ENGL 2011 (Honors I: Literary Study through Reading and Research) is a four-credit Honors introduction to writing across the curriculum, and it fulfills the freshman English requirement for Honors students.
First-year Honors students who have not satisfied the freshman English requirement through AP, ECE, or transfer credit for ENGL 1010/1011 must take ENGL 2011 (instead of 1010 or 1011) in order to earn Sophomore Honors. This course is also strongly recommended for all first-year Honors students. Study of literature—and the development of important critical reading, writing, and information literacy skills—in the university setting is essential preparation for further study in a wide variety of fields.
There are two themed “pods” of ENGL 2011 for this semester, each of which consists of multiple sections supervised by an English faculty member.
- Myths of Modernity (Dwight Codr): Sections 1, 2, and 3
- Writing as Social Action (Tom Deans): Sections 4 and 5
Myths of Modernity
Myths, we tend to think, are features of the old world, the world of ancient Greece or Egypt, characterized by the belief in gods, legendary heroes, magic, and the intersection of supernatural and natural orders. This course seeks to explore the myths that we rely upon today, primarily focusing on how those myths present themselves in British literature. No less strange or surprising than gods and monsters–when viewed with a critical eye that you will develop over the course of the semester–are the key mythic terms and ideas that we associate with modern life: freedom, rationality, individual self-determination, the free market, technology, democracy, and true love. What do these terms really mean? To what use are they put? How are they communicated to us in literature, film, television, and advertising? The goal of this course is to develop your ability to think critically about cultural products of various kinds, and to engender in you an awareness of the myths of modernity such that you will become better and more informed critical readers of your own environments and experiences.
Writing as Social Action
We will explore how writing functions as social action in both academic courses and public life. For the first half of the semester we’ll read widely in writing studies to discover surprising answers to some basic questions: Which rules that you’re taught for writing in school hold up (and which break down) in college humanities, social sciences and sciences courses—and further, in professional, public, and digital venues? What really separates so-so from successful writers? We’ll also take up several provocative readings on theories of social change. Then, for the second half of the semester, we’ll apply what we’ve learned to doing collaborative research and writing projects for local non-profit organizations that work on homelessness, healthcare, poverty, environmental issues, and the like (this involves some meetings off campus, but we’ll help with transportation). This is a writing-intensive, discussion-intensive introductory course that offers a good deal of support for learning new approaches to critical analysis, technical communication, prose style, and community engagement.