English
Lynda Maus, Rolvaag 526A
507-786-3200
maus@stolaf.edu
wp.stolaf.edu/english
The English Department offers three majors: the English major, the English major with Communication Arts/Literature Teaching Licensure (a modified version of the English major for students who wish to receive a teaching license), and the Creative Writing major. While each of these paths is distinct, they share a commitment to the study of literature. Literature is one of the most compelling ways humans have reflected on their lives and the world around them, imagined different worlds, and communicated with each other. It offers the pleasures of artistic expression combined with the rewards of empathy and insight, knowledge and inspiration.
In their study of literature, our students dig deeply and range widely. Each semester, the department offers a capacious array of topics, including courses in American, British, and Anglophone literatures; creative writing workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other genres; courses in rhetoric and areas of professional writing such as business writing, digital rhetorics, journalism, and literary publishing. Students have considerable flexibility in shaping their English or Creative Writing major coursework toward their individual interests and aspirations.
The three majors offered by the English Department are easily and frequently combined with other majors and are compatible with study-abroad and study-away programs and offerings. Many courses taken elsewhere can fulfill major credit.
With their emphases on critical thinking, creativity, writing, and communication, each of our three majors prepares students for a variety of futures--as scholars and educators; journalists and lawyers; leaders in business, politics, publishing, and the non-profit sector; video game designers and filmmakers; and novelists, poets, and professional writers.
Overview of English and Creative Writing Majors
The English Department offers three distinct majors: a ten-course English major, an English major with Communication Arts/Literature Teaching Licensure (a modified version of the English major for students who wish to receive a teaching license), and a Creative Writing major.
The English major requires ten courses: ENGL 185, one course in each of three specified categories (American literature, Anglophone literature, and British literature), one course that fulfills the department’s antiracism requirement, and five electives. Among the courses taken at level II or III, at least one must be in literature before 1800. Among the ten courses required for the major, at least two must be at level III, and at least one of these level III courses must be in literary studies. Independent research cannot count as one of a student’s two level III major requirements.
The English major with Communication Arts/Literature Teaching Licensure requires eight courses in the English Department and additional coursework in other departments. The eight required courses in the English Department are ENGL 150, ENGL 185, ENGL 205, ENGL 242, a Shakespeare course, a course in Anglophone literature, and two electives. Among the eight English courses required for the major, at least one must be a level III offering in literary studies. Independent research cannot count for a student’s level III literary studies requirement. Other required courses include LNGST 250, THEAT 120, and FMS 160. Students should consult the Education Department for further information and clarification of requirements.
The Creative Writing major requires ten courses. This major requires a minimum of five courses in creative writing: two level II creative writing workshops (from among English 274, 282, 291, 292, and 293), English 150 or one additional level II creative writing workshop, and two level III advanced creative writing workshops (from among English 371, 372, 373, and 374). It also requires a minimum of three courses in literary studies: English 185 and a minimum of one course in two of three categories (American, Anglophone, and British). In addition to these eight courses, students must complete a minimum of two electives in creative writing and/or literary studies. Among the courses taken in literary studies at level II or III, at least one must be in literature before 1800. Among the ten courses required for the major, one course must fulfill the English Department’s antiracism requirement.
OLE Core Curriculum
Many English courses carry OLE Core curricular attributes in Creativity and Writing Across the Curriculum. Some carry Global Histories and Societies; Ole Experience in Practice; Power and Race; Religion, Faith, and Values; and Ethical Reasoning in Context. English and Creative Writing majors frequently contribute to the student-run St. Olaf Messenger as newspaper staff, and year-long masthead participation is eligible for Ole Experience in Practice.
Intended Learning Outcomes for the English Major (the standard major and the modified version for students pursuing a teaching license)
Intended Learning Outcomes for the Creative Writing Major
Distinction
See Academic Honors
In the Fall Semester of 2021, the English Department faculty voted to discontinue the awarding of distinction. This decision was the culmination of conversations over several years–conversations that acquired greater urgency as the department began a more rigorous and wide-ranging discussion of equity, inclusion, and antiracism during the 2020-2021 academic year. In making this decision, the English Department joined several other St. Olaf departments and programs that have made the same decision in recent years, and also joined a number of other departments and programs that have not offered distinction for many years.
Special Programs
Special programs include semester and full-year study in England at Oxford, Lancaster, and East Anglia; study in Scotland at Aberdeen; semester and full-year study in Ireland at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and National University of Ireland Galway; January-term creative writing study in Florence; January-term theater study in London; and internships in writing. (See The Smith Center for Global Engagement for further information.) Generally speaking, students can use a maximum of two courses taken during study abroad and away to fulfill requirements in the English and Creative Writing majors (aside from St. Olaf January term study-abroad and away programs). Students who are interested in applying additional off-campus study coursework toward their English or Creative Writing major should consult with the English Department chair prior to their departure.
Recommendations for Graduate and Professional Study
Students planning on graduate school should complete the English major to pursue graduate study in English literary studies or the Creative Writing major to undertake graduate work in creative writing, as well as additional advanced courses for a total not to exceed 14. Graduate school requirements for programs leading to an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, a Ph.D. in Literary Studies or Comparative Literature, or a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition are significantly different. Students interested in pursuing one of these paths should choose an academic advisor with relevant expertise and plan their coursework carefully. In recent years, English majors have been accepted for graduate study in literature at schools in Berkeley, Chicago, Princeton, Toronto, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin; and Creative Writing majors have pursued MFA degrees in graduate programs at Boston University, Columbia University, George Mason, Iowa, the New School, Vanderbilt, Washington, among others.
Requirements for the English Major
The English major is organized around three categories (American literature, Anglophone literature, and British literature) and requires ten courses: English 185, three courses in specified categories, one course that fulfills the department’s antiracism requirement, and five electives. Among the courses taken at levels II and III, at least one must be in literature before 1800. Among the ten courses required for the major, at least two must be at level III, and at least one of these level III courses must be in literary studies. Independent research cannot count as one of a student's two level III major requirements.1, 2, 3
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| One Core Course: | ||
| ENGL 185 | Literary Studies | 1.00 |
| One Course in American Literature: | 1.00 | |
| Asian American Literature | ||
| American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | ||
| Women of the African Diaspora | ||
| Arab American Literature and Film | ||
| Writing America 1588-1800 | ||
| Major Chicano/a Authors | ||
| Counterculture and American Literature | ||
| Narratives of Social Protest | ||
| Psychopathy in American Culture | ||
| Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: American | ||
| Topics in American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | ||
| One Course in Anglophone Literature: | 1.00 | |
| Transatlantic Anglophone Literature | ||
| South Asian Literature | ||
| African Literature | ||
| Anglophone Literature and Global Ethics | ||
| Topics in Post-Colonial Literatures | ||
| One Course in British Literature: | 1.00 | |
| Ecocriticism and Renaissance Literature | ||
| Old and Middle English Literature: The Weird and the Wonderful | ||
| Neoclassical and Romantic Literatures | ||
| Romantic/Victorian/Modern British Literature | ||
| Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature | ||
| Arthurian Legend and Literature | ||
| Shakespeare and His Contemporaries | ||
| Art, Design, and Literature in Britain Since 1950 | ||
| Literature and the Scientific Revolution | ||
| Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: British | ||
| Shakespeare | ||
| Chaucer from an Ethical Perspective | ||
| One Course that Satisfies the English Department Antiracism Requirement: | 1.00 | |
| Asian American Literature | ||
| American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | ||
| Writing America 1588-1800 | ||
| Literary Criticism and Theory | ||
| Five Elective Courses: | 5.00 | |
| Total Credits | 10 | |
- 1
The pre-1800 requirement can be fulfilled concurrently with one of the category requirements (American, Anglophone, British), a level III literary studies course, or the antiracism requirement.
- 2
The antiracism requirement cannot be fulfilled concurrently with one of the category requirements (American, Anglophone, British).
- 3
At least one of the level III requirements must be fulfilled with a literary studies course (not a level III creative writing workshop).
*By completing this major, the student also satisfies the OLE Core Writing in the Major requirement.
Requirements for the English Major plus Communication Arts/Literature (CAL) Teaching Licensure
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Four Core Courses: | ||
| ENGL 150 | The Craft of Creative Writing | 1.00 |
| ENGL 185 | Literary Studies | 1.00 |
| ENGL 205 | American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | 1.00 |
| ENGL 242 | Children's and Young Adult Literature | 1.00 |
| One Shakespeare Course: 1 | 1.00 | |
| Shakespeare and His Contemporaries | ||
ENGL 260 Topics in Cross-Disciplinary Literary Study (when topic is Shakespeare and Material Culture) | ||
| Global Shakespeares | ||
| Shakespeare | ||
| One Course in Anglophone Literature: 1, 2 | 1.00 | |
| Transatlantic Anglophone Literature | ||
| South Asian Literature | ||
| African Literature | ||
| Anglophone Literature and Global Ethics | ||
| Topics in Post-Colonial Literatures | ||
| Two Electives: | 2.00 | |
| Total Credits | 8 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Requirements: | ||
| FMS 160 | The Media Landscape | 1.00 |
| LNGST 250 | English Language and Linguistics | 1.00 |
| THEAT 120 | Public Speaking | 1.00 |
| WRIT 120 | Writing and Rhetoric | 1.00 |
| Education Department Courses: | ||
| Further courses required in Education Department 3 | ||
- 1
At least one of the Shakespeare course, the Anglophone literature course, or one of the two elective courses in English must be a Level III course in literary studies.
- 2
The Anglophone Literature course requirement may also be fulfilled with a course not on this list, with prior approval of the department chair.
- 3
See Education.
*By completing this major, the student also satisfies the OLE Core Writing in the Major requirement.
Requirements for the Creative Writing Major
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Two 200-Level Creative Writing Workshops: | 2.00 | |
| Topics in Creative Writing | ||
| Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing | ||
| Creative Nonfiction Writing | ||
| Poetry Writing | ||
| Fiction Writing | ||
| ENGL 150 or an Additional 200-Level Creative Writing Workshop: | 1.00 | |
| Two 300-Level Creative Writing Workshops: | 2.00 | |
| Advanced Poetry Writing | ||
| Advanced Fiction Writing | ||
| Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing | ||
| Advanced Topics in Creative Writing | ||
| One Core Course in Literary Studies: | 1.00 | |
| Literary Studies | ||
| One Course in Two of Three Categories: American Literature, Anglophone Literature, or British Literature: | 2.00 | |
| American Literature | ||
| Asian American Literature | ||
| American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | ||
| Women of the African Diaspora | ||
| Arab American Literature and Film | ||
| Writing America 1588-1800 | ||
| Major Chicano/a Authors | ||
| Counterculture and American Literature | ||
| Narratives of Social Protest | ||
| Psychopathy in American Culture | ||
| Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: American | ||
| Topics in American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | ||
| Anglophone Literature | ||
| Transatlantic Anglophone Literature | ||
| South Asian Literature | ||
| African Literature | ||
| Anglophone Literature and Global Ethics | ||
| Topics in Post-Colonial Literatures | ||
| British Literature | ||
| Ecocriticism and Renaissance Literature | ||
| Old and Middle English Literature: The Weird and the Wonderful | ||
| Neoclassical and Romantic Literatures | ||
| Romantic/Victorian/Modern British Literature | ||
| Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature | ||
| Arthurian Legend and Literature | ||
| Shakespeare and His Contemporaries | ||
| Art, Design, and Literature in Britain Since 1950 | ||
| Literature and the Scientific Revolution | ||
| Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: British | ||
| Shakespeare | ||
| Chaucer from an Ethical Perspective | ||
| Two Elective Courses: | 2.00 | |
| Total Credits | 10 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Requirements: 1,2 | ||
| ENGL 203 | Asian American Literature | 1.00 |
| ENGL 205 | American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | 1.00 |
| ENGL 232 | Writing America 1588-1800 | 1.00 |
| ENGL 360 | Literary Criticism and Theory | 1.00 |
- 1
The pre-1800 requirement can be fulfilled concurrently with one of the category requirements (American, Anglophone, British) or the antiracism requirement.
- 2
Among the ten courses required for the major, one course must fulfill the antiracism requirement. This requirement can be fulfilled concurrently with any other requirement for the major.
*By completing this major, the student also satisfies the OLE Core Writing in the Major requirement.
Writing and Rhetoric (WRIT 120) is the prerequisite for all courses in the English Department except specified level I courses. Most level II courses (numbered in the 200s) are open to all students (with some class-year limits), majors and non-majors alike, without prerequisite beyond WRIT 120. Level III courses (numbered in the 300s) are primarily confined to English and Creative Writing majors, demand control of methods and of basic factual and theoretical knowledge appropriate to creative writing or literary studies, require more advanced work, assume more preparation, and pursue subjects in greater depth than do level II courses. Level III courses are open to students with the stated prerequisites.
Offerings in writing provide opportunities for students to develop their own work in a variety of modes including workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as courses in business writing and journalism for both beginning and experienced writers.
Literary Studies
ENGL 108: The Hero and the Trickster in Post-Colonial Literature
Students examine various heroic and trickster figures as manifested in post-colonial literature from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, both oral and written, and seek to understand what basic human needs and realities these figures express and fulfill. Offered periodically. Also counts toward race and ethnic studies major and Africa and the African Diaspora and race and ethnic studies concentrations.
ENGL 123: Introduction to Poetry
This course introduces students to poetry from a range of perspectives including, but not limited to the poet's life; the application of categories of analysis such as race, gender, and nationality; poetry as literary craft; and the aesthetic appreciation of poems. To experience the literary medium of poetry in the fullest sense, students are required to write about, memorize, orally interpret/recite, and compose their own poetry. Offered periodically.
ENGL 124: Introduction to Drama
This course introduces students to literary analysis through dramatic texts and performances. Activities may include trips to see local productions, student in-class performances, staged readings, and viewing filmed productions. Plays are drawn from varied genres, two or more historical periods, and both traditional and experimental approaches. Offered periodically.
ENGL 185: Literary Studies
Students learn strategies of critical analysis and interpretation as they encounter a variety of literary texts. This course is only recommended for students interested in pursuing the English major, the modified English major with a teaching license, or the creative writing major. Offered each semester.
ENGL 200: Topics in Cross-Cultural Literature
Focusing on global literatures in English and/or multicultural literatures within a single nation, this topics course examines literature as a human expression that embraces both commonality and difference within and across cultures. This course also employs critical approaches specifically designed to address cross-cultural literary issues. It may be repeated if topics are different. Offered periodically. Also counts toward race and ethnic studies major and concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 201: Transatlantic Anglophone Literature
This course considers Anglophone writing from Africa and the Caribbean. Linked by the slave trade and colonization, the drive for national independence, and the challenges of globalization, African and Caribbean writers have long been in dialogue. In order to provide a historical understanding of transatlantic Anglophone literature and an appreciation for its ongoing transformation, readings encompass influential works by established writers and contemporary works by emerging voices. Offered periodically. Also counts toward race and ethnic studies major and concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 203: Asian American Literature
Since the 19th century, immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands have formed communities whose writing has expressed their shifting role as Asian Americans in the culture and economy of the United States. This course provides a multi-genre overview of Asian-American literary traditions in socio-historical context and pays attention to current concerns such as diasporic displacement, gender, intergenerational conflicts, sexuality, transnationalism, intercountry adoption, and U.S. militarism. Offered periodically. Also counts toward Asian studies and race and ethnic studies majors and race and ethnic studies concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 204: South Asian Literature
Exciting writing in English is coming from South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. An area once shaped by British colonization, South Asia is changing rapidly now with globalization. Students explore this region's history, culture, and religions through a selection of primarily 20th- and 21st-century literary texts. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 205: American Racial and Multicultural Literatures
Students explore the histories, cultural patterns, religious practices, key institutions, gender issues, narrative styles, and significant contributions to our nation of an array of racial and multicultural groups. Such diverse writers as Leslie Silko, Chaim Potok, Amy Tan, and Toni Morrison raise questions about voice and identity, both individual and collective. Offered annually. Also counts toward race and ethnic studies major and Africa and the African Diaspora, educational studies, and race and ethnic studies concentrations.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 206: African Literature
Students explore African literature as it has evolved from oral traditions like folktales and epics into fiction, poetry, and drama in written form. Topics studied might include literature of particular geographical areas, such as East Africa, a genre such as poetry, or the influence of western literature on that of Africa. Authors studied may include Chinua Achebe, J. M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Arthur Nortje, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Alex La Guma. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 207: Women of the African Diaspora
This course examines the life cycle of black women in Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. Romance, marriage, family, interracial relations, mothers and daughters, urban environments, gender politics and sexual violence, relations among females, intergenerational depictions, historical experiences, public expression and private reflections, individual and communal identities, class considerations--all of these and more images and themes arise in the fictional readings required for this course. Students read such writers as Mariama Ba, Gordimer, Hurston, and Naylor. Ticket/transportation fee required. Offered periodically. Also counts toward Africa and the African Diaspora concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 209: Arab American Literature and Film
Focusing primarily on contemporary works, this course introduces students to Arab American literature and film by exploring different literary and film genres (the novel, memoir, poetry, documentary film, feature film). Students examine shared thematic concerns related to immigration, exile, displacement, gender, religion, and racism. Students also consider how this literature and film draws upon and responds to past and present sociopolitical conflicts. Offered alternate years in the fall semester. Also counts toward film and media studies and race and ethnic studies majors and film and media studies, Middle Eastern studies, and race and ethnic studies concentrations.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 216: Ethics and Renaissance Literature
This course examines the ethical commitments of Renaissance literature and asks students to use works by Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and others to reflect on their own ethical decision-making. The course is constructed around two main areas of ethical concern that connect today's world to prior centuries: the good life, and political ethics of leadership. This course asks how these texts' ethical commitments can help us understand enduring ethical dilemmas.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 219: Anglophone Literature and Global Ethics
In this course, students analyze globalization and its consequences through two related lenses: the ethical and the literary. First, students explore this phenomenon historically and philosophically, and consider different ethical responses to globalization's consequences. Then, students read and analyze works of Anglophone literature (English-language literature from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean) that engage these very issues. This approach both reorients understandings of the ethics of globalization and emphasizes the role of literature in ethical inquiry.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 220: Topics in Literary History
These courses trace the process of literary change during a selected period of approximately one hundred years, providing an experience of chronological breadth and textual variety. Students examine the development of styles, conventions, and forms within a particular national literature or across two or more national literatures. Examples of possible topics include Declarations of Independence in American Literature; Literature of the Atlantic Triangle, 1650-1800; 20th-century British and Irish Modernism. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 222: Ecocriticism and Renaissance Literature
This course introduces students to ecocriticism as a method of literary study by surveying English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Students read ecocritical theory and study poetry, plays, and prose works by authors including William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Margaret Cavendish. Possible course themes include pastoral, sugar and slavery, consumption and waste, the Scientific Revolution, and animals. Assignments use digital technology to gather data, analyze literature in its historical context, and write for collaborative scholarly research initiatives. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 223: Old and Middle English Literature: The Weird and the Wonderful
Two themes persist in early British literature: the role of fate (Old English wyrd) versus free will and the power of wonders--from the miraculous to the magical. These themes are traced in the Old English period in sermons, charms and riddles, biblical epics and Christian texts, and the heroic epic Beowulf. Readings from the Middle English period include lyric and ballad, romance from the Arthurian and non-Arthurian traditions, drama, allegory, mystical treatises, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Offered periodically. Also counts toward medieval studies major.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 225: Neoclassical and Romantic Literatures
This course examines the process of literary development in English during two consecutive and contrasting movements: the Neoclassical (1660-1780) and Romantic (1780-1840). Students read the works of representative and important writers from both periods, including Pope, Swift, Austen, Wordsworth, Blake, Shelley, Emerson, Douglass, and others, and examine the development of styles, conventions, and forms in English, Irish, and American literatures. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 228: Romantic/Victorian/Modern British Literature
This course explores British literature of three eras, from Wordsworth to Woolf. Students begin with the romantic revolution of the late 18th century, traverse the wide 19th-century span of Queen Victoria's reign, and cross into the modernist era following the cataclysm of World War I. Within each era, students examine a literary manifesto, a revolutionary event, an epic poem, a novel, and the aesthetics of the period. The course emphasizes conversations across eras and striking moments of "making it new." Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 229: Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
The 20th century was a period of great achievement in British and Irish literature, as demonstrated by the work of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, and Samuel Beckett. This course examines the famously innovative work of poets, playwrights, and novelists active during the first half of the century. It then considers postwar writing and the challenges that this literature offered to the ideas and practices associated with modernism. Offered annually.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 232: Writing America 1588-1800
In this course, students read a variety of early American literary works (novels, poems, essays, autobiographies, chronicles) from the early period of North American exploration to the founding of the United States. The course focuses on intersections between literature and history, examining how the American nation was "written into existence" in literature, and examines connections between literature and discourses of nationalism, race, gender, and religion. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 242: Children's and Young Adult Literature
Students read and discuss children's literature from Britain and the United States. Beginning with fairy tales and classics from the "golden age" of children's literature, students explore an array of picture books, poetry, and fiction, that exemplifies the best in fantasy and realism for children and young adults. Offered annually. Also counts toward gender and sexuality studies major and educational studies and gender and sexuality studies concentrations.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 243: Arthurian Legend and Literature
This course examines a number of foundational texts of the medieval legend of King Arthur, focusing on key motifs such as the quest and love triangle, main characters, and genres. Students explore the specific social contexts that produced these works and select modern versions that reveal the perennial appeal of the Arthurian myth. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 251: Major Chicano/a Authors
Chicano/a identity is perhaps one of the most misunderstood racial/ethnic identities in the United States. It encompasses many possible identities--such as Latino, Hispanic, and Mexican-American--while remaining politically and culturally distinct in its intended meaning. Students explore the history behind constructions of Chicano/a identity as expressed through Civil Rights Movement (post-1964) literature and politics, with the intention of demystifying the contentious stereotypes surrounding this community. Students read works by 3-4 major Chicano/a authors. Offered periodically. Also counts toward Latin American studies and race and ethnic studies majors and Latin American studies and race and ethnic studies concentrations.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 253: Authors in English
Students explore the works of major authors writing in English from around the globe, as well as their historical, social, and geographic contexts.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 256: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries
Students examine Renaissance drama by Shakespeare and others in order to concentrate on how to read the plays well and how to respond fully to both text and performance. Students attend live performances when possible and view productions on video. The course includes some consideration of historical context and background as well as practice in how to write about the plays. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 258: Folklore
This course focuses on verbal folklore: narratives, songs, and shorter forms such as proverbs. It explores their intrinsic qualities as literary creations and also the ways in which they operate together in combination or in dialogue. The folktale and the epic, for example, incorporate a variety of these forms, such as the proverb, the song, or the riddle, to form a complex whole. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 260: Topics in Cross-Disciplinary Literary Study
In addition to the traditional practices of literary study, cross-disciplinary courses include materials from at least one other academic discipline, requiring students to compare and combine disciplinary perspectives in literary analysis. Examples of courses taught under this heading might include Literature and Politics; Religion and the Novel; Philosophical Approaches to Literature. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 261: Counterculture and American Literature
This course examines the literary, musical, and popular culture expressions of several counterculture movements in America after 1945, beginning with the Beat Generation of the 1950s and extending to activist, hippie, and radical black countercultures of the 1960s and Punk, No-Wave, and Hip Hop movements of the 1960s and 70s. Students read works by writers such as Kerouac, Ginsberg, Dylan, Gil Scott Heron, Patti Smith, Lydia Lunch, Los Bros Hernandez, and Chuck D, and examine relationships between countercultural expression and historical, social, and political developments of the era.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 263: Narratives of Social Protest
In this course, students consider the intersections of art and politics in their dynamic historical frameworks, testing the positions of various artists and cultural commentators who claim that art accomplishes nothing in the "real world" or that politics ruin art. The course is interdisciplinary, comparing literature to other artistic forms such as music or film. Representative texts may include Ellison's Invisible Man, Dylan's songs, and Van Sant's film Milk. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 266: Romanticism and Rock Music
British Romantic and American Transcendentalist literatures emphasize youth, celebrate the body and energy, and extol intuition, creativity, and individuality. Rock music has been derided by some commentators as extreme Romanticism. Students in the course examine this artistic line of influence and debate its merits. Writers and musicians may include Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, Emerson, Whitman, Springsteen, Cloud Cult, and Arcade Fire. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 268: Literature and Modern Philosophy
This course introduces students to the complicated relationship between philosophy and literature from any period between the 16th-century and the present day. Students learn about the intersection of ideas that fall under the general category of "modernity" and explore how selected philosophical views influence American and/or English literary works from the Renaissance to the contemporary period. Students gain an understanding of modern philosophies by learning how to incorporate interdisciplinary theories when engaging in literary analysis. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 269: Art, Design, and Literature in Britain Since 1950
This cross-disciplinary course traces the flourishing of British creativity in art, design, and literature from the postwar era to the present--a period in which Britain emerged as an influential nation in a number of creative fields, from music to fashion, product design to architecture. Students examine works, movements, creative practices, and critical methodologies from art, design, and literature in order to develop a panoramic understanding of contemporary British creativity. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 270: Soccer in England (study abroad)
Using literature as the primary lens, this course studies soccer as a unique phenomenon with deep roots in British society, paying particular attention to the sport's historical, social, cultural, and aesthetic aspects. While in England, students attend matches, stadium tours, and speak with supporters' organizations from the Premier League to the lower divisions. Students think about how soccer informs other aspects of British culture, and how British society finds its way into England's most popular game. Offered alternate years in January term.
Prerequisite: FYS and WRR.
ENGL 271: Literature and the Scientific Revolution
The 17th century movement now known as the Scientific Revolution brought radically altered ideas about human beings, truth, knowledge, and our place in the universe. This course examines its effects on English literature from about 1600 to 1700. Students discuss how changing views, particularly on astronomy and medicine, inspired literary works. Authors may include William Shakespeare; Christopher Marlowe; Ben Jonson; John Donne; Francis Bacon; John Milton; and Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. Fee may be required. Offered alternate years in the fall semester.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 272: Global Shakespeares
Shakespeare's statement, "all the world's a stage," has never been more true, as his plays have truly become global texts. This course charts some of their journeys. Students study four or five of Shakespeare's plays and use concepts from adaptation studies to analyze various "Shakespeares" that have emerged across the globe, including translations, new plays, films, manga, and other re-mediations. Students will attend at least one performance; a ticket fee is required.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 275: Literature and Film
Students explore the complex relationships between literature and film. How do we translate the verbal into the visual? What can novels do that films cannot and vice versa? Subject matter includes both classic and contemporary fiction and film. Also counts toward film and media studies major and concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 276: Literature and the Environment
Through nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, students explore the complex relations between humans and the "natural" world. Students consider questions such as the following: What does it mean to be connected to a landscape? What is a sense of place? Students also reflect on how they and the writers they read put landscape into language. Also counts toward environmental studies major (all emphases) and concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 279: Psychopathy in American Culture
This course explores the everydayness of psychopathy in American culture. Emphasizing a psychoanalytic-Marxist methodology, the course analyzes how psychopathy gets normalized in various subcultures, inhibiting collective attempts at social justice. Areas to be explored include psychology, criminality, political economy, and the ethics of psychopathy. Texts and films/television series to be analyzed may include Dexter,Batman,The Talented Mr. Ripley, True Detective (season one), and American Psycho. Offered alternate years during January Term.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 280: Topics in Genre
These courses emphasize the study of literature united by specific formal elements rather than by theme, topic, historical period, or national origin. The genre studied may be broad, such as narrative fiction, or narrowly defined, such as the elegy. The course focuses on the study of literature through a critical exploration of form. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 283: Crime Fiction
This course examines the development of the crime fiction genre in English, from its emergence in the 19th century to the present day, giving particular attention to form, meaning, and historical context. Students read pioneering works by Poe, classic detective stories as formulated by Doyle and Christie in England, American "hard-boiled" crime writers like Hammett and Chandler, police procedurals from both sides of the Atlantic, and examples of the sub-genre spy fiction. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 284: Epic and the Novel
Heroes, monsters, battles, and journeys - for over a thousand years, elements of epic poetry shaped ideas of what a good story should be. But with the modern age, the novel replaced epic as the most culturally revered literary form. Students explore how the novel draws upon as well as rejects the epic tradition, and how the novel reflects what we mean by "modernity" itself. This course ranges from Anglo-Saxon epic to modern and contemporary novels. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 285: Digital Rhetorics and New Media Literacies
Students explore what it means to be literate in an age of new media by reading critical scholarship and comparing the ways they read, interpret, and learn from digital texts to ways they read, interpret, and learn from print media. In their final, digital project, students critically examine the use of new media to make humanities scholarship more public. Offered annually. Also counts toward media studies concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 286: Topics in Rhetoric and Composition
Rhetoric and composition are academic fields within English studies that take up the questions of how meaning is made and negotiated in a variety of historical, geographical, and media-based contexts. This topics course provides students with an overview of these fields and an in-depth perspective on areas of focus within the fields. Topics could include: presidential rhetoric, classical rhetoric, technical writing, interactive texts and video games, feminist rhetoric, and community literacy. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered annually. Also counts toward business and management studies concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 330: Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: British
Students explore specific periods in British literature and examine the relationship between literary texts and movements and their particular cultural, political, and historical contexts. Each offering of this course examines a different literary era and emphasizes specific literary and historical issues. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 340: Advanced Studies in Literary Eras: American
Students explore specific periods in American literature and examine the relationship between literary texts and movements and their particular cultural, political, and historical contexts. Each offering of this course examines a different literary era and emphasizes specific literary and historical issues. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 345: Topics in American Racial and Multicultural Literatures
This course focuses on important issues, images, authors, and modes in an intensive study of racial and multicultural literature in the U.S. The scope of the course can include racial portraiture, sexual politics, field and factory experience, color and class status, and church and family institutions. Authors include such writers as Frederick Douglass and Maxine Hong Kingston. May be repeated if topic is different. Also counts toward and race and ethnic studies major and concentration.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 347: Topics in Post-Colonial Literatures
Students study individuals or groups of authors, looking at themes such as the individual as cultural hybrid, the place of politics in literature, ethnocentrism and imperialism. They examine the formation of literature from the clashes of culture, and the relationship between non-traditional literary forms and traditional European aesthetics. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 360: Literary Criticism and Theory
This class focuses on defining, classifying, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and understanding literature. Students study both practical criticism (discussion of particular works or writers) and theoretical criticism (principles and criteria appropriate to literature generally). The course introduces a broad range of critical theories and provides an historical overview of the subject.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 380: Shakespeare
Students consider in depth some of Shakespeare's most popular plays and also explore some of the less-frequently studied classics. Students examine a wide range of genres and types of plays, view recorded productions, and attend performances when available.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II, or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 385: Advanced Topics in Rhetoric and Composition: Feminist Rhetorics
Rhetoric and composition are academic fields within English studies that take up the questions of how meaning is made and negotiated in a variety of historical, geographical, and media-based contexts. This advanced topics course provides students with a chance to build upon skills and knowledge from the 200-level rhetoric and composition courses. Topics could include presidential rhetoric, classical rhetoric, feminist rhetorics, and community literacy. Offered annually.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 395: Chaucer from an Ethical Perspective
Students analyze from a broadly cultural view the political, religious, and intellectual debates of Chaucer's day as reflected in his greatest work, the Canterbury Tales. Students examine the Canterbury Tales through the lens of ethics, using readings in ethical theory to better understand moral questions, Chaucer's poetry, and ourselves -- as interpreters of literature and moral agents. Also counts toward medieval studies major.
Prerequisites: ENGL 185 plus at least two English courses at level II; or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 399: The Major Seminar
In this seminar, students learn about a range of methods for literary research by exploring literature in the context of critical, theoretical, cultural, or historical materials. For each student, the centerpiece of the course is the research and writing of a long essay that represents his or her individual research interests. Students share and respond to each other's work-in-progress and present their completed projects to the seminar. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisites: open to juniors and seniors who have completed ENGL 185 and at least two level II English courses or by permission of the instructor.
ID 258: Theater in London (study abroad)
A full immersion in the art of theater, students attend approximately 22 performances at London and Stratford theaters. The course includes the reading of play texts, dramatic criticism, group discussions, and backstage tours. England, a theatrical center of the English-speaking world, enables students to experience a wide variety of theatrical performances ranging from traditional to modern. Excursions to Stratford-upon-Avon and other locations offer additional cultural perspectives. Offered annually during January Term. Apply through Smith Center for Global Engagement. Counts toward Theater and English majors.
Writing
ENGL 150: The Craft of Creative Writing
This course introduces the craft of creative writing through contemporary readings and writing exercises in poetry and prose. Students learn to read and to write texts with attention to how a literary work is constructed. Emphasis on the elements of craft and strategies for revision prepare students to pursue the creative writing major or the English major with teaching licensure. Counts toward the English major as an elective. Offered every semester.
ENGL 274: Topics in Creative Writing
In this course, students explore the writer's craft through both reading and writing. Students read and discuss literary works with particular attention to how a literary work is made. They then apply these lessons through creative writing activities and assignments, including the crafting and workshopping of original work. May be repeated if topic is different. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 277: Reading and Writing the Spiritual Memoir
In this course, students read a series of memoirs to investigate the way Christianity has shaped individual people. From snake-handling to baptism, from icon-kissing to communion, from creeds to purity promises, Christian beliefs and practices can, by turns, prove to be life-giving, oppressive, disturbing, and salvific. How does emphasizing differing aspects of theology result in differing attitudes toward sexuality, gender, race, and the environment? In addition to approaching the memoirs from a critical perspective, students also identify and practice craft techniques as they write their own personal religious (or areligious) narratives.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 282: Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing
In this course students read, analyze, and write their own works of speculative fiction (e.g., fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, fabulism, slipstream, etc.). Students read and discuss short stories and novels, paying attention to form, themes, and content and apply their knowledge of these genres by crafting and workshopping their own stories through peer revision. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 287: Professional and Business Writing
This course gives students a hands-on opportunity to develop their use of writing strategies and technologies appropriate to workplaces. Course themes include workplace practices, professional ethics, technology resources, promotional resources, and writing on behalf of an organization. Students create individual and collaborative projects including employment documents, proposals, brochures, memos, and other professional genres. Through case studies, readings, and/or client-based projects, students analyze writing practices in a range of professional settings. Offered periodically. Also counts toward business and management studies concentration.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 289: Journalistic Writing
Students critically examine a variety of national, metro, and local media. Students then learn to write their own news copy, including hard news, features, editorials, arts and entertainment reviews, sports, business, and travel stories. Students also learn UPI/AP style copy editing and proofreading, important skills for students applying for internships and print media jobs. Offered periodically. Also counts toward business and management studies and film and media studies concentrations.
Prerequisites: WRIT 120 or equivalent and at least sophomore status.
ENGL 290: Exploring Literary Publishing
This course explores the inner workings of the publishing world from literary magazines to book publishers. Students explore the modern history and trends of publishing in America, as well as engage with hands-on projects that both illuminate readings and offer insight into the daily practices of writers and literary gatekeepers. Projects may include the drafting of a proposal for a hypothetical literary magazine, a marketing campaign, reading submissions for a magazine, layout and cover design projects, and conducting a podcast interview. Offered periodically.
Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent.
ENGL 291: Creative Nonfiction Writing
In this course, students read a diversity of creative nonfiction and write intensively, exploring creative nonfiction craft elements. Students workshop longer pieces and participate in the generation of peer feedback and reflection about the revision process. They consider their own creative nonfiction writing within the context of larger literary conversations and communities. Offered annually.
Prerequisites: WRIT 120 or equivalent and at least sophomore status.
ENGL 292: Poetry Writing
In this course, students read a diversity of contemporary poetry and write intensively, exploring a poet's craft. Students engage in creative exercises with attention to invention, style and arrangement, and workshop drafts as a way of engaging in reflection, revision, and community.
Prerequisites: WRIT 120 or equivalent and at least sophomore status.
ENGL 293: Fiction Writing
In this course students explore and analyze a diversity of contemporary fiction and experiment with modes of a fiction writer's craft. Students workshop and critique each other's stories to better understand craft elements, the process of revision, and the dynamics of a literary community.
Prerequisites: WRIT 120 or equivalent and at least sophomore status.
ENGL 296: Screenwriting
Students learn the techniques of screenwriting, including how to create backstories, break down scenes, and structure narratives. They will read and analyze screenplays through a creative, storytelling lens and generate speculative scripts of their own to be workshopped with peers.
Prerequisites: WRIT 120 or equivalent and at least sophomore status.
ENGL 371: Advanced Poetry Writing
Students deepen their understanding of craft and form by reading contemporary and modern poetry and completing individual, polished writing projects. Class sessions encourage community development as students discuss various options within the poetic form, explore book-length volumes, workshop their writing, and examine the larger poetic landscape's artistic concerns and vocational practices.
Prerequisites: ENGL 292 or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 372: Advanced Fiction Writing
Students develop and complete individual projects in fiction (including preparations for longform projects such as a novella), deepening and polishing their work. Class sessions are devoted to community development, the discussion of craft and publishing, the examination of book-length literary models, and the workshopping of student writing.
Prerequisites: completion of any 200-level fiction writing course such as ENGL 293 or ENGL 282 or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 373: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing
Students deepen their understanding of creative nonfiction by reading contemporary essay collections and memoirs and completing individual, polished writing projects. Class sessions are devoted to community development, the discussion of craft and a writer's vocation, the examination of book-length literary models, and the workshopping of student writing.
Prerequisites: ENGL 291 or permission of the instructor.
ENGL 374: Advanced Topics in Creative Writing
In this course, students engage in more concentrated study of advanced craft elements. Different topics may focus on specific schools/genres of writing or on a single author's body of work. This study will inform a student's production of a sustained, creative text such as a novella, chapbook of poems, or a longform essay within a small community of writers to cultivate appropriate drafting and revision processes. May be repeated if topic is different.
Prerequisite: at least one 200-level creative writing workshop or by instructor permission.
Other
ENGL 294: Academic Internship
ENGL 298: Independent Study
Students pursue an independent topic of study with a faculty director.
ENGL 394: Academic Internship
ENGL 396: Directed Undergraduate Research
This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to their research interests. Offered based on department decision. May be offered as a 1.00 credit course or .50 credit course.
Prerequisite: determined by individual instructor.
ENGL 398: Independent Research
Students pursue an independent topic of study with a faculty director. Cannot count as one of two required level III courses for the major.
English or Creative Writing Major - Plan of Study
This is a sample first-year plan that meets the requirements for the English and Creative Writing majors at St. Olaf. This tool is meant as a guide and does not replace working closely with the student's academic advisor.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Credits | |
| FYS 120 or WRIT 120 |
First-Year Seminar (or Conversation Program ) or Writing and Rhetoric |
1.00 |
| ENGL 150 or ENGL 185 |
The Craft of Creative Writing 1 or Literary Studies |
1.00 |
| World Language | ||
| Credits | 2 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| WRIT 120 or FYS 120 |
Writing and Rhetoric (or Conversation Program ) or First-Year Seminar |
1.00 |
| ENGL 185 or ENGL 150 |
Literary Studies or The Craft of Creative Writing |
1.00 |
| World Language | ||
| Credits | 2 | |
| Total Credits | 4 | |
- 1
Students should plan to take ENGL 185 and/or ENGL 150 during their first year of study and at the latest, during the fall semester of their second year of study.
Students must successfully complete the equivalent of 35 St. Olaf credits through a combination of full-credit and fractional-credit courses to earn the Bachelor of Arts.
Visit the English department webpage for more information.
Department Chair, 2024-2025
Mary E. Trull
Professor of English
16th- and 17th-century English literature
Elisabeth G. Alderks
Assistant Professor of English
Rolf Belgum
Adjunct Assistant Professor of English
Nicolette Bucciaglia
Assistant Professor of English
creative writing
Brett B. DeFries
Assistant Professor of English
Ryan Eichberger
Assistant Professor of English
Vera Foley
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Clemonce Heard
Adjunct Assistant Professor of English
Dana Horton
Associate Professor of English and Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Black feminist theory, African American literature, hip hop studies, Black Atlantic studies, postcolonial literature, multiethnic literature, contemporary American literature, slave narratives, and visual rhetoric
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs
Professor of English and Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary and General Studies
poetry and poetics; creative nonfiction; Asian American literature; critical adoption studies
Karen E.S. Marsalek
Professor of English
medieval and early modern literature, especially drama; history of the English language
Joseph L. Mbele
Professor of English
folklore; English post-colonial and third world literature
Linda Y. Mokdad
Associate Professor of English
film history; classical film theory; feminist film theory; art cinema; Arab cinemas
Sequoia Nagamatsu
Associate Professor of English
fiction; creative nonfiction
Jonathan T. Naito
Associate Professor of English; Associate Dean of Humanities
20th- and 21st-century British and Irish literature; postcolonial studies; black and Asian British literature; Samuel Beckett
Björn Nordfjörd
Associate Professor of Practice of English
American cinema; world cinema; crime fiction; adaptation and narrative theory
Nissa Parmar
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Juliet Patterson
Associate Professor of Practice in English
creative writing; contemporary American poetics; hybrid literature; environmental literature
Kaethe E. Schwehn
Associate Professor of Practice of English
creative writing
Joseph Sepulveda Ortiz
Assistant Professor of English
Jennifer Shaiman
Assistant Professor of English
Nancy Simpson-Younger
Visiting Associate Professor of English
Sean Ward
Assistant Professor of English
20th-century British and Anglophone literature; postcolonial studies; critical theory
Colin Wells (on sabbatical spring semester 2024-25)
Professor of English
early American literature; 18th-century literature