Whatcha taaaaakin'?

[dimanche0829]

I'm curious: for those of you taking undergrad/grad/other courses, what sort of goodies are on your plate this semester?

Here's what I'm taking:

Development of the English Language

Rise of the Novel

Contemporary American Literature

Gender and Modernism in Literature

The Victorian Period in Literature

2nd half of Senior Honors Project

[Two Espressos]

This is a fun topic!

I'm taking:

Intro to Shakespeare (required for literature majors)

Intro to Macroeconomic Theory

Intermediate French 1

Major American Dramatists (upper-level seminar)

History of Literary Criticism (an upper-level seminar, easily my favorite, which is taught by one of my favorite professors)

[bdon19]

Oh, wow, you guys have a lot on your plates! The normal course load at my school is only three courses a term (we're on trimesters), and I don't think I like the thought of overloading while also completing applications this term! I also don't want to push my number of credits...I'm already in danger of going over my limits in the English department WAY before the end of next year! ( )

I'm taking:

Independent Study in Critical Theory (hooray! I am super excited for this)

Early American Literature (though I've been tempted to swap this with a new course on the Bildungsroman...decisions, decisions)

Nonfiction Creative Writing Workshop

And then, if I do decide to overload, I'd be taking a Spanish Phonetics course on a Pass/Fail basis to brush up on my language skills prior to submitting my applications!

[Origin=Goal]

My last undergraduate quarter:

Either (1) Introduction to Latin American Culture or 20th century Spanish (Iberian) Literary Movements. Probably the former.

(2) Brazilian Literature, 19th-21st Century (in translation)

(3) Either intermediate Portuguese or Advanced Portuguese Literature and Composition (The latter, if I'm feeling game)

(4) Independent study to finish my honors thesis--then send in those apps

@Bdon, I'd go for the Bildungsroman class (unless Early American includes Hawthorne, he's incredible)

[bdon19]

I'm really tempted to take this Bildungsroman class, especially because the professor contacted me personally and asked me to take it, and she's the only one in my department I haven't taken a course with. However, the Early American class is taught by my adviser, who I haven't taken a class with since my freshman year. It won't include Hawthorne (it only includes 17th- and 18th-c. lit, and my adviser absolutely DESPISES Hawthorne! ), but since my field is 18th-c. British lit, I thought it might be valuable to see what was happening across the pond during the period!

I just can't decide, though. And, no matter how much I'd like to and want to take all four, that's like academic suicide at my school. I've done it before and survived, but there's no way my adviser would sign off on an overload of four English courses when I'm applying to grad school, being the news editor of the campus paper, and being the English department assistant. This is really a tough decision!

[dimanche0829]

Oooooh, go for Bildungsroman! If your school is anything like mine, there will likely be many opportunities to fill up on 17th/18th c. lit along the way.

[bdon19]

Hmmm now I am really tempted. This is the course description:

Are we growing up according to plot? Is our coming-of-age prescripted in the coming-of-age novels we read? This course explores the role of the bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, in shaping who we think we should be, who we are, and who we are becoming as human rights subjects. This course satisfies the global diversity requirement.

I do need to fulfill that requirement. I think this term may be the only opportunity I have to take a 17th/18th-c. American class, but I could very easily get that in grad school, anyway. Maybe I should just go for this one. Nobody is enrolled for it yet, so it'll be a really small class! It sounds really cool, and I think it'll be potentially more theory-based than the other course, which is always a good thing!

[lolopixie]

Jealous. I will be taking personal study, since I graduated from MA program in May. I've got my reading list set lol.

[lyonessrampant]

I'm excited about my first semester of Ph.D. courses too!

I'm taking the following all in the English department this semester

1) Seminar on gender in the early modern period (crosslisted with history and team taught by an English and history prof)

2) Shakespeare (yeah, I'm an early modernist

3) Pedagogy and teaching (I'm a TA for an Intro to Shakespeare course this semester so this course is the support system)

4) Lit theory and Ph.D. colloquium (not a lot of theory, actually, really just some Foucault but lots on the future and structure of the discipline, future of English, and methods for navigating departmental/university politics)

I think I'm going to be busy, but I'm excited!

[Origin=Goal]

Hmmm now I am really tempted. This is the course description:

Are we growing up according to plot? Is our coming-of-age prescripted in the coming-of-age novels we read? This course explores the role of the bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, in shaping who we think we should be, who we are, and who we are becoming as human rights subjects. This course satisfies the global diversity requirement.

I do need to fulfill that requirement. I think this term may be the only opportunity I have to take a 17th/18th-c. American class, but I could very easily get that in grad school, anyway. Maybe I should just go for this one. Nobody is enrolled for it yet, so it'll be a really small class! It sounds really cool, and I think it'll be potentially more theory-based than the other course, which is always a good thing!

There will also be PLENTY of time for theoretical excursuses. I always go by my interest in the reading list coupled with the professor and his/her approach. But fullfilling degree requirements is also an important factor: don't lest us be the reason for your having to take a 5th year

[wreckofthehope]

My first semester as a PhD student looks like:

1. Seminar on "Exile" looking at C20th writers that were exiles in the states.(crosslisted with the Slavic Dep't)

2. The City in American Literature and Culture

3. Issues and Methods in American Studies - required.

I am sooooooooper excited!

Edited September 4, 2011 by wreckofthehope

[Strong Flat White]

Check it out, a theory course called "Biopower" and a special topics "history of embodiment" course that is all to do with the human hand! Yes, a HAND course! (and that's all...)

[runonsentence]

That sounds so cool, Strong Flat White.

Seminars: I'm taking a comp topics course on voice (it will be AWESOME) and WGS couse, Foundations of Feminist Theory.

I'm also in a year-long required course that meets semi-regularly for guest lectures and discussion. Pretty pumped. This year's theme is digital humanities, and one of our guest lecturers is Kathleen Hayles (!!).

[bfat]

I have a pretty light schedule this semester (MA, Humanities)

History of Historical Thought (a seminar in historiography/literature)

Directed Studies--background in literary theory, plus bonus thesis prep!

I'm also taking an online GRE prep course. Fun!

[bdon19]

Just because I'm so excited to finally be back in school, I felt the need to post here. Hahaha.

I'm officially taking the Bildungsroman class, though it ended up being my fallback class after Early American Lit was postponed until next term. It's actually a Topics in Human Rights course, and it is really, really way more awesome than I was expecting it to be. I'm not typically super into postcolonial lit, which is what the prof. specializes in, but I was flipping through my main text last night and realizes that the author writes a lot about the relation of human rights discourse to the eighteenth-century novel, which will be sweeeeeeeet (and make a potentially great paper topic!).

I've also spent all morning doing my first assignment for my independent study in theory, and I'm getting that feeling again that this is exactly what I should be doing. I'd gotten so caught up in the application stuff over the summer that I'd kinda forgotten just how much I really love doing this--reading theory and novels and thinking about the two things in conjunction with one another. Ahhhhhh, it's good to be back!

[ComeBackZinc]

505 Teaching First Year Composition

591 History and Theory of Composition Pedagogy

605 Computers in Language and Rhetoric

680 Writing Program Administration: Seminar in Assessment