English Department - Additional Information About ENL 430
Advanced Studies in Language, Theory, and Method
(Spring Day 2008 and Winter WEC, Th 6-9 pm)
Professor Doug Green
“Through a focus on particular issues and problems in literary studies, this course engages students in a variety of past and current critical theories. Possible course topics include ‘Is There a Gay Literature?’ ‘Realism Reconsidered,’ ‘Cognition, Meaning, and Interpretation,’ ‘Eco-criticism and the Nature of Reading,’ ‘Readings in Theory,’ and others. …(Prereq.: Any 300-level literature course or consent of instructor).”
In Spring 2008, in order to accommodate film, lit, and writing majors, we will be considering some big questions about the functions and purposes of art, the kind raised in works by Jane Kramer (Whose Art Is It Anyway?) and John Berger (Ways of Seeing), as well as other theorists and critics. We will view films (high and popular), attend Top Girls, and write and speak formally, in light of the questions raised by our readings and discussions, about the art, film, and literature we experience and in some cases create.