Specialty English courses to be introduced

Three brand new English courses are set to make their debut next fall. Each offers a unique and exciting approach to the study of this subject.

One of the new courses, “Hear the Earth’s Cries: Environmental Storytelling” is a course focusing on the works of American authors and how these works are deciphered to students.

“This literature course will be focusing on how the Earth speaks to writers, through the American lens and ecology,” said English and Foreign Languages Department Chairperson, Jill Sunday. “I plan to take students on a journey of reading Native American legend. And to focus on how these legends not only tell stories but also share ideas for the Earth’s protection. There will be other works that focus on the Earth’s safety.”

The new course, offered by Sunday, will be shown under the code “ENG 235 (05).” The course will be scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

“Flash Fiction” is the second course that will be introduced; this subgenre of fiction is meant to expand the knowledge of this topic in short segments.

“We will most likely be writing and creating a good amount of Flash Fiction. This will include different lengths of this genre,” said Professor of English, Dr. Richard Pierce. “This will presumably culminate a revised portfolio.”

This genre of writing consists of very short pieces. The writings are only a few hundred words in length and can challenge the writer to think of new ways of presenting creative topics.

“The class will try page-long stories, types of stories that are exactly 100 words, and we will probably attempt Twitterature,” said Pierce. “We will focus on examples of previous Flash Fiction and then create our own.”

“ENG 295 (01)” will be the course code for students to use when scheduling.  The class will be offered from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

The final new course, “SLAM! Creative and Academic Presentations,” is a public speaking course that will introduce creative elements.

“There will be five speeches, including a reading and interpretation of a creative work, that will be required,” said professor of English, Dr. Jamie Dessart. “There will be an academic PowerPoint that will act as a conference panel and a number of informal speaking that will include hosting Third Thursday Readings.”

Third Thursday Readings are hosted every month. These readings allow English majors and professors to present some of their work to an intimate audience.

“English majors will have to take this course, but it’s open to anybody interested in that type of speaking,” said Dessart. “This course will fulfill the public speaking general education requirement needed for all majors.”

This course will be presented under the scheduling code “ENG 295 (02)” and will be offered Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.

While these courses will be geared towards the needs of the university’s English majors, all students are encouraged to show interest in these courses.

“We tried to hit different segments of curriculum and interest in both the English department and beyond”, added Sunday. “I believe that all three of these courses complement each other, they all deal with all different types of writing.”