Course Descriptions

ECO 221 - Economic History of the United States

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 224S - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States.  Particular focus will be on inequality and discrimination in the labor market.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 225 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 226 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Focuses on the application of economic tools to the evaluation of environmental amenities, the analysis of pollution control policies, the uses of renewable and nonrenewable resources, and the protection of biodiversity.  Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the economic approach to those issues.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 
Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 required; Calculus I or equivalent recommended.

ECO 228 - Financial Economics

ECO 229S - Urban Economics

Role of economics in the development of modern cities. Topics include: the monocentric-city model, urban land values, crime, transportation, education, and taxation.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 231S - History of Economic Thought

Evolution of economic thought in a social-historical context, from the Mercantilists up to Keynes, with particular attention to the Classical, Marxian, Austrian, Neoclassical, Institutional, and Keynesian schools.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 232S - Economics of Migration

Types of migration, economic basis for migration, aggregate and distributional consequences on migrant sending and receiving countries, fiscal and other effects of migration, ‘brain-drain’ and ‘brain-gain’, remittances, migration policy.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for International Studies.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 234 - Latin American Economic Development

This course combines economic theory, policy and historical accounts to understand forces that have shaped Latin American economic development.  You will gain an understanding of major theories and trends in Latin American development while obtaining the necessary tools to analyze specific development issues and the impact of development projects.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 235 - Economics of South Asian Environmental Issues

The goal of this course is for students to learn about the economics of environmental issues in South Asia (defined here as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). The economic tools will include externalities and consideration of common and open access goods. The issues discussed will be topical, and the students will get to choose a topic for their research project.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Social Scientific Thought Distribution Requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 280 - Selected Topics in Economics (ECO 280-284)

Reading, research, papers, and discussion on selected topics in economics.  Topics and course numbers will be announced in advance of registration.

Not for major or minor credit in Economics

ECO 285 - Macroeconomics of Development

Why are some countries rich and others so poor? What are the commonalities across today’s low-income countries, and how are they dissimilar? Which policies can best move billions of people from abject poverty to development and prosperity? This course is about the huge differences in incomes and standards of living that separates the wealthy nations from the poor. We will explore the nature and meaning of development and its macroeconomic manifestations within the context of a major set of economic problems faced by developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Topics include economic growth and structural transformation; poverty and inequality; agricultural transformation and rural development; human capital; migration and urbanization; foreign aid; violence and armed conflict; and role of monetary policy and fiscal policy to foster macroeconomic stability and economic development.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series Economics major requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 286 - Economics of Education (=EDU 286)

(Cross-listed with EDU 286)
This course will examine questions about the American educational system from an economic and behavioral-economic perspective.  Is school funding better spent on merit pay for teachers or reducing class size?  Do charter schools help more students get to college?  Who benefits from free tuition policies in higher education?  We will learn about returns to educational investment, effects of educational inputs, teacher labor markets, school choice, and higher education finance and policy.  There will be an emphasis throughout on empirical tests of individual behavior and their implications for education policy.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 20-series Economics major course requirement.
Satifies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 287 - Investments: Theory and Behavior

In this course we study the financial behavior of both idealized agents in economic models and actual humans faced with complex decisions, a large number of choices, uncertainty, and (mis)information.  The first part of the course introduces the financial system and financial assets and provides an overview of optimal investor behavior, including asset pricing, valuation, portfolio choice, and the life cycle model of consumption.  The second part includes a survey of the literature on behavioral finance, including overconfidence bias, herding effects, inertia and the effect of choice architecture, and the behavioral life cycle hypothesis.  We discuss various remedies to the mistakes often made by everyday participants in the financial system.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 20-series Economics major course requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 288 - Economic Issues in Emerging Markets

This course covers the core ideas behind international monetary and trade theories with particular emphasis on emerging markets.  Why does the dollar go “up” or “down,” and with what implications?  How do financial crises begin and spread?  Who gains from international trade, and how does it affect economic welfare worldwide.  In addition to answering these questions, the course will cover topical issues in emerging economies: foreign aid, income inequality, environmental protection, and the relationship between democracy, national security, and open markets.  In addition to using texts and selected readings, we will rely on several case studies and country-specific analysis to further our understanding of these issues.  This class is not open to students who have taken POL 360.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series requirement in the Economics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 295 - Individual Research

Designed for the student who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 316 - Computational Economics

Computational methods for building and solving models in the context of economics topics. Methods discussed include agent-based simulations to analyze complex adaptive systems, value function iteration to solve dynamic structural models, and miscellaneous estimation and optimizing techniques.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for applied mathematics.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 320 - Psychology and Economics

Incorporation of psychological insights into economic models, with emphasis on empirical evidence. Also known as behavioral economics. Analysis of how individuals depart from a standard economic model in three ways: 1) nonstandard preferences, such as procrastination, 2) nonstandard beliefs, such as overconfidence about one’s ability, and 3) nonstandard decision making, such as framing effects and the roles of social pressure and peer influences.

Satisfies Social Science distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 321 - Research Seminar in Public Choice Economics

Public Choice Economics is the application of economic methods to problems usually within the sphere of political science.  This research seminar is as much a vehicle for developing a student’s research skills as it is a valuable field of inquiry.  The students will actively engage with their peers in learning about Public Choice Economics, in developing a viable research proposal, and in conducting their own empirical research projects.  It is appropriate for either advanced economics-focused students with an interest political science or advanced political science-focused students with an interest in economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics focus: Economics 105 (Statistics), either Economics 202 (Intermediate Microeconomics) or Economics 203 (Intermediate Macroeconomics), and a Political Science course above 201.

Political Science focus: Political Science 201 (Methods and Statistics in Political Science), a Political Science course above 300, and Economics 101 (Introductory Economics).

ECO 322S - Health Economics

Analysis of the U.S. health care sector: demand for health, medical care and health insurance;  supply of physician services, hospital services and insurance; health care markets and government interventions; cost effectiveness analysis; comparison of international health care systems. Focus is on policy applications.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 required

ECO 323 - Industrial Organization

We often hear that perfect competition is the ideal market structure for an industry, but what if it isn’t?  When are there benefits to consumers from allowing two large companies to merge?  Are Microsoft and Google providing valuable technological innovations for society, or strategically capturing market share and profit for themselves?  

We study some frameworks for answering these and other questions, starting with a review of how market structure, firm behavior, and outcomes for consumers are related.  We examine the effects of various business strategies such as price discrimination, product differentiation, collusion, mergers, advertising, R&D and investment.  Finally, we discuss landmark antitrust court cases and apply theoretical frameworks to understand why different industries may be treated differently.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 required.

ECO 324 - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States. (A student may not receive credit for both ECO 224 and ECO 324.)

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 325 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 328S - Money and the Financial System

Term structure of interest rates, structure of financial markets, regulatory framework, asset demand theories, Federal Reserve system and operation of monetary policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 329 - Sports Economics

Sports economics covers the major economic issues confronted in professional and major college sports. The course examines four topics in depth: (1) the structure of professional sports industry, (2) public finance issues surrounding stadium construction and team ownership in professional sports, (3) labor market issues in professional sports, and (4) the economics of amateur athletics (with a focus on the NCAA).

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 333S - Political Economy and Economic Development

This course will analyze the major theoretical arguments to how and why politics affects economic development, and study the ways in which economic development influences politics.  Empirical studies will be analyzed in order to evaluate various policies that may promote the support economic growth and development.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 or equivalent, and Economics 202.

ECO 336 - Economic Growth

What sustains economic growth in the long run?  This question was the focus of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece “The Wealth of Nations”.  Nobel laureate Robert Lucas famously said that “Once one starts to think about [questions of economic growth], it is hard to think about anything else.”  The purpose of this course is to explain and explore the modern theories of economic growth.  We will use  theoretical and empirical models and publicly available data to study the role of key components of economics growth such as: capital accumulation, including all new investments in land, physical equipment, and human resources through improvements in health, education, and job skills; population growth; technological progress; openness to trade and capital flow; institutions, culture, and geography; and environmental sustainability.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 30-series requirement in the Economics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203

ECO 337 - International Trade

Economic basis for international trade, determinants and consequences of trade flows, barriers to trade, and trade policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 338 - International Finance

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 339S - Economics of Multinational Firms

Multinational firms with operations spanning national boundaries are some of the most powerful companies in the world. Why do some firms go global? What prevents others from internationalizing their operations? How do multinationals innovate? Do they benefit the countries where they operate? Answers to these questions will provide key insights about the world we live in, and we will use economics to examine these and other issues to learn how firms respond to the pressures of globalization and how the global presence of these firms affects the well-being of citizens in rich and poor countries.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203

ECO 380 - Seminar in Economics (ECO 380-384)

Reading, research, papers, and discussion on selected topics in economics. Particular topic or area of the seminar and course number will be announced in advance of registration.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 or 203 or 205 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 395 - Individual Research

Designed for the major who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 or 203 or 205 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 401 - Honors Research

Independent research designed to formulate a written proposal for an honors thesis. The proposal will encompass a review of recent literature, development of a theoretical framework and research hypotheses, and the preparation of an annotated bibliography. An oral defense of the written proposal is required. Graded on a Pass/Fail basis. 

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the Department Chair. (Fall)

ECO 402 - Honors Thesis

Completion of the honors research proposed in Economics 401. Oral defense of the thesis is required.

Prerequisites & Notes
Pass in Economics 401 and permission of the Department Chair. (Spring)

ECO 495 - Senior Session

Required of all seniors majoring in economics. Students participate in colloquia on economic problems, theory, and policy; prepare projects on economic issues; and take comprehensive examinations that include the ETS Major Field Test in economics, an oral exam and written examinations in economic theory and analysis.

Prerequisites:  Economics 202, 203, and 205 or permission of the instructor.

Group Projects: One part of the Senior Session experience requires each student to participate in a group project. Each student should register in one of six group projects described below. Space in each section is limited.

SPRING 2018 GROUPS

ECO 495A: TAX SYSTEM DESIGN FOR PERU
GROUP ADVISOR: BAKER
Students will have the opportunity to develop a system of taxation for a country. You will start with a clean slate. It is incumbent upon your group to design a system of taxation that you feel is equitable and has a realistic chance of functioning. You will use Peru as your subject country. You have been hired as consultants by the Peruvian government to propose a revised system of taxation. You will research the country to learn about its history, culture, national budgets/priorities, and economy. You will determine the level of funding needed by the country to meet the goals established by its government. You will research various systems of taxation from which you can choose. 

ECO 495B: FOOD AID- DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO THE POOR OR EXPORT PROMOTION FOR THE RICH?
GROUP ADVISOR: JHA
Since the end of World War II, food aid has been a key element of development assistance policy for major donor countries like the United States.  This group will assess the efficacy of major food aid programs: Have food aid programs, such as PL480, been successful at alleviating food shortages in poor countries, or have they been a tool to foster commercial food exports of donor countries?  Further, we will explore the impact of food aid on recipients’ agricultural development and food security.

ECO 495C: THE FIRST GLOBALIZATION- 1870-1914
GROUP ADVISOR: KUMAR 
The period 1870-1914, often called the Belle Époque, is widely considered to be the first era of globalization.  Working in groups of three or four, students will consider key economic attributes that defined this so-called ‘Beautiful Era.’  They will examine the economic, socio-political forces that re-shaped the world order, including international movements of populations, finance and commodities, technological change, industrialization, urbanization, and the emergence of labor union movements.

ECO 495D: GLOBALIZATION TODAY
GROUP ADVISOR: KUMAR 
The financial crisis and the ensuing great recession have presented the most serious challenge to the rapid pace of globalization that began around 1980.  Working in groups of three or four, students will examine the extent to which the policy environment of the great moderation, the Washington consensus and multilateral institutions, and the information technology revolution, created new opportunities for worldwide prosperity and poverty reduction, as well as new economic risks, and economic and social divisions.

ECO 495E: INEQUALITY
GROUP ADVISOR: ROSS
This group will assess degrees of income inequality in the United States with particular attention to hourly wages, household income, and wealth.  The measurement and extent of absolute poverty will also be a topic of consideration.  Differentials by race and gender, as well as mobility across the income distribution will be studied.  The degree and change of inequality over the last decades will be a focus of the group’s work.  Finally, we will address policy considerations relating to inequality.

ECO 495F: SIX GREAT IDEAS IN ECONOMICS
GROUP ADVISOR: ROSS
In fall 2017, The Economist offered a series of six articles highlighting some seminal academic work in economics over prior years, primarily but not exclusively in the 20th century.  These included works by Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, Jean-Baptiste Say, Arthur Pigou, macroeconomists concerned with the natural rate of unemployment, and experts of intergenerational economic considerations.  Working in groups of two (if possible), students will review these contributions, assess the importance of these contributions, and elaborate on their enduring relevance to economic policy.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202, 203, and 205 or permission of the instructor.
(Spring)

EDU 121 - Foundations of American Education: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

EDU 131 - Schools, Cinema, and American Culture

This course explores how “school films” have become authoritative texts on what counts as good education.  We will examine how students, educators, and school communities are represented in film, particularly in regard to race, nation, class, gender, sexuality, and disability.  We will interrogate implicit assumptions and hidden messages in cinematic portrayals of school life with a focus on teachers’ lives, work and careers.  We will re-imagine the cinematic role in shaping educational practices, policies, and law.  Students will write analytical papers and complete a major research project.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

EDU 141 - Introduction to Philosophy of Education

A study of classic and contemporary documents in Philosophy of Education. Includes readings, discussions, and analyses of approximately twenty different philosophers from the fifth century BCE to the twenty-first century.

Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

EDU 210 - Inclusive Education: An Intergroup Dialogue on Race

This course is based on the intergroup dialogue model where two facilitators of differing social identity groups encourage dialogue among class members about persistent social issues and conflicts related to race, racism, and its intersections with other social identities such as class, gender, sexual orientation, religion and immigration/migration background.  The intergroup dialogue approach to teaching about race and racism in the United States is pedagogically unique. The class is balanced with approximately half of the students self-identifying as White and the other half identifying as Students of Color or racial minorities in the United States and at Davidson College. Classroom diversity, balance and size is critical for building the trust and safety necessary for a racially diverse class to deeply engage the topic of race and multicultural education as a practice. Through interactive activities, in-class dialogues, course readings, and self-reflective writing assignments, students will learn about important issues and perspectives facing the participating populations on campus and in the United States. This course is by permission only and a pre-registration survey must be completed before the instructors determine the final class roster.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
This course is by permission only and a pre-registration survey must be completed before the instructors determine the final class roster.

EDU 221 - Schools and Society (=SOC 221)

EDU 241 - Child Development (= PSY 241)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101. (Fall)

EDU 242 - Educational Psychology (= PSY 242)

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
 

EDU 243 - Adolescent Development (= PSY 243)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101

EDU 250 - Multicultural Education

This course examines the ways in which schools and society in the United States engage with diverse individuals and groups, as well as how obstacles to ever-increasing multiculturalism are rooted in behaviors, assumptions, values, thinking and communication styles.  The course will be taught using the intergroup dialogue model where two facilitators of differing social identity groups encourage dialogue among students about persistent social issues and conflicts related to race, racism, and the intersections of class, gender, sexual orientation, religion and immigration/migration background.  The intergroup dialogue approach to teaching multicultural education is pedagogically unique.  The class is balanced with approximately half of the students self-identifying as White and the other half identifying as Students of Color or racial minorities in the United States and at Davidson College.

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes

 

EDU 260 - Oppression & Education (=SOC 260)

This course examines various manifestations of oppression in the United States and the questions they raise about inequality and social justice within educational institutions.  We will apply methods of critical analysis drawn from anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and psychology to an examination of social issues in the United States educational system.  We will examine education as a central site of conflict over the gap between the United States’ egalitarian mission and its unequal structure, processes, and outcomes.  Students will rethink contemporary solutions to social diversity in education, develop a social justice framework which emphasizes inequality, and design an institutional ethnographic project as a critical intervention in schools and society.

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to students with credit for EDU 210 or EDU 250.

EDU 270 - Democracy and Education

Democracy and Education examines philosophical and theoretical positions which contend that education is a public good and is essential to the cultivation of a democratic civil society. Through critical analysis and scrutiny, students investigate the notion that public schooling in the United States should be based on principles of equitable access and that every individual has a right to educational opportunities which are just, fair, and democratic.  

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 280 - Introduction to Educational Policy

This course is designed to introduce students to current issues in educational policy, and help them develop rigorous policy analysis skills. We will examine the goals, institutions, and actors that shape the American K-12 education system in order to understand recent reform efforts and their consequences for students.  A substantial portion of the course will require that students apply theories of the policy process and tools of policy analysis to specific reforms such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Common Core State Standards, teacher workforce policies, and the growing presence of charter schools, especially in urban areas.  Students will engage these topics through in-class discussions, case studies, presentations, and through the creation of work products such as policy memos, issue briefs, and op-ed articles.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies a major requirement in the CIS major in Educational Studies & Public Policy Studies.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

EDU 286 - Economics of Education (=ECO 286)

(Cross-listed with ECO 286)
This course will examine questions about the American educational system from an economic and behavioral-economic perspective.  Is school funding better spent on merit pay for teachers or reducing class size?  Do charter schools help more students get to college?  Who benefits from free tuition policies in higher education?  We will learn about returns to educational investment, effects of educational inputs, teacher labor markets, school choice, and higher education finance and policy.  There will be an emphasis throughout on empirical tests of individual behavior and their implications for education policy.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the 20-series Economics major course requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

EDU 290 - Oral History: Problems, Perspectives, & Possibilities (=SOC 290)

In this hands-on methods course, students will build interdisciplinary research skills focused on the theory and practice of oral history.  We will explore the theories, methods, and debates surrounding one of the oldest research tools: oral testimony.  Students will learn to critically evaluate oral sources and use oral histories in conjunction with other forms of research.  Students will engage with the practical aspects of oral history by completing and transcribing two oral history interviews.  In addition, students will gain a sophisticated understanding of individual and collective memory and the questions that both raise for writing oral history.  Each student will participate in a class oral history project.

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies
Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology
Satisfies a major requirement in CIS Educational Studies
Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies
Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement

EDU 291 - Data in Education

Educational data and quantitative data analyses have come to play a powerful role in the way we govern our schools. In this course, students will learn to be critical consumers and skilled producers of such analyses. In the applied portion of this class, students will learn data management, analysis, and visualization strategies by working with real data gathered in educational settings to answer research questions of policy and practical interest.

Satisfies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Mathematical and Quantitative Thought distribution requirement.

EDU 292 - Theory of Sports Coaching

This course provides an overview of academic theory essential to understanding competitive sports coaching in secondary schools and colleges. The student will evaluate, apply, and synthesize current theoretical perspectives and research in coaching sports. Topics include coaching philosophy, communication, pedagogy, skill development, and team management.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.

EDU 301 - Independent Study in Education

EDU 320 - Growing up Jim Crow (= AFR 320, =SOC 320)

Examines how a generation learned race and racism in the Age of Jim Crow.  Through multiple and intersecting lenses, students will examine texts, such as oral histories, literary narratives, and visual representations of various topics.  Topics will include Jim Crow schooling, white supremacy, disenfranchisement, lynching, rape, resistance, interracial harmony, and desegregation.

Satisfies a requirement in the Sociology major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.
Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 330 - Sociology of Education (=SOC 330)

(Cross-listed as SOC 330.) An introduction to the sociological study of education in the United States, including an examination of the school as an organization within a larger environment. Explores the link between schools and social stratification by analyzing the mutually generative functions of schools and considers how processes within schools can lead to different outcomes for stakeholders.

Provides major credit in Sociology.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

EDU 340 - Education in African American Society (=SOC 340)

EDU 350 - Latino(a) Education in the United States

This course will examine the schooling experiences and educational attainment of Latinos & Latinas in the United States.  We will explore the impact of culture, gender, class, and immigration on Latino/a educational experiences, as well as the impact structures and settings, activism and advocacy, and politics and economics can have on educational attainment.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

EDU 360 - Seminar in Second Language Acquisition

This course provides an introduction to second language acquisition theories and research, exploring the limits and possibilities of instructed and natural contexts. Topics include the nature of language, the role of the native language, second language acquisition universals, theoretical and pedagogical approaches, nonlanguage influences, instructed second language learning, and linguistic data analysis. Students will engage in critical discussions of the readings and observations of foreign/second language classes, and either produce a research-based instructional intervention or linguistic fieldwork analysis.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students must have fulfilled Davidson’s foreign language requirement or its equivalent before enrolling in the course.

EDU 361 - Bilingualism, literacy and schooling

In this seminar course, we will devote time inside of class and in our local community to the study of bilingualism and literacy development in immigrant school-aged children and youth. Although we will focus on teaching English literacy to students, we will consider ways to do so that honor students’ home languages and cultures. We will meet one afternoon per week (Tuesdays, 1:40-4:20pm) to discuss theoretical and practice-oriented research literature.  Students will also be required to commit either Mondays or Wednesdays (3:30-4:20) to tutoring ELLs at Cornelius Elementary School.  Although not required, a background in second language acquisition, psychology, and/or sociology is recommended.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural diversity requirement

EDU 370 - War, Peace, & Education

War, Peace, and Education confronts the complex relationship most Americans have with war by detecting components of the hidden curriculum in schools that serve to endorse war.  The course will focus on five such components:  masculinity and hero worship, patriotism, hatred, religion’s frequent support of war, and war as an arena for supplying existential meaning.

Satisfies the Philosophical & Religious Perspectives distribution requirement

EDU 371 - Critical Race Theory in Education (=AFR 371)

This course introduces students to the development of critical race theory as a specific theoretical framework to explain or to investigate how race and racism are organized and operate within the United States.  The course will have a sociological focus with emphasis on critical race scholarship that includes, but is not limited to, an analysis of double consciousness, colorblindness, intersectionality, whiteness as property, racial microaggressions, and structures of power.  Students will also explore central tenets and key writings advanced in the 1990s primarily by African American, Latino/a, and Asian American scholars in law, education, and public policy.  The course is both reading intensive and extensive with a major writing assignment that addresses a theoretical problem that grows out of the course topics and discussions. 

Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

EDU 380 - Evaluating Educational Innovations for Youth

This course will survey selected social innovations aimed at improving social and educational outcomes for youth, and introduce students to theoretical and empirical approaches to assessing the effectiveness of innovations. Following the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, a social innovation is defined as “a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than present solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals.”  Through the course, students will understand the evaluative needs of different stages of innovation, learn to connect appropriate research designs, and become critical consumers of research that examines social and educational innovation. Course participants will also have the opportunity to interact with local and national social entrepreneurs through a series of in-person and remote guest lectures. In addition, students will engage in intensive case study of select social innovations, and design an evaluation plan for a new or existing innovation.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies a major requirement in the CIS major Educational Studies & Public Policy Studies.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 400 - Dir Field Placement - Education

ENG 110 - Course list for Introduction to Literature

FALL 2017

ENG 110 Growing Up in America
Instructor
S. Campbell

In this course, we will consider young adult fiction both from various critical perspectives and within various readerly contexts.  Over the semester, we will:

• Review a brief history of the genre from 1860 to 2000;
• Explore shifting perceptions of gender, sexuality, and coming of age in the United States;
• Discuss in what ways ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status impact expectations about maturation;
• Consider how reviews of and responses to young adult texts reflect contemporaneous assumptions about the purposes of literature.

Satisfies an elective requirement in the English major.
Provides elective credit in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

SPRING 2018

ENG 110  Literature & Medicine
Instructor
Vaz

Science and medicine have indelibly influenced how we understand and respond to the physical and mental state of being human.  We will consider how an appreciation of literary texts and the questions they broach give us a different insight into the human condition and affect our awareness of health, addiction, illness, disease, suffering, recovery, and death.  In doing so, we will also pay close attention to the cultural coding of these issues, as we examine how gender, class, race, sexual orientation, or other cultural biases color our perceptions of health, disease, suffering and death.

Counts for the Health and Human Values Interdisciplinary Minor

OTHER TOPICS (not offered in current academic year):

ENG 110 Shakespeare & Sports
Instructor
Lewis

Contemporary sports and Elizabethan theater have much in common. Both present spectacles, before a rowdy audience, in an arena. Both involve rehersal and scripted performance. Both require guides, whether a director or a coach. Both create rivalry, whether between teams or acting companies. Most important, both center on stories that thrive on the essential, exhilarating, and painful human experience. Like Shakespeare’s plays, sports history yields instances of extraordinary heroism and of heart-breaking mistakes. Real athletes find reflection in many of Shakespeare’s best known characters. Take, for instance, Dale Earrnhardt, Jr., whose larger-than-life father haunts him as King Hamlet’s ghost haunts his son. Andre Agassi’s second chance at tennis recalls The Tempest’s Prospero, who is exiled from and returns to dominate another court. This class explores how such moments and people in sports find reflection in Shakespeare’s works.

ENG 110 Introduction to Environmental Literature (=ENV 210)
Instructor
Staff

(Cross-listed as Environmental Studies 210.)  An introduction to global environmental literature.  We’ll focus primarily on short fiction, novels, and non-fiction prose.  The course will introduce students to environmental justice issues as well as contemporary trends in global literature.  Literary and environmental topics include toxicity, waste, food, inequality, the idea of “wilderness,” and activism.  No prior experience studying literature is required.

Satisfies depth or breadth course requirement in Humanities Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor

ENG110 - Graphic Medicine:  Drawing Disability
Instructor
Fox

Why is the graphic novel literary? And why has it become an immensely popular site for the representation of illness, disability, and medicine?  In this Introduction to Literature class, we’ll start with the premise that the unique intersection of word, color, image, text, and juxtaposition offered by the graphic novel offers authors singular opportunities for storytelling. We will further ask: what do comics, zines, and graphic novels have to teach us about our varied kinds of embodiment, particularly about disabled bodies? We will consider how these visual texts teach us about how bodies engage with the social and medical contexts surrounding them. Encompassing everything from bipolar disorder to cancer, depression to HIV/AIDS, epilepsy to deafness, and end-of-life issues to amputation, possible course works may include Epileptic, Cancer Vixen, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo, and Me. 

Counts as an Innovation Course for the major.
Counts for the Health and Human Values Interdisciplinary Minor

ENG110 - Introduction to Comedy
Instructor
Ingram

This course offers an overview of the comic tradition in English, from the Middle Ages to the present, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales to Arrested Development.  Although humor will be a recurring feature of some texts and of most class meetings, this course traces how comedies respond to inescapable challenges of human life:  social and political structures as apparent obstacles to the desires of individuals; the body and its failings, to the point of death; art, particularly comedy, as a reassuring (or maybe deceptive) refuge of happy endings that can seem elusive in life.  Different eras respond differently to those challenges, so the course offers a broad survey of literary and cultural history.  Over the semester, students and professor alike will look for comedy in surprising places, including in the form of the course itself, certain to end happily, before it has even begun.

ENG 110 - Media & Community
Instructor
Churchill
 
From Walt Whitman’s broad embrace of American readers in the 1860s to the digital social networks of today, this course examines how various media form communities of readers and writers. We will investigate how lyric poetry creates one kind of intimacy between author and reader, how blogs establish another, and how the NBC television comedy Community builds its own cult following. Davidson College meets Greendale Community College in a course that teaches you how to read, analyze, and respond critically and creatively to various forms of media. 

ENG 115 - The Art, Science, and Fascination of Fragrance

Description: This is a new kind of course, built bottom-up from the kinds of curiosity about the sense of smell expressed by students and professors in a liberal arts college. Not all of these questions have answers, but this course strives to give you  the feeling that you are looking in the right direction as you consider the  fascination of fragrance, the science of scent, and the passion and profit of perfume.  You and professors from Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Classics, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, and Psychology will think together and think out loud about what would be the best  next step  in formalizing your own curiosity about olfaction.  So the course is really a series of investigations into the art, biology, chemistry economics, history, and psychology of fragrances.

Organizing Questions: How exactly does the sense of smell work?  Why do we have considerable numbers of olfactory receptors yet a rather small vocabulary for describing smells?  Did the sense of smell shape the human face? Are perfumes aphrodisiacs? Why are aphrodisiacs named after Aphrodite? What are nectar and ambrosia in Homer’s epics? Do fragrances alter moods?   What makes  tangerine fragrance as effective as Valium in lowering stress? Can fragrances really bring back memories?  What role do fragrances play in religious rituals? Why do skins react differently to the same perfume? How did the ancients make/use/store perfumes? Why myrrh and frankincense?  Are there always smells in the air?  Beyond inviting pollinators, of what use are fragrances to fragrant plants? How come mirror image molecules smell so different? How come some fragrances last long on me and some don’t? What is the link between fragrance and flavor? What is the Spice Road and how did it come about?  If I like perfume  X, what other perfumes might I like? Why?   How do people lose their sense of smell? Is losing one’s sense of smell predictive of certain diseases? How do dogs smell cancer? Why do men seem to pay less attention to smells than women do? Are women really 1000 times more sensitive to musk than men are?  Is there a relation between odor and morality? Can human behavior be subliminally manipulated by odors? Does aromatherapy work? Why do I love some fragrances and hate others?  How come old people’s perfumes smell so strong? Is it true that animal urine is used in perfumery? Is there really a smell of fear? Are organic perfumes better than synthetic ones? Why is there the persistent belief in human pheromones? What exactly are notes in a fragrance? How many different smells can a human nose distinguish? How big is the fragrance industry?  What does it take to succeed in it?  What’s up with celebrity perfumes? What perfumes did Cleopatra use? In what organs do human have odor receptors?  

Texts:  Rachel Herz,  The Scent of Desire;   Mandy Aftel, Essence and Alchemy:  A Natural History of Perfume;   Patrick Susskind, Perfume;  Scent of a Woman; Essays on the art, history, chemistry, biology, psychology, and economics of fragrance; Poems and stories on fragrance  themes.

Satisfies a Liberal Studies requirement.

ENG 116 - Gesture

From our non-verbal cues in daily conversation to our postures, gaits, facial expressions, and movements, gesture plays a significant role in our daily communications with one another. Whether we are using sign language or watching the unfolding of a graceful développé in ballet, we are tuned in to the ways in which our gestures communicate meaning. The study of gesture is a multidisciplinary effort, as scholars draw on fields as diverse as psychoanalysis, performance studies, dance, neuroscience, anthropology, linguistics, behavioral science, and literary analysis. This course will examine the interpenetrations of gesture with both speech and thought in a series of cultural artifacts, ranging from the silent film comedy of Buster Keaton in The General (1926) and the fiction of Nathanael West and Zadie Smith, to the YouTube videos of Chris Crocker (“Leave Britney Alone!”) and the documentaries Paris is Burning (1990) and Rize (2005). What does it mean to study gesture in an interdisciplinary way? What questions do theorists of gesture ask of the literary and cultural artifacts they study?  How do gestures amplify our understanding of each other and of literary characters and documentary subjects? Rooted in close reading and analysis, this class will ask students to consider how our movements create meaning and what those meanings suggest about our culture(s) and the other cultures under consideration in the course.


Satisfies a Liberal Studies requirement.

ENG 201 - Professional Writing

ENG 202 - Introduction to Creative Writing

English 202 introduces students to the art and craft of writing short fiction and poetry of all varieites including “slam”.  Creativity is essential, as is dedication to writing, reading, and engaging in productive discussions of each other’s work.

ENG 203 - Introduction to Writing Poetry

ENG 204 - Introduction to Writing Fiction

Practice in the writing of short fiction with some reading of contemporary fiction writers in English.

ENG 211 - Filmmaking

This course is a workshop, where virtually everything will be based upon, work from, and be inspired by, the films you and others in your class accomplish.  The course is based on learning the discipline and rigors of thinking visually, daily.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Film and Media Studies and Digital Studies.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

ENG 220 - Literary Analysis

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

ENG 240 - British Literature to 1800

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.
 

ENG 242 - Women’s Work: 21st Century Female Playwrights (=THE 242)

This course provides a close look at work created for the stage by women since 2000.  The analysis of plays written and produced in the 21st century will be set in the context of feminist and queer theory which has offered insights into the cultural function of “tomen’s work.”

Satisfies a requirement in the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Theatre major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Literary & Cultural Representations Track of the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.

ENG 260 - British Literature since 1800

ENG 261 - Modern Drama (= THE 261)

ENG 271 - Disability in Literature and Art

In this course, we will explore disability as it is depicted in literary and cultural texts, from the canon to disability culture.  These representations are sometimes used metaphorically, as representations of extreme innocence or evil.  Likewise, they might reduce the experience of the disability to a conquerable challenge, or to a fate worse than death.  We will reconsider disability history, question socially defined categories of normalcy and ability, and learn about the presence of disability culture.  Rather than trying to catalogue all the examples of disability in literature, this course seeks to use disability studies as a genesis point and theoretical framework through which to examine several core questions about disability, literature, and the problems and opportunities arising from the intersection of the two.  We will reconsider representations of disability in literature; examine how disability is a culturally constructed category like race, gender, class, and sexuality (and how it intersects with those); study contemporary writing, performance, and art from disability culture; and consider how disability aesthetics can meaningfully contribute to the processes and products of artistic creation.  This course presumes no prior coursework in English and welcomes those from across the disciplines interested in studying the social and cultural experience of disability as a way to inform their own work in the arts and sciences.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirements.
Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

ENG 280 - American Literature to 2000

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.

ENG 282 - African American Literature: 18th - 19th Century (=AFR 282)

African American Literature from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Counts as an elective in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

ENG 283 - Short Prose Fiction

Examines the history and development of the modern short story and its various subgenres through a close reading of texts from many authors and cultures.  The course also gives some attention to writing for publication and allows the option of submitting creative work.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
 

ENG 284 - African American Drama

We will read work by playwrights including (but not limited to): August Wilson, Katori Hall, Lynn Nottage, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, Robert O’Hara, Suzan-Lori Parks, Anna Deavere Smith, Adrienne Kennedy, Amiri Baraka, and Lynn Manning.


Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

ENG 285 - Politics & Performance: 20th Century Theatre (=THE 285)

The course is a study of plays and theatrical theory from a range of geographic regions.  The course explores ways practitioners experimented with form and content in articulating their reactions to the human condition of the 20th century.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

ENG 286 - African-American Literature: 1900- (=AFR 286)

This course will introduce students to twentieth- and twenty-first century African American literature and literary criticism. It will bring together a wide range of readings from across genres and disciplines, attempting to sketch out the major aesthetic and political features of the black literary project. Authors will include Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia Butler, Teju Cole, Claudia Rankine, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Fred Moten, and Colson Whitehead to name a few.

Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Counts as an elective in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.

ENG 288 - Contemporary American Multicultural Drama

• What does it mean to use the stage to give voice to being part of a multicultural community?
• How does theater help fight stereotypes and oppression?
• In what ways do plays rewrite history and create pride?
• What does it mean to stage the multicultural experience in a globalized world?
• How does theater show us the intersections of different kinds of identity?

This course will answer these questions and more through our study of twentieth- and twenty-first century drama from several rich traditions of multicultural playwriting in America. Communities represented will include African-Americans, Asian Americans, disabled Americans, Latino/a Americans and LGBTQ Americans. We will explore issues raised in their plays including identity, the American Dream, stereotypes, history, and hope. No prior experience reading drama is necessary.

Satisfies the Cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

ENG 289 - Environmental Literature

Overview of environmental literature from Thoreau to the present day.  Generally focuses on the environmental literature of the United States, but may include other English-language literature.  Designed for both majors and non-majors.

Satisfies depth or breadth course requirement in Humanities Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

ENG 290 - World Literatures - South Africa & C. Europe

Designed for majors and prospective majors.  A historical survey of selected texts outside the British and American literary traditions.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Fulfills a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).

ENG 291 - Literary Mysteries

Literary Mysteries is an exciting Innovation course that offers opportunities for students to explore the lovely literary language that writers such as P.D. James, Umberto Eco, Elizabeth George and Ruth Rendell employ in novels such as An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, The Island of the Day Before, Missing Joseph, and Dark Corners, respectively. Forget the blood, gore, shoot-em-up of many ordinary crime stories. Literary Mysteries are intellectually and dramatically intriguing, layered, intricate, and deftly plotted. Students will build evidence boards in digital sites as they follow the clues embedded in these plots to try to solve the mysteries before the end of the text, and in doing so, they will enhance their deductive skills.

Satisfies the Innovation course requirement in English.
Counts as a literature elective in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

ENG 292 - Documentary Film - History, Theory, and Production of Documentary

The course will first examine the modes of the documentary genre, often described as expository, observational, interactive, and reflexive. For each mode we will read relevant history and theory, and watch representative documentaries. Students will then make a series of short documentaries as a means of understanding how these modes affect both the production and reception of a documentary. We also consider more specific sub-genres of documentary such as science/nature, politics/protest, biography, and mockumentary.

Satisfies a requirement in the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

ENG 293 - Film as Narrative Art

This course explores the relationship of film video to other narrative media, with emphasis on authorship, genre, and the relationship of verbal and visual languages. Students will make a short video, but the course does not assume any production experience.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.

ENG 294 - Harlem Renaissance

Read major texts of the Harlem Renaissance and explore issues of race, gender, sexuality, migration, & diaspora that shaped this formative moment in twentieth century literature. We will read poetry, fiction, essays, and plays by W. E. B. DuBois, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Claude McKay, and others, situating their work in the context of developments in modern art, music, sociology, psychology, and print culture.

Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Area: North America).
Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

ENG 295 - Women Writers

This course prowls the house of fiction’s dangerous and often forbidden spaces employing the visions and voices of transgressive agents, who go places they should not, wrestle monsters literal and figurative, and rescue bodies (of information and imagination) essential to us all. Readings: selected 19th, 20th, and 21st century fiction by women, from A Room of One’s Own, to In the Cut, to Swamplandia, and lots of great works in between.   

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Diversity requirement of the English major.

ENG 297 - Caribbean Literature (=AFR 297)

The Caribbean is key to any understanding of the New World. Caribbean Literature takes students beyond the islands’s popular music, food, and landscapes-ah, those sandy beaches!-to an understanding of the formation of cultures from Europe, Africa, and India that have produced three winners of Nobel prizes-two in Literature and for Economics. In novels, poems and plays we’ll examine the ways in which this particular part of the “Empire” wrote back to Europe before creating its own distinctive body of literature. The course is open to all students, and knowledge of literary theory is not a prerequisite. The most relevant theories will be taught to the class.

Satisfies the diversity requirement of the English major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Latin America/Caribbean).
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

ENG 301 - Writing Nonfiction Prose

In this class students will learn the basics of writing creative nonfiction by reading and discussing excellent examples in the genre and through practical writing exercises.  Students will consider a range of ethical issues, strategies, and various forms of creative nonfiction.  They will pay a great deal of attention to style with the intent of improving clarity and developing their own voice.  They will develop the editor within through participating in writing workshops and discover that the best nonfiction is grounded in fact.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
First-year students require permission of the instructor.
Course may be repeated for credit if taught by two different professors.

ENG 303 - Advanced Poetry Writing

ENG 304 - Advanced Fiction Writing

Advanced work in writing fiction.

Prerequisites & Notes
Course may be repeated for credit if taught by two different professors. 

ENG 306 - Digital Scholarship

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required. Course may be repeated for credit. 

ENG 307 - Forms of Fiction

“Forms of Fiction” investigates a literary genre via both theory and practice, operating like a laboratory, emphasizing experimentation, and embracing making as a way of learning. No creative writing background is required; there are no prerequisites.

Fulfills the Innovation requirement for the English major.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory.
Satisfies the Literary Thought, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement

ENG 310 - The English Language

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
 

ENG 333 - Literary Satans

In the first chapter of Job, God asks Satan, “Whence comest thou?”  And Satan responds, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”  This course follows Satan’s travels through texts such as Job, the Gospels, Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Goethe’s Faust, short fiction by Hawthorne and Poe, Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, films The Exorcist and The Witch, TV shows Supernatural, Fargo, and Lucifer.  Faculty from several departments will visit ENG 333 to help contextualize these varied Satans and the cultures that produced them.

Before there were humans or texts composed by humans, according to Abrahamic traditions, Satan was the first being to plot his own path, the first to want something new and different.  In that sense, Satan is the driving energy of innovative courses.  ENG 333 accordingly satisfies the Innovation requirement of the English major.  The course is innovative in scope and in its assignments.  It requires not only students’ participation but also their leadership in class meetings; five brief projects in response to the course’s texts and topics; and an oral presentation on a representation of Satan omitted from the current syllabus.  The course culminates in a collaborative digital mapping project, through which students will document some important appearances of Satan across millennia and across the globe where he has walked up and down.

Fulfills the Innovation requirement of the English major.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

ENG 340 - Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Special topics in a selection of Medieval and Renaissance texts (to 1660) with attention to critical approaches.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.

Prerequisites & Notes
First-year students require permission of the instructor.

ENG 352 - Strangeness in Shakespeare

Dramatists must write in a way familiar to their audiences if they hope to keep their audiences.  But the best dramatists, at the same time, also challenge the preconceptions and assumptions of audiences. They estrange audience members, provoking them to explore and reassess what they thought they already knew.  Shakespeare does just that, often through characters who are themselves strangers-foreigners-in their environment or through removing characters from their familiar surroundings and placing them where, feeling alien, they must confront themselves and their beliefs.  In this course, we’ll study how Shakespeare’s incorporation of aliens and alien territories corresponds with and informs his efforts to alienate his audience and, in so doing, encourage them to grow.  Titles will include Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and The Tempest, as well as others.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.
Counts as a dramatic literature requirement in the Theatre major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
First-year students require permission of the instructor.