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.

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.

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.

The intensive study of five or six of Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies set in Italy, ancient and early modern, with attention to English attitudes toward Italy and Shakespeare’s use of Italy, the nature of comedy and tragedy, and the shape of Shakespeare’s career.

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.

This course surveys the major writers from the Romantic and Victorian periods and through the twentieth century such as Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Dickens, Arnold, Browning, Joyce, Eliot, and Woolf.

This introductory level literature class is designed to help students acquire the skills for reading, appreciating, and critically analyzing poetry. This course intends to introduce the students to some basic concepts about literary technique and innovation.

In this course students will learn a broad array of concepts and methods in literary studies and writing, taken directly from the self-reflective work of creative writers and the critical work of scholars. The acquired knowledge and expertise will enable students to navigate upper division courses in writing and literature, and to approach the capstone project, with competence, poise, and style.