This course introduces students to the rigors and discipline of the writing process, stage by stage, from choosing a topic, to collecting information, brainstorming, planning and outlining, drafting, revising and editing, to proofreading and finalizing. Each stage is punctuated with assignments and exercises that familiarize students with the rhetorical modes, from description, to comparison/ contrast, narration, classification, extended definition, cause-effect, and argument. In in-class and at home work, students will practice producing grammatically correct and logically sound claims, arranged in coherent paragraphs; understand and develop the thesis statement; learn to distinguish between primary and secondary sources; learn to annotate sources, and incorporate quotes in their writing with proper lead-in sentences and follow-up; begin familiarizing with citation styles; learn to use information technology, from research to writing and formatting.

This course is a seminar on the principles of effective expository writing with a focus on the critical perspectives and theories that enliven contemporary literary, art, and cultural studies. Through an historical survey of critical theory, including an introduction to relevant terminology, the course will cover various types of arguments, appropriate to different concerns and cultural contexts. The theory addressed in this course spans theories of race, class, gender and national identity, postmodern and poststructuralist perspectives, Marxist critique, and psychoanalytic approaches. Writing assignments will provide students with the opportunity to apply these theories to literary works, film, painting, and built space.

This course explores the creative process, giving students concrete ways to enhance their creative thought and writing. Through writing assignments and numerous inventive classroom exercises, students learn how to write more interesting characters, fascinating plots and colorful stories.

As the British Empire began its decline in the wake of World War II, an outpouring of literature emerged from its former colonies. As Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie pointed out, the empire was writing back “with a vengeance.” In this course we will read and analyze contemporary works by writers from Africa, The Caribbeans, India, and Britain. In addition, this course will examine how these authors negotiate the legacies of empire, ongoing processes of de-colonization, and evolving forms of neo-colonialism. We will also look at pivotal post-colonial theoretical texts that investigate issues of identity, nationalism, language, diaspora, race, gender, and hybridity.

This course prepares students to plan, research, and write academic-level research papers au- tonomously. Students are guided through all writing stages, from preparing an articulated re- search proposal, to collecting sources and arranging them in an annotated bibliography, to out- lining, drafting, and, finally, completing the paper in accordance with current MLA guidelines. Each stage is also punctuated with writing drills in the form of in-class essays, citing and quot- ing drills in the form of worksheets, annotation drills on select academic sources related to the class theme, and a thorough overview of the use of library resources, both material and elec- tronic. Students will also practice discussing and explaining their project in workshop sessions.

This course explores the city of Rome through writing. On-site classes provide an interdisciplinary, studio-art approach to the generation of written work. Through the studied practice of descriptive writing and the examination of setting as a vital literary component, students will create their own textual map of the Eternal City.

Wedged between the Romantic and Modern periods, Realism in literature is a substantive and stylistic course correction from the sentimental excesses of its predecessor and an essential stepping stone in the development of the psychological acuity of its successor. This course explores the character and legacy of realism, with its unique and surprising blend of Enlightenment values, progressive politics, and sharp critique of the alienating effects of intense urbanization in the techno-scientific 19th century. Realist writers tackled urban poverty and degradation, the “new woman”, race, and immigration, inventing new narrative techniques to match the novelty of the human experience in the heart of the age of empire, expansion of capital, and mass society.

A seminar in which students select a publication, production or research project to complete over the course of two semesters. Students are required to choose a project in creative writing (fiction, poetry, drama, or creative non-fiction), or a scholarly thesis, work with an advisor to complete their projects over the course of their final two semesters as seniors.

The course surveys the major writers from the Anglo-Saxon period, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment such as the Beowulf poet, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Swift, and Samuel Johnson.

This course serves as an introduction to the variety of forms and themes of dramatic literature. Major problems treated by dramatists will be examined, as well as genres: tragedy, comedy, farce, melodrama, tragicomedy, and the thesis play.

Food writing is defined in many ways: cookbooks to non-fiction essays, restaurant reviews to travel and personal narratives. This course will examine food writing in its various professional forms and will instruct students in approaches to writing about food for publications.

A seminar in which students select a publication, production or research project to complete over the course of two semesters. Students are required to choose a project in creative writing (fiction, poetry, drama, or creative non-fiction), or a scholarly thesis, work with an advisor to complete their projects over the course of their final two semesters as seniors.