100 Level English

ENGL 103 F10A: Reading Historical Fiction: Narratives of War
R. Prusko
This section of English 103 will focus on Tim O’Brien’s account of the Vietnam War in his 1990 collection of linked short stories, The Things They Carried. We will emphasize the relationship between representation and history as we read selected stories closely and progress through the stages of literary research.

ENGL 103 F10B: Reading Historical Fiction: Narratives of War
R. Prusko
This section of English 103 will focus on Tim O’Brien’s account of the Vietnam War in his 1990 collection of linked short stories, The Things They Carried. We will emphasize the relationship between representation and history as we read selected stories closely and progress through the stages of literary research.

ENGL 103 LEC A01: Environmental Change to Place in Literature
C. Scott
This course, “Environmental Change to Place in Literature,” is invested in thinking about human society and culture in relation to environmental changes as stressors become exacerbated in near-future settings—and then mapping these issues as seen through speculative fictions about the future written by various writers considering how and where humanity will choose to live. These scenarios are seen through the lens of fiction as we examine how authors speculate about the future, but also through the lenses of scientific, cultural, and other contributions from the present day that inflect the storyworlds of the impacted characters. What is lost, gained, or altered for human populations as the world that we know adapts or fails to adapt to elements like climate change, resource scarcity, ecological unknowns, pandemics, and/or evolution, etc.? Over the semester, we will consider a variety of speculative living situations for our descendants, and perhaps even our near-future selves, alongside how writers imagine problems, changes, and adaptations that will be important. In part, some of these imaginings about the future are disturbing and, even, dystopian, but we will also consider various “Futurisms”—terms suggesting the imperative and opportunity of forward, generative, and healing cultural movements as conceived by writers speculating about more positive outcomes despite what are currently troubling urban and rural as well as local, regional, and global issues.

ENGL 103 LEC A02: Environmental Change to Place in Literature
C. Scott
Environmental Change to Place in Literature
This course, “Environmental Change to Place in Literature,” is invested in thinking about human society and culture in relation to environmental changes as stressors become exacerbated in near-future settings—and then mapping these issues as seen through speculative fictions about the future written by various writers considering how and where humanity will choose to live. These scenarios are seen through the lens of fiction as we examine how authors speculate about the future, but also through the lenses of scientific, cultural, and other contributions from the present day that inflect the storyworlds of the impacted characters. What is lost, gained, or altered for human populations as the world that we know adapts or fails to adapt to elements like climate change, resource scarcity, ecological unknowns, pandemics, and/or evolution, etc.? Over the semester, we will consider a variety of speculative living situations for our descendants, and perhaps even our near-future selves, alongside how writers imagine problems, changes, and adaptations that will be important. In part, some of these imaginings about the future are disturbing and, even, dystopian, but we will also consider various “Futurisms”—terms suggesting the imperative and opportunity of forward, generative, and healing cultural movements as conceived by writers speculating about more positive outcomes despite what are currently troubling urban and rural as well as local, regional, and global issues.

ENGL 103 LEC A03: The 80s in Context
M. Rea
This course introduces students to research methods that put literature in historical context. We will study a diverse range of works produced in the 1980s, from Toni Morrison to Frank Miller, and consider the ways they operate in discourse with the social, political, and cultural conditions of that time. Students should expect to engage with traditional literary works, as well as pop culture, political writing, newspaper articles, advertisements and other cultural artifacts from the 1980s.

ENGL 103 LEC A04: The 80s in Context
M. Rea
This course introduces students to research methods that put literature in historical context. We will study a diverse range of works produced in the 1980s, from Toni Morrison to Frank Miller, and consider the ways they operate in discourse with the social, political, and cultural conditions of that time. Students should expect to engage with traditional literary works, as well as pop culture, political writing, newspaper articles, advertisements and other cultural artifacts from the 1980s.

ENGL 103 LEC A05: Word and Pictures
A. Daignault
In this section of English 103, we will pursue three distinct mini-projects exploring how text and images accompany each other in various forms of literature, and at different moments in history. We will also think about how illustrations are deeply intertwined with printing technology, and how those technologies have changed over time. At the same time, we will use the partnership between text and image to explore different aspects of academic research in literary studies, in the arts, and in the university as a whole. We will Explore the Field with archival research and basic fact-finding about historical printing methods, coming to understand information and technologies that are new to us. We will Explore the Text by paying close attention to how picture books work to generate meaning, and describing this interplay in detail. We will Explore the Conversation by discovering academic approaches to graphic novels and comic books, and then trace how scholars talk to each other about one graphic memoir – Kate Beaton’s Ducks – through articles and essays. A portfolio capping exercise will synthesize these three explorations at the end of the semester, and explore how these three aspects of research yield new questions and paths towards new knowledge.

ENGL 103 LEC A06 - Environmental Change to Place in Literature
C. Scott
This course, “Environmental Change to Place in Literature,” is invested in thinking about human society and culture in relation to environmental changes as stressors become exacerbated in near-future settings—and then mapping these issues as seen through speculative fictions about the future written by various writers considering how and where humanity will choose to live. These scenarios are seen through the lens of fiction as we examine how authors speculate about the future, but also through the lenses of scientific, cultural, and other contributions from the present day that inflect the storyworlds of the impacted characters. What is lost, gained, or altered for human populations as the world that we know adapts or fails to adapt to elements like climate change, resource scarcity, ecological unknowns, pandemics, and/or evolution, etc.? Over the semester, we will consider a variety of speculative living situations for our descendants, and perhaps even our near-future selves, alongside how writers imagine problems, changes, and adaptations that will be important. In part, some of these imaginings about the future are disturbing and, even, dystopian, but we will also consider various “Futurisms”—terms suggesting the imperative and opportunity of forward, generative, and healing cultural movements as conceived by writers speculating about more positive outcomes despite what are currently troubling urban and rural as well as local, regional, and global issues.

ENGL 103 LEC A07: Intro to Creative Research (via Speculative Fiction)
G. Bechtel
This section of English 103 is an introductory course on Creative Research (also known as Research Creation) with a focus on Contemporary Speculative Fiction. The theme for the course is Engineers of Possibility. We will look at several texts of contemporary speculative fiction (e.g. science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.) as well as related nonfiction texts (e.g. essays, award acceptance speeches, news stories, etc.) related to contemporary developments and/or controversies in this field. All of these will serve as fuel and provocation for your own creative research projects in the course.

Engaging in writing exercises, discussion, and collaborative activities, students will respond creatively and critically to the course texts and learn the stages of academic research creation, including exploratory exercises; formulating an original research question; finding, evaluating, and using (primary and secondary) sources; generating an annotated bibliography including at least two credible sources; and developing this process of inquiry into a final creative project, plus a short critical introduction (or afterword) contextualizing that project. Throughout the course, you will also be required to complete regular informal writing exercises (typically at least one per week) as well as keep an informal process journal (on assigned topics). These will be used to help fuel discussion, as well as to generate ideas and raw material for later use in formal assignments.

Note: This class is not an introduction to writing fiction or poetry, or to other forms of creative practice. That is not to say that you need to have an existing creative background or practice to take this course. Rather, it will be up to you to develop and define the creative practice emerging from your own particular research and explorations, while the research and exploration processes themselves will form the core of the course.

ENGL 103 LEC A08: Food, Environment, and Distinction in Literature
J. Lim
This section invites students to study and research on the intersection of food choices, culture, and environment. We will begin with a brief examination of some critical literature on food wastage, food insecurity, sustainability, environmental impacts. From there we will consider, through literature and media texts, the role of linguistic claims such as “vegan,” “clean eating,” “organic,” “eco-friendly” in the formation of identity and cultural status. Our readings will highlight the literary, cultural, social media reaction to (and participation in) modern developments in green living as moral imperative and shifting healthism discourse.

ENGL 103 LEC A09: Food, Environment, and Distinction in Literature
J. Lim
This section invites students to study and research on the intersection of food choices, culture, and environment. We will begin with a brief examination of some critical literature on food wastage, food insecurity, sustainability, environmental impacts. From there we will consider, through literature and media texts, the role of linguistic claims such as “vegan,” “clean eating,” “organic,” “eco-friendly” in the formation of identity and cultural status. Our readings will highlight the literary, cultural, social media reaction to (and participation in) modern developments in green living as moral imperative and shifting healthism discourse.

ENGL 103 LEC A10: Monsters in Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson
D. Bargen
J. R. R. Tolkien both had a profound influence on the interpretation of Beowulf and wrote fantasy novels that were influenced by his scholarship. We will be considering how monsters are represented by Beowulf, Tolkien, and Peter Jackson's films based on Tolkien's novels. You will have the opportunity to develop your own topic for research from the course texts.

ENGL 103 LEC A11: Monsters in Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson
D. Bargen
J. R. R. Tolkien both had a profound influence on the interpretation of Beowulf and wrote fantasy novels that were influenced by his scholarship. We will be considering how monsters are represented by Beowulf, Tolkien, and Peter Jackson's films based on Tolkien's novels. You will have the opportunity to develop your own topic for research from the course texts.

ENGL 103 LEC A12: Canadian Drama and Theatre
T. Chrystian
This course explores Canadian theatrical culture through the work of anglophone, francophone, Indigenous, and immigrant theatre artists, with a focus on community resilience and the construction of Canada's contested historical narrative. Through the study of dramatists such as Michel Marc Bouchard, Drew Hayden Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), Judith Thompson, Michel Tremblay, Kim Senklip Harvey (Syilx Okanagan), and Trey Anthony, as well as productions by artists such as Robert Lepage and the Stratford Festival, students will gain an overview of how Canadian theatre articulates diverse understandings and experiences of "Canada" in both literary and embodied mediums.

ENGL 103 LEC A13: Social Reproduction in Franz Kafka's The Trial
Z. Morrison

ENGL 103 LEC A14: Men and Masculinities in Literature and Media
W. Agorde
This section of English 103 examines how masculinity is constructed, represented, and challenged across literary and cultural texts, including fiction, nonfiction, film, television, and digital media. Students will explore both traditional stereotypes and alternative portrayals of masculinity, using intersectional approaches that consider race, class, sexuality, and other aspects of identity. Key topics include male power and authority, the relationship between the male gaze and masculine vulnerability, and the role of media in shaping gender expectations. Through engagement with gender theory, cultural studies, discussion, and analytical writing, students will critically assess how representations of masculinity both reflect and resist dominant cultural narratives. This course is ideal for students interested in gender studies, media analysis, and the intersections of identity, culture, and representation.

ENGL 103 LEC A15
TBA

ENGL 103 LEC A16: Writing the Future
J. Hurlburt
“Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

How do stories about the future help us reimagine political and personal possibilities for life in the present? While some narratives present future societies as intensified copies of current social and political realities, others challenge where we think the world is heading and offer radically different possibilities. We will examine a range of horror and science fiction works—including short stories, true crime, table top role playing games, films, and a novel—with a major emphasis on queer voices. We will look at how these texts explore urgent social concerns ranging from class inequality to environmental degradation to Indigenous self-determination to AI doomerism.

ENGL 103 LEC A17: Hamlet on Film
C. Sale
This course guides students in developing writing and research skills vital to success in a university degree in relation to close-reading of Shakespeare’s most famous play and the study of four film versions, two of them quite radical adaptations: Grigori Kozintsev's Russian Hamlet (1964), Michael Almeredya's turn-of-the-millenium Hamlet (2000), Akira Kurosawa’s film noir adaptation The Bad Sleep Well (1960) and the Tibetan Prince of the Himalayas (2006), by the Chinese-American filmmaker Sherwood Hu.

ENGL 103 LEC A18: TOYS and PLAY! (Literary Representations and Sociopolitical Dimensions)
E. Harris
“My friends are toys. I make them.”
Sebastian, Bladerunner (Film)

In his famous essay “The Philosophy of Toys” (1853), French poet and “enfant terrible” Charles Baudelaire proposed that our earliest childhood play with toys signifies our initiation “into art” and also introduces ideas of “beauty.” Together, we will study a wonderland of literary representations of toys across genres and cultures. We will encounter soldiers, puppets, dolls and robots in fiction, poetry, essays, fairy tales (and in visual and performing arts). We will apply research, writing and discussion towards exploring the social and political implications of these toys (which range from instruments of socialization and normativity, to figures of queerness, transgression, Indigeneity, and alterity).

At the back of our minds, let us ask: Can research, interpretation and metaphor also be forms of play (as Alan Levinovitz proposes)?

Course texts include: Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky (poetry), and the children’s book William’s Doll (by Charlotte Zolotow) - among many others.

ENGL 103 LEC A19
TBA

ENGL 103 LEC A20
TBA

ENGL 103 LEC A21: Video Games and Game Studies
G. Blomquist
How does research matter to reading and understanding video games as “literary texts,” broadly conceived? In this course, we will pursue literary research through case studies in video games and their effects. This research helps us to understand video games in particular locations, histories, contexts, and debates. Students can expect to learn about, and put into practice, the stages in a research process, from identifying a research question or problem, to finding and evaluating useful supplementary materials, and learning about how to place their ideas in conversation with the knowledge they build from research.

ENGL 103 is intended to introduce students to university-level literary research; it is also focused on developing students’ skills in critical writing at the university level, with a particular emphasis on research essay writing. A minimum of 30% of class time will thus be devoted to writing instruction. This instruction can take many forms, including graded written assignments, informal writing exercises, writing workshops, stylistic analysis, and peer editing. During the course, students will write at least 3000 words.

ENGL 103 LEC A22: Fantasy and Reality: Conversations and Contestations
L. Robertson
The specific focus of this section will be on texts that explore and inhabit the complicated and shifting boundary between fantasy and reality. What are fantasy and myth for? What is the relationship between the realistic and the fantastical or the mythical? What are the moral and ethical issues at stake in the realistic and in the fantastical or the mythical? What purposes does each serve, in our lives and in the stories we tell? Through a variety of texts—including genres like the fairy tale, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and horror—written across a wide period of time, from the sixteenth century to the present, we will examine how and to what purposes different writers have used fantasy and the mythic in their work.

ENGL 103 LEC A23: Men and Masculinities in Literature and Media
W. Agorde
This section of English 103 examines how masculinity is constructed, represented, and challenged across literary and cultural texts, including fiction, nonfiction, film, television, and digital media. Students will explore both traditional stereotypes and alternative portrayals of masculinity, using intersectional approaches that consider race, class, sexuality, and other aspects of identity. Key topics include male power and authority, the relationship between the male gaze and masculine vulnerability, and the role of media in shaping gender expectations. Through engagement with gender theory, cultural studies, discussion, and analytical writing, students will critically assess how representations of masculinity both reflect and resist dominant cultural narratives. This course is ideal for students interested in gender studies, media analysis, and the intersections of identity, culture, and representation.

ENGL 103 LEC A24
S. Webb

ENGL 103 LEC A25: TOYS and PLAY! (Literary Representations and Sociopolitical Dimensions)
E. Harris
“My friends are toys. I make them.”
Sebastian, Bladerunner (Film)

In his famous essay “The Philosophy of Toys” (1853), French poet and “enfant terrible” Charles Baudelaire proposed that our earliest childhood play with toys signifies our initiation “into art” and also introduces ideas of “beauty.” Together, we will study a wonderland of literary representations of toys across genres and cultures. We will encounter soldiers, puppets, dolls and robots in fiction, poetry, essays, fairy tales (and in visual and performing arts). We will apply research, writing and discussion towards exploring the social and political implications of these toys (which range from instruments of socialization and normativity, to figures of queerness, transgression, Indigeneity, and alterity).

At the back of our minds, let us ask: Can research, interpretation and metaphor also be forms of play (as Alan Levinovitz proposes)?

Course texts include: Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky (poetry), and the children’s book William’s Doll (by Charlotte Zolotow) - among many others.

ENGL 103 LEC A26: Video Games and Game Studies
G. Blomquist

How does research matter to reading and understanding video games as “literary texts,” broadly conceived? In this course, we will pursue literary research through case studies in video games and their effects. This research helps us to understand video games in particular locations, histories, contexts, and debates. Students can expect to learn about, and put into practice, the stages in a research process, from identifying a research question or problem, to finding and evaluating useful supplementary materials, and learning about how to place their ideas in conversation with the knowledge they build from research. 

ENGL 103 is intended to introduce students to university-level literary research; it is also focused on developing students’ skills in critical writing at the university level, with a particular emphasis on research essay writing. A minimum of 30% of class time will thus be devoted to writing instruction. This instruction can take many forms, including graded written assignments, informal writing exercises, writing workshops, stylistic analysis, and peer editing. During the course, students will write at least 3000 words

ENGL 103 LEC X01: Fantasy and Reality: Conversations and Contestations
L. Robertson
The specific focus of this section will be on texts that explore and inhabit the complicated and shifting boundary between fantasy and reality. What are fantasy and myth for? What is the relationship between the realistic and the fantastical or the mythical? What are the moral and ethical issues at stake in the realistic and in the fantastical or the mythical? What purposes does each serve, in our lives and in the stories we tell? Through a variety of texts—including genres like the fairy tale, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and horror—written across a wide period of time, from the sixteenth century to the present, we will examine how and to what purposes different writers have used fantasy and the mythic in their work.

ENGL 103 LEC X02: Resistance Literature
O. Olutola
This section of ENGL 103 focuses on literary acts of resistance. Through close analysis of selected texts and critical essays, students explore how writers use storytelling to confront and critique the status quo, particularly in relation to identities shaped by class, gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic oppression. The course emphasizes scholarly research practices, guiding students as they investigate how resistance is represented, constructed, and challenged in literature. By the end of the term, students will be able to identify, analyze, and critically evaluate the ways literary works engage with systems of power.

ENGL 103 LEC 800: The City in Afro-Canadian Narratives
O. Salawu
In this course, we will examine how the city in Afro-Canadian narratives contributes to our understanding of issues such as belonging, class, identity, sexuality, gender, history, and anti-Black racism in Canada. The course broadly conceives Afro-Canadian narratives to include film, short story, poems, and narrative fiction. We will examine how different depictions of the city and urban events shape our knowledge of Afro-Canadian life. This course encourages students to think critically about how the city is imagined in Afro-Canadian narratives and how it can be studied. A common goal in ENGL 103 Sections like this one is to introduce students to research methods in literary/cultural studies. In the class, students can expect to learn about and put into practice stages of research from locating the problem to drafting a thesis, evaluating primary sources, joining scholarly conversations, and filling gaps in Afro-Canadian urban studies. The primary goal of this course is to build your knowledge of research methods. We will study the city in Afro-Canadian narratives to fulfill that.

ENGL 103 LEC 801
J. Katelnikoff

ENGL 103 LEC F20A: Reading Historical Fiction: Narratives of War
R. Prusko
This section of English 103 will focus on Tim O’Brien’s account of the Vietnam War in his 1990 collection of linked short stories, The Things They Carried. We will emphasize the relationship between representation and history as we read selected stories closely and progress through the stages of literary research.

ENGL 103 LEC F20B: Science Fiction as a Mode of Speculation
T. Chrystian
This course serves as a unique introduction to Science Fiction (SF) that both engages with and moves beyond the adventure-based narratives from which the genre largely originates. Approaching SF as a response to our modern technological environment, as an artistic practice through which we think beyond the event horizon of the future, and as a privileged genre of global diversity, the course takes an expansive approach to science fiction as a mode of speculation. While students can expect to engage with foundational or "traditional" works of SF, they will also explore how theatre, visionary architecture, industrial design, music, dance, and visual culture intersect with and expand the literary and cinematic traditions of the genre. Running throughout this course will also be an emphasis on developing the skills required for creative academic research at the university level.

ENGL 103 LEC F20C: Science Fiction as a Mode of Speculation
T. Chrystian
This course serves as a unique introduction to Science Fiction (SF) that both engages with and moves beyond the adventure-based narratives from which the genre largely originates. Approaching SF as a response to our modern technological environment, as an artistic practice through which we think beyond the event horizon of the future, and as a privileged genre of global diversity, the course takes an expansive approach to science fiction as a mode of speculation. While students can expect to engage with foundational or "traditional" works of SF, they will also explore how theatre, visionary architecture, industrial design, music, dance, and visual culture intersect with and expand the literary and cinematic traditions of the genre. Running throughout this course will also be an emphasis on developing the skills required for creative academic research at the university level.

ENGL 103 LEC F20D: Reading Historical Fiction: Narratives of War
R. Prusko
Reading Historical Fiction: Narratives of War
This section of English 103 will focus on Tim O’Brien’s account of the Vietnam War in his 1990 collection of linked short stories, The Things They Carried. We will emphasize the relationship between representation and history as we read selected stories closely and progress through the stages of literary research.

ENGL 103 LEC F20E: Food, Environment, and Distinction in Literature
J. Lim
This section invites students to study and research on the intersection of food choices, culture, and environment. We will begin with a brief examination of some critical literature on food wastage, food insecurity, sustainability, environmental impacts. From there we will consider, through literature and media texts, the role of linguistic claims such as “vegan,” “clean eating,” “organic,” “eco-friendly” in the formation of identity and cultural status. Our readings will highlight the literary, cultural, social media reaction to (and participation in) modern developments in green living as moral imperative and shifting healthism discourse.

ENGL 103 LEC F20F: James Joyce's Dubliners
P. Torkamaneh
In this course, we use James Joyce’s short story collection Dubliners (1914) as the main literary source to develop critical reading, writing, and research skills. Specifically, we close-read a number of these texts in order to learn how to ask creative research questions, construct arguments, and interact with the works of other scholars. Alongside our reading of Joyce’s fiction, we also discuss Irish & British history at the turn of the twentieth century and integrate cultural and political discourses into our essays. Additionally, we read about and use major approaches in literary criticism such as psychoanalysis, Marxism, postcolonial theory, and New Historicism. Students finish the course by doing a research project that focuses on one or more stories from Dubliners.

ENGL 103 LEC F20G
L. Haynes

ENGL 103 LEC B01: Environmental Change to Place in Literature
C. Scott
This course, “Environmental Change to Place in Literature,” is invested in thinking about human society and culture in relation to environmental changes as stressors become exacerbated in near-future settings—and then mapping these issues as seen through speculative fictions about the future written by various writers considering how and where humanity will choose to live. These scenarios are seen through the lens of fiction as we examine how authors speculate about the future, but also through the lenses of scientific, cultural, and other contributions from the present day that inflect the storyworlds of the impacted characters. What is lost, gained, or altered for human populations as the world that we know adapts or fails to adapt to elements like climate change, resource scarcity, ecological unknowns, pandemics, and/or evolution, etc.? Over the semester, we will consider a variety of speculative living situations for our descendants, and perhaps even our near-future selves, alongside how writers imagine problems, changes, and adaptations that will be important. In part, some of these imaginings about the future are disturbing and, even, dystopian, but we will also consider various “Futurisms”—terms suggesting the imperative and opportunity of forward, generative, and healing cultural movements as conceived by writers speculating about more positive outcomes despite what are currently troubling urban and rural as well as local, regional, and global issues.

ENGL 103 LEC B02
J. Millard

ENGL 103 LEC B03: Environmental Change to Place in Literature
C. Scott
This course, “Environmental Change to Place in Literature,” is invested in thinking about human society and culture in relation to environmental changes as stressors become exacerbated in near-future settings—and then mapping these issues as seen through speculative fictions about the future written by various writers considering how and where humanity will choose to live. These scenarios are seen through the lens of fiction as we examine how authors speculate about the future, but also through the lenses of scientific, cultural, and other contributions from the present day that inflect the storyworlds of the impacted characters. What is lost, gained, or altered for human populations as the world that we know adapts or fails to adapt to elements like climate change, resource scarcity, ecological unknowns, pandemics, and/or evolution, etc.? Over the semester, we will consider a variety of speculative living situations for our descendants, and perhaps even our near-future selves, alongside how writers imagine problems, changes, and adaptations that will be important. In part, some of these imaginings about the future are disturbing and, even, dystopian, but we will also consider various “Futurisms”—terms suggesting the imperative and opportunity of forward, generative, and healing cultural movements as conceived by writers speculating about more positive outcomes despite what are currently troubling urban and rural as well as local, regional, and global issues.

ENGL 103 LEC B04: The 80s in Context
M. Rea
This course introduces students to research methods that put literature in historical context. We will study a diverse range of works produced in the 1980s, from Toni Morrison to Frank Miller, and consider the ways they operate in discourse with the social, political, and cultural conditions of that time. Students should expect to engage with traditional literary works, as well as pop culture, political writing, newspaper articles, advertisements and other cultural artifacts from the 1980s.

ENGL 103 LEC B05: The 80s in Context
M. Rea
This course introduces students to research methods that put literature in historical context. We will study a diverse range of works produced in the 1980s, from Toni Morrison to Frank Miller, and consider the ways they operate in discourse with the social, political, and cultural conditions of that time. Students should expect to engage with traditional literary works, as well as pop culture, political writing, newspaper articles, advertisements and other cultural artifacts from the 1980s.

ENGL 103 LEC B06: Word and Pictures
A. Daignault
In this section of English 103, we will pursue three distinct mini-projects exploring how text and images accompany each other in various forms of literature, and at different moments in history. We will also think about how illustrations are deeply intertwined with printing technology, and how those technologies have changed over time. At the same time, we will use the partnership between text and image to explore different aspects of academic research in literary studies, in the arts, and in the university as a whole. We will Explore the Field with archival research and basic fact-finding about historical printing methods, coming to understand information and technologies that are new to us. We will Explore the Text by paying close attention to how picture books work to generate meaning, and describing this interplay in detail. We will Explore the Conversation by discovering academic approaches to graphic novels and comic books, and then trace how scholars talk to each other about one graphic memoir – Kate Beaton’s Ducks – through articles and essays. A portfolio capping exercise will synthesize these three explorations at the end of the semester, and explore how these three aspects of research yield new questions and paths towards new knowledge.

ENGL 103 LEC B07: Human Creativity in Research
J. Quist
This class is focused on creativity and innovation in the research process, emphasizing the kinds of inquiry and inspiration of which only humans are capable. To techniques of Literary Studies such as library searches and critical reading and writing this course adds Cultural Studies and Creative Writing methods of in-person, in-public experiential learning and sharing. Texts related to the creative processes of writers and thinkers will be examined, interrogated, and experimented with as students conduct their own literary research and grow in creative competence and confidence.

ENGL 103 LEC B08: TOYS and PLAY! (Literary Representations and Sociopolitical Dimensions)
E. Harris
“My friends are toys. I make them.”
Sebastian, Bladerunner (Film)

In his famous essay “The Philosophy of Toys” (1853), French poet and “enfant terrible” Charles Baudelaire proposed that our earliest childhood play with toys signifies our initiation “into art” and also introduces ideas of “beauty.” Together, we will study a wonderland of literary representations of toys across genres and cultures. We will encounter soldiers, puppets, dolls and robots in fiction, poetry, essays, fairy tales (and in visual and performing arts). We will apply research, writing and discussion towards exploring the social and political implications of these toys (which range from instruments of socialization and normativity, to figures of queerness, transgression, Indigeneity, and alterity).

At the back of our minds, let us ask: Can research, interpretation and metaphor also be forms of play (as Alan Levinovitz proposes)?

Course texts include: Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky (poetry), and the children’s book William’s Doll (by Charlotte Zolotow) - among many others.

ENGL 103 LEC B09: Magical Inquiry
N. Beauchesne
How does research matter to reading and understanding literature, broadly conceived? In this course, we will pursue literary research through one or more case studies in literature, print texts, and/or other media and their effects. Research helps us to understand texts in particular locations, histories, contexts, and debates. Students can expect to learn about, and put into practice, the stages in a research process, from identifying a research question or problem, to finding and evaluating useful supplementary materials, and learning about how to place their ideas in conversation with the knowledge they build from research. ENGL 103: Magical Inquiry introduces the skills of inquiry learning and literary research through an exploration of what magic is and what it means across different time periods and cultural contexts. Case studies comprise poetry, fiction, essays, and a play. Whether or not one believes in “magic,” students will learn that magic is a touchstone across all cultures, and has indelibly shaped Western literary traditions. As students develop strong, independent research and writing skills, they will see how some of the finest writers in the English language have been fascinated with the concept of magic.

ENGL 103 LEC B10: Human Creativity in Research
J. Quist
This class is focused on creativity and innovation in the research process, emphasizing the kinds of inquiry and inspiration of which only humans are capable. To techniques of Literary Studies such as library searches and critical reading and writing this course adds Cultural Studies and Creative Writing methods of in-person, in-public experiential learning and sharing. Texts related to the creative processes of writers and thinkers will be examined, interrogated, and experimented with as students conduct their own literary research and grow in creative competence and confidence.

ENGL 103 LEC B12: Magical Inquiry
N. Beauchesne
How does research matter to reading and understanding literature, broadly conceived? In this course, we will pursue literary research through one or more case studies in literature, print texts, and/or other media and their effects. Research helps us to understand texts in particular locations, histories, contexts, and debates. Students can expect to learn about, and put into practice, the stages in a research process, from identifying a research question or problem, to finding and evaluating useful supplementary materials, and learning about how to place their ideas in conversation with the knowledge they build from research. ENGL 103: Magical Inquiry introduces the skills of inquiry learning and literary research through an exploration of what magic is and what it means across different time periods and cultural contexts. Case studies comprise poetry, fiction, essays, and a play. Whether or not one believes in “magic,” students will learn that magic is a touchstone across all cultures, and has indelibly shaped Western literary traditions. As students develop strong, independent research and writing skills, they will see how some of the finest writers in the English language have been fascinated with the concept of magic.

ENGL 103 LEC B13: Food, Environment, and Distinction in Literature
J. Lim
This section invites students to study and research on the intersection of food choices, culture, and environment. We will begin with a brief examination of some critical literature on food wastage, food insecurity, sustainability, environmental impacts. From there we will consider, through literature and media texts, the role of linguistic claims such as “vegan,” “clean eating,” “organic,” “eco-friendly” in the formation of identity and cultural status. Our readings will highlight the literary, cultural, social media reaction to (and participation in) modern developments in green living as moral imperative and shifting healthism discourse.

ENGL 103 LEC B14: Food, Environment, and Distinction in Literature
J. Lim
This section invites students to study and research on the intersection of food choices, culture, and environment. We will begin with a brief examination of some critical literature on food wastage, food insecurity, sustainability, environmental impacts. From there we will consider, through literature and media texts, the role of linguistic claims such as “vegan,” “clean eating,” “organic,” “eco-friendly” in the formation of identity and cultural status. Our readings will highlight the literary, cultural, social media reaction to (and participation in) modern developments in green living as moral imperative and shifting healthism discourse.

ENGL 103 LEC B15
J. Millard

ENGL 103 LEC B16: Monsters in Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson
D. Bargen
J. R. R. Tolkien both had a profound influence on the interpretation of Beowulf and wrote fantasy novels that were influenced by his scholarship. We will be considering how monsters are represented by Beowulf, Tolkien, and Peter Jackson's films based on Tolkien's novels. You will have the opportunity to develop your own topic for research from the course texts.

ENGL 103 LEC B17: Case Studies in Detective Fiction
N. Barnholden

ENGL 103 LEC B18: Case Studies in Detective Fiction
N. Barnholden

ENGL 103 LEC B19
W. DeFehr

ENGL 103 LEC B20
W. DeFehr

ENGL 103 LEC B21: Video Games and Game Studies
G. Blomquist
How does research matter to reading and understanding video games as “literary texts,” broadly conceived? In this course, we will pursue literary research through case studies in video games and their effects. This research helps us to understand video games in particular locations, histories, contexts, and debates. Students can expect to learn about, and put into practice, the stages in a research process, from identifying a research question or problem, to finding and evaluating useful supplementary materials, and learning about how to place their ideas in conversation with the knowledge they build from research.

ENGL 103 is intended to introduce students to university-level literary research; it is also focused on developing students’ skills in critical writing at the university level, with a particular emphasis on research essay writing. A minimum of 30% of class time will thus be devoted to writing instruction. This instruction can take many forms, including graded written assignments, informal writing exercises, writing workshops, stylistic analysis, and peer editing. During the course, students will write at least 3000 words.

ENGL 103 LEC B22: Case Studies in Detective Fiction
N. Barnholden

ENGL 103 LEC B23
TBA

ENGL 103 LEC B24: Detective Fiction and the Academic Process
K. Pabst
What do literary detectives like Sherlock Holmes, C. August Dupin, and Miss Marple have in common with university researchers? They all know that the right question is often more important than the right answer. ENGL 103 B24 introduces students to the principles of academic research by treating detective fiction as a model for scholarly inquiry. Just as detectives gather clues, evaluate evidence, test competing explanations, and construct persuasive arguments, researchers investigate questions through careful observation, critical analysis, and logical, evidence-based reasoning. Through the analysis of academic and literary texts, films, television, and other media, students will learn how to formulate research questions, find and evaluate source materials, navigate academic databases, avoid misinformation, synthesize multiple perspectives, and develop original arguments supported by credible research. Alongside practical instruction in library research, information literacy, citation practices, and academic writing conventions, the course also examines broader questions about the relationship between knowledge, truth, interpretation, and power.

Whether pursuing literary studies or any discipline requiring critical inquiry, students will leave the course with a strong foundation in the methods of academic research and the habits of mind shared by both successful scholars and successful detectives. If you have ever enjoyed solving mysteries, questioning appearances, or uncovering hidden connections, this course will show you that academic research is one of the most rewarding investigations you could ever undertake.

ENGL 103 LEC B25
TBA

ENGL 103 LEC B27: Literature and Freedom
B. Tate

ENGL 103 LEC 850: Graphic Literature: Representing Experiences Through Images and Texts
D. Woodman
Most people are aware of comics – from the comic strips to comic books sold in grocery stores and comic bookstores. However, the field of graphic literature includes comics studies, but more largely, encompasses a vast range of genres and literary/visual styles. Since the foundational work of scholars like Scott McCloud, Hillary Chute, Thierry Groensteen, and Kelcey Ervick and Tom Hart, to name a few, graphic literature has been studied for its contributions to how we represent and interpret through visual as well as textual components. Using a small sample that includes poetry, memoir, fiction and non-fiction, we will explore a diverse range of topics, themes, and styles covering varieties of experiences across the cosmos. Introductory lectures will include references to works such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus, early Indigenous comics by Proudfoot and others, Bishakh Som’s Apsara Engine, and Miriam Engelberg’s Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person.

Specific course texts will be the focus of assignments such as the mid-term and in-class essay. These will assist in learning the critical work of study for graphic literature and help with developing critical analyses. Students will also select from the remaining course texts for their own research project, which will focus on one of the course texts (not used in the mid-term and in-class essay assignments) in the following assignments: proposal development, bibliographic annotation, peer review, and a final essay submission, each with their own graded assignment.
While this course is focused on graphic literature, the skill development it enables will be transferable to many other forms of research and relevant for any critical engagement with representation, interpretation, and cultural productions and practices.

Course texts (proposed):
Leila Abdelrazaq, Baddawi
Clem Martini and Olivier Martini, Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness Julian Peters, Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry
Ram V, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
Richard Van Camp and Christopher Shy, ROTH

Shorter readings of supplementary material may be provided through library links, copyright compliant copies, and a course bibliography.

ENGL 103 LEC X52: Introduction to Creative Research Through the Autotheoretical Text
C. Dingman
This section of English 103 is an introductory course on Creative Research, also known as Research Creation, with a focus on the use of autotheory in contemporary literary texts. We will look at three literary texts that employ autotheory—the practice of situating an author’s personal experiences alongside critical theory and/or research—while investigating the literary genres each text occupies. We will supplement these readings with nonfiction texts and resources such as essays, interviews, podcasts, and news stories related to the primary texts and any controversies surrounding the use of autotheory in their construction. These additional readings will serve as supplementary process documents or guideposts for thinking through your own creative research projects in this course.

ENGL 103 LEC X53: Literary Ecology
R. Costa
What is our relationship with the environment we inhabit? Which species inhabit the same spaces and places as we do? What is our relationship with these species? In this course, you will learn about literary ecology and ecocriticism, the conjunction of literary studies and environmental studies. Students will engage with texts and media related to the environment and human relationships with the environment and its more-than-human species. Assignments will include five research notes documenting the student’s research process (max. 300 words), one research abstract (max. 500 words), and two full papers (max. 1300 words).