New Course Titles and New Course Numbering for Graduate Classes in English

In winter quarter the formal division of the Department of English and the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse becomes complete, and with that come changes in graduate course numbering. For the current fall term, all graduate courses offered by the English department and the Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse department carried ENG 4XX numbers. In winter, however, courses offered by the WRD department will have their own WRD numbers. These changes have important implications for students in the MAE and MAWP programs, so please read the following carefully.

Students in the MAW and MAWP have already noticed some changes in course numberings. Previously, all “Topics” courses in writing went under the umbrella ENG 409 “Topics in Language, Rhetoric and Writing” and included anything from professional writing courses to classes in teaching. This single “Topics” label often caused much confusion because some 409s counted toward one of the three MAW concentration areas and some even counted for two concentrations.

But, happily, we have eliminated most of this confusion with the introduction of four new “Topics” categories and the continuation of one current “Topics” category. From now on, all “Topics” courses will fall under the following curricular structure:

ENG 475 “Topics in Literature,” which covers specialized studies in literature that tend not to fit into our regularly numbered literary offerings. In the spring, we are offering “Theorizing Transnationalism in American Literature,” and topics dealing with Caribbean or African literatures, or a course dealing with the history of the book, would likely be listed under this “Topics in Literature” label.

ENG 477 “Topics in Language and Form,” is one of our new “Topics” categories, and it deals with non-writing workshop approaches to particular genres of writing. This quarter we are offering a 477 on “Literary Techniques in Advertising,” which looks at how the field of advertising relies on literary and rhetorical tropes in the language of selling. A course on the history and development of literary nonfiction would be listed as a “Topics in Language and Form” class.

ENG 478 “Topics in Teaching,” another new “Topics” category, delves into specific areas of teacher preparation that are not covered in our ENG 474 “Teaching Literature” class. In spring, we are offering a 478 section called “Teaching Popular Literature, Culture, and Cultural Studies,” and our popular “Teaching Women Writers” would receive a 478 listing.

ENG 479 “Topics in Publishing” will house our growing offerings in courses that prepare our graduates to work in, or with, the larger publishing industry. In winter we are offering “Seminar on the American Publishing Industry,” and in spring we will offer “Getting Published: An Editor’s Guide.” As we enlarge our opportunities into publishing and editing, you can expect an increase in 479 “Topics in Publishing” offerings.

ENG 484 “Writing Workshop Topics” covers all writer’s workshop sections that do not have their own unique numbers. This ENG 484 designation now allows us to markedly increase the variety of workshops that we offer each quarter. In winter we are offering four ENG 484 sections, and in spring we have scheduled two.

MAE and MAWP students should remember that they are limited in the number of classes offered in the new WRD department. These classes focus mainly on rhetoric and composition, on the teaching of writing, and on workplace writing. If you are considering taking a WRD class in winter or beyond, you will need the approval of your program director, and you will need to show how the WRD course fits into your overall scholarly and professional goals. And MAE and MAWP students may not take more than two courses outside of English.

Finally, as you are contemplating or completing your course selections for the 2009 winter term, we encourage you to sample classes outside of your immediate concentration or focus. Specifically, MAW and MAWP students should consider the wide array of literature classes we offer, many of them focusing on writing genres that brought you into your master’s program to begin with. Good writers are invariably good readers of literature because literary texts and approaches to literary study push to the surface those belletristic, aesthetic, and stylistic elements that become second nature to successful writers, whatever genre they find themselves writing in. Likewise, we hope that MAE students will sample one of our many writing workshops or courses in publishing; you already bring excellent abilities in textual analysis, so studying literary texts from the production end can only deepen your appreciation and critical awareness of literature.

And, as is always the case, if you have questions about your course of study, or if you would like to discuss new waters into which you might wish to dip your intellectual toe, please make an appointment with your program director.