Graduate Course Descriptions

ENG 514, section 1

Introduction to Graduate Studies

CRN 11754, F 9-12:50p

Ana Ribero

This course familiarizes student with the requirements and timelines of the MA degree; surveys the methods of academic inquiry in literary studies and rhetoric and composition; engages with a variety of criticism and methodologies in those fields; and practices the conventions of academic writing in different genres.

ENG 516, section 1

Power and Representation: In the Wake of Christina Sharpe’s In the Wake

CRN 19826, TR 8-9:50a

Surabhi Balachander

MA Experience

Christina Sharpe’s In the Wake is one of the most influential academic books of the last decade, with wide-ranging impact both inside and outside of scholarly writing. In this course, we’ll read In the Wake, considering its offerings to Black studies and as a model of academic, yet personal, writing. We’ll also read works that influenced and were influenced by Sharpe to think more generally about what it means to read and write in a lineage. Other readings may include M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong!, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother, and Ross Gay’s Be Holding.

ENG 530, section 1

Studies in Pre-1700 Literature: Race, Disability, and Gender in Early Modern Drama

CRN 19923 TR 2-3:50p

Olson, Rebecca

This course interrogates intersections of race, disability, and gender in three early modern dramatic texts (Titus Andronicus; Dido, Queen of Carthage; and The Tragedy of Miriam). Students will identify and develop methods that help us read through a triple lens and resist the urge to focus on a particular aspect of representation in isolation. We will ask: What supports scholars who want to bring into dialogue disparate conversations in fields including early modern critical race studies, queer theory, and disability studies? What might early modern texts—and perhaps the period’s playtexts in particular—have to offer any scholar interested in complex performances of identity? 

ENG 538, section 1

Studies in Modernist Literature

CRN 18980, TR 12-1:50p

Neil Davison

Post 1900

This course examines intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of the pre-and-post-World War I era of literature characterized by the practitioners of its day as Modernism. From its fin de siècle inception, Modernism was a pan-arts movement addressing the overarching assertion that 20th-century consciousness mandated new “purified” forms to match the psychoanalytic, gender, race, class, religious, and imperialist revisions of 19th century paradigms—or what Francois Lyotard dubbed “master narratives” from a Postmodern perspective. As a studies course, we will not dwell on the general history of the era nor conduct a survey of various genres but will narrow our focus to Modernist fiction from 1890’s-1940. Each work studied represents an example of Modernist formalist experimentation with 19th century conventions of the novel, novella, or short story.  We will early-on trace this formalism as it arises from the overlap of the late-19th-century school of Naturalism with that of Literary Impressionism/Symbolism; we will also grapple with Modernist Free-and-Indirect style, stream-of-consciousness, and a late version of Dada/Surrealism. We will examine how these schools represent subjectivity from racialized, gendered, and class-based perspectives. We will also study political and cultural issues that inform the era along these lines with the addition in some works of colonial/post-colonial discourse. Please note that this is an upper-division course: students are expected to have previously studied examples of Modernist literature and to have acquired at least a cursory knowledge of the movement (ENG 206, 214, or 318 are all viable but unofficial prerequisites). Undergraduates will be evaluated through a mid-term “take-home” exam and a formal term-paper essay (10-12 pages). Graduates may take the mid-term if they wish, but will be predominately evaluated through a graduate level research/literary-analysis essay to be modeled on the short-article form in the discipline (18-20 pages) 

ENG 565, section 1

Studies in the Novel: Romantasy Tropes and their Modern Origins

CRN 17565, MW 12-1:50p

Evan Gottlieb

1700-1900, Projects

Driven by social media and savvy marketing, the hybrid genre known as “romantasy” (a portmanteau of “romance” and “fantasy”) has grown increasingly popular. But how new are the themes and features of today’s typical romantasy offerings, really? This course will track the historical development of two now-ubiquitous romantasy tropes: “enemies to lovers” and “dark academia.” To explore the former, we’ll read Samuel Richardson’s groundbreaking epistolary novel Pamela (1740), Jane Austen’s evergreen Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emily Brontë’s emo-classic Wuthering Heights (1847), and – jumping to the present – a delightful science fiction puzzle, This is How You Lose the Time War (2020), by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Turning to dark academia, we’ll read Mary Shelley’s multiple-genre-establishing Frankenstein (1819), Oscar Wilde’s daringly queer The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Donna Tart’s modern classic The Secret History (1992), and R.F. Kuang’s remarkable Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence (2022).

ENG 570, section 1

Studies in Poetry:

CRN 19830, F 10-1:50p

David Biespiel

Craft

This is a craft class designed for students in the MFA program. The particular theme is TBA—but will include particular poets, movements, problems, conventions, and types of poetry in English or English translation—designed to improve a writer’s understanding of the art and process of writing poems.

ENG 580, section 2

Studies in Literature, Culture, and Society: Love and Loneliness, In Translation

CRN 17593, F 10-12:50p

Sindya Bhanoo

Craft, 75/25 Hybrid

This term, we will (mostly) read contemporary works of translation, with a special focus on literature coming from regions that American readers have less exposure to. When Marquez read a translation of Joyce he found “invaluable technical help…in handling time and structures in my books.” Perhaps we, too, will learn something about time and structure (and character and plot and pacing) as we read novels, essays and short stories in translation.

WR 511, section 1

The Teaching of Writing

CRN 16040, TR 2-3:20p

Ehren Pflugfelder

WIC, 75/25 Hybrid

Introduces current and future teachers of writing to theory and pedagogy in composition studies, helps us become better aware of and strengthen our own writing processes, and to enables us to make and express connections between classroom experience and composition theory. We’ll be looking at assessment, response, assignment creation, grammar, literacy, multimedia, process, and genre as we explore composition and writing. Students will complete reading assignments, informal and formal writing assignments, reading responses, as well as participate in class discussions and activities. Coming out of this class, you’ll be better prepared to teach and evaluate your students’ writing and feel more confident in your own writing.

WR 517, section 1

Teaching Practicum, English Composition

CRN 10092, F 3-4:50p

Kristy Kelly

This is a required practicum for graduate students teaching WR 121. Whereas orientation serves as an overview of the curriculum—its objectives, assignment sequence, and theoretical trajectory—this course provides GTAs with more practice in and support for the week-by-week teaching of WR121.

WR 521, section 1

Teaching Practicum, Fiction Writing

CRN 10828, F 5-5:50p

TBD

This course is restricted to GTAs enrolled in the MFA Program in Creative Writing (in fiction) in advance of teaching WR 224 in their second year. We’ll meet once a week over spring term to build syllabi, discuss teaching strategies and potential ethical issues, and prepare in every way we can for the pleasures and challenges of teaching introductory fiction writing. 

WR 522, section 1

Teaching Practicum, Poetry Writing

CRN 11614, T 7-7:50p

TBD

WR 522 is the Poetry Teaching Practicum for graduate students who have been accepted into Oregon State University’s Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing and who want to teach poetry writing (WR 241) in their second year.

WR 523, section 1

Teaching Practicum, Nonfiction Writing

CRN 13559, F 6-6:50p

TBD

This course instructs graduate students in the best practices for teaching creative nonfiction. It covers topics such as text selection, assignment structure, course design, classroom management, and grading. Students will design their own WR 240 courses over the course of the quarter.

WR 524, section 1

Advanced Fiction Writing

CRN 10340, R 2-4:50p

Nick Dybek

75/25 Hybrid

WR 524 is the graduate-level fiction workshop for MFA students. Our primary text will be student work. This term we will pay close attention to clarity and precision, essential ingredients in the creative endeavor, both of which allow truth and beauty to emerge on the page. What can we dial up or tone down in our work to present the most impactful, precisely distilled versions of our stories? In addition to workshopping student work, we will read and discuss one published short story every week. Note: enrollment in this course is limited to graduate students who have been accepted into OSU's MFA in Creative Writing Program for fiction; other MFA students wishing to enroll must have instructor approval in advance.

WR 540, section 1

Advanced Nonfiction Writing

CRN 12139, W 2-4:50p

Elena Passarello

75/25 Hybrid

This course is open only to nonfiction students from the MFA program in Creative Writing; others must have instructor approval in advance to enroll. This graduate workshop will focus on discussing student work and providing feedback to works in progress. Each member of the class will be required to submit original pieces of creative nonfiction for discussion and provide thoughtful feedback to their peers. The class will also read published works as departure points for discussing specific craft issues.

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WR 541, section 1

Advanced Poetry Writing Workshop: The Chapbook

CRN 11571, T 2-4:50p

Karen Holmberg

75/25 Hybrid

In addition to being a generous and rigorous workshop for any poem you wish to have critiqued, this course will also explore the world of chapbooks, starting with a brief consideration of the history and origin of the form, then considering the chapbook as a versatile container for sequences, long poems, sustained meditations on a theme or subject, immersions in a form or mode, or high concept hybrid work.

Graduate writers will be asked to identify which of their poems offer themselves for expansion into sequence form, as well as which obsessions and poetic preoccupations could develop into a chapbook. We will also look at specific chapbook publishers and contests, as well as long poem publishing venues, with an eye to understanding the submission process.

Through the “Chapbook Challenge,” poets will have the option of creating a mini chapbook of 10-16 pages for the class to workshop in the last three weeks of the term.

 Note: enrollment in this course is limited to graduate students who have been accepted into OSU's MFA in Creative Writing Program for poetry; other MFA students wishing to enroll must have instructor approval in advance.

WR 573, section 1

Thesis and Dissertation Writing

CRN 15208, TR 12-1:20p

Dennis Bennett

If you are struggling with writing your thesis or dissertation, this course provides you with a clear roadmap to success. We'll demystify the process by first identifying the expectations for a high-quality thesis/dissertation in your field. Then, we'll analyze how to meet those expectations through effective writing strategies. Leave the drama behind and craft a compelling piece of scholarly work.