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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of English

Class Schedule - Fall 2025 - English

ENGL 103 - Intro to Fiction

[IAI Code: H3901] An introduction to the study of literature and literary history at the university level. Explores such topics as: the historical role and place of fictional narratives, the idea of genre, relationships between context and meaning in fictional works. Student will develop a critical vocabulary for interpreting and analyzing narrative strategies. Credit is not given toward graduation for: ENGL 103 and ENGL 109.

ENGL 104 - Introduction to Film

[IAI Code: F2908] Thoughtful viewing of diverse films, along with ample discussion and critical reading and writing, to gain understanding of cinematic expression and of film's capacity to entertain and to exert artistic and social influence. Same as MACS 104.

ENGL 109 - Intro to Fiction-ACP

Introduction to critical analysis of prose fiction. Explores a wide range of short and long fiction across historical periods; examines narrative strategies such as plot, character, and point of view. Special emphasis placed on good literary critical writing. Course is similar to ENGL 103 except for the additional writing component. Credit is not given for both ENGL 109 and ENGL 103. Prerequisite: Completion of campus Composition I general education requirement.

ENGL 115 - Intro to British Literature

Acquaints students with the rich diversity of British prose, poetry, and drama. As a basic introduction to English literature, the course explores a series of literary texts, often thematically related, which appeal to modern readers and at the same time provide interesting insights into the cultural attitudes and values of the periods which produced them.

ENGL 120 - Science Fiction

Introduction to the study of science fiction, the genre that has both contributed to scientific knowledge and attempted to make sense of the changes that have taken place in the world since the Enlightenment, the onset of industrialization, and the acceleration of technology. Texts are taken from a variety of literary and pop culture sources: pulps and magazines, novels and films, comics and TV shows.

ENGL 199 - Undergraduate Open Seminar

Topics course that varies each semester and by section. The topics offered each semester will be listed in the Class Schedule. Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated.

ENGL 200 - Introduction to the Study of Literature and Culture

Introduction to the study of literature in the twenty-first century. This course will expand your sense of what literature is and where it happens, including discussion of old and new literary forms (from novels, poems, and plays to comic books, video games, and films). Along the way, students will explore some of the literary and cultural opportunities (such as author readings, scholarly talks, and performances) available to them on a large public university campus, with two goals in mind: to develop your critical interpretive skills and to acquaint you with the discipline of literary studies as it is being practiced all around us today, both inside and outside the conventional classroom.

ENGL 202 - Medieval Literature and Culture

Introduction to the diverse literatures and cultures of the global Middle Ages (approximately 500-1500 CE). Students will read works by medieval authors in Modern English translation, with particular attention to placing works in their historical and material contexts. Same as CWL 253 and MDVL 201. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 204 - Renaissance Literature and Culture

Readings in English and continental literary masterpieces with attention to significant cultural influences. Same as CWL 255. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 208 - Victorian Literature and Culture

While Queen Victoria was on the throne (1837-1901), Britain became a world power, but often looked backwards to the lovely worlds of the past. Many of the era’s great literary works reflect this tension between realism and romance: between the realism of being a poor governess and the romance of finding true love in Jane Eyre; the tragedy of losing your best friend and the hope of emotional survival in In Memoriam; the practical work of building a useful device and the fantasy of visiting the dystopian future in The Time Machine. Literature studied in this class will include poetry, prose, drama, and fiction, possibly including works by Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Seacole, Thomas Carlyle, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, William Morris, Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Olive Schreiner, or George Bernard Shaw. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 209 - Early British Literature and Culture

[IAI Code: H3912] This course surveys more than a thousand years of British literature from the early Middle Ages through the Renaissance and well into the eighteenth century. But what does "British literature" really mean, especially in the context of an island archipelago populated by multiple nations (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) and repeatedly subjected to foreign rule (either by violent invasion or dynastic succession)? The range of texts we thus characterize as "early British literature" is staggering, and part of our goal in this course will simply be to appreciate the sheer volume and breadth of written work created in Britain and Ireland between the sixth and eighteenth centuries. We will do this through a necessarily selective sampling of historical periods, languages, and genres. Our authors will range from the famous (e.g., Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton) to the lesser-known (e.g., Marie de France, Lady Mary Wroth, and Eliza Haywood) to the unknown (e.g., the anonymous Beowulf-poet). Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement and ENGL 200.

ENGL 216 - Legends of King Arthur

Arthurian myth and legend is one of the most enduring literary traditions of Western Europe, and the characters of Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, Gawain and Mordred were as popular in the Middle Ages as they are today. Originating in early medieval Wales, the legends traveled through England to France and Germany and throughout the modern world. Students will study the development of the Arthurian tradition in chronicles, poetry, romances, lais, and fabliaux, comparing variations across cultural and historical boundaries. Same as CWL 216 and MDVL 216. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 218 - Introduction to Shakespeare

[IAI Code: H3905] Representative readings of Shakespeare's drama and poetry in the context of his age, with emphasis on major plays; selections vary from section to section. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 220 - Literature and Science

Explores the mutual influences of science and literature in some key literary and non-literary texts. Covers scientific texts, literary works, and cultural theory to explore how and why scientific knowledge is intimately linked to literature.

ENGL 222 - Jewish American and US Minority Literatures in Dialogue

Same as CWL 209 and JS 209. See JS 209.

ENGL 224 - Latina/o Popular Culture

Same as LLS 240 and SPAN 240. See LLS 240.

ENGL 225 - Intro to Latina/o Literature

Same as LLS 242 and SPAN 242. See LLS 242.

ENGL 242 - Contemporary Poetry

Explores the diversity of poetry in English from 1960 to the present, focusing on various poetic movements (the Beats, confessionals, New York school, ecopoetics, postcolonial poetry, poetry of witness, and spoken word). Poets for consideration include Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Frank O’Hara, Gary Snyder, Derek Walcott, Carolyn Forché, Sharon Olds, Rita Dove, and Mark Doty. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 251 - The Twentieth-Century American Novel

Critical study of selected American novels from the twentieth century. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 255 - Early American Literature and Culture

[IAI Code: H3914] This large-scale survey course offers students background in a wide range of genres, authors, and texts, focusing on "early American literature," which ranges from pre-Columbian indigenous narratives to nineteenth century novels, poems, and plays. The material studied ranges across multiple centuries and continents, and includes a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and gendered perspectives. Writers may include Christopher Columbus, Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, William Apess, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Harriet Jacobs, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement and ENGL 200.

ENGL 259 - Early African American Literature and Culture

[IAI Code: H3910D] An introduction to the study of early African American literary and cultural production, ranging from the earliest writings by African descended people in British North America in the eighteenth century to the end of World War I. At each turn, we will situate texts in their cultural and historical contexts, attending not only to the specificity of a particular text's moment, but also to the forces of contingency and tradition at play in the construction of literary, cultural, and political communities. Throughout our discussions we will think about both the "African-ness" and "American-ness" of African American literature as collective and imaginative processes. Early African Americans wrote for a variety of reasons—philosophical, political, pleasurable, instrumental—and protesting slavery and racism was just one (albeit an important one) among many of those reasons. We will read letters, poems, sermons, songs, constitutions and bylaws for religious and civic organizations, stories, and texts that defy easy categorization. Writers may include Phillis Wheatley, David Walker, Maria Stewart, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Frances E.W. Harper, William Wells Brown, W.E.B. Du Bois, Pauline Hopkins, Charles Chesnutt, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Ida B. Wells. Same as AFRO 259 and CWL 259. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 265 - Intro to American Indian Lit

Same as AIS 265. See AIS 265.

ENGL 266 - Grimm's Fairy Tales in Context

Same as CWL 254 and GER 251. See GER 251.

ENGL 269 - The Holocaust in Context

Same as CWL 273, GER 261, and JS 261. See GER 261.

ENGL 273 - American Cinema, 1950-2000

Explores key issues in America cinema during the second half of the twentieth century, connecting central problems of film studies (e.g., authorship, genre, narratology, style, gender analysis, and the spectacle of violence) to moments of major transition in the American film industry (e.g., the Red Scare and the end of the Production Code in the 1950s; the emergence of the New Hollywood and the breakdown of the studio system in the 1960s; and the rise of the mega-blockbuster in the 1970s). Same as MACS 273. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 277 - Gender in Gaming

Same as GSD 204, GWS 204 and MACS 204. See GSD 204.

ENGL 285 - Postcolonial Literature in English

Examination of selected postcolonial literature, theory, and film as texts that "write back" to dominant European representations of power, identity, gender and the Other. Postcolonial writers, critics and filmmakers studied may include Franz Fanon, Edward Said, Aime Cesaire, Ousmane Sembene, Chinua Achebe, Michelle Cliff, Mahesweta Devi, Buchi Emecheta, Derek Walcott and Marlene Nourbese-Philip. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 286 - Asian American Literature

Introduction to Asian American literary studies and culture through the reading of major works of literature selected from but not limited to the following American ethnic subgroups: Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, and Vietnamese. Same as AAS 286. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 290 - Individual Study

Study of selected topics. Approved for both letter and S/U grading. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours. Students may register in more than one section per term. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

ENGL 301 - Introduction to Critical Theory

Introduction to the critical frameworks and methods that have had the greatest impact on the field of literary studies. Students will read, discuss, and write about numerous theoretical approaches, which might include (but are not limited to) critical race studies, environmental theory, feminism, Marxism, postcolonialism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and structuralism. No previous background with theory is required. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement; one year of college literature or consent of instructor. Restricted to English majors.

ENGL 322 - Dostoevsky

Same as CWL 324 and RUSS 322. See RUSS 322.

ENGL 325 - Topics in LGBT Literature and Film

Explores topics on representations of non-heteronormative sexuality in canonical and recovered historical texts and in contemporary literature, on literature by LGBT authors, and on theories of sexuality that pertain to systems of textual and cultural meaning. May be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 6 hours, if topics vary.

ENGL 333 - Memoir & Autobiography

Same as GWS 333. See GWS 333.

ENGL 350 - Writing about Literature, Text, and Culture

Writing-intensive, variable-topic course designed to improve English majors' ability to produce clear, well-organized, analytically sound and persuasively argued essays relevant to English studies. Introduces students to research techniques through the examination of critical texts appropriate to the course topic. Credit is not given for ENGL 300 and ENGL 350. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement; one year of college literature or consent of instructor. For majors only.

ENGL 360 - Environmental Writing

Same as ESE 360. See ESE 360.

ENGL 373 - Special Topics in Film Studies

Extended investigation of major subjects and issues in cinema and other media; topics vary and typically include studies of author/directors, genres, historical movements, critical approaches, and themes. Same as MACS 373. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 hours if topics vary. Prerequisite: One college-level course in film studies or literature.

ENGL 380 - Topics in Writing Studies

Advanced-level work in the field of Writing Studies. Building upon a traditional disciplinary understanding of writing as rhetoric, this course invites students to call upon sociological, anthropological, and/or ideological approaches to the study of writing in order to understand the myriad ways that writing makes meaning(s). See Class Schedule for topics. May be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

ENGL 390 - Advanced Individual Study

Advanced study of selected topics. Approved for both letter and S/U grading. May be repeated in the same or separate terms to a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

ENGL 391 - Honors Individual Study

Study of selected topics. Restricted to English and English education majors with a 3.33 average who are working towards the degree with distinction in English or in English education. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: Enroll in undergraduate advising office.

ENGL 396 - English Honors Seminar

An open-topic, discussion-oriented seminar aimed at majors who have shown high skill and intensive interest in the area of English studies. May be repeated up to 6 hours in the same term to a maximum of 12 hours. Prerequisite: A 3.33 grade point average or consent of the English Department's Director of Undergraduate Studies. Restricted to English majors.

ENGL 402 - Descriptive English Grammar

An introduction to English linguistics with emphasis on the phonetic, syntactic, and semantic structures of English; language variation, standardization, and change; language legislation and linguistic rights; English as a world language; and the study of language in American schools. Same as BTW 402. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.

ENGL 404 - Engl Grammar for ESL Teachers

Same as EIL 422. See EIL 422.

ENGL 416 - Topics in British Drama to 1660

Advanced topics course devoted to dramatic practice in the medieval and/or early modern British Isles. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary; Graduate students may repeat if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

ENGL 455 - Major Authors

Intensive study of the work of one or two major authors. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary. May be repeated for graduate credit if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

ENGL 458 - Latina/o Performance

Same as LLS 458. See LLS 458.

ENGL 459 - Topics in American Indian Lit

Same as AIS 459. See AIS 459.

ENGL 460 - Literature of American Minorities

Advanced topics seminar exploring literary expressions of minority experience in America. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary; Graduate students may repeat if topics vary. Graduate students may repeat as topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

ENGL 477 - Advanced Environmental Writing

Introduces students to the challenges of "turning data into narrative." With a focus on students' professional development as writers, this course emphasizes the research and rhetorical skills required to communicate current scientific research in earth and environmental science through non-fiction narrative forms--the investigative essay, long-form journalism, personal memoir, and op-ed--aimed at a general audience. Same as ESE 477. 3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit.

ENGL 481 - Composition Theory and Practice

Study of the history and theory of written composition. This course explores basic rhetorical principles, various theoretical perspectives in the field of composition/rhetoric, and helps students form practical approaches to the guidance of, response to, and structuring of student writing. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of English

608 South Wright Street

MC-718

Urbana, IL 61801

(217) 333-2391

Email: english@illinois.edu

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