Spring 2025
ENG 534, section 1
Studies in Literature: 1700-1900: Writing the Animal
CRN 59625 MW 4-5:50p
Krystyna Mazur
In this course we will look at early—18’th and 19’th century—attempts to recognize the sentience, rights, needs, and/or threats to nonhuman animals. From Jeremy Bentham’s famous proclamation “the question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”, through the radical vegan activism of Benjamin Lay, a 19th century vegan commune, and various representations of animals in Romantic, and later Realist prose, essay, and poetry, we will be discussing the relationship of humans and animals; the dramatically changing forms of animal exploitation; the intersection of the positioning of animals with race, class and gender, and more. Those early readings will be supplemented or juxtaposed with more contemporary ones, as well as films, podcasts, and readings from the growing contemporary field of animal studies.
ENG 545, section 1
Studies in Nonfiction
CRN 53976 F 10-12:50p
Justin St. Germain
Craft/Hybrid
This course is open only to MFA students; others must have instructor approval to enroll. The photographer Stuart Franklin defines the documentary impulse as “the passion to record, with fidelity, the moments we experience and wish to preserve, the things we witness and might want to reform; or simply the people, places, or things we find remarkable.” This graduate craft course will focus on the documentary impulse as manifested in documentary film, various genres and forms of writing, and other media of the last century or so. We will also read a fair amount of documentary, critical, and craft theory. Students should expect to read as much as a book a week, and/or to watch a feature-length documentary film each week outside of class.
ENG 570, section 1
Studies in Poetry: Archive Fever
CRN 58855 MW 8:30-9:50p
Megan Ward
Projects Based/Hybrid
Working closely with materials in Special Collections, this class will build a virtual exhibit that includes images, original research, and public writing. Along the way, we’ll examine the very nature of archival research through theoretical exposition and literary representation. Why is archival research so romanticized? What can it help us discover and what will always remain elusive in our search to understand the past?
ENG 585, section 1
Studies in American Literature
CRN 58856, MW 12-1:50p
Ray Malewitz
Craft
One of the casualties of the “post-truth” world we all live in is our sense of a stable, agreed upon past that helps us to make meaning in the present. While polarizing debates regarding American and world history may seem to be a product of the last few years, similar debates crop up in a stylistically and conceptually diverse group of American literary narratives written after 1960 but set in the past. The key questions that we will ask in this course concern the relationship between historicity (the factual status of a given historical account) and these kinds of narratives. We will examine the ways that American postmodern artists recount the events and enduring effects of American settler colonialism and slavery, the birth of modern capitalism, and the Vietnam War. We will explore the ways in which postmodern skepticism towards “grand narratives” of history influence the plot and style of historical narratives. We will investigate the methods by which literary critics think and write about literature in the wake of this skepticism by bringing into dialogue historical, critical, and creative readings. Finally, we will contemplate ways that future teachers might integrate these ideas into high school and college classrooms to better understand our strange, “post-truth” era. Readings include E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and a variety of historical sources related to the narratives.
ENG 588, section 1
Literature and Pedagogy
CRN 58857, TR 2-3:50p
Rebecca Olson
Practices, approaches, histories, and theories of teaching literature appropriate for secondary through college settings. Considers text selection, assignments, and evaluation. This section will apply up-to-the-minute strategies for decolonizing the English literature / language arts curriculum and crafting accessible assignments.
WR 521, section 1
Teaching Practicum, Fiction Writing
CRN 51044, R 5:30-6:20p
Sindya Bhanoo
This practicum section is for second-year MFA students who will be teaching Introduction to Fiction Writing this term.
WR 522, section 1
Teaching Practicum, Poetry Writing
CRN 53062, T 6-6:50p
Jen Richter
This practicum section is for second-year MFA students who will be teaching Introduction to Poetry Writing this term.
WR 523, section 1
Teaching Practicum, Nonfiction Writing
CRN 53688, W 5:30-6:20p
Elena Passarello
This practicum section is for second-year MFA students who will be teaching Introduction to Nonfiction Writing this term.
WR 524, section 1
Advanced Fiction Writing
CRN 50279, R 2-4:50p
Sindya Bhanoo
Hybrid
In this graduate level fiction-writing workshop, students will be expected to produce two full-length stories or novel chapters. Students will also be graded on the quality of their written and oral critiques and class participation. We will, in addition, be reading and discussing professional short stories, selected by students, as the term progresses. These stories will constitute the course text.
WR 540, section 1
Advanced Nonfiction Writing
CRN 53727, W 2-4:50p
Estreich, George
Hybrid
This course is open only to nonfiction MFA students; others must have instructor approval to enroll. Our class is primarily a workshop, but we will also discuss published essays. I have two main goals: giving you specific, practical help with your own writing projects, and providing a space where you can develop your ideas about contemporary literary nonfiction.
WR 541, section 1
Advanced Poetry Workshop
CRN 50748, T 2-4:50p
David Biespiel
Hybrid
WR 541 is the MFA graduate poetry workshop: a course focused on rigorous discussions of student work and in-depth studies of published work as models and inspiration for the thesis and subsequent collections. Note: enrollment in this course is limited to graduate students who have been accepted into OSU's MFA Program in poetry; other MFA students wishing to enroll must have instructor approval in advance.
Environmental Writing
CRN 54173, TR 12-1:20p
Ehren Pflugfelder
WIC/Hybrid
There are few issues as significant or overwhelming as the environmental problems that humanity faces. Has it always been this way, and how have we reacted to these concerns? Environmental Writing is a course that asks these questions and more. The course focuses on a range of writing and theory on the environment, examining scholars, concepts, documents, and methodologies that are central to the evolution of American environmental theory, while also touching on popular theorists who have explored specific issues in ecology, nature writing, wilderness, environmental communication, environmental racism, and the emergence of the Anthropocene. Students will be able to recognize concepts in the history of environmental writing in America, as well as be able to articulate ongoing and currently unfolding debates in environmental topics in their own writing.
WR 573, section 1
Thesis and Dissertation Writing
CRN 56034, TR 2-3:20p
Sarah Perrault
This course assists students who are in the writing stages of their thesis or dissertation. We will identify the expectations in your respective fields, analyze how they are met through writing, and develop achievable plans to meet those expectations. The course also emphasizes the cultivation of productive, healthy habits of writing, including strategies for self-assessment and for managing the mental and physical stresses that accompany such a major project. We will have group discussions, workshops, and individual conferences.
The Rhetorical Tradition and the Teaching of Writing
CRN 59516, TR 10-11:50a
Sarah Perrault
Pedagogy
WR 593 covers major past theories of written communication, their historical context, and their impact on writing pedagogy. We will study the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition (the dominant force shaping the teaching of writing in the USA today) and will explore other rhetorical traditions and how we can draw on them to enrich and improve our own writing pedagogies. The Greco-Roman tradition will provide a common vocabulary and knowledge base, but our collective goal will be to use historical exploration to learn about the pedagogical affordances of a range of rhetorical traditions. Enrollment in this class is limited to students accepted into the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
WR 595
Introduction to Literacy Studies
CRN 58854, F 10-1:50p
Ana Ribero
Pedagogy/MA Experience
Introduces students to the field of literacy studies. Approaches literacy from a critical perspective, looking to question dominant narratives about literacy and to unveil the ways such narratives are implicated in colonization and oppression. We will read, write about, and discuss texts in literacy studies, critical race theory, ethnic studies, and feminist theory to explore definitions of literacy and their implications across historical and cultural contexts.
WR 599, section 1
Teaching Practicum: Creative Writing
CRN TBA, F 2-2:50p
John Larison
The WR 599 teaching practicum is for students preparing to teach Introduction to Fiction (WR 224) and Introduction to Poetry (WR 241). The practicum includes both theoretical and practical components, equipping you with an overview of the curriculum while also working through the nuts-and-bolts of course development, lesson planning, and pedagogical best practices. Our primary goal will be for you to leave the practicum with a full set of teaching materials and a conception of how you’ll frame your introductory creative writing course in the context of your own interests and expertise. We’ll also explore inclusive pedagogies and universal design to enrich pedagogical approaches that can extend into these courses and beyond.