Introductory Undergraduate Courses in Language and Literature
Academic Year 2025-2026, Semester II
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All courses carry 4 credits, unless otherwise indicated.
One course numbered CAS EN 121-201, 203-215, or 221 may count toward the English major.
If you are considering a major or minor in English, you should take EN 220 rather than WR 150, 151, or 152.
Please note that a class may not be used to fulfill more than one distribution requirement.
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Encounters: Reading across Time and Space
*Note that this course is the introduction to the English Major. Non-majors looking for Hub units should consider other courses, including 100-level English courses.
This team-taught course provides an introduction to English literature across the ages. We will stage encounters across time and space between authors working in the English language – from the middle ages to the present, and from England to the Americas and around the globe.
Highlighting canonical and non-canonical texts, we will discuss representative moments in the history of genre, including poetry, drama, travel narrative, autobiography, the novel, film, and performance. Alongside our early works, we will read and view the work of artists from various backgrounds who have responded creatively to texts from literary history, in gestures of homage, repudiation, or ambivalence. These conversations might be direct and explicit or more indirect and allusive. We will also pay special attention to how a later work might influence our understanding of an earlier work. Along with more formal thesis-driven assignments, students will have their own opportunity to speak back to our readings; like the artists and activists on our syllabus, students will be invited to draw on their specific histories and experiences to craft creative encounters with the early works we read. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Teamwork/Collaboration.
EN 101 A1 and B1 Lee and Murphy
TR 11:00a – 12:15p
Reading World Literature
Study of literature in English or English translation — poetry, drama, and prose narrative — outside of British and American traditions. Attention to such topics as cultural self-construction, relationships of historical context to artistic expression, and development of literary forms. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
EN 121 A1 Staff
MWF 10:10 – 11:00a
Medieval Worlds
Why does the deep medieval past continue to haunt our dreams? In novels, games, and on TV? Medieval literature and its afterlives. Topics may include Arthurian romance, otherworld visions, monsters and heroes, women’s lives and writing, modern medievalism. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration.
EN 122 A1 Appleford
TR 9:30 – 10:45a
Jewish Diaspora Literature
How has diaspora shaped Jewish identity, family, and community? How have different generations of Jewish immigrants, victims, survivors, and outsiders, depicted their experiences in literature? How are Jews of color finding new ways to chronicle their experiences and tell their stories? We will discuss novels, memoirs, dramatic works (and films) written in Yiddish, English, and German from the 19th -21st centuries.. Topics include immigration; assimilation; anti-Semitism; self-hatred; translation; food; music; and memory. Meets with JS136 and XL236. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
EN 126 A1 Gillman
TR 9:30 – 10:45a
Introduction to African American Literature
What is the African American literary tradition? How does it change over time? This course is to introduce you to the cultural, political, and historical contexts of the African American experience through readings of literature. We will read poetry, slave narratives, essays and speeches, tales, short stories, and novels, and as we examine these texts, we will consider how culture, politics, and history shape African American literature.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR100/120 or equivalent)
EN 129/AA 103 A1 James
TR 12:30 – 1:45p
Science/Fiction
Through readings in British and/or American literature, an exploration of some of the following topics: science and technology as literary themes; historical construction of science and art; similarities and differences between literary and scientific methods; the development of science fiction. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Ethical Reasoning.
EN 130 A1 Patterson
MWF 11:15 – 12:05p
Introduction to Fiction
Introduces critical concepts for analyzing works of fiction. Readings in different periods, genres, and traditions, ranging from canonical masterpieces to unheralded literary gems, aimed to cultivate an appetite for the pleasures, and rigors, of narrative art. Topics vary by instructor. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Ethical Reasoning.
EN 141 A1 Staff
MWF 9:05 – 9:55a
Introduction to Poetry
Introduction to the understanding, interpretation, and appreciation of a wide range of poetry. Focus on poetic form, genre, and style, with explorations of cultural and aesthetic contexts. Particular emphasis on close, careful reading and discussion. Topics vary by instructor. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
EN 142 A1 Staff
MWF 10:10 – 11:00a
Children’s Literature
In the Anglo-American tradition, what do animated toys in children’s literature tell children? What do they reveal about our culture? And how do they shape it? And how have those stories changed from the beginning of the 20th century to the early 21st century? This course centers on works within children’s literature that depict toy fantasy, toy animism, or, in other words, toys that “come alive.” Beginning with the very end of the 19th century (1883) and following through to the early 21st century (2006), this course explores a range of genres within children’s literature including picture books, middle grade novels, and graphic texts. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
EN 150 A1 Staff
TR 11:00a – 12:15p
Reading Shakespeare 1
A critical introduction to Shakespeare through intensive analyses of six or seven plays. Possible attention to such topics as literary sources, early modern stagecraft, performance history, and contemporary film adaptation. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
EN 163 A1 Voekel
TR 2:00-3:15p
The Graphic Novel: Across The Universe
How do readers experience a sense of expansive or compressive time in graphic narratives? What do images say that words cannot? What are the implications of deeper meaning when words and pictures are used in tandem? The simultaneity of the comics page broadens and deepens a story in an instant. Through close reading of early comics as well as modern graphic narratives, with a focus particularly on memoir and nonfiction, students will examine the historical context and authorial decisions within the medium that makes comics a powerful vehicle for storytelling. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
EN 170 A1 Ruliffson
MWF 11:15a – 12:05p
Introduction to Literary Studies
Introduction to literary analysis and interpretation. Variable topics. Through frequent writing assignments and discussion, students develop skills in the analysis of literary texts and learn to express their interpretive ideas in correct and persuasive prose. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course.
EN 201 A1 Quinn
MWF 9:05 – 9:55a
Global Modernist Fiction
A comparative study of modernist authors from five different world cultures: Rushdie (Indian-British), Morrison (American), Kafka (Jewish-Czech), Chung (South Korean), and Murakami (Japanese). Examines experiments in narrative technique as differently situated responses to the major events and legacy of the twentieth century. Fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking.
EN 215/XL 325 A1 Liu
TR 2:00 – 3:15p