Month: November 2020

Summer 2021

Good morning! Today we are highlighting two summer courses coming in 2021! Both are taught by Dr. Sarah Schuetze and have no pre-requisite requirements. The first is English 290 and it will be the first time it is taught as a six week course in the summer! This is one of the building blocks to many other English courses needed, so if you still need this course, it’s a great opportunity!

The second course offered is English 345: LGBTQ Literature, which will be a four week course. This will be the first time that English 345: LGBTQ Literature will be a stand alone course as well! Here’s a little bit about the course from Dr. Schuetze:

I think the fact that this is a class for both students who have had lit classes and students who have not [is great]. There’s no pre-requisite, so all are welcome.
Today we can identify significant progress towards a safe world for LGBTQ people—marriage equality legislation, queer-inclusive spaces and communities, and more representation of LGBTQ folks in popular culture (all of which is wonderful!). Nonetheless, many LGBTQ people live lives that are fraught with negotiating risk and even violence. The authors and texts we’ll discuss this semester demonstrate these negotiations as well as represent the beauty and joy of living a life beyond the limits of heterosexual normativity. One of the ongoing tasks we’ll explore together is how authors enact and represent those negotiations and joys in writing.
Check out Dr. Schuetze’s other classes which include a January term class, English 344 on African American Women Writers and English 264 in the Spring called Literature in Lab Coats on the connections between science and literature in various genres and time periods. They are sure to be great!

English 310: Topics in Game Writing

Happy Friday everyone! Today marks the third installment of What’s Coming in 2021. Today’s feature is English 310: Topics in Game Writing. This is another brand new course that will be taught by Dr. Julialicia Case!

Here’s a little bit about the course from Dr. Case:

Technology has had a profound influence on the ways we experience narrative, and for many game players, storytelling experiences in digital games are often immersive, interactive, and memorable. As writers, the idea of crafting this kind of narrative can be daunting. How do we create stories that incorporate meaningful choice? In what ways can digital experiences encourage empathy? How do you write a transmedia story that takes place over multiple platforms, while still retaining authorial control? This course will examine these issues and others from a craft perspective and will allow participants to experiment with the possibilities as writers and artists. Students will produce a variety of collaborative, choice-driven, and transmedia texts, and will have the opportunity to decide for themselves about the value of the creative possibilities offered by contemporary technology. This course welcomes students with experience using technical creative tools as well as those who are new to digital work. Experience with things like coding, html, CSS, etc. is useful but not necessary.

Check back soon for an insight to a couple summer courses!

Humanities 483: History and Literature in the Holocaust

Happy Thursday everyone! Today we are introducing a brand new class we are very excited about. This course will count for a world literature credit for English majors and there is no prerequisite of English 290. Humanities 483: History and Literature in the Holocaust is going to be team taught by Dr. Valerie Murrenus Pilmaier and Dr. Mark Karau.

Here’s some insight into the course from Dr. Pilmaier and Dr. Karau:

HUM 483 is an interdisciplinary learning community for majors that explores the history and literature of The Holocaust (also known as The Shoah). With equal emphasis on history (as taught by a historian specializing in German history) and literature (as taught by a literature professor specializing in trauma theory), this class is one of the only of its kind offered in Wisconsin and the nation. Given the rise of alt-right politics in America and abroad, this is a timely and necessary examination of the factors, people and events that led to the mass execution of millions. This course engages students in the study of the political and cultural factors that lead to the Holocaust, the ramifications of the Holocaust on the perpetrators, victims and the world, the after-effects of the Holocaust and its resonances today. The literature (including Elie Wiesel’s Night, Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, Charlotte Delbo’s Auschwitz and After, Art Spiegelman’s Maus I & II and Ruth Kluger’s Still Alive) affords a personal take on the lived experiences of the persecuted, the survivors, and the children of survivors. We will compare the voice, motivation and message of first and second-generation memoir to contemporary uses of The Holocaust as a theme or trope by examining the films Bent, Schindler’s List and JoJo Rabbit. Students will analyze memoir, poetry, drama, graphic novel, short story, film and documentary to explore trauma theory, the genre characteristics of Holocaust Literature and how genre characteristics change with the passing of time. As foundational history, students will read Doris Bergen’s War and Genocide, Christopher Browning’s Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers and Gitta Sereny’s Into That Darkness.

Be sure to check out this one of a kind class!

English 333: Literary Themes

Good morning! Today marks the second installment of the What’s Coming in 2021 series and today our course is English 333: Literary Themes. This course will be taught by Dr. Sarah Schuetze and the theme will be Fainters and Bleeders. This means the focus will be health, disease, and medical professionals in literature.

Here’s a little insight to the course from Dr. Schuetze:

From midwives to “regulars,” invalids to monomaniacs, figures in literary works about health and sickness reveal a complicated pattern of connection between disease, health, medicine and gender. Through analyses of literary works about illness, suffering, disability, care-giving, doctoring, etc., this class will explore how these themes are shaped by gender expectations and ideologies and their intersections with race and class. The works we’ll read represent a range of point of view and time period and include a variety of authors, such as Nancy Mairs, Joan Didion, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Dorothea Dix, Anne Sexton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, S. Weir Mitchell, Harriet Jacobs, Sarah Orne Jewett, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Anne Fadiman, Rebecca Skloot, and more.

Check in tomorrow for a look at Humanities 483: History and Literature in the Holocaust!

English 436: Major Authors

Our first course featured this week is one that is returning for Spring 2021. English 436: Major Authors will be taught virtually by Dr. Jessica Van Slooten and feature Jane Austen! This is the first time in many years that this monumental author will be featured in the course.

Here’s a little insight about the course from Dr. J:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is enshrined in the literary canon. Her novels continue to be read and endless adapted, most recently in the ITV/PBS series Sanditon. Her iconic character Mr. Darcy continues to be touchstone for romantic heroes. Her fans—known by some as Janeites—are legion and loyal. In this course, we will use cultural studies, feminist, and postcolonial approaches to explore Austen’s novels, legacy, and enduring popularity. We’ll dive deep into her novels, analyzing the significance of genre conventions, and social and historical realities; we’ll also learn some of the arts of Austen’s time, like country dances and visiting etiquette, as well as explore popular adaptations. We’ll engage with challenging questions, like how does the historical reality or British imperialism haunt Austen’s novels? How do her novels replicate and challenge systems of privilege and oppression? Are the endings truly happily-ever-after? Together, we’ll focus on a number of themes and topics in detail. Students will participate in reading activities (like various kinds of note taking) and regular written discussions on Canvas, as well as work on a semester-long project creating literary scholarship for a broad audience. This class is taught asynchronous online, with options to connect with Dr. J and other students via video, audio, or chat.

Check in tomorrow for a look at English 333: Literary Themes!

What’s Coming in 2021?

Good morning everyone! As registration begins next week for the Spring 2021 semester, the English Department has a few new and returning courses that will be highlighted here on Widows and Orphans! If you’re looking for more information, now’s your chance to get the inside scoop.

The classes included in the What’s Coming in 2021? series will be:

Humanities 483: History and Literature in the Holocaust

English 310: Topics in Game Writing

English 333: Literary Themes

English 436: Major Authors

We will also feature a couple courses being offered in the summer of 2021 as well! Those will include:

English 290: Literary Studies

English 345: LGBTQ Literature

A course or two will be featured each day leading up to when registration begins, so be sure to stay tuned!