Spring 2013 Course Offerings
Smith College reserves the right to make changes to all announcements and course listings online, including changes in its course offerings, instructors, requirements for the majors and minors, and degree requirements.
Level I
Courses numbered 100–170: introductory courses, open to all students. In ENG 118 and 120, incoming students have priority in the fall semester, and other students are welcome as space permits.
First-level Courses in Writing
ENG 118 All the World's a Stage
Roger Pinches, MW 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 118 Politics of Language
Holly Davis, T Th 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
ENG 118 No, Seriously...What's so Funny?: Writing About Humor
Peter Sapira, T Th 10:30 AM-11:50 AM
ENG 118 Language and Power
Caryl Casson, T Th 10:30 AM-11:50 AM
ENG 118 Fakes, Forgeries and Imposters
Christopher Deweese, T Th 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 119 Writing Roundtable: Poverty
Julio Alves, MW 2:40 PM-4:00 PM
ENG 119 Writing Roundtable: What's for Dinner?
Sara Eddy, T Th-9:00 AM-10:20 AM
ENG 135 Intro to Creative Nonfiction: Writing about Sports
Pamela Petro, M W 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
ENG 135 Intro to Creative Nonfiction: Writing about the Environment
Nancy Cohen, M W 7:30 PM-8:50 PM
First-level Courses in Literature and Cross-listed First-year Seminars
ENG 120 Fiction
C. Eric Reeves, M W 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
Robert Hosmer, M W 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 120 Modern Short Stories
Dean Flower, T Th 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 120 Gothic in Literature
Nora F. Crow, T Th 10:30 AM-11:50 AM
ENG 170 The English Language
Douglas Patey, MWF 11:00 AM-12:10 PM
Level II
Courses numbered 199–249. Open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors, and to qualified first-year students.
Gateway Courses
These courses serve as entry points to the major, introductions to the critical, historical and methodological issues and questions that underlie the study of literatures in English. English majors must select at least two courses from this menu. Fall gateway courses are open to first-year students with the English Literature and Composition AP score of 4 or 5, or a score of 710 on the Critical Reading portion of the SAT.
ENG 199 Methods of Literary Study
Michael Thurston, T Th 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
Ambreen Hai, T Th 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 201 The English Literary Tradition II
Andrea Stone, T Th 1:00 PM-2:20 PM
Michael Gorra, M W 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
Electives
These courses in particular are designed to interest non-majors as well as majors.
ENG 203 Western Classics: De Troyes to Tolstoy
Robert Hosmer, MW 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
William Oram, MWF 11:00 AM-12:10 PM
ENG 207 Technology of Reading and Writing
Douglas Patey, MWF 9:00 AM-9:50 AM
ENG 208 Science Fiction? Speculative Fiction?
William Oram, MWF 9:00-9:50 AM
ENG 212 Telling and Retelling
Patricia Skarda, T Th 10:30 AM-11:50 AM
ENG 230 American Jewish Literature
Justin Cammy, MW 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 233 American Literature from 1865-1914
Richard Millington, MWF 10:00 AM-10:50 AM
ENG 239 American Journeys
R. Millington, T Th 10:30 AM-11:50 AM
ENG 240 Modern British and American Drama
Emily Wojcik, T Th 9:00 AM-10:20 AM
ENG 242 A History of Mystery
Dean Flower, M W 2:40 PM-4:00 PM
ENG 246 South Asian English Literatures
Ambreen Hai, W F 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
Level III
Courses numbered 250–299. Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors; first-year students admitted only with the permission of the instructor. Recommended background: at least one English course above the 100 level or as specified in the course description.
ENG 257 Shakespeare
Eric Reeves, M W 2:40 PM-4:00 PM
ENG 260 Milton
Sharon Seelig, M W F 10:00 AM-10:50 AM
ENG 263 Romantic Poetry and Prose
Elizabeth Harries, T Th 1:00 PM-2:50 PM
ENG 267 Introduction to Asian American Literature
Floyd Cheung, MW 1:10 PM-2:30 PM
ENG 270 The King James Bible
Patricia Skarda, T Th 1:00 PM-2:50 PM
ENG 285 Intro to Contemporary Literary Theory
Andrea Stone, T Th 3:00 PM -4:20 PM
Advanced Courses in Writing
Only one course in writing may be taken in any one semester, except by permission of the chair. Courses in writing above the 100-level may be repeated for credit only with the permission of the instructor and the chair. For all writing courses above the 100-level, no student will be admitted to a section until she has submitted appropriate examples of her work and received permission of the instructor. Kindly review the course descriptions below for specific instructions and deadlines.
For more information about creating writing courses at Smith and in the Valley, click here.
ENG 206 Intermediate Fiction Writing
Anthony Giardina, T 3:00-4:50 PM
ENG 216 Intermediate Poetry Writing
Doug Anderson, M 1:10 PM-4:00 PM
ENG 290 Crafting Nonfiction Writing Through Photography
Russ Rymer, Th 1:00 PM-2:50 PM
ENG 295 Advanced Poetry Writing
Joan Larkin, T 1:00 PM-4:00 PM
ENG 296 Advanced Fiction Writing
Anthony Giardina, Th 7:30 PM-9:30 PM
THE 261 Writing for the Theatre
Leonard Berkman, Th 1:00 PM-2:50 PM
Level IV
300-level courses, but not seminars. These courses are intended primarily for juniors and seniors who have taken at least two literature courses above the 100-level. Other interested students need the permission of the instructor.
Level V
Seminars are open only to juniors and seniors, and admission is by permission of the instructor.
Seminars in the English department stand as the capstone experience in the major. They bring students into the public aspects of intellectual life, and the papers they require are not only longer but also different in kind from those in 200-level classes. These papers require a research component in which students engage the published arguments of others, or at least demonstrate an awareness of the ongoing critical conversation their work is entering. But such work proves most useful when most available, and so we also require that students present their thinking in some way to the semi-public sphere of the seminar itself.
All students who wish to take a seminar must apply at the English department office by the last day of the preregistration period. The instructor will select the students admitted from these applicants.
ENG 308 Seminar: One Big Book
Michael Gorra, T 3:00 PM-4:50 PM
ENG 311 Seminar: Reimagining Classics for Children
Naomi Miller, T 1:00 PM-2:50 PM
AAS 360 Seminar: Toni Morrison
Kevin Quashie, T 3:00 PM-4:50 PM
SWG 360 The Cultural Work of Memoir
Susan Van Dyne, T Th 3:00 PM -4:50 PM
