Here are
the courses I teach or have taught at Carson-Newman
College:
Arthurian
Legends (English 479): A study in the folklore
and literature surrounding the stories of King Arthur
in Welsh, French, Latin, Middle English, and Modern English
sources. Readings include The Mabinogion, Geoffrey
of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France,
Sir Thomas Malory, Lord Tennyson, and T. H. White.
Chaucer
and His Circle (English 451): A study of
Chaucer's poetry focusing on his minor poems, Troilus
and Criseyde, and The
Canterbury Tales with an emphasis on learning
to speak and read Middle English from the original
text. Course includes
brief excursions into translated works by Boethius, Gower,
Boccaccio, Petrarch, Machaut, and Froissart.
Middle
English Dialects (English 390): Survey of four Middle
English dialects as appearing in the works of specific
authors including Chaucer (London dialect), the Pearl Poet
(West Midlands), the Sir Orfeo Poet (Southern),
and Thomas Chester (Kentish).
Gender
in Greco-Roman Literature (English 391): A
study of how classical Greek and Roman authors portray
masculinity and
femininity. Translated Greek texts include Homer's Odyssey,
Aristophanes'
Lysistrata, Plato's Symposium, and
various plays by Euripides and Aeschylus. Roman texts
include Virgil's Aeneid, Apuleius' The
Golden Ass, and Ovid's Art of
Love. Offered
as
an independent study in the summer of 2006.
Classical
Mythology (English 474): A study of mythology in Greco-Roman
culture and literature from the Homeric period up through
the Augustan and Patristic age with an emphasis on
how religious practices appear in poetic texts. Course
content developed out of the ACA summer study in Greece
(May 2006). Offered in the spring of 2008.
Studies
in the Novel: Science Fiction Narratives (English 340B): A study of the development of science
fiction narratives with an emphasis on the novel. The
material ranges from early Renaissance writings like
Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and finishes with the postmodern
Cyberpunk movement. Most works are from the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. Scheduled for spring 2007.
Major
American Authors: Poe and Hawthorne (English
450): A comparative study focusing on the short
stories,
poetry, and longer prose work by Edgar Allan Poe and
Nathaniel Hawthorne. The course places special
emphasis on allegorical
and gothic elements in these works. (Offered as an independent
study in the summer of 2005.)
Survey:
Early British Literature (English 362): Survey
of Early British Literature for majors covers material
from the Anglo-Saxon
period up through the Enlightenment with an emphasis
on historical trends and their relationship to
literary art.
Advanced
Composition, Grammar, and Language Studies (English
328): Study of the history of the English language and
the development of English grammar leading up to modern
debates in composition theory.
Viking
Sagas and Anglo-Saxon Adventures (English
270/German 320): Team-taught course with Dr. Michael
Putnam of the Foreign Language Department.
Study of Old Norse/Icelandic Sagas and continental
Germanic medieval literature compared to Anglo-Saxon
literature. Readings include Tacitus, Njal's
Saga,
Grettir's Saga, the Niebelungenlied, and
various Anglo-Saxon poetic and prose works.
Introduction
to the Liberal Arts (LA 101):
A course for new students at Carson-Newman College introducing
them to the history of Carson-Newman and our
place in the Liberal Arts tradition. Each LA 101 course
is individually shaped around a topic of interest
to the professor and how that topic relates to the
Liberal Arts. My own LA 101 course for the Fall 2008
class focuses on science
fiction
novels and the way these narratives depict the human
condition.
Writing
and Literary Studies III (English 301): Non-major
junior survey covers the Restoration through Postmodernism.
Writing
and Literary Studies II (English 201):
Non-major sophomore survey covers the classical period
through the end of the Renaissance.
Writing
and Literary Studies I (English 101): This
freshman course covers basic composition, beginning
rhetorical
skills, library research, and literary studies with an
emphasis on Appalachian writers and poets.
