Chair, Department of English and Creative Writing:
Judith Petterson Clark,
Ph.D.
English Faculty:
Tina Parke-Sutherland, Ph.D.
Kristine Somerville, M.A.
Terry Song, M.A.
Written language is a principal repository of the values of human civilization
and a continually evolving tool by which we construct our lives. The English
and Creative Writing curriculum articulates and embodies our understanding of
the knowledge students need in order to achieve the literacy essential to engaged
citizenship. The curriculum offers students the opportunity to gain a historical
perspective on literature as an institution and to develop a sense of the uses
of literary criticism and theory. In addition, the curriculum provides excellent
preparation in courses that teach and encourage fluent writing, a skill which
students in all areas of study will find valuable. This curriculum also emphasizes
the contributions of women and minority voices to literature, criticism, and
language, and encourages students to continue to
augment those contributions.
The Liberal Arts Requirement in
English Composition
All students must demonstrate the ability to write clear
and effective English prose and to conduct a research process resulting in a
scholarly and properly documented essay. Normally these essential skills are
demonstrated by satisfactory completion of two courses in English composition:
English 101 and English 102. Students in ENG 101 write a diagnostic essay to
determine their placement in the required sequence. Some may demonstrate skills
that advance them to ENG 102. Searcy House Plan students meet the requirement
by satisfactorily
completing English 206.
Because the intent of the English requirement is to ensure the student's verbal
competence, students earn credit in English 101, English 102 or English 206 only
when they achieve a grade of C- or above. Students who do not attain the required
competency level in English 101 or 102 must continue to be enrolled in the course
each semester it is offered until the requirement is met. Searcy House Plan students
who do not complete the requirements with 206 must enroll in English 101 and
English 102.
When a student fulfills all of the assignments in ENG 101, ENG 102, or ENG 206
but earns a grade lower than C-, she will receive a RE (Re-Enroll) mark. The
RE mark does not affect the semester grade average, but the student must re-enroll
in ENG 101 or 102 until at least a C- grade is achieved. The grades of D or F
are given to students whose inconsistent attendance or inadequate attention to
written assignments indicates lack of commitment to the course. These grades
do affect the semester GPA, but they will be taken out of the cumulative GPA
when the course is repeated and at least a C- grade is achieved. For the purposes
of the College assessment of its writing requirement in liberal arts courses,
all formally assigned papers, rough drafts and copies of source materials become
the property of the program. Students who wish to retain copies must make them
before turning in the final drafts. When students have met the college writing
requirement, they must collect their writing assessment portfolios and place
them in their liberal arts
portfolios before graduation.
Transfer credit (six semester hours) in college-level freshman composition
earned at a regionally accredited college or university
will satisfy the ENG 101–102 requirements at Stephens. An advanced placement
score of 3 in English Composition will satisfy the ENG 101 requirement while
a score of 4 or 5 will satisfy the
ENG 101 requirement and one liberal arts (L)
requirement.
The English and Creative
Writing Majors
Students may earn a Bachelor of Arts in English or a Bachelor
of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. The English and Creative Writing majors prepare
students for graduate study and careers in a range of fields including but not
limited to literature, humanities, art history, political or social sciences,
philosophy, law, religion, women's studies, history, writing, professional editing
and production, and public
relations.
Because the faculty represents a broad array of the specialities, majors in English
and Creative Writing allow students to complete the requirements by combining
studies in literatures, writing,
language and women's creative writing.
The faculty strongly urges all English and Creative Writing majors, especially
those planning to pursue graduate study, to study a foreign language at least
through the intermediate level.
All English and Creative Writing majors will participate in the College assessment
of programs offering disciplinary majors.
Requirements for the
B.A. Major in English
The bachelor of arts major in English requires completion of the
liberal arts requirements and 12.0 ENG courses, including the following: 2.0
courses in early American literatures, 2.0 in British literary traditions to
build perspective, 1.0 course focusing on women's literatures in English to address
issues of cultural difference, 1.0 course to understand modes of criticism and
1.0 senior capstone course in the form of an independent research essay. In addition,
the student chooses 5.0 courses from other ENG offerings excluding ENG 101, ENG
102, ENG 206, and ENG 115L. At least 5.0 courses in the major must be at or above
the 300 level. Students in the English major may elect additional ENG courses,
up to the total of 15.0, within a 40.5 course degree
program. An English major satisfies the liberal arts requirements in languages
and literature (L) by taking 1.0 course
in foreign languages.
English majors must earn a C or better in the 7.0 specified courses, and must
maintain a C average over all courses in the major. If a student earns less than
a C in a required course, she
must repeat it in order to improve her grade. English majors are also expected
to attend creative writing readings and presentations by departmental students,
faculty and visiting writers.
NOTE: In the following course listings, (1c) = 1.0 course or 3
semester hours.
Required
Courses
Each of the following
seven:
ENG 269: American Literatures I (1c)
ENG 270L: American Literatures II (1c)
ENG 271: English Literary Traditions I (1c)
ENG 272L: English Literary Traditions II (1c)
ENG 308: Women Writers (1c)
ENG 372D: Criticism and Culture (1c)
ENG 490: Senior Essay (1c) (not Senior Project)
Plus 5.0 courses, including at least 2.0 at or above the 300 level, chosen from literatures, creative writing, and writing and language, excluding ENG 101, ENG 102, ENG 206, and ENG 115L.
Required Liberal Arts Course
One "L" course in a foreign language
(1c)
Requirements for the B.F.A. Major in Creative
Writing
The bachelor of fine arts in creative writing requires completion
of the liberal arts requirements, and at least 15.5 course credits in the major
including 6.0–10.0 writing courses, 1.0 WST course, 6.0 other English
courses, 2.0 English literature electives, .5–2.5 internship credits,
and 3.0 specified liberal arts courses (see below). At least 5.0 course credits
in the major must be at or above the 300 level. Students in the creative writing
major may elect additional ENG credits, up to a total of 26.0 credits in the
major excluding ENG 101, ENG 102, ENG 206, and ENG 115L. Creative writing majors
must maintain a C average overall in courses in the major, and must earn a
C or better in ENG 490: Senior Project. Creative writing majors are also
expected to attend creative writing readings and presentations by departmental
students, faculty and visiting writers.
Required Liberal Arts Courses
ENG 210F: Introduction to Creative Writing (1c)
One foreign language "L" course (1c)
ENG 340E: Language: Uses and Abuses (1c)
Required Writing Courses (6.0c to 10.0c):
(B.F.A. students must be continuously enrolled in at least 0.5 course credits in any of the following genres for each semester after they declare the major. Students must take a minimum of 3 genres.)
ENG 240: Writing Creative Non-Fiction (1c)
ENG 242: Intermediate Creative Writing (1c)
ENG 311: Fiction Workshop (.5c–2c)
ENG 312: Playwriting Workshop (.5c–2c)
ENG 313: Poetry Workshop (.5c–2c)
ENG 314: Autobiography Workshop (.5c–2c)
ENG 490: Senior Project (1c) (not Senior Essay)
Other required English courses (6.0c)
ENG 269: American Literatures I (1c)
ENG 270L: American Literatures II (1c)
ENG 271: English Literary Traditions I (1c)
ENG 272L: English Literary Traditions II (1c)
ENG 308: Women Writers (1c)
ENG 372D: Criticism and Culture (1c)
Required Women's Studies Course
WST 210S: Introduction to Women's Studies (1c)
English Literature Electives
(2.0c required; 5.0c more may be elected; excluding ENG 115L.)
Program Internships
Internship (.5c required; 2.0c more may be elected)
ENG 396: Harbinger Editing Internships
Register other internships by independent study.
Requirements for a Minor in English
A minor in English requires completion of a minimum of 5.0 courses, including one of the following four:
ENG 269: American Literatures I (1c)
ENG 270L: American Literatures II (1c)
ENG 271: English Literary Traditions I (1c)
ENG 272L: English Literary Traditions II (1c)
and
ENG 308: Women Writers (1c)
Minors may elect additional courses up to a total of 8.0 in
a 40.5 course degree program. At least 2.0 courses in the minor must be at
or above the 300 level.
English and the Liberal Studies Major
In the residential program, the Department of English and Creative
Writing offers four concentrations that are available for the liberal studies
major, the English minor, English and Women's Studies, Writing and Language,
and Creative Writing. Only one of these concentrations (or the ENG minor) may
be included in a liberal studies major. See the liberal studies section of
the catalog for complete information about these concentrations and the major.
Students including English in a liberal studies major also participate in the
departmental assessment of majors.
English Courses
ENG 101: Composition I: The Essay
(1.0 course)
(Open to all students except those assigned to ENG 205L)
This required course provides students with skills fundamental to effective
written composition. Individual instructors vary their approaches to the course,
but all students are expected to do extensive writing and to master the principles
of logical development and defense of a thesis. A grade of C- or better is
required to receive credit.
ENG 102: Composition II: The Research Process
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: completion of ENG 101 or the equivalent)
This required course explores the basic processes of scholarly research and
writing, including use of the College library and other information sources,
the production of formal research essays and awareness of the processes of
using evidence to support a hypothesis. A grade of C- or better is required
to receive credit.
ENG 115L: Introduction to Literature
(1.0 course)
(Open to all students not majoring in English or Creative Writing.)
An introduction to different forms of literature. This course is designed to
help the student appreciate and enjoy literature and also to introduce ways
of writing critically about it.
ENG 205L: Literature and Writing
(1.0 course)
(Open to Searcy House Plan students only)
Students apply critical judgment in reading and writing about a set of related
texts on a topic that cuts across categories and/or time limits. Topic to be
determined each year by the Searcy House Plan English instructors. Completion
of ENG 205L counts as 1.0 course of credit in the language and literature category
of liberal arts for house plan students.
ENG 206: Composition and Research Process
(1.0 course)
(Open to Searcy House Plan students only)
Students apply critical judgment in reading, refine their skills in various
forms of the essay and engage in cross-disciplinary research leading to an
understanding of the processes that result in scholarly research papers. A
grade of C- or better is required to receive credit for ENG 206.
ENG 210F: Introduction to Creative Writing
(1.0 course)
(Open to all students)
This course helps students discover and sharpen their skills as creative writers,
readers and editors. Concentrating on at least three of the genres of creative
nonfiction, poetry, fiction and drama, the class establishes a creative writing
community with each class member presenting her work to the whole class, as
well as to the instructor, for responses and revision suggestions. Students
whose skills and experience in creative writing make a beginning-level course
inappropriate may be advanced upon recommendation of the creative writing faculty.
ENG 240: Writing Creative Non-Fiction
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206 or program recommendation)
The powerful expressive and persuasive impact of the essay has been recognized
and celebrated by many of the greatest writers of the past and present. Women,
especially, now publish substantial volumes of influential and moving essays.
This course studies traditional and contemporary essays and provides practice
(in a workshop setting) in the form and style of writing nonfiction prose.
ENG 242: Intermediate Creative Writing
(1.0 course)
(May be repeated, up to 4.0 credits in different genres)
(Prerequisite: ENG 210F or permission of instructor)
This course concentrates on one or more genre of creative writing—fiction,
poetry, autobiography or drama—and provides an intermediate-level creative
writing course, focusing on craft and technique and helping prepare students
with some creative writing experience for the advanced, single genre creative
writing workshops. Students sharpen their writing, reading and revision skills
as well as explore the structural and content possibilities of the studied
genre(s).
ENG 255L: Literary Studies
(1.0 course)
(May be repeated for credit with different topic up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
This course presents a variety of topics that cut across national boundaries
and time limits with varying emphasis on themes, motifs, movements and comparisons.
Topics have included "World's Great Novels," "Chinese Literature," "Reading
Poetry," "Biography and Autobiography," "Latin American Drama," and "World
Drama."
ENG 256L: Border Literature
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
An introduction to contemporary literature emerging from minorities and women
along the Mexico/U.S. border, with a focus on Chicano/a fiction, poetry and
memoir. The course will examine the historical and cultural context of these
works and will explore the important themes of La Casa/El Barrio/La Lucha:
Home/Neighborhood/The Struggle.
ENG 257L: Fairy Tales and Folklore
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
Fairy tales, urban legends, jokes and folksongs reveal the hearts and minds
of the people of the world. Folklore study introduces the student to the tales,
arts and traditions of the peoples and cultures of Asia, Africa and South and
Central America, as well as Europe and the United States—complex materials
to be classified and interpreted from a folklorist's perspective. Students
gain understanding of the methods and meaning of folklore research and performance.
ENG 258L: The Bible as Literature
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
The narratives, poems, parables and prophecies that make up the text of the
Bible have been called "the great code" of world literature. Knowledge of biblical
stories and understanding of the relationships between biblical texts and the
rest of world literature provides an essential basis for the study of western
literary, philosophical and religious traditions. This course studies substantial
segments of the Old and New Testaments from a literary perspective.
ENG 269: American Literatures I
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
This course, in a variety of ways, questions and explores the geopolitical
category "American" and the cultural category "literature" as they intersect
to locate a constantly changing set of texts called "American Literature." The
course introduces students to a range of primary texts in many genres, both
contemporary and historical, and challenges them to ask what kinds of circumstances
in the writing and the reading processes, as well as in the culture at large,
come together to make an "American Literature."
ENG 270L: American Literatures II
(1.0 course)
(May be repeated for credit with a different topic up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
Usually more narrowly focused than ENG 269, this course intensively studies
a particular American literature. Depending on the individual instructor, the
course will use an organizing principle such as a specific time, place, cultural
movement, or event to bring together a set of related texts, often from a number
of literary genres.
ENG 271: English Literary Traditions I
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
A study of early and early modern English literatures and language with emphasis
on three historical and cultural contexts selected in part for their interest
in light of new readings about women and popular culture, such as those on
the representation of the warrior woman or the outsider.
ENG 272L: English Literary Traditions II
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206)
A study of Restoration and Post-Restoration English and Colonial literatures,
arranged to consider the cultural politics of canons. Readings include both
canonical and popular literature.
ENG 280: Topics in Writing, Language and Literatures
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206 and permission of instructor)
Topics courses are devoted to special subjects that may not be covered in depth
in other courses.
ENG 308: Women Writers
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200-level ENG or WST course or permission
of the instructor; crosslisted as WST 308)
This course analyzes women's literatures in English of various cultures and
periods considering the history of critical attention given to them. In addition
to standard genres of poetry, fiction and drama, this course includes reading
in nontraditional genres: essays, diaries and letters, and performance art.
ENG 311: Creative Writing Workshop: Fiction
(.5 or 1.0 course)
(May be repeated up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 210F, ENG 240 or ENG 242 and permission of instructor)
This course advances the experienced creative writer to more sophisticated
fictional projects. Reading published short fiction as well as each other's
work, students explore issues of form, craft and subject matter from the perspective
of the fiction writer's position in contemporary culture.
ENG 312: Creative Writing Workshop: Playwriting
(.5 or 1.0 course)
(May be repeated up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 210F, ENG 240 or ENG 242 and permission of instructor)
This course advances the experienced creative writer to more sophisticated
dramatic projects. Reading works by professionals as well as by classmates,
students explore issues of form, craft, subject matter and performance from
the perspective of the playwright in contemporary culture.
ENG 313: Creative Writing Workshop: Poetry
(.5 or 1.0 course)
(May be repeated up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 210F, ENG 240 or ENG 242 and permission of instructor)
This course advances the experienced creative writer to more sophisticated
poetic projects. Reading published poetry as well as each other's work, students
explore issues of form, craft, subject matter and audience from the perspective
of the poet's position in contemporary culture.
ENG 314: Creative Writing Workshop: Autobiography
(.5 or 1.0 course)
(May be repeated up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 210F, ENG 240 or ENG 242 and permission of instructor)
This course advances the experienced creative writer to more sophisticated
projects focused on autobiographical subjects. Emphasis is on both theoretical
and craft issues surrounding the constitution of the gendered self through
autobiographical writing such as sketches, journals, memoirs, dream cycles
and autobiographical narratives.
ENG 319: Twentieth Century Poetry
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200- level ENG course or permission
of the instructor)
Poets writing in the twentieth century make available to contemporary readers
the special sets of circumstances, assumptions, terrors, delights, dreams and
obsessions that came together during this century to shape the poetic representation
of what they thought it meant to be human.
ENG 340E: Language: Uses and Abuses
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206, at least 1.0 lower-level liberal arts course
in ENG, PHL, REL or SOC; junior standing or permission of instructor)
Language and literacy have the power to inspire or to debase, to communicate
or to deceive, to liberate or to enslave. This course explores the ethical
implications of language use, especially in the realms of advertising, politics,
the arts and the professions, as well as private life, and considers the impact
of changing technologies on the role of language in the present and the future.
ENG 342C: World Mythologies
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206, and at least l.0 liberal arts course other
than M or F; junior standing or permission of instructor)
As women (and men) have rediscovered the Goddess (she of many names and places),
the role of mythological thinking in contemporary life has forced reconsideration
of the great texts and bodies of belief associated with the myths of past civilizations.
This course explores selected mythological texts and theories of mythic (as
opposed to scientific or historical) thought. Works may include Gilgamesh,
the Mayan Popol-Vuh, the Ramayana and selected Greek tragedies or the Iliad.
ENG 345C: Shakespeare
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206; at least 1.0 liberal arts course other than
M or F, or permission of instructor)
A study of the plays of Shakespeare in their historical context and in light
of new readings of the representations of gender, race, class and nationality.
The class explores the ways in which Shakespearean plays have been recreated
through performance as well as in other geopolitical and historical contexts.
ENG 360C: Western World Literatures (1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and at least 1.0 liberal arts course other
than M or F; junior standing or permission of instructor)
European women and men experienced and generated massive political, philosophical
and scientific revolutions that were, in effect, the forces that invented the
modern world. This course reads works of literature from England and the continent
with special reference to the changing roles of women.
ENG 367: Development of the Novel
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200- level ENG course or permission
of the instructor)
A study of the phenomenal growth and popularity of the novel from its early
forms in England. Historically arranged, the texts are explored with special
attention to the representations of gender, class, race and nationality, and
to a variety of critical approaches to the genre.
ENG 369: American Novels
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200- level ENG course or permission
of the instructor)
The compelling power of American novels comes from the ability to give speech
to the many and varied voices of American life and thus to provide a space
for the literary representation of cultural conflict. Organized historically
or thematically, this course explores the possibilities and problems of the
genre, both for writers and for readers, inside an American cultural context.
ENG 372D: Criticism and Culture
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206, 1.0 liberal arts course and junior standing)
This course studies contemporary critical trends as they apply to literature,
film, fashion and other cultural patterns, and considers specifically the numerous
trends that have coalesced into "Cultural Criticism."
ENG 376: Contemporary Literature
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200- level ENG course or permission
of the instructor)
This course identifies and examines emerging trends in recent literature.
ENG 380: Topics in Writing, Language and Literatures
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206 and permission of instructor)
Topics courses are devoted to special subjects that may not be covered in depth
in other courses.
ENG 383: Major Author
(1.0 course)
(May be repeated for credit with a different topic up to 2.0 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206 and one 200- level ENG course or permission of
the instructor)
An intensive introduction to the range and depth of one or more writers such
as George Eliot, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf,
Gertrude Stein and her circle, Margaret Atwood, or Adrienne Rich.
ENG 396: Editing Internships
(0–1.5 courses)
(May be repeated up to 2.5 credits)
(Prerequisite: ENG 102 or 206 and successful application)
Students learn to edit, design, produce and promote Harbinger, a magazine
that includes the creative accomplishments of Stephens' artists, designers
and writers. This course includes a study of the "little magazine" as a genre.
ENG 490: Senior Essay or Project
(1.0 course)
(Prerequisite: permission of department chair)
The BA student designs a major literary research project and the BFA student
designs a creative writing project in consultation with an evaluation committee,
completes the project, and defends it during an oral examination conducted
by the committee. Students aspiring to produce a chapbook in addition to a
creative writing project must register for ENG 490 in the fall semester.
Independent Study
Independent studies (special studies, tutorials, readings and projects) may
be proposed by students who need to meet a degree requirement. Information
about independent study may be obtained in the Department of English and Creative
Writing or in the Office of the Registrar.
