English

Department of English
College of Arts and Sciences
306 Clemens Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-4610
(716) 645-2575
Fax: (716) 645-5980
Web: English
Joseph Conte, Chair
Stacy Hubbard, Director of Undergraduate Studies

The Program
English students explore the expressive power of language primarily through a comprehensive study of the English and American literary tradition; but this focus often broadens to include other verbal arts, such as drama, folklore, film and video, and foreign works in English translation. Some students will also develop their creativity through select courses that emphasize the writing of poetry and prose fiction, autobiography, and playwriting. Our diverse faculty aim to help students become critical readers and writers. Critical readers employ analytical skills of close reading, historical contextualization, and theoretical reflection. Critical writers synthesize the results of their analyses into coherent and original critical essays.

Career Possibilities
English is a humanistic discipline designed to develop our students' intellectual and artistic potentialities, thereby preparing them for any subsequent career. Through their immersion in a rich literary legacy, our English majors gain a mastery of language and develop a range of interpretative skills that give them the wisdom, flexibility, and self-knowledge demanded by modern life. Thus, many will find rewarding careers in education, law, journalism, business, and other similar vocations that value strong writing skills, analytical ability, and an appreciation of the powerful role of language and literature in the dynamics of contemporary culture. Graduating students receive specific advice concerning career opportunities.

Honors
If you are interested in more intensive, self-guided intellectual inquiry, consider applying to the honors program. If you have an English GPA of 3.5 or higher, and you have completed at least two lower-level and two upper-level English courses, you may apply for admission by submitting a writing sample to the English Undergraduate Office (303 Clemens Hall). Once in the program, you may enroll in special small honors seminars, and plan, research, and write an honors thesis under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Course credit for honors seminars and the thesis counts toward the 33 credit hours of upper-level work required for the major.

Language Requirement
English majors must fulfill the departmental language requirement by attaining an intermediate level of proficiency in any foreign language, either by passing an examination set by the appropriate language department, or by taking a two-semester intermediate language course. The requirement consists of four semesters, if one starts from the beginning. Double majors may petition to waive the final semester of foreign language study.

Transfer Policy
Generally speaking, any two literature courses you have taken at an accredited college or university will satisfy our requirement for two lower-level literature courses. And we will generally accept up to four junior- or senior-level courses taken elsewhere for upper-level credit. If you have questions regarding the evaluation of transfer credits, please see the director of undergraduate studies in 303 Clemens Hall.

Joint Major
The joint major, a reduced version of the full major, requires a total of nine courses (27 credit hours):

• two courses (6 credit hours) in the ENG202-299 range
• one course (3 credit hours) of Criticism (ENG301 Criticism)
• three courses (9 credit hours) designated as earlier literature, including courses on two of the three early authors: ENG303 Chaucer, ENG309-310 Shakespeare, ENG315 Milton
• one course (3 credit hours) designated as later literature
• two courses (6 credit hours) of electives

There is a departmental language requirement for graduation; with a joint major, it is the same as for a full major.

Advisement
If you are a new English major, whether a transfer or a continuing student, you should meet as soon as possible with the director of undergraduate English studies to discuss the major and your course schedule. And we strongly urge all majors and prospective majors to seek out the director's advice whenever they have questions or problems.

Since all English courses require skills in writing, you should normally complete the university writing skills requirement (ENG101 and ENG201) before registering for courses numbered 202 and above. We strongly recommend that students with less than a "B" average in English take no more than 18 credit hours a semester.

Instructors observe the general course descriptions below, but they choose authors, texts, topics, and approaches to suit their particular interests. If you're interested in finding out more about a particular course, please pick up a copy of the Whole English Catalog in the English Undergraduate Office. It contains detailed descriptions of courses for the coming semester.

English (ENG)
Note: Based on particular course content, instructors may designate specific courses as satisfying earlier or later literature requirements that have not been marked below as either.

101 Writing 1 (3) (F; Sp; Su)
First semester of the General Education Writing Skills Requirement for students required to take both ENG101 and ENG201. Practice in developing essays with variable emphases on purpose, subject, audience, persuasion, in constructing mature sentences and paragraphs, and in revising. Introduces documenting and writing from sources. Twenty-five pages of graded, revised writing, excluding first drafts, exercises, and quizzes. Students may not receive credit for both ENG101 and ESL407. LEC

102 Writing 2 (3) (F; Sp; Su)
Fulfills the General Education Writing Skills Requirement for students exempted from ENG101. Reviews essay, paragraph, and sentence development during the first half of the semester. Conceptualizing and conducting original research, culminating in a major research essay using both library and online materials during the second half of the semester. Twenty-five pages of graded, revised writing, excluding first drafts, exercises, and quizzes. LEC

201 Reading and Advanced Writing (3) (F; Sp; Su)
Prerequisite: ENG101
Second semester of the General Education Writing Skills Requirement for students required to take both ENG101 and ENG201. ENG201 also fulfills the Humanities requirement of General Education. Practice in developing complex interpretations of human experience and values as represented in various media. Conceptualizing and conducting original research, culminating in a major research essay using both library and online materials. Twenty-five pages of graded, revised writing, excluding first drafts, exercises, and quizzes. Students may not receive credit for both ENG201 and ESL408. LEC

205-206 Writing Prose Fiction I-II (3-3)
Basic techniques of fiction writing, with emphasis on the short story. LEC

211 Books of the Environmental Movement (3)
Careful reading and discussion of key writings, past and present, of the American environmental movement. Authors studied include Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Barry Commoner, and others. LEC

214 Books: The Top Ten (3)
The top ten books recommended in an annual survey of the University at Buffalo faculty as reading without which no undergraduate should have finished his/her education. This course serves as a short, basic introduction to general education. LEC

221-222 World Literature I-II (3-3)
Selected key texts of world literature in translation. LEC

231-232 British Writers I-II (3-3)
Literature of Britain and Ireland. First semester: from the beginnings to the late eighteenth century. Second semester: from the late eighteenth century to the present. LEC

241-242 American Writers I-II (3-3)
Literature of the United States. First semester: from beginnings to the Civil War. Second semester: from Reconstruction to the present. LEC

251 Literary Types: Short Fiction (3)
Introduces the special qualities of the short story from Boccaccio to such modern masters as Joyce, Kafka, Carver, and O'Connor. LEC

252 Literary Types: Poetry (3)
Introduces the study of poetry. LEC

253 Literary Types: Novel (3)
Introduces the study of the novel. LEC

254 Literary Types: Science Fiction (3)
Surveys some of the major moments in the evolution of science fiction: Clarke, Delany, Le Guin, and Verne, plus such movies as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. LEC

256 Literary Types: Film (3)
Introduces the study of film. LEC

258 Literary Types: Mysteries (3)
Introduces the study of mysteries. LEC

259 Literary Types: Drama (3)
Introduces the study of drama. LEC

268 Literary Authors: Irish Literature (3)
Concentrated study of the work and milieu of a group of Irish writers. LEC

270 Asian American Authors (3)
Concentrated study of the work and milieu of a group of Asian American authors. LEC

271 Literary Approaches: Literature and Psychology (3)
Introduces some basic texts of modern psychology, with applications to works of literature. LEC

272 Literary Approaches: Women Writers (3)
Introduces the study of writings by women, chosen by the individual instructor. LEC

273 Best Sellers (3)
Studies the phenomenon of the "best seller" in both past cultures and the contemporary scene. LEC

274 Feminist Approaches to Literature (3)
Introduces feminist theory and its applications to literary texts. LEC

275 African American Literature (3)
Surveys African American Literature, including Douglass, DuBois, Hughes, Morrison, Hurston, etc. LEC

276 Literature and the Law (3)
Studies the interactions between the law and great works of fiction by Kafka, Dickens, Shakespeare, and others. LEC

277 Introduction to U.S. Latino Literature (3)
Explores the variety of cultural works produced by U.S. Latino/a writers and artists, from poetry and plays to novels and films. LEC

278 Modern African-American Writers (3)
Surveys the rich spectrum of literature written by African-American writers in the last fifty years. LEC

280 American Women Writers (3)
Explores central themes in the emergence of American women's poetry and fiction. LEC

291 Legal and Literary Interpretation (3)
Explores the close parallelism between the analytical and interpretative skills demanded by the law and legal matters and the structure and operation of literary works and documents. LEC

299 Humanities One (3)
A broad introduction to the humanities: literature, film, art, drama, folklore, and more. Specialists from various departments and special visitors discuss their fields of inquiry. LEC/REC

301 Criticism (3) (F; Sp)
Introduces the craft of literary criticism, including techniques of close reading, two or more sorts of literary theory, and strategies for writing and revising critical papers. LEC

302 Old English (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Anglo-Saxon language and literary texts, including Beowulf, with suggested outside reading from other early medieval Germanic literatures (Icelandic saga, the Niebelungenlied). LEC

303 Chaucer (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Focus on the Canterbury Tales. LEC

304 Middle English Literature (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Focus on Chaucer's works other than the Canterbury Tales, and/or on other Middle English texts. LEC

305 Medieval Literature (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Various topics from Old English, Middle English, and Continental medieval literatures in translation. LEC

307-308 Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Selected plays from 1560 to 1630, excluding Shakespeare. LEC

309 Shakespeare: Earlier Plays (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Primarily histories and comedies. LEC

310 Shakespeare: Later Plays (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Primarily tragedies and romances. LEC

311-312 Renaissance Literature (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Mostly nondramatic literature from More to Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, Donne, and Jonson. LEC

313-314 The Seventeenth Century (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Mostly nondramatic literature from Donne, Wroth, Jonson, and Bacon, to Marvell, Milton, Bunyan, Dryden, and the radical prophets and prophetesses of the English Revolution. LEC

315 Milton (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Paradise Lost and other works in social and literary context. LEC

316 Eighteenth-Century Literature (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Poetry and prose in Britain from 1688 to the age of the French Revolution. LEC

318 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Selected plays by such figures as Aphra Behn, John Gay, Oliver Goldsmith, and Richard Sheridan. LEC

319 Eighteenth-Century English Novel (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
The emergence of the novel as a literary form, focusing on works by Behn, Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Burney, Sterne, and others. LEC

320 Romantic Movement (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Prose and poetry from 1780 to 1832, with emphasis on Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Byron. LEC

322-323 Victorian Age (3-3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
British literature and culture from 1832 to 1901; authors include Carlyle, Ruskin, Gaskell, Dickens, Eliot, Barrett Browning, Browning, Rossetti, Tennyson, and others. LEC

325 Nineteenth-Century English Novel (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Fiction by selected writers of the period from Austen, the Brontes, and Mary Shelley to Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, and Conrad. LEC

326 Modern English Novel (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Fiction of Britain and Ireland since 1870. LEC

328-330 Studies in British Literature (3 cr each)
Selected topics in the literature of Britain and Ireland, chosen by the instructor: pre-Raphaelitism and decadence, the Oxford movement, English travellers and explorers, the Irish literary revival, the criminal in eighteenth-century literature. LEC

332 Early American Literature (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Writing from 1630 to 1750, with special attention to the Puritan tradition. LEC

333 American Literature, 1828-65 (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Writings of Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Sedgwick, Douglass, Jacobs, Stowe, Dickinson, and Whitman. LEC

334 American Literature, 1865-1914 (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Realism and naturalism; Twain, James, DuBois, Wharton, Chopin, Stein, London, and Dreiser. LEC

335 Nineteenth-Century American Novel (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selected novels by Cooper, Melville, Hawthorne, Alcott, Douglass, Stowe, Jacobs, Twain, and James. LEC

336 Modern American Novel (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selected novels by James, Wharton, and Stein; through Dreiser, Gilman, Cather, Faulkner, Larsen, Wright, Hurston, Dos Passos, Ellison, Ford, Morrison, and Kingston. LEC

337-338 Modern American Literature (3-3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
First semester: 1914-1945. Second semester: 1945-present. LEC

339 American Poetry (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selected American poets, primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; emphasis on American cultural contexts, national identity, vernacular language, and formal innovations. LEC

340 American Drama (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Special attention to the twentieth century. LEC

342 Studies in American Literature (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selected texts and topics in the literature of the United States and Canada chosen by the instructor: the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Mountain School, domestic literature, etc. LEC

343 Native American Literature (3)
Study of the oral and written literature of Native Americans. LEC

344 Visions of America (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Texts in which American writers attempt to create, define, or revise our sense of a national culture are read in detail and within their larger cultural contexts. LEC

345-346 Studies in English and American Literature (3-3)
Selected topics emphasizing the transatlantic connections of literature written in English; transatlantic Puritanism, literature of the "new woman," Freud and modern fiction, literature of World War I, family history. LEC

348 Family History (3)
A representative sampling of modern American fiction that focuses on issues and problems of family history. LEC

349-350 Modern Poetry (3-3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
A careful reading and analysis of the major modern British and American poets, in relation to movements of modern thought and action. LEC

351 Modern Drama (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selections from English and Continental dramatists since World War I. LEC

352 Modern Novel (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Significant novelists, English, American, and Continental, since the rise of naturalism. LEC

353-354 European Fiction (3-3)
Continental fiction writers since the eighteenth century, with emphasis on Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert, Proust, Dostoevski, Tolstoy, Zola, Kafka, Mann, Camus, Beckett. LEC

355 European Drama (3)
Plays illustrating major developments in Continental dramatic literature. LEC

357 Contemporary Literature (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Texts in English and other languages illustrating significant currents in the literature of our day. LEC

358 Experimental Fiction (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Novels and short stories of the modernist and postmodernist movements, with special attention to experimental techniques and the rationales that underlie them. LEC

359-360 The Bible as Literature (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Extensive reading in the Bible, with some consideration of modern biblical scholarship, exploration of the more important uses of religious and biblical ideas in various periods of English and American literature. LEC

361-362 Folklore (3-3)
Content, structure, and function of traditional folklore genres (tale, myth, ballad, riddle, proverb), theoretical and practical survey of oral forms and oral history using major folklore collections, both printed and recorded. LEC

363 Children's Literature (3)
Literary works primarily written for or read by children. LEC

365-366 African American Literature (3-3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Historical review of African-American writers from the eighteenth century to the present. LEC

367-368 Literature and Psychology (3-3)
Methods and basic texts of modern psychology (psychoanalysis, theory of archetypes, Lacanian theory), and their application to works of literature. LEC

369 Literature and the History of Ideas (3)
Major literary and philosophical texts of Western culture in their historical contexts, read as imaginative strategies or modes of consciousness responding to perennial human problems. LEC

370 Multimedia Literature (3)
Addresses the meeting of literature and technology through an examination of multimedia fiction, poetry, and criticism available on CD-ROM and the World Wide Web. LEC

373 Biography and Autobiography (3)
Reading and analysis of major biographies and autobiographies from antiquity to the present. LEC

374 Best Sellers (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Selected titles in fiction and nonfiction from current best-seller lists: their artistic, cultural, ideological, and social significance; relationships among commercial, pop, and high art standards. LEC

375 Heaven, Hell, and Judgment: Myth and Image (3)
Examines the iconography and literature of the sacred tradition in art. LEC

376 Approaches to Literature: Popular Culture (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Study of the effects of mass culture on the popular arts, with relevant theory. LEC

377 Modern Poetry, Painting, and Music (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Addresses the interdisciplinary topic of the relationship of modern poetry to developments in music and the visual arts. LEC

378 Approaches to Literature: Science Fiction (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
Advanced study of science fiction works by such authors as Clarke, Lem, Delany, and LeGuin, with related films. LEC

381 Mythology (3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Considers mythology both as a kind of knowing and as "sacred stories" in religion, literature, anthropology, psychoanalysis, and science. LEC

382 Books of the Ancient Mayas (3)
Close study of Mayan texts, alphabetic and hieroglyphic, in English translation. LEC

383 Literature and Society (3)
Problems in the relations of literature to history, society, and culture, as chosen by the instructor. LEC

384 Short Fiction (3)
Satisfies later literature requirement
An advanced course in short fiction from the middle ages to the present, selected by the individual instructor. LEC

385 Literature and Gender (3)
Study of the way literature contributes to and challenges the gender divisions in culture and society. LEC

389-390 Creative Writing: Poetry (3-3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
Workshop in techniques of writing poetry, demanding regular verse productions by the student. SEM

391-392 Creative Writing: Fiction (3-3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
Workshop in forms of the novel and short story: techniques of narration, exposition, structural experimentation, thematic invention. SEM

394 Journalism: Words and Pictures (3)
Introduction to documentary and journalistic issues in the media age. LEC

395-396 Writing Workshop (3-3)
Intensive practice in writing; specific approach chosen by instructor. LEC

397 Literary Journalism (3)
Workshop in forms of writing about books and intellectual issues, not specifically limited to the academic or scholarly community: book reviews, magazine editorials, nontechnical nonfiction. LEC

398-399 Journalism (3-3)
Specific problems of journalistic writing chosen by instructor. LEC

400-401 Honors Seminar (3-3)
May satisfy earlier or later literature requirement
See description of departmental honors program. SEM

405 Honors Thesis (3)
See description of departmental honors program. TUT

407-414 Authors (3 cr each)
Concentrated and detailed study of the works, biography, and milieu of a single author, chosen by instructor. LEC/SEM

417-418 Epic Literature (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Two or more of the major epics of English or world literature (Homer, Virgil, Beowulf, Tasso, Milton) viewed in the context of epic theory, from Aristotle to the present; works of prose fiction that have arguably epic dimensions (Tolstoy's War and Peace, Mann's Budden-Brooks), chosen by instructor. SEM

421 Comedy (3)
Reading and analysis of the major figures of comedy from Aristophanes to the present; theories of comedy tested against specific literary works. SEM

423-424 Satire (3-3)
Reading and analysis of the major satirists, from classical literature to the present; theories of satire tested against specific literary works. SEM

425 Lyric Poetry (3)
Focuses on the lyric poetry tradition from the medieval period to the postmodern, with attention to formal traditions and innovations. LEC

426-429 Studies in Genre (3 cr each)
Similar to ENG251-260 but utilizing texts, methodologies, and theories of greater sophistication and scope; requires mastery of advanced analytical skills. SEM

431-432 Critical Theory (3-3)
Reading and analysis of selected theories of criticism and of literary texts that illustrate them. SEM

433-434 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry (3-3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
For advanced students; permission of instructor required before registration. SEM

435-436 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction (3-3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
For advanced students; permission of instructor required before registration. SEM

437 Advanced Writing Workshop (3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
For advanced students working in forms other than poetry or fiction; permission of instructor required before registration. SEM

439-440 Social Documentary (3-3)
Work of important documentary artists in various genres (literary, cinematic, photographic), field research and production of a work of social documentation (film, videotape, series of photographs, transcribed interviews, articles). SEM

441-442 Cinema (3/1-3/1)
Viewing and analysis of selected films. LEC/LAB

445-446 Literature in Translation (3-3)
Major texts in English translation, viewed in light of cultural and aesthetic cross-currents, chosen by the instructor. LEC

447 Mythology of the Americas (3)
Close reading of selected myths from the Americas as expressed by storytellers, speechmakers, and singers, and in Native American writing systems. LEC

461-462 Playwriting Workshop (3-3)
A workshop class that gives attention to dialogue, characterization, thematic development, and the dramatic structure of plays, with classes centering on students' work in progress, and assigned plays by contemporary authors. SEM

465-478 Cross-Listed Courses (3 cr each)
During certain semesters, the English department may cross-list courses with other departments. Consult the semester's Whole English Catalog. Generally only one course offered in another department and cross-listed with English will count for English major credit. LEC/SEM

479-480 Women Writers and Literary Traditions, 1650-1945 (3-3)
Satisfies earlier and later literature requirement
An intensive survey of fiction and poetry by British and American women, white and black, written over a period that stretches from the late Renaissance to the early twentieth century. Students must register for both courses in the same semester; they may not be taken separately. LEC/LAB

489-490 English Literature: Intensive Survey (3-3)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Prerequisite: minimum of 9 credit hours of 300/400-level English courses or permission of instructor
Corequisite: ENG491-492
For upper-level students; designed to give order and coherence to the finishing student's program. Literature of England in a chronological frame of literary biography, history, and cultural and ideological backgrounds; guest lectures; preparation for professional tests; suitable for future teachers of English and for students intending to proceed to graduate work in English. Must be taken concurrently with ENG491-492. SEM

491-492 English Literature: Intensive Survey Recitation (2-2)
Satisfies earlier literature requirement
Corequisite: ENG489-490
Materials, both verbal and audiovisual, supplementary to ENG489-490 in a context of intensive discussion and frequent practice drills. Must be taken concurrently by students in ENG489-490. May be taken as an elective by other students. REC

497 Writing Internship (3)
Supervised writing in a work setting, by arrangement between the English department, the student, and the employer. SEM

499 Independent Study (1-6)
Guided reading and directed research under individual faculty advisors. See special instructions. TUT

English - B.A.

Acceptance Criteria
Minimum GPA of 2.0
Completion of the university writing skills requirement
Bring current UB DARS report directly to the English department

Required Courses
ENG101 Writing 1 and ENG201 Reading and Advanced Writing or ENG102 Writing 2
Foreign language courses, as necessary (see statement below)
Two courses in the 202 to 299 range, one of which must be a literature course
Eleven 300/400-level courses, including:

• ENG301 Criticism
• Four courses in earlier literature (before 1830), including courses on two of the three early authors (Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton)
• Two courses in later literature (after 1830)
• Four 300/400-level courses as electives

See Baccalaureate Degree Requirements (page 254) for general education and remaining university requirements.

Recommended Sequence of Major Requirements

First Year
Fall-ENG101 or 102, elementary foreign language
Spring-ENG201 (if not waived), elementary foreign language

Second Year
Fall-One 200-level English course, intermediate foreign language
Spring-One 200-level English course, one 300-level English course, intermediate foreign language

Third Year
Fall-Two 300/400-level English courses
Spring-ENG301, one 300/400-level English course

Fourth Year
Fall-Three 300/400-level English courses
Spring-Three 300/400-level English courses

Summary
Total required credit hours in English - 39
Total required credit hours outside English - 0-16
Foreign language requirement - 0-16 cr
Proficiency in a foreign language through the second semester of the second year or its equivalent to be demonstrated through classroom courses or through alternatives outlined on page 255. S/U grading may not be selected for courses taken to fulfill this requirement.

English - Minor

The English department offers two tightly structured minor programs. Please contact the director of undergraduate studies for details.

Academic Affairs

Phone: (716) 645-6003

Fax: (716) 645-2549

Last updated: Thursday, 09-Dec-2004 15:21:17 EST