Courses in English

Below are descriptions of the courses at Penn State Altoona for the coming semester that can count to satisfy requirements of the English major and minor. Many of them also fulfill requirements of the Secondary Education/English major, the Letters, Arts, and Sciences major, and the Integrative Arts major. Some fulfill general education and B.A. Humanities or Arts requirements. Or you might find them interesting enough to take as electives.

NOTE: These are not the standard course descriptions you'll find on LionPATH. These were written by the faculty members themselves and will give you a much better idea of what to expect in each course.

Fall 2020 Courses

ENGL 050 001: Introduction to Creative Writing (Emerging Writer)

This section will focus on the writing of at least two genres and will be taught by the Emerging Writer in Residence (TBA).

ENGL 050: Introduction to Creative Writing (Davis)

If you like to write stories and poems, then this is the class for you. We’ll read the work of some of the best contemporary authors, and then try our hand at the craft of turning the material world into words. This workshop will focus on fiction and poetry and will involve a great deal of drafting and critiquing before a final creative writing portfolio is prepared. (A Gen Ed—Arts course.)

ENGL 050: Introduction to Creative Writing (Sherrill)

Two, count ’em two, genres here! We’ll dive first into the spooky world of poetry and swim right through into fiction writing. What’s the difference? Come and see. This class will be about the process of writing, and about you producing poems and stories. I’ll challenge you, work you hard, but make sure you have fun as well. (A Gen Ed—Arts course.)

ENGL 050: Introduction to Creative Writing (Murphy)

Do poems have to rhyme? How long is a short story? And if it’s not fiction, how can it be creative? We’ll address these and other questions as we cover the fundamentals of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction writing. You will learn to take control of the Muse through writing exercises, to recognize and employ poetry/fiction terminology, and to critique classmates’ writings. You will also learn the three R’s: revision, revision, revision. By reading and discussing your original works and the works of other contemporary writers, you will build a foundation for taking genre-specific writing courses. You’ll also develop skills in editing, writing concisely, and employing description and narrative that will help you with writing assignments in all disciplines. (A Gen Ed—Arts course.)

ENGL 050H: Introduction to Creative Writing – Honors (Murphy)

ENGL 141N: African American Read-in Engaged Learning Experience – Theme: “African American Poetry” (Simpson)

(2 credits, plus 1 credit in spring 2021) This course allows students to study African American literature in connection with an annual public two-day event held during Black History Month at Penn State Altoona. The African American Read-In (AARI) is a celebration that promotes both literacy and a wider appreciation for African American literature, culture, and art. Students enrolled in the 2-credit Fall AARI course will study materials related to the annual theme and create original projects to present at the Spring AARI. As this year’s theme is poetry, students will explore, discover, and discuss a variety of African American poems and poets from throughout the past 400 years, with an emphasis on the many diverse poetic voices and forms that have emerged since the late 20^th Century, including spoken word and rap. Students will complete all 3 credits by also enrolling in the 1-credit 5-week Spring AARI course, which concludes with the presentation of the AARI events in mid-February. As shapers of the program, class members will also have a voice in designing and delivering the program as well as a stake in its overall success. (ENGL/INART/AFAM 141N meets with ENGL/INART 496. Instructor sign-in required for 496 – contact Professor Megan Simpson at [email protected].)

ENGL 142N//SC 142N: Science in Literature (Rotunno & Siegfried)

Approach great fiction and thought-provoking readings about current science as well as past thoughts! Join Drs. Rotunno and Siegfried for this interdomain course (GH & GN), entitled Science in Literature, that will explore scientific questions such as: how do we define “human”? What are the personal, political, and social responsibilities of a scientist? Should we use clones? Is your identity dictated by your genes? What can we learn from those termed “neurodivergent” or those born with “mutations,” and what exactly do we mean by those terms? Will Artificial Intelligence lead us to learn more about ourselves? And the big question, underlying the course itself: what can science and art learn from each other? (English majors wishing to receive inter-domain general education credit for this course should enroll in the SC 142N version.)

ENGL 163N: Defining the Animal (Marshall)

Leave it to good old Winnie the Pooh to remind us why we in our time and place need a course like this: “Some people talk to animals,” said Pooh Bear. “Not many listen though. That’s the problem.” In this integrative class, by reading poems, stories, and essays about animals, we’ll listen to what the animals have to tell us. Likely what they have to say will tell us something about ourselves as well as the animal others we share the planet with—the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged, and the scaled. You’ll read some great literature by writers like Alice Walker, Ursula LeGuin, Sarah Orne Jewett, William Faulkner, and Walt Whitman—and you’ll also learn a bit about evolutionary theory, ecology, environmental ethics, and animal rights.

ENGL 165N: Work and Literature (Petrulionis)

How does the work we do shape our identity? How does it affect the way we measure ourselves? Our jobs affect everything in our lives—whether the impoverished masses “yearning to be free” as they arrived at Ellis Island or the wealthy “Wolves of Wall Street”; “blue” or “white” collar workers; free or enslaved or indentured laborers; or work done inside or outside the home. The historical reality has often forced millions of people to work or prevented others from doing so due to their sex, race, age, immigrant status, and/or ethnicity. While the concept of “the American dream” encourages many to “climb the corporate ladder,” we all hope to find meaningful work that we enjoy. Yet the reality is often less positive. How are our employment prospects governed by social, economic, political, global, and other forces? How do economic, labor, and capital production systems determine the work we can pursue or succeed in? Who determines how our work is valued? In this class, we’ll investigate the subject of work from two fields: labor and employment relations, and literature. We’ll read stories, poems, and other texts that pity and that dignify the workers of the world—from the Puritans’ work ethic and the enslaved labor that built early America; to a quiet law clerk in the 1800’s who repeatedly insists that “he prefers not to” do his job; to the desperate lives of iron mill workers just a couple of hours west of Altoona; to a salesman who never sells anything; to a billionaire who preaches the necessity of social classes; to the laboring women and men who demanded the labor rights that we still enjoy.

ENGL 183N: The Cold War in Literature, Politics, and History (King)

Narrowly speaking, the Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension that existed between the USSR and the United States from about 1945 to about 1990. Its roots lie in conflicting visions about the resolution of World War II, and hostilities grew due to mutually incompatible worldviews about how a polity should be organized, what kind of economy is best, and the individual’s relationship to his or her country. Threats of war between the two countries spilled over into conflicts in proxy countries, in addition to political subterfuge in other areas of the world. The fall of the Soviet Union was such a monumental geopolitical event that the historian Francis Fukuyama proclaimed it “the end of history.” Even as the United States emerged as the sole global superpower for some of the period between 1990 and today, history—obviously—did not end. As non-state terrorism emerged as a real threat, we simply stopped paying as much attention to Russia, which reemerged as an oligarchy. As a result, it may come as a surprise how the United States’ relationship with Russia has sprung back into the news—through proxy conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, or through Russian interference in the 2016 United States Presidential election. What tools do we have to make sense of this complex history and its ramifications in the present? In what ways do the two countries remain at odds, and in what ways might their citizens face similar predicaments? This course will combine material from a variety of fields: history, political science, literature, film studies, and rhetorical studies. Each week’s work will combine lectures with close scrutiny of primary sources and works of art: novels and essays, film and television, public address and diplomatic/intelligence documents. The final weeks of the course will zoom in on Cold War public memory and the “New Cold War,” both as public affairs and as art. Students taking this course as a 100-level interdomain course will be graded primarily through quizzes, short essays, and a final exam. [English majors who complete 183N will receive any level-elective credit. Non-English majors who complete 183N will receive interdomain credit and fulfill a GH or GS General Education requirement. Contact [email protected] with any questions.]

ENGL 200: Introduction to Critical Reading (Simpson)

In this class, we deal with some of the most basic questions about literature: how do we make sense of a work of literature and where does its meaning come from? Is meaning found when a literary work fulfills the author’s intention? Is it found in the text itself? Or do readers make meaning? Is it even possible to know the meaning of a work of literature? How does the author’s culture, or the reader’s, affect how we receive a literary work? We will explore how different approaches to reading literature—New Criticism, Deconstruction, Psychological Criticism, Reader-Response Theory, Feminist Criticism, Cultural Studies, Ecocriticism—deepen our understanding and enjoyment of the works we read. Expect interesting reading, lively discussions, mind-blowing new ideas, and lots of opportunities to explore your inner theorist. You’ll also become a skilled practitioner of MLA style. (NOTE: This is a required course for the English major and is typically offered only in the fall semester.)

ENGL 209: Journal or Magazine Practicum—Hard Freight Literary Magazine (Murphy and Lang)

Have you always wanted to see your name on a masthead? Then join the staff of HARD FREIGHT! This 1-credit experiential course offers students hands-on experience in the development and production of the campus online literary magazine. Students will participate on editorial boards, in the advertising and marketing of the magazine, in the design of the online magazine, and in coffee-house events created to celebrate the artistic efforts of students on campus. (Students may take this course up to eight times in their career.)

ENGL 212: Introduction to Fiction Writing (Sherrill)

In this course, we will identify and explore the fundamentals of Fiction Writing from the ground up; fear, hope, rage, lust, love, want, need, honesty, and dishonesty. Along the way, we’ll develop skills in narration, plot development, characterization, etc. Telling stories is one of the ways we carry our humanity from generation to generation. Creating compelling and entertaining stories is the artist’s challenge. This class is about Art; the art of looking at the world around us and rendering that vision, with bravery and honesty, in words. (Students interested in eventually taking a 400-level creative writing class should take one 200-level creative writing class first.)

ENGL 223N: Shakespeare: Page, Stage, and Screen (English faculty)

This course will explore the relationship between literary analysis and both film and theatrical performance by asking students to approach a limited set of plays from multiple perspectives, using texts, film, and theatrical performance to integrate these methodologies. Students will work closely with Shakespearean texts, practice textual and poetic analysis, and will also examine critically different forms of performance: film and live theatre. In particular, the course will explore the interrelation of these elements, revealing a deeper imaginative understanding of works that continue to influence English-speaking literature and culture.

ENGL 234: Sports, Ethics, Literature (King)

What do your favorite athletes and competitions reveal about your worldview? How have sports shaped you into the person you are today? Is sport a mirror that reflects society? Can we use sport to imagine the world differently? This course asks these questions and enlists you to answer them by reading novels, poetry, and journalism and watching television, films, and documentaries about the importance of sports for individuals and communities in the U.S. and around the world—from immigrant communities playing weekend cricket in New York City to Friday night and Saturday afternoon football cultures in (fictional) Dillon, Texas, and (real) Penn State University. Throughout the semester, you will respond to those visions about what sports mean to others, but you will also have opportunities to speak and write about your own relationship to sports, as well. We will focus on how sport allows us to build and refine an ethical imagination, especially as depicted in literary texts across a variety of media and genres. This course will cover a wide range of athletic events, from football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and mixed martial arts to tennis, cricket, poker, dog sledding, and professional wrestling. (A Gen Ed—Humanities course)

ENGL 250: Peer Tutoring in Writing (Lang)

Students enrolled in this course will study theories of peer tutoring in order to prepare to work as paid Writing Consultants in the Writing Commons. If you are contemplating a career in education or as a professional writer, or if you are simply a strong writer and would like to help others, consider enrolling in this course. (Instructor’s signature required for enrollment.)

ENGL 237N: Reading and Writing Documentary Poetry (Peterson)

Poetry presents a unique way to discover the human voice within the headlines. This course will guide you through the process of creative writing as one way to better understand and explore current events and the stories we hear from history. We will both read and write in the tradition of "poetry of witness," also known as documentary poetry. Using visual images from print journalism, historical texts, or documentary films as a starting point, in this class we will discuss and practice how to identify topics that interest and how to best engage the world around us through poems. We will also look at the work of poets who have done documentary poetry well and will practice a variety of simple yet effective methods to build the bridge between the poetic, the personal, and the political on the page.

ENGL 245/WMNST 245: Intro to LGBTQ Studies – “Gender Beyond the Binary in Literature and the Arts” (Findley)

In this course, we’ll study works of literature, art, and performance that explore gender as a spectrum rather than a binary. Gender is not the same as biological sex, comes in more than two flavors, and varies widely depending on social context and individual identity. This course focuses on works of literature and art that explore those truths, with an emphasis on transgender, nonbinary, and genderqueer authors and artists. We’ll read works from as early as the medieval period (Silence, a medieval romance about a trans man), classics of queer literature such as Orlando and Stone Butch Blues, and recent works by trans and nonbinary authors such as Anna-Marie McLemore and Jordy Rosenberg. We’ll also look at some art and film, study drag performance, and read some queer theory.

ENGL 401: Studies in Genre (Marshall)

Woody Allen once remarked, “Nature and I are two,” but some of the finest writers of the past half-century have found in the natural world an intense and meaningful spiritual fulfillment—whether you call it oneness, awareness, or satori. We’ll explore the ecological dimensions of Zen Buddhist thought and its influence on such works as Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums, Gary Snyder’s Cold Mountain, and other poems, David Budbill’s poems in Moment to Moment, Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard, Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, and short stories by Charles Johnson. By way of introduction to Buddhist thought, we’ll start with Dinty Moore’s entertaining read The Accidental Buddhist. Previous enlightenment not required.

ENGL 412: Advanced Fiction Writing (Sherrill)

This advanced fiction writing course will meet concurrently with ENGL 212. (Students may take this course twice in their career. Prerequisite: at least one 200-level creative writing class. Instructor’s signature required for enrollment.)

ENGL 419: Advanced Business Writing (Latterell)

This is a project-based course in writing for the workplace. We will review styles and techniques for effective workplace writing and focus on how to target our writing for professional contexts. From drafting resource guides, promotional documents and writing for social media to producing infographics and short video profiles, my goal for students enrolled in this class is to create sample documents they can use for job interviewing or as a part of graduate school applications. To that end, for the final assignment students will create ePortfolios. An ePortfolio is a highly useful (electronic) platform for presenting samples of your work and highlighting your academic (as well as work-related) resume. (Prerequisite: ENGL 202A, B, C, or D)

ENGL 424: Creative Writing and the Natural World (Davis)

If you like to hike in the woods, learning the names of plants and animals, then this is a class for you. We’ll be reading the work of such important figures in contemporary nature writing as Mary Oliver, Galway Kinnell, and Rick Bass. Then we’ll be writing our own poems and stories about our experiences in the natural world. Be prepared to get your feet muddy and to fill your journal with all you’ve seen! (Cross-listed with ENVST 424)

ENGL 436: American Fiction Since 1945 (King)

Narrowly speaking, the Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension that existed between the USSR and the United States from about 1945 to about 1990. Its roots lie in conflicting visions about the resolution of World War II, and hostilities grew due to mutually incompatible worldviews about how a polity should be organized, what kind of economy is best, and the individual’s relationship to his or her country. Threats of war between the two countries spilled over into conflicts in proxy countries, in addition to political subterfuge in other areas of the world. The fall of the Soviet Union was such a monumental geopolitical event that the historian Francis Fukuyama proclaimed it “the end of history.” Even as the United States emerged as the sole global superpower for some of the period between 1990 and today, history—obviously—did not end. As non-state terrorism emerged as a real threat, we simply stopped paying as much attention to Russia, which reemerged as an oligarchy. As a result, it may come as a surprise how the United States’ relationship with Russia has sprung back into the news—through proxy conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, or through Russian interference in the 2016 United States Presidential election. What tools do we have to make sense of this complex history and its ramifications in the present? In what ways do the two countries remain at odds, and in what ways might their citizens face similar predicaments? This course will combine material from a variety of fields: history, political science, literature, film studies, and rhetorical studies. Each week’s work will combine lectures with close scrutiny of primary sources and works of art: novels and essays, film and television, public address and diplomatic/intelligence documents. The final weeks of the course will zoom in on Cold War public memory and the “New Cold War,” both as public affairs and as art. Students taking this course as a 400-level literature course will be graded primarily through quizzes; a presentation on a central Cold War literary figure or on a scholarly monograph on Cold War literature and aesthetics; and a longer essay analyzing a text from the 1945-1990 time period alongside a text from the “New Cold War”—for example, Alan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen (1984) with the HBO limited television series (2019), Graham Greene’s The Quiet American (1955) with Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy (2019), or a comparison of Ronald Reagan’s Cold War public address with Donald Trump’s public comments about Russia. [English majors who complete 436 will receive credit for their 20th-century requirement or 300/400-elective requirement.]

ENGL 444: Shakespeare (English faculty)

Ever wonder, “What’s REALLY the big deal about Shakespeare?” Enroll in English 444 and find out! We’ll try to discover what made Shakespeare so popular in his own day and why his work continues to endure in our time. This upper-level course will cover a selection of Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies, and histories.

ENGL 487W: Senior Seminar – “Gothic Woke: An American Take” (Petrulionis)

“’ Tis so appalling—it exhilarates” –Emily Dickinson

Who were the “barbarian” Goths who invaded and brought down the Roman Empire, and how did they generate one of our most popular literary genres—the terrifying tales of Gothic fiction? Whether dark and murky or wild natural landscapes; haunted, corridor-laden medieval castles and cemeteries; or a mythical “Gotham City,” this literature often features violent encounters with sadistic villains who deliberately blur the boundaries of “good” and “evil.” Negotiating these liminal spaces—or annihilating them as the Goths did—brings to the central questions of excess, of transgression, of confrontations with the “other.” Gothic literature registers society’s fears about political, ideological, and religious authorities. It examines frontiers between races, genders, and classes; between people and machines; between health and disease; and especially, between the living and the dead. In this senior capstone, we will interrogate this genre by asking such questions as: What is the origin of terror and the macabre? How closely can we approach the forbidden? In which ways did American writers inherit and transform the Gothicism of their British and European predecessors? Who were the primary audiences for Gothic stories in early America? What role did religion, gender, war, politics, race, genocide, and slavery play in the evolution of the American literary Gothic? How did enslaved men and women confront the very real Gothic terrain of their existence? How did young female American industrial workers too often find themselves the victims of predatory Gothic reverends and bosses every bit as real as those in Victorian novels? Is the expression of rage in Gothic fiction equal parts gratuitous, political, and artistic? What does the Gothic form allow authors to say about hierarchies of literature, race, government, sexuality, power, and gender? What commonalities do the psychological, provincial, southern, female, and African-American Gothic share? To confront these monsters as well as those that rage within, we will read some of the following American authors: Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Louisa May Alcott, Harriet Jacobs, Elizabeth Stoddard, Henry James, Richard Wright, Upton Sinclair, Ta Nehisi-Coates, Flannery O’Connor, Shirley Jackson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Edith Wharton. And we’ll also take a look at some of their important British and European forebears.

ENGL 496/INART 496: African American Read-in Engaged Learning Experience – Theme: “African American Poetry” (Simpson)

(2 credits, plus 1 credit in spring 2021) This course allows students to study African American literature in connection with an annual public two-day event held during Black History Month at Penn State Altoona. The African American Read-In (AARI) is a celebration that promotes both literacy and a wider appreciation for African American literature, culture, and art. Students enrolled in the 2-credit Fall AARI course will study materials related to the annual theme and create original projects to present at the Spring AARI. As this year’s theme is poetry, students will explore, discover, and discuss a variety of African American poems and poets from throughout the past 400 years, with an emphasis on the many diverse poetic voices and forms that have emerged since the late 20th Century, including spoken word and rap. Students will complete all 3 credits by also enrolling in the 1-credit 5-week Spring AARI course, which concludes with the presentation of the AARI events in mid-February. As shapers of the program, class members will also have a voice in designing and delivering the program as well as a stake in its overall success. (ENGL/INART 496 meets with ENGL/INART/AFAM 141N. Instructor sign-in required for 496 – contact Professor Megan Simpson at [email protected].)