ENGLISH DEPARTMENT COURSES SPRING 2017
Undergraduate Writing Courses
ENGL 1100 First-Year Writing (3) Integrates critical reading, writing, and thinking skills and
studies actual writing practices. Sequenced reading and writing assignments build cumulatively
to more complex assignments. Includes formal and informal writing, drafting and revising,
editing for correctness, synthesizing source material, and documenting sources accurately.
Fulfills 3 hours of the General Education requirement for Communicating Skills. Does not count
toward the major in English.
Section 001 003 004 005 006 007 008 010 MW 9:30
MWF 9:30 (intensive)
MW 12:30
MW 2:00
TR 9:30
TR 11:00
TR 12:30
TR 2:00
ENGL 1110 First-Year Writing for International Students (3) Designed for any student
whose first language is not English. Integrates critical reading, writing, and thinking skills and
studies actual writing practices. Sequenced reading and writing assignments build cumulatively
to more complex assignments. Includes formal and informal writing, drafting and revising,
editing for correctness, synthesizing source material, and documenting sources accurately.
Special attention given to verb tenses, idioms, articles, and syntax. Does not count toward the
major in English. Substitute for English 1100 in all university requirements: ENGL 1100 or
equivalent (3-6 credit hours) and 56 credit hours. Acquaints students with the basic methods of
literary criticism and trains them in explicating particular texts and writing about literature.
Introduces students to basic research and proper MLA documentation. Required of all English
majors. Does not count toward the major in English. Counts toward the Certificate in Writing. Section 001 TR 11:00
002 MW 12:30
Mayer
Mussman
ENGL 3100 Junior-Level Writing (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours) and
56 credit hours. Focuses on writing and illiteracies in various contexts. Builds on intellectual
maturity, knowledge, and abilities gained through prior university studies. Enhances analytical,
communicative, persuasive, and explanatory capabilities. Includes complex readings and
research. Fulfills the University’s requirement for a junior-level course in Communicative Skills.
Counts toward the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001 002
003 004 005 006 007 008
009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022
023
024
E01 E02
MW 8:00
MW 9:30
MW 9:30
MW 11:00
MW 11:00
MW 12:30
MW 2:00
MW 3:30
MWF 9:30
TR 9:30
TR 11:00
TR 12:30
TR 12:30
TR 2:00
TR 2:00
TR 3:30
online
online
online
online
online
online
online
online
MW 5:30
TR 5:30
Coalier
Coalier
Staff
Staff
D. Wall
Coalier
Nigro
Staff
Staff
Kimbrell
McKelvie
Irwin
Kimbrell
Kimbrell
D. Wall
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
VanVoorden
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
ENGL 3110 Junior-Level Writing for International Students (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1110 or
equivalent (3-6 credit hours) and 56 credit hours. Designed for any student whose first language
is not English. Builds on intellectual maturity, knowledge, and abilities gained through prior
university studies. Enhances analytical, communicative, persuasive, and explanatory capabilities
in contemporary American English. Includes formal research and documentation methods from a
variety of fields. Emphasizes students’ reading abilities, both comprehension and vocabulary.
Fulfills the University’s requirement for a junior-level course in Communicative Skills. Counts
toward the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001 MW 12:30 Brefeld
ENGL 3120 Business Writing (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours) This
course further develops the experienced writer’s style and analytical capabilities to the level of
sophistication necessary for upper-division writing assignments and for business and
professional settings. Writing assignments may include business correspondence, reports,
resumes, proposals, analyses, feasibility studies, and articles for in-house publications. The
course emphasizes clarity, conciseness, organization, format, style, tone, and mechanical
correctness; expands upon students’ research and documentation skills; and requires research in
university libraries. Fulfills the university’s requirement for a junior-level course in
communicative skills. Course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013
014
015
E01 MW 8:00
MW 9:30
MW 11:00
W 12:30/BL
MW 2:00
TR 9:30
TR 11:00
TR 11:00
TR 12:30
TR 2:00
online
online
online
online
online
MW 5:30
Staff
Staff
Staff
McKelvie
Staley
Staley
Allison
Staff
Staley
Staff
Allison
Watt
Watt
Watt
Coalier
Staff
ENGL 3130 Technical Writing (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours). The
major elements of industrial technical writing. Writing assignments include technical definitions,
abstracts and summaries, mechanism descriptions, instructions, process analyses, technical
reports and proposals. Emphasis is placed on clarity, conciseness, organization, format, style, and
tone. The course includes an introduction to research methods and documentation. All readings
are selected from industrial material. Fulfills the university’s requirement for a junior-level
course in communicative skills, subject to the approval of the student’s major department.
Course counts toward the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001 002 003 004 005 MW 9:30
TR 11:00
online
online
online
Schott
Klein
Klein
Staff
Staff
ENGL 3160 Writing in the Sciences (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent (3-6 hours).
Designed to teach students how to write effectively in the sciences. Writing assignments include
short reports, proposals and a major project. Students are encouraged to select projects that will
reflect work in a science course which may include a research or analytical report, a formal
proposal or a procedures/ instructions manual. Emphasis is placed on clarity, conciseness,
organization, format, style, and tone. The course will include an introduction to research methods
and documentation. Fulfills the university’s requirement for a junior-level course in
communicative skills, subject to the approval of the student’s major department. Counts toward
the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001 TR 2:00
002 online
003 online
Klein
Schott
Klein
ENGL 4160 Special Topics in Writing (3) Topic: Writers at Work. Students will research
writing professions and will practice different professional writing genres, such as corporate
writing, social media writing, blogging, magazine writing, copywriting, and editing. Students
will work on portfolios designed to help them to obtain writing internships or jobs. Readings will
help students conduct meta-analysis on their own writing and writing process Prerequisites:
ENGL 3100 or its equivalent as judged by the instructor. All students enrolling must have
completed at least 60 credit hours. This course counts toward the Professional Writing
Certificate.
Section 001
TR 9:30
Allison
ENGL 4860 Editing (3) Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or its equivalent as judged by instructor;
English ENGL 2810, or ENGL 4810. Introduction to the language and processes of editing.
Includes copy editing, the study of style manuals, and an overview of the production process.
Counts toward the Professional Writing Certificate.
Section 001
MW 5:30
Keckritz
Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses
ENGL 2040 Beginning Fiction Writing (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or equivalent. An
introduction to the writing of fiction and an exploration of contemporary short stories as models
for the writer. Counts toward the Certificate in Writing.
Section 001
MW 9:30
Morris
ENGL 3030 Poetry Writing Workshop (3) Prerequisite: ENGL 1100 or the equivalent or
consent of instructor. Workshop in poetry writing that may also focus on close reading of
published works and poetic forms. May be repeated once for a total of 6 credit hours. Counts
toward the Certificate in Creative Writing, and if taken twice, the second time counts toward the
Emphasis in Creative Writing for English majors.
Section 001
TR 11:00
Irwin
English 4150 Creative Nonfiction
Section 001
MW 12:30-1:45
Seely
What is creative about creative non-fiction? How do we make art from the material of
experience? What does it mean, when writing non-fiction, to tell the truth? Designed for
experienced writers, though not necessarily experienced writers of creative non-fiction, this
course explores these questions, as well as other questions essential for writers of the literary
essay. We will read classic and contemporary masters of the genre, from Baldwin to Strayed, and
provide student writers with extensive feedback.
English 4895 Editing Litmag
Section 001
MW 9:30-10:45
Watt
Are you a writer interested in publishing? Put your creativity to work on UMSL’s undergraduate
literary journal, Litmag. As a student editor, you will earn course credit and valuable internship
experience exploring the world of professional publishing and participating in a wide-range of
magazine operations, including reading and selection of works for publication, marketing and
promotions, fundraising, solicitation, copy-editing, document and graphic design, distribution
and publicity. Throughout this course, which counts toward the Writing Certificate, you will
develop the professional writing skills that employers are looking for as you work
collaboratively with other student editors to make our magazine a reality. Join our staff and help
make Litmag 2017 our best issue yet.
Undergraduate Language and Literature Courses
ENGL 1950 Topics in Literature (3) Topic: The Short Story. In this class, we will read, talk
about, and write about the unique features of short fiction, and learn how writers of short fiction
approach their craft and are influenced by the intersecting forces of gender, culture, class,
politics, and belief and how human psychology shapes our notion of storytelling.
Section 001
MW 11:00
Staley
ENGL 2310 English Literature Before 1790 (3) The development of English Literature from
the Middle ages through the eighteenth century. Introduces students to major literary movements
and themes through the reading and analysis of representative works of selected major authors.
Section 001
TR. 12:30
E. Wall ENGL 2320 English Literature after 1790 (3) This online literature survey dances across
British literature from 1789 to the 1920s, reading major works from the Romantic, Victorian, and
Modernist eras. Students learn to read, think, and write more effectively about literary texts.
Assignments include weekly online discussions, creative exams, and a paper exploring The
Moonstone, published serially in the periodical All the Year Round. Bi-weekly, optional, drop-in
discussion sessions in The Nosh. Section 001
002
online
online
Maltby
Maltby
ENGL 2710 American Literature Before 1865 (3) Representative selections from American
authors from the middle of the seventeenth century to the Civil War. Section 001
MTR 8:30
Irwin ENGL 2720 American Literature After 1865 (3) Representative selections from American
authors from the Civil War to the present.
Section 001
MW 12:30
D. Wall ENGL 2810 Traditional Grammar (3) An introduction to the terms and concepts of traditional
grammar, beginning with functions of the noun and forms of the verb is simple sentences,
moving to more complex structures such as subordinate clauses and verbal phases, and ending
with the application of this material to issues of Standard English.
Section 001
002
TR 2:00
online
VanVoorden VanVoorden ENGL 3090 Writing about Literature (3) Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 Or Equivalent (3-6 credit
hours) and 56 credit hours. All students enrolling must have completed at least 60 credit hours.
Acquaints students with the basic methods of literary criticism and trains them in explicating
particular texts and writing about literature. Introduces students to basic research and proper
MLA documentation. Required of all English majors. Does not count toward the major in
English. May not be taken on satisfactory/unsatisfactory option. Counts toward the Certificate in
Writing.
Section 001
002
MW 11:00
TR 12:30
Maltby
Maltby
ENGL 4060 Adolescent Literature (3) The course will expose students to the large variety of
quality adolescent literature available for reading and study in middle and high school classes. It
will also examine the relevance of a variety of issues to the reading and teaching of adolescent
literature, among them: reader response, theory and practice; multiculturalism; literacy; the
relation of adolescent literature to “classic literature”; the role of adolescent literature in
interdisciplinary studies; adolescent literature as an incentive to extracurricular reading. Section 001
W 4:00-6:30
Gavin
English 4380 Shakespeare: Comedies & Histories
Section 001
MW 11:00-12:15
Schreyer
A century of bloody civil war. Passion, lust, laughter, love, and romance. This course explores
seven of Shakespeare’s Histories and Comedies, including the “first tetralogy” of Shakespeare’s
History plays which inspired George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and which has recently been
produced by the BBC as a television miniseries starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, and
Hugh Bonneville. Comedies will include some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, like Much
Ado About Nothing, which, thanks to Joss Whedon and Kenneth Branagh, remains popular on
the big screen. The study of these recent film adaptations will figure largely in the course.
English 4540 The Nineteenth-Century English Novel
Section 001
MW 12:30-1:45
Carroll
We shall be reading several of the main novels in this period, Austen’s Pride and
Prejudice, Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Dickens’ Bleak House, Eliot’s Middlemarch, and
Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge. Two of the novels–Bleak House, and Middlemarch—are
Victorian mega-novels. They have multitudes of characters, multiple interwoven plots, and
complex narrative structures. The three shorter novels are all distinctive masterpieces. Pride and
Prejudice is the epitome of classical elegance. Wuthering Heights is the chief English
contribution to Romantic Sturm und Drang–the violent and turbulent phase of romantic passion.
The Mayor of Casterbridge invests its rough characters with mythic scope, evokes the poetry of
the old country town, and envelops this world with Hardy’s brooding melancholy. This is the
great age of English fiction, a culminating moment in the development of the novel, and these
are among the greatest novels by the greatest writers. Grades will be based on a cumulative quiz
grade, two short papers, and a term paper. All students will sign up to present topics for class
discussion.
English 4620 Selected Major American Writers II
Section 001
TR 12:30-1:45
D. Wall
This course examines American literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries up
to World War II, taking a delicious, in-depth look at such authors as Stephen Crane, Robert
Frost, T. S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Willa Cather, Langston Hughes, John Steinbeck, F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Amy Lowell, or others. The number of authors will be limited to no more than five,
in order to allow for more extensive exposure and in-depth exploration of the works of each.
Cultural contexts and literary style will focus discussion and writing about major writers in the
American grain.
English 4830 Sociolinguistics
Section 001
TR 2:00-3:15
Torbert
We examine English language variation in the United States from a current sociolinguistic
perspective. The course covers social, regional, ethnic, gender, and style-related language
variation, along with models for describing and applying knowledge about language variation.
Students are exposed to a wide range of data on language variation, focused on vernacular
varieties of American English. By the end of the class, students should be able (a) to recognize
and use basic linguistic terminology describing English dialects, (b) to understand varying
theories about the genesis of these varieties, (c) to understand the rule-governed nature of all
language varieties, whether standard or nonstandard, (d) to better understand linguistic facts
about language variety than is possible from following mainstream media, and (e) to understand
the communicative competence and social value of all language varieties. April 6 guest talk by a
leading scholar in the field, Walt Wolfram.
English 4932 Female Gothic
Section 001
Wed. 2:00-4:40
Baldus
How did stories of demonic creatures, crumbling castles and those enduring vampires first
emerge? Honors Gothic Literature investigates some of the significant cultural moments in the
development of the Gothic genre from the late 1700s through the twentieth century. In late
eighteenth-century England, the Gothic novel became a wildly popular type of formula fiction—
particularly during the years of the French Revolution. We’ll examine ways in which Gothic
texts negotiate such cultural conflicts, and consider how the genre’s exploration of aberrant
characters and dark underworlds prompts critical perspectives on notions of gender, sexuality,
and cultural norms.
English 4950 Special Topics in Literature: Eyes on the Prize
Section 002
Frid. 11:00-1:30
Nigro
This class examines the civil rights movement from the 1950s to the 1980s and will coordinate
the PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize with primary documents, literature, and other films in
order to contextually examine the origins of American racism and exploitation of enslaved
peoples; understand how “race” is a socially constructed reality that changes in relationship to
other social, political, and economic dynamics in society; define and apply key concepts; analyze
the contributions of African Americans to American life and culture. There will be a research
component to this class as well as a service learning opportunity.
Graduate Courses
English 5000 Introduction to Graduate Studies in English
Section G01
Tues. 6:55-9:25
Grady
A survey of the approaches to literary study that have flourished in the academy over the last
century, including New Criticism, structuralism, semiotics, reception theory, Marxism,
feminism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, gender criticism, new historicism, and other
poststructuralist modes of address. This history of recent trends in literary criticism will be
framed by discussions of contemporary institutional and curricular issues, academic language
and writing, and proper bibliographical practice. Though much of the reading will be abstract
and theoretical, we will try to remain grounded through practical criticism of Bram Stoker’s
Dracula.
English 5500 Nineteenth Century Literature
Section G01
Wed. 6:55-9:25
Carroll
We shall be reading several of the main novels in this period, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Dickens’ Bleak House, Eliot’s Middlemarch, and Hardy’s Mayor of
Casterbridge. Two of the novels–Bleak House, and Middlemarch—are Victorian mega-novels.
They have multitudes of characters, multiple interwoven plots, and complex narrative structures.
The three shorter novels are all distinctive masterpieces. Pride and Prejudice is the epitome of
classical elegance. Wuthering Heights is the chief English contribution to Romantic Sturm und
Drang–the violent and turbulent phase of romantic passion. The Mayor of Casterbridge invests
its rough characters with mythic scope, evokes the poetry of the old country town, and envelops
this world with Hardy’s brooding melancholy. This is the great age of English fiction, a
culminating moment in the development of the novel, and these are among the greatest novels by
the greatest writers. Grades will be based on a cumulative quiz grade, two short papers, and a
term paper. All students will sign up to present topics for class discussion.
English 5800 Modern Linguistics
Section G01
Thurs. 6:55-9:25
Torbert
We examine English language variation in the United States from a current sociolinguistic
perspective. The course covers social, regional, ethnic, gender, and style-related language
variation, along with models for describing and applying knowledge about language variation.
Students are exposed to a wide range of data on language variation, focused on vernacular
varieties of American English. By the end of the class, students should be able (a) to recognize
and use basic linguistic terminology describing English dialects, (b) to understand varying
theories about the genesis of these varieties, (c) to understand the rule-governed nature of all
language varieties, whether standard or nonstandard, (d) to better understand linguistic facts
about language variety than is possible from following mainstream media, and (e) to understand
the communicative competence and social value of all language varieties. April 6 guest talk by a
leading scholar in the field, Walt Wolfram.
English 5840 Theories of Writing
Section G01
Wed. 4:00-6:30
Duffey
This course will familiarize you with a number of theoretical frameworks used to conceptualize
writing itself, writing instruction, writing course goals, and societal impulses toward writing. It
asks you to articulate, in your own words, several of the important concepts through which
writing theory has been developed and synthesize your understanding of theoretical concepts
with scholarship about them. Topics include silence and listening, voice, alternative discourses,
socioeconomic class and the academy, writing and healing, and more. Tentatively, written work
will include informal writing/position papers, an after-class summary, an annotated bibliography,
an analysis of your academic discourse, and a reflective portfolio.
English 5940 Seminar in Gender & Literature
Section G01
Tues. 4:00-6:30
Ebest
Topic: Sex! Violence! Religion! The Irish American Domestic Novel. Although some of the best
known novels by Irish American males have focused on violence and war, an equal number of
works recount domestic situations; likewise, while the majority of female writers choose
domestic settings, their novels too often include scenes of conflict and strife. Male or female, this
emphasis is influenced by the authors’ political context, religious beliefs, gendered, and ethnic
identities. Proceeding by decade from 1950 to the present, this course will analyze and compare
males’ and females’ novels to trace these influences on the Irish American domestic novel.
Cross-listed with Gender Studies; also counts as GS theory course.
English 5950 G01 Seminar in Special Topics: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Section: G01 Mon. 4:00-6:30
Kang
Introductory course on the two speculative genres of science fiction and fantasy. It combines a
study of the history of the genres from their pre-modern roots to contemporary works, with a
survey of current trends and themes. For the final long paper, students have the option of writing
a detailed critical essay on one or more published works or a fictional piece (short story or novel
chapter) in either science fiction or fantasy. Topics include: hard versus soft science fiction;
fantasy as modern medievalism; from cyberpunk to steampunk; and speculative activism.
English 5950 G01 Seminar in Special Topics: English Women Writers, 1300-1750
Section G03
online
Aldrich-Watson
Would you like to read a woman who proposed gender equality in 1611, or a woman in 1634
who thought women deserved their own university? Or how about a woman who almost got
royal funding for her midwives school, until her procreation advice to the English king and
queen produced a Catholic successor? We will read these and other amazing women writers from
the age of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. Beyond literary works and accompanying lectures,
this online course requires two essays, weekly discussion questions, a weekly journal entry, and
3 wikis/blogs.
MFA Courses
English 5100 Graduate Workshop in Poetry
Section G01
Thurs. 6:55-9:25
Schreiner
The Graduate Poetry Workshop provides in depth examination and evaluation of work by
students in the Master of Fine Arts Program. Peers offer weekly critiques of poetry under
discussion. At end of term a fresh look at one’s own poetry comprises a self-study assignment.
English 5110 Graduate Workshop in Fiction
Section G01
Mon. 6:55-9:25
Troy
MFA students who have chosen writing as a vocation, many of whom already published
or publishing, will submit work for discussion and critique by their peers and by Mary
Troy. Each student will offer up two stories during the semester, and will critique,
commenting heavily, on the work of others in the workshop. Discussions will be wide
ranging, for we are all in this together, finding or making meaning from the chaos of
humanity, but will focus on POV, dialogue, summary and exposition, pacing, form,
structure, characterization, weight, beginnings, endings, and (of course) the middle.
The course is open to MFA fiction students and others with instructor consent.
English 5190 Literary Journal Editing: Natural Bridge
Section G01
Wed. 4:00-6:30
Troy
Natural Bridge, UMSL’s internationally distributed literary journal, has been publishing
award winning poets and fiction writers for eighteen years. New Pages calls Natural
Bridge a “rewarding combination of the weighty and the whimsical.” In this class, you
will read submissions and accept or reject work, finding gems by never before published
writers and accepting, and thus working with, well-known writers. Discussions are lively,
passionate at times, and always illuminating, for not only are you putting out a journal,
but you are learning the kinds of discussions that occur around the work you submit
elsewhere. Advanced MFA students and others with instructor consent.
English 5950 Seminar in Special Topics: Reading Contemporary Poetry
Section G02
Tues. 6:55-9:25
Seely
Students will examine, with the eye of both writer and critic, a selection of poetry books from the
last few years. Our aim will be to explore something of the range of poems being written today.
Books we will read include buzzed-about debuts by the likes of Donika Kelly and Robin Beth
Schaer, Ross Gay’s Kingsley Tufts winning collection, as well as new collections from such
seasoned poets as Paisley Rekdal and Peter Gizzi. Students will write both critical and creative
responses to the books.