Graduate Course Descriptions

The following directory lists the graduate courses which the University expects to offer, although the University in no way guarantees that all such courses will be offered in any given academic year, and reserves the right to alter the list if conditions warrant. Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses.

5100. The Theory and Teaching of Writing

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

An exploration of the relationship between the theories and practice of writing, with attention given to the teaching of writing and recent developments in rhetoric and composition.

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5150. Advanced Research Methods

1.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Consideration of the question, "What is a research method?" and introduction to critical methods relevant to humanities-based research.

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5160. Professional Development in English

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Includes critical reflection on the academy, as well as practical instruction in writing application materials for conferences, grants, and academic employment, and in revising a seminar paper for publication.

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5182. Practicum in the Teaching of Writing

1.00 credits

Prerequisites: ENGL 5100, which may be taken concurrently.

Grading Basis: Graded

Guided development of teaching in the University of Connecticut First-Year Writing Program. Implementing theories of teaching and writing; meeting program goals and objectives; selecting texts; drafting writing assignment prompts; developing classroom work; guiding peer feedback; reading, responding to and evaluating student work. Supervision includes one-on-one, group, and peer. Required of all incoming graduate-student FYW instructors.

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5200. Children's Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of Children's Literature from the aesthetic, historic, psychological and sociological points of view. Major themes and genres. Standards of literary criticism.

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5220. History of the English Language

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

The development of the sounds, forms, order, and vocabulary of Standard English; an introduction to the methods of modern descriptive linguistics, and to the application of linguistic fact and theory to the teaching of English.

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5240. The Bible as Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of major themes and literary characteristics of writing from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The Bible's relevance to modern literary criticism.

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5250. History of English Studies

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open only to English graduate students, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A history of English as a professional academic discipline and department in universities from the later nineteenth century to the present day.

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5310. Old English

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of the language and literature of pre-conquest England.

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5315. Medieval Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of medieval literature, exclusive of Chaucer.

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5318. Chaucer

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5320. Shakespeare

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5323. Renaissance Drama

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5325. Renaissance I: 1485-1603

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of major writers and literary traditions of the sixteenth century, exclusive of the drama.

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5326. Seventeenth-Century Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5329. Milton

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5330. Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5340. Romantic Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Open to graduate students in English, others with permission.

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5345. Studies in Victorian Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5350. Modern British Writers

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5360. Irish Literature

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5410. American Literature to 1776

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5420. American Literature 1776-1865

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5430. American Literature 1865-1914

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5440. American Literature since 1914

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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5500. Literary Criticism

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of the major documents of literary criticism and theory from Plato and Aristotle to the present.

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5530. World Literature in English

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Selected works of colonial and post-colonial literature from Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.

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5550. Rhetoric and Composition Theory

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Classical and contemporary rhetorical theory, current research in composition.

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5630. Environmental Humanities

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students, others with permission of the instructor.

Grading Basis: Graded

An interdisciplinary introduction to histories, methodologies, and theories of the environmental humanities, as well as to contemporary conversations in the field.

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5650. Digital Humanities

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

An introduction to the histories, methodologies, and theories of the digital humanities, and to the practices and tools of digital humanities projects.

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6000. Independent Study

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A reading course normally open only to doctoral candidates.

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6200. Seminar in Children's Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 15 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Major authors, themes, or literary movements in American or British children's literature.

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6270. Seminar in Modern Poetry

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6290. Seminar in Non-Fiction Prose

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6310. Seminar in Beowulf

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6312. Seminar in Old Irish

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 15 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Language and literature of Medieval Ireland.

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6313. Seminar in Old Norse

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Old Norse language and literature.

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6315. Seminar in Medieval Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6320. Seminar in Shakespeare

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6325. Seminar in Renaissance Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

This course may be repeated for a total of six credits with a change in content.

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6330. Seminar in Eighteenth-Century Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

With a change in content, this course may be repeated for a total of six credits.

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6340. Seminar in Romantic Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6345. Seminar in Victorian Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

May be repeated for a total of six credits with a change in content.

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6360. Seminar in Irish Studies

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Major authors, movements, or themes in Irish literature.

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6400. American Ethnic Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 9 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

With a change of content this course may be repeated for credit.

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6410. American Literature and Culture

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

An introduction to a particular literary era and the cultural influences on its literature. The influence of a literary era on cultural change.

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6420. American Literary Movements

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction to a particular American literary movement.

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6450. Seminar in American Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 15 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

With a change in content, this course may be repeated for credit.

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6500. Seminar in Literary Theory

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6530. Seminar in World Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 15 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Major authors, movements, or themes in world literature written in English.

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6540. Seminar in Literature and Human Rights

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 9 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate English students only, others with permission.

Grading Basis: Graded

The interdisciplinary study of literature and human rights discourse.

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6550. Seminar in Rhetoric and Composition Theory

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

May be repeated for a total of six credits with a change in content.

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6575. Seminar in Women and Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

May be repeated for a total of six credits with a change in content.

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6600. Creative Writing Workshop

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

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6630. Seminar in Environmental Humanities

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students, others with instructor consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Focused, topical study of specific histories, methodologies, theories, and/or specific conversations in the environmental humanities.

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6650. Seminar in Digital Humanities

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English and Medieval Studies, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Focused study of histories, methodologies, and theories of the digital humanities, and practices and tools of digital humanities projects.

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6700. Seminar in Major Authors

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 9 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

May be repeated for a total of nine credits with a change in content.

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6750. Seminar in Language and Literature

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 21 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

This course may be repeated with a change in content.

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6800. American Studies: Methods and Major Texts

Also offered as: AMST 6000, HIST 6000

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction to the methodologies and topics of American Studies through a survey of major texts in the field, past and present. Course also provides a history of the field.

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6850. American Studies: Keywords

Also offered as: AMST 6850, HIST 6850

3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students in English, History, and Political Science; open to others with consent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Detailed study of a specific topic in American cultural studies with an emphasis on developing skills in interdisciplinary research. Topics vary from semester to semester.

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