ENGL 103 B20: Case Studies in Research: Literature and the Pursuit of Knowledge

Carolyn Sale

This writing-intensive course guides students in building the research skills necessary for the study of literature at the university level, as well as the study of the humanities more broadly. Why do we conduct research, and how do we narrate our results? What does a well-researched and well-argued research paper entail? Students will engage questions about the purpose and ethics of research in relation to two films, Michael Verhoeven's 1990 film The Nasty Girl and Susan Saladoff's 2011 documentary Hot Coffee, before proceeding to developing research projects on Shakespeare's Hamlet. How and what does literature help us know?