture
Intermittent: 9 units
We frequently hear about generations and #8212;the Millennials and their multitasking, Gen X and their minivans, and the Baby Boomers and their self-satisfaction and #8212;but generations have usually been ignored in cultural studies. Yet generations have significant impact on cultural tastes, consumer choices, and political views, as a good deal of research shows, and identity, alongside other factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and abledness. This course will study the theory of generations, as well as novels and films that tell us about generations. Please note: first-year students are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomore students require instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-453 Literature of Empire
Fall: 9 units
Nineteenth and early twentieth-century British literature was shaped by events taking place outside as well as inside of national borders. Even in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with international trade and slavery supporting the manor house and plantations abroad providing the cotton for British looms, the "England" of English literature spanned the globe. By the first half of the twentieth century, this empire had begun to collapse in upon itself, a process witnessed by writers inside Britain and its colonies. This course will investigate British literature within the international context of global imperialism. A section on gothic stories takes us into the realm of popular culture with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories. We take to the seas with Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, before we consider W. Somerset Maugham's exploration of sexuality in the tropics in The Painted Veil. Finally, we return to England to outline the links between colonial empire and international war rendered in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. These literary works will be read alongside some of the most important works of postcolonial theory. While course readings focus on 19th and early 20th century, student's will undertake a research project over the semester in their own period of interest in British literature in connection with empire studies.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108)
76-454 Rise of the Blockbuster
Intermittent: 9 units
The term "blockbuster" has been a part of the American film industry for over sixty years, but, like "pornography," it's extremely difficult to define from a critical standpoint. For most of the viewing public the "we know it when we see it" definition seems to suffice. In an academic sense, however, such vagueness is problematic. This course will explore the idea of the "blockbuster" over time and across cultural boundaries. What is the origin of the concept? What is the structural impact of the "blockbuster" on the film industry? How does the meaning of the term change from genre to genre? Is it a genre in and of itself? How does a "blockbuster" reinforce our cultural conceptions? How might the concept change in the future? What does all of this tell us about ourselves? This course will draw examples from across the history of film in order to develop a holistic understanding of what the term might encompass from a variety of perspectives. By thoroughly discussing a wide selection of texts we will be able to better understand the ways in which the "blockbuster" has influenced the film industry, how the concept has both manifested itself and changed over time, and how it has shaped our cultural perspectives. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisite: 76-101
76-456 Independent Study in Film & Media Studies
All Semesters
TBA
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-457 Rhetorical Invention
Fall: 9 units
Rhetorical invention refers to the discursive process of inquiry, discovery, and problem solving, or how we decide what to say, what arguments to advance, and what means of persuasion to use in any situation. Although invention is centrally important to rhetoricwithout which it becomes a superficial and marginalized study of clarity, style, and arrangementfrom the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment through the mid-twentieth century invention all but disappeared as a topic of rhetorical study under the pressure of the view that invention should be exclusively governed by deductive logic and the scientific method rather than rhetorical considerations such as audience or the figurality of language. This repudiation of rhetorical invention fundamentally shaped modern thought and continues to influence the ways we think and communicate today. In this course, we begin by examining the status of rhetorical invention in the development of modern thought before focusing on various scholarly efforts to revive a rhetorical understanding of invention from the mid-twentieth century forward, surveying a variety of contemporary theories of rhetorical invention including those promoted by postmodern, posthuman, and digital rhetorics. The course is designed to explore the central importance of invention to contemporary rhetorical theory through a pairing of historical and contemporary readings.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-460 Beginning Fiction Workshop
Fall and Spring: 9 units
In this writing-intensive workshop students will be laser-focused on producing and polishing their own fiction. We'll complement our workshops with readings from masters of short fiction and novels, with an eye on sharpening our own facility with dialogue, structure, and voice. Each student must be prepared to constructively critique and deconstruct her/his peers' work, as well as actively contribute to class discussions about the elements of craft that undergird successful works of fiction. Each student will be expected to produce a portfolio of original writing (short exercises originating from thematic prompts and a substantial story) by the end of the semester.
Prerequisite: 76-260 Min. grade B
76-461 Immigrants, Migrants, and Refugees
Intermittent: 9 units
Contemporary literary writers offer vibrant portrayals of questions around identity, displacement and belonging that accompany immigration, transnational labor (and love) migration, and asylum claims. While British and American works in the late 20th century focused primarily on questions of identity and assimilation for new immigrants, contemporary literary works are increasingly examining the regulations of states, the permeability of border, the experiences of detainment, and the less visible parts of transnational labor and commodity exchange. This is primarily a contemporary English, American and Anglophone global literature course that includes fiction, poetry, and drama; the course also includes non-fiction theoretical, journalistic and memoir readings, as well as documentary film, that will help us analyze the experiences and structures of transnational migration. Possible readings might include Juno Diaz, Julia Alvarez, Celeste Ng, Dina Nayeri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Sunjeev Sahota, Noloviolet Bulawayo, Shailja Patel, and Caryl Phillips. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-462 Advanced Fiction Workshop
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course will give you experience reading and writing in two genres: fiction and creative nonfiction. The course is discussion based, and several classes per month will be devoted to generative, in-class writing exercises, which students will then work on as drafts to revise. Readings will include novels, stories, essays, and short journalistic pieces. Attendance and participation is mandatory. If you're interested in delving more deeply into the craft and art of these prose genres, and willing to put the time in to develop your own writing, this is a good class for you. I stress that a classroom is a community, and emphasis will be on establishing real connection between students. We will see how writing can help create and build on these connections between people, and serve as a tool for healing during a particularly rough time in our culture.
Prerequisites: (76-260 Min. grade B and 76-460 Min. grade B) or (76-460 Min. grade B and 76-261 Min. grade B)
76-464 Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will deepen your understanding of the possibilities for writers engaged with the genre of Creative Non-Fiction. We'll be reading books and essays from a variety of writers, including CMU graduate Neema Avashia, whose collected book of essays has been recently published. We'll read essays and memoir that illumine the formation of identity, that question the status quo, that celebrate human connection, and that often shine a light on injustices shaping our world. Students will write their own essays and memoir, and class will be conducted as a discussion where all will be expected to show up regularly, and remain engaged so as to create a place where students get to know one another and support each other as writers.
Prerequisites: 76-460 Min. grade B or 76-262 Min. grade B or 76-365 Min. grade B or 76-260 Min. grade B or 76-265 Min. grade B or 76-261 Min. grade B
76-465 Advanced Poetry Workshop
Fall and Spring: 9 units
In this workshop, we'll investigate what's possible in poetry, as participants examine their relationship to the poetic practice both as readers and as writers. Through writing exercises, discussion, and readings, we will explore the diverse landscape of contemporary poetry, and experiment with form and technique. As we study different methods of making a poem, and different notions of what makes a poem, and what makes a poem great, participants will work to discover imaginative ways of approaching the line and the page.
Prerequisite: 76-365
76-467 Crime Fiction and Film
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will be concerned with hardboiled crime fiction in print and on screen. The hardboiled emerges in Ernest Hemingway a distinctive literary style, and about same becomes a formula for pulp crime fiction. The language and attitude of the hardboiled became associated with urban gangsters in films such as The Public Enemy. Newspaper crime coverage beginning in the 1920s becomes increasingly frank in both its language and photographic coverage of crime. These various elements will be the material for a new kind of literature represented Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and especially Raymond Chandler, and for a cycle of films that owe much to their work, film noir. Chandler was responsible for invention of one of most enduring types in American fiction, the hardboiled detective. The course will focus on Chandler and the crime stories after him that make various uses of that type and the formula that has become associated with it. Throughout the course we will consider the social and political contexts in which these cultural forms developed, and what cultural work the hard-boiled performed. We will be especially interested such questions as the function of the misogyny typical of much of it, the different representations of race by white and black artists, the representation of police, whether the hardboiled is best understood as having a working-class affiliation, and the degree to which its various manifestations might be called realist. NOTE: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-468 Space and Mobilities
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will investigate space and movement as social constructions. Space is something dynamically created that may be interpreted for the ways it creates meaning, while movement reproduces and constitutes power and institutions. This interdisciplinary course considers theories of space and movement as a field of study and in reference to literary and film texts. The course might include discussions of migrants and state borders, cultural constructions of transport, the poetics of space, and the dynamic mapping of the city through movement and sound. Readings might include Henri Lefebvre, Doreen Massey, Edward Soja, Gaston Bachelard, Wendy Brown, John Urry, Tim Cresswell, Marian Aguiar; literary texts might include Brian Friels Translations, Christina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban, W.G. Seabald's Austerlitz and Teju Cole's Open City. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission. Students across disciplines are encouraged and may work on a final project related to their primary field.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-469 Screenwriting Workshop
Spring: 9 units
This semester will begin with a review of the fundamentals of screenwriting, including character development, scene construction, dialogue, and story structure. Student work will include exercises that encourage writers to take creative risks with genre, tone, character, and structure, one collaborative project, and two short scripts. We will also view mainstream, personal, and experimental narrative films in both American and international cinema.
Prerequisite: 76-269 Min. grade B
76-472 Topics in Journalism: Storytelling in a Digital Age
Spring: 9 units
Advanced Journalism students will learn how to plan and execute long-form news feature stories from the ground up, starting with recognizing a promising idea, organizing a solid proposal then ultimately producing a publication-ready report that is both accurate and compelling. We will focus on four types of feature stories over the course of the semester: a trend story, a profile, an explanatory report and a data-driven investigative story. Each will require strong news judgment and solid writing skills, plus the ability to adapt as some story leads unexpectedly come to a dead end while promising other angles rise to the surface. Don't be surprised if the final product is notably different than the original idea; that's often the path of the most successful reports. While each student is responsible for his or her work, class sessions will be highly collaborative as ideas and strategies are critiqued with an eye toward helping all students achieve their best work.
Prerequisite: 76-372
76-473 Rhetoric & the Construction of Race
Intermittent: 9 units
In their seminal book on race, Michael Omi and Howard Winant write that race is "socially constructed and historically fluid." This course takes their assertion seriously by examining the role of communicative practices in constructing race, from discourses around the NFL national anthem protests to dominant discussions around transnational and transracial adoption. We'll look for common themes in the discourse around certain events and practices, asking why certain ideas or tropes are used and repeated, and what historical, social, cultural, and political associations inform these tropes that help them to perpetuate racial stereotypes in popular culture without overtly claiming racism. Students will practice thinking critically about everyday cultural narratives, and produce a final paper identifying the work one such set of narratives does to shape reality and create, reinforce, or perpetuate the construction of racial meanings.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-474 Software Documentation
Spring: 9 units
This course teaches theory, techniques, and best practices for creating software documentation. We will learn to plan, architect, write, and publish audience-appropriate user assistance, while applying concepts and approaches like minimalism, topic-oriented authoring, single-source publishing, content reuse, and metadata. Students will complete homework assignments and larger projects to reinforce principles and provide experience in all phases of the software documentation lifecycle. Readings and class discussion will bridge theory and practice.
Prerequisites: 76-271 or 76-270
76-475 Law, Performance, and Identity
Intermittent: 9 units
Although rhetoric and law have long been closely associated, the modern professionalization of law has often promoted the idea that legal discourse is not rhetorical but a rigorously defined technical discourse that can be applied free of social, cultural, or political considerations. This view of legal discourse is disputed by critics who point out the figurative aspects of legal language, the relevance of character, emotion, and narrative in legal communication, and the ways in which law protects social structures of power such as race, class, and gender privilege. The course broadly examines the fraught relationship between rhetoric and law by considering the ways in which a variety of legal discourses serve to construct and reinforce identities, with a particular focus on the ways in which legal systems are portrayed to reflect the ideals of democracy to suit particular foreign relations goals. We begin by studying the ways in which Cold War foreign policy goals influenced desegregation and civil rights discourse in the United States, then we turn to the ways in which the prosecutions of deposed authoritarian rulers in various regions of the globe have been orchestrated to persuade global audiences that emerging democracies observe the "rule of law" for purposes of garnering international support. Alongside primary sources of legal discourse, we will study a selection of interdisciplinary scholarship about the relationship between rhetoric and law. Students write a two-stage research paper on a topic of their choosing regarding the relationship between legal discourse and the construction of identity. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-476 Rhetoric of Science
Fall: 9 units
This course explores questions about scientific argument and communication that are of interest to students in the sciences, rhetoric, and professional/technical writing. These include questions like: How are scientific arguments structured? How is scientific information and argument transformed when it moves from research papers for specialist audiences to publications for non-specialists? How does the social, historical, and cultural context of science shape the way it is communicated and/or argued? What contributions do visuals make to scientific argument and communication? To investigate these questions, we will be examining a wide variety of real-world communications in and about science as well as texts in rhetoric, history, and philosophy of science.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-481 Introduction to Multimedia Design
Fall: 12 units
There is increasing demand for professional/technical writers who understand multimedia and its communicative possibilities. This class will provide students with the opportunity to develop the ability to create and analyze multimedia experiences that merge text, spoken voice, music, animation and video. Students will be introduced to the basic concepts and vocabulary of motion graphics, as well as the practical issues surrounding multimedia design and digital storytelling through a series of hands-on projects involving various contexts. Students will explore what it means to write for a dynamic medium and how to take advantage of elements of time, motion and sound to help expand their visual communicative skills. The essentials of Adobe After Effects will be taught in order to build the skills necessary to complete assignments, explore multimedia possibilities and foster each student's unique creative voice. Adobe Premiere and Audition will be employed to support specific tasks. Students will also be taught to capture their own original images, video and narration audio to craft the elements of their projects. It is helpful to have some prior basic experience with Photoshop or Illustrator. In-class discussions, 2 group workshops and critiques are an essential part of this course.
Prerequisites: (76-271 or 76-270) and (76-391 or 51-262 or 51-261)
76-483 Research Methods in Technical & Professional Communication
Fall: 9 units
This course provides you with practical, hands-on experience with designing, collecting, and analyzing research in Technical and Professional Communication. These same research methods are also applicable to Writing Studies and classroom research. We will go into depth on three main methods in this class: interviews, surveys, and think-aloud protocols. In addition, we will touch on focus groups, eye-tracking analysis, and collaborative analysis techniques. More specifically, in this class you will learn how to design well-worded questions that produce reliable information; critically reflect on and improve your interview technique; explore software designed to aid in open-ended analysis of qualitative data; design an A/B (or control/experimental) study; write a data-driven research report, and experiment with a range of data collection techniques. Students taking the course for 12-units will have additional readings that look at how these research methods have been applied in Technical and Professional Communication and Writing Studies.
Prerequisites: 76-270 or 76-271
76-484 Discourse Analysis
Fall: 9 units
Discourse is a focus of study in most of the humanities and social sciences, and discourse analysis is practiced in one way or another by anthropologists, communications scholars, linguists, literary critics, and sociologists, as well as rhetoricians. Discourse analysts set out to answer a variety of questions about language, about writers and speakers, and about sociocultural processes that surround and give rise to discourse, but all approach their tasks by paying close and systematic attention to particular texts and their contexts. We are all familiar with the informal discourse analysis involved in paraphrasing the meanings of written texts and conversations, a skill we learn in writing and literature classes and in daily life. Here we ask and answer other questions about why people use language as they do, learning to move from a stretch of speech or writing or signing outward to the linguistic, cognitive, historical, social, psychological, and rhetorical reasons for its form and its function. As we look at resources for text-building we read analyses by others and practice analyses of our own, using as data texts suggested by the class as well the instructor. In the process, we discuss methodological issues involved in collecting texts and systematically describing their contexts (ethnographic participant-observation and other forms of naturalistic inquiry; transcription and "entextualization;" legal and ethical issues connected with collecting and using other people's voices) as well as methodological issues that arise in the process of interpreting texts (analytical heuristics; reflexivity; standards of evidence). The major text will be Johnstone, Barbara. 2008. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers). Other reading will be made available as .pdf files.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-485 The New Public Sphere
Intermittent: 9 units
Public deliberation about issues that matter to us is at the heart of the rhetorical tradition. But is meaningful public dialogue really a live option in a divisive, media-saturated world of sound bites addressed to partisan publics? Moreover, is the process of debate, deliberation, and decision making (in which the best argument wins) really the normal (or even ideal) model? Or can people use local public spaces to develop new, more inclusive positions? How might such a process create a boundary-crossing public in which diverse groups enter intercultural deliberation around racial, social, economic or environmental issues? This course looks at critical ways people use rhetoric to take literate social action within local publics. From the debate spurred by Habermas's canonical version of the public sphere, we move to a feminist "rereading" of the Greek Sophists, to more contemporary studies of deliberation in workplaces, web forums, grassroots groups, new media, and community think tanks. Working as a rhetorical consultant into the meaning making process of a local public of your choice, you will also learn how to support your inquiry with a variety of methods, from an interactive activity analysis to a more focused probe into the social/cognitive negotiation conflict may require.
Prerequisite: 76-373
76-486 Argument Theory
Intermittent: 9 units
Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: (76-373 and 76-101) or (76-373 and 76-102) or (76-373 and 76-106 and 76-107) or (76-108 and 76-107 and 76-373) or (76-106 and 76-108 and 76-373)
76-487 Web Design
Fall: 12 units
The World Wide Web is a vast collection of information, far more than we can comfortably handle; even individual websites can pose so much information that they become overwhelming. In this client-facing, project-oriented class, we aim to look at ways to tackle this problem, and design content for the web that is easy to access and digest. We will look at how websites manage and present organized information, with an eye to understanding what works well. We will use methods to learn who is using a website and why, and develop our toolset to test our decisions when implementing a new design. Along the way, we will develop a familiarity with the core web technologies of HTML5 and CSS3, with discussion of graphics, sound, social media, and other tools to enrich our presence on the World Wide Web. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission.
Prerequisites: (76-101 or 76-271 or 76-272 or 76-270 or 76-102) and (51-262 or 51-261 or 76-382 or 76-391)
76-491 Rhetorical Analysis
Intermittent: 9 units
Students in this course will learn various approaches to analyzing discourse artifacts from a rhetorical point of view. Early in the course, students will identify an artifact or artifacts they wish to analyze. From there, students will be encouraged to explore their own methods of analysis based on two required books for the course and reviews of literature. For the midterm, students will create an annotated bibliography of five specimens of criticism taken from a single journal. For the final project student will first present and then hand in a polished 15 page piece of criticism based on one or some combination of methods. The presentation and final paper count 50% of the grade, with the mid-term, class attendance, participation, and homework making up the final 25%.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-492 Rhetoric of Public Policy
Intermittent: 9 units
This course explores a rhetorical approach to public policy which focuses on the interconnected role that data, values, beliefs, and argument play in the policy process. From this perspective we will examine the important public debate over the pros and cons of various forms of energy production including nuclear, natural gas, and solar. In these investigations, we will explore questions like "How do policy makers use rhetoric to shape public perspectives on energy production?" "How can rhetorical approaches to argument function as tools for policy analysis and development?" And "What role does technological expertise play in public debate?" To pursue these questions, we will be reading works in rhetorical theory and public policy and applying the concepts and methods in those works to exploring primary artifacts of public argument like records of public hearings, social media memes, handbooks designed by activists, and stories about energy production in the popular media.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
76-494 Healthcare Communications
Fall: 9 units
Healthcare communications is designed for students with an interest in how medical and health care information is constructed and transferred between medical experts, health care providers, educators, researchers, patients and family members who are often not experts but need a thorough understanding of the information to make important health decisions. Throughout the course, we will explore the interactions of current theory and practice in medical communication and the role of writing in the transfer and adoption of new therapies and promising medical research. We will also study how the web and social media alter the way information is constructed, distributed, and consumed. We will examine the ways medical issues can be presented in communication genres (including entertainment genres) and discuss how communication skills and perceptions about audience can influence clinical research and patient care. Additionally, we will explore clinical trials, grant writing, and press releases, and will feature guest speakers from these fields will discuss their experiences.
Prerequisites: 76-271 or 76-395 or 76-270
76-495 Other People's Words: The History, Theory, and Practice of Interviews
Intermittent: 9 units
In literary studies, we usually draw our research from books and articles, or sometimes from documents in archives. But one other way to find out information is from interviews. Historians, anthropologists, and journalists use interviews, albeit in different ways. How might we apply their methods to literary study? This course will look at different modes of interviewing. You will also conduct various kinds of interviews yourselves. Thus the course will be a mix between a criticism course and a workshop. Through the semester you will be responsible for conducting and editing one long-form interview with a person about art, literature, or another field. In addition, you will develop a project conducting multiple interviews on a topic. Lastly, you will build a portrait or report drawn from one of those projects.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-496 Research Methods in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
Intermittent: 9 units
NOTE: This course is only available for seniors with special permission. This course is a survey introduction to historical, empirical, text-based, and qualitative methods of inquiry used in the fields of rhetorical and writing studies. We will read broadly to understand the philosophical questions, research traditions, practical applications, and innovative directions that shape the field, exposing students to a range of methods and methodologies. Studies of rhetoric, writing, and literacy have evolved tremendously, and we will examine approaches for how to trace, analyze, and critique the use of meaning making in a variety of cultural, political, workplace, technological, and pedagogical contexts. By the end of the course, students will develop a sense of how to put together an effective research project on their own and design and articulate the research methods and methodologies appropriate to that study. Throughout, we will ask a fundamental question: How do rhetoric, writing, and literacy work and for what consequences?
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-107 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-106) or (76-108 and 76-107)
76-511 Senior Project
Intermittent: 9 units
Seniors in all four majors within the English Department may, with faculty permission and sponsorship, design and complete an original, student-planned Senior Project. Creative Writing majors may work on a book-length manuscript in fiction or poetry. Students in all majors within the Department may also, with the permission of a faculty advisor who will supervise and sponsor the project, develop and complete senior projects that involve either traditional academic research or investigations of problems in professional or technical communication.

Faculty

MARIAN AGUIAR, Associate Professor of English – Ph.D., University of Massachusetts;

JANE BERNSTEIN, Professor of English – M.F.A., Columbia University;

DAVID BROWN, Associate Teaching Professor of English, Associate Director of First-Year Writing for Research and Assessment – Ph.D., Lancaster University;

GERALD P. COSTANZO, Professor of English – M.A., M.A.T., The Johns Hopkins University;

DOUG COULSON, Associate Professor of English – Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin;

JAMES DANIELS, Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing – M.F.A., Bowling Green State University;

SHARON DILWORTH, Associate Professor of English – M.F.A., University of Michigan;

JASON ENGLAND, Assistant Professor of English – M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop;

LINDA FLOWER, Professor Emerita of English – Ph.D., Rutgers University;

KEVIN GONZÁLEZ, Assistant Professor of English – M.F.A., Iowa Writers’ Workshop;

SUSAN HAGAN, Assistant Teaching Professor, Liberal & Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

PAUL HOPPER, Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Humanities, Rhetoric and Linguistics – Ph.D., University of Texas;

SARAH HAE-IN IDZIK, Assistant Professor of English – Ph.D., Northwestern University;

SUGURU ISHIZAKI, Professor of English, Director of Undergraduate Professional & Technical Writing Programs and Graduate Professional Writing Program (MAPW) – Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology;

BARBARA JOHNSTONE, Professor Emerita of English and Linguistics – Ph.D., University of Michigan;

DAVID S. KAUFER, Mellon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English – Ph.D., University of Wisconsin;

ALAN KENNEDY, Professor Emeritus of English – Ph.D., University of Edinburgh;

JON KLANCHER, Professor Emeritus of English – Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles;

PEGGY KNAPP, Professor Emerita of English – Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh;

STEPHANIE LARSON, Assistant Professor of English – Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison;

ATESEDE MAKONNEN, Assistant Professor of English – Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University;

JANE MCCAFFERTY, Professor of English, Director of Creative Writing Program – M.F.A., University of Pittsburgh;

TOM MITCHELL, Assistant Teaching Professor, Liberal & Social Sciences; Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

CHRISTINE NEUWIRTH, Professor Emerita of English and Human Computer Interaction – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

KATHY M. NEWMAN, Associate Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies – Ph.D., Yale University;

JOHN J. ODDO, Associate Professor of English – Ph.D., Kent State University;

SILVIA PESSOA, Associate Teaching Professor, Liberal & Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

CAMILLE RANKINE, Assistant Professor of English – M.F.A., Columbia University;

DUDLEY REYNOLDS, Teaching Professor, Liberal & Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar – Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington;

ANDREEA DECIU RITIVOI, William S. Dietrich Professor of English, Department Head – Ph.D., University of Minnesota;

KAREN SCHNAKENBERG, Teaching Professor Emerita of English – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

LAUREN SHAPIRO, Associate Professor of English – M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop;

DAVID R. SHUMWAY, Professor of English, Director of Literary and Cultural Studies Program – Ph.D., Indiana University;

KRISTINA STRAUB, Professor Emerita of English – Ph.D., Emory University;

CHRISTOPHER WARREN, Professor of English and Associate Department Head with a Courtesy Appointment in History – D. Phil., University of Oxford;

MARIAM WASSIF, Assistant Professor of English – Ph.D., Cornell University;

DANIELLE WETZEL, Teaching Professor; Director of Writing & Communication Program – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University;

JEFFREY WILLIAMS, Professor of English – Ph.D., Stony Brook University;

STEPHEN WITTEK, Associate Professor of English – Ph.D., McGill University;

JOANNA WOLFE, Teaching Professor of English – Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin;

JAMES WYNN, Associate Professor of English, Director of Rhetoric Program – Ph.D., University of Maryland;

Special Faculty

KEELY AUSTIN

MARIO CASTAGNARO, Special Faculty

MEG FELLER

EMMA FRIES

ANDREW GORDON

MEGAN HEISE

ALAN HOUSER

CHRISTOPHER MAGGIO

KORRYN MOZISEK

JULIE PAL-AGRAWAL

JULIA SALEHZADEH

BRIAN STASZEL

ISABELLE STROLLO

STEVE TWEDT

RALPH VITUCCIO, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Entertainment Technology Center

Visiting Faculty

KOEL BANERJEE, Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow of English – Ph.D., University of Minnesota;

Lecturer

JANINE CARLOCK, Visiting Lecturer, Writing & Communication

BARBARA GEORGE

JEFFREY HINKELMAN, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Film & Visual Media Program

ALAN KOHLER, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

PETER ZARAGOZA MAYSHLE, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

COURTNEY NOVOSAT, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

JEREMY ROSSELOT-MERRITT, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

REBECCA WIGGINTON, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

HEIDI WRIGHT, Senior Lecturer, Writing & Communication – Course Lead, ENG 76-100,

JUNGWAN YOON, Lecturer, Writing & Communication

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