Department of English

This course will introduce graduate students to the professional study of literature by considering the ways that debates in critical and cultural theory have shaped the analytical practices of English scholars.  In the first part of the semester, we will study the key assumptions, terms, and concepts of a range of methods by reading some of the early, foundational texts from these fields (broadly grouped, these include Formalism, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Queer Theory, Post-colonial Studies, New Historicism, and Cultural Materialism).  In the second half of the semester, we will read more recent theoretical work to think about the ways that older models have been critiqued, absorbed, and reconfigured by current theoretical, cultural, and literary analysis.  Throughout the course, we will consider the implications that the changing state of the discipline of English has for graduate students as they form their own methodologies, investments, and projects.