Course Syllabi

The study of the components of the English Language; this will include phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, and syntax.

This advanced interdisciplinary writing course emphasizes major contemporary public issues. In this course, students will learn techniques of analyzing and writing persuasive arguments addressing topics of current public interest. Included in this course is the practice in and study of the logic by which writers construct arguments; the various means that writers use to persuade an audience; and the conventions of evidence, claims, and argument in persuasive discourses. Papers are research-based.

The study of science fiction as literature, including historical development and related genres, through short stories, novels, and film.

The literature of major authors in the light of their cultural backgrounds. Presents writing from early Greek times through the Renaissance periods.

This course is a critical examination of selected classics of world authors from the 17th century to modern times.

A chronological survey of English Literature from the Medieval period through the 18th century. Works studied will include Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and selections from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and Alexander Pope.

A chronological survey of English Literature from the Romantic period to the present. Major authors will include Wordsworth, Browning, Joyce, Woolf, and Samuel Beckett.

A critical examination of the literature of cultures whose origins lie outside the Western tradition, including various minority cultures in the United States.

This course will introduce the works of Mexican-American writers of the Southwest and explore how Chicanos have used creative writing to reflect upon and express their experiences as people of Mexican descent living within the United States. Works include poetry, fiction, and essays viewed in their relationship to American cultural heritage and to contemporary culture.

A survey of American literature from colonial times to the Civil War. Emphasis on Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Thoreau, and Whitman.

A survey of American literature from Civil War to present. Emphasis on Dickinson, Twain, Frost, Eliot, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Steinbeck.

African American Literature will explore the linguistic and cultural roots and traditions of literary writing by African Americans in three centuries of American history focusing on select readings in poetry, drama, and fictional prose. The overall goal of the course is to introduce students to the history of the different genres, contexts, and content of literary production by African American writers from the 1700s to the late 20th century. Essential to the course is writing that represents African Americans’ varied cultural, sexual, economic, ethnic, racial, and gendered experiences to inform the identities of these African American writers and their writing.

Representative comedies, histories, and tragedies are analyzed. Shakespeare's life and times will be studied in some detail.

In this introductory survey course, students will explore fiction, poetry, plays, and non-fiction written by women in English. Included in this exploration are the critical examination of the context in which women have written and continue to write, and the impact of that writing on the canonical tradition of literature. Essential to the course is writing that represents women's varied cultural, sexual, economic, ethnic, and racial experiences as they intertwine with gender to inform the identities of these women writers and their writing.

The study of movies as a medium for telling stories and communicating ideas. Includes such topics as narrative and visual elements, historical development and genres, and thematic and cultural issues.

A course in the techniques of writing creative nonfiction, taught through exercises, the critiquing of students original nonfiction, and readings in contemporary nonfiction.

A course in the techniques of fiction writing, taught through exercises, the critiquing of students original fiction, and readings in contemporary fiction.

A course in the techniques of poetry writing, taught through exercises, the critiquing of students original poetry, and readings in contemporary poetry.

The focus within the entrepreneurship course is to help students develop the discovery, thinking, reasoning, and implementation skills necessary to thrive in uncertain business environments. Students will develop entrepreneurial skills that can be used in all types of startups and organizations. With cutting-edge topics such as design thinking, business model canvas, bootstrapping, and crowdfunding, students are exposed to the latest developments in the field of entrepreneurship.

The objective of this course is for students to apply and build upon the entrepreneurship theoretical fundamentals.