Summer I: CRN 20092
ENG 621: Horror in Literature & Film
Online & Asynchronous
Instructor: Dr. Paul Patterson
(Area I)
Have you ever asked yourself: “Why do I like to be scared?” When the novel came into being in the middle of the eighteenth century, its most popular genre was the Gothic—the novel of horror. In fact, the modern era—the era of science, reason, and democracy—has been obsessed with terror, fear, and the unknown since its very inception. So, why do we like to be terrified? What is it about horror fiction that so appeals to modern culture? We often avoid delving into such questions because they reveal to us that our pleasures often seem woefully uncivilized and unseemly. Beginning with one of the earliest Gothic horror novels, the course will trace out a literary, philosophical, and filmic history. Each unit of the course will explore how a different psychological/cultural concept of terror plays out in an aesthetic context.
Summer II: CRN 20267
ENG 600: Poetry Today
Online Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Instructor: Dr. Kay Cosgrove
(Area I)
This course will serve as an exploration of the current poetry scene in America, beginning with Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, and reading through the High Modernist period to present day. We will focus in particular on how 20th and 21st century poets seek to define a distinct American poetics through experimental form and narrative structure. We will undertake a close study of the schools and theoretical concepts that define these centuries. Movements covered will include Imagism, the New York School, the Harlem Renaissance, the Neo-Confessional, the Contemporary lyric, and Language Poetry. We will practice our own creative imitations in an effort to understand how to “make it new” as Ezra Pound suggested the modern American poet ought to do. We will have a ball.
