Course details

Name: ENGL - 506

Title: SEMINAR IN LITERARY RESEARCH

Section: 02

Semester: Fall - 2022

Credits: 3

Description:
What is graduate work in the field of English about? How can we connect our writing and research about literature, film, and culture to real-world concerns? What’s the best way to plan for, structure, and finish a master’s thesis? This section of Seminar in Literary Research (formerly referred to as the “Methods” course for English graduate students) pursues answers to these questions through three units and projects. First, we review reading and analytical methods in a contemporary novel by Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower (Warner, 2nd edition, 9781538732182). Then, we will examine the research methodology of Shelley Streeby’s book, Imagining the Future of Climate Change: World-Making through Science Fiction and Activism (UC Press, 978-0520294455) A third required text, A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum by Jessica McCrory Calarco (Princeton UP, ‎978-0691201092), supports our investigation of how to plan and write papers in the academic setting. Students write a research proposal in the second unit that prepares them for submitting a similar document to begin the thesis. In the last unit, students reflect on graduate work in English by writing a book review or conducting an interview. Students will leave this course with a better sense of what the M.A. in English entails, how to present a research proposal, and ways to identify archives and resources for research projects in the field of English. Students who have not yet taken the Literary Theory course should also acquire the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by Chris Baldick (Oxford UP, 978-0198715443).

Last updated on 2022-03-15 By Nielsen Wendy (nielsenw)

Schedule: Thursday From 5:30 pm To 8:00 pm

Graduation requirements:

• Graduate (BA/MA)

Teaching Faculty: Nielsen Wendy (nielsenw)

Is course canceled: No