ENGL 295 - Spring-Term Seminar in Literary Studies

FDR: HL
Credits: 3-4

Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirement. Students in this course study a group of works related by theme, by culture, by topic, by genre, or by the critical approach taken to the texts. Involves field trips, film screenings, service learning, and/or other special projects, as appropriate, in addition to 8-10 hours per week of class meetings. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Spring 2019, ENGL 295-01: Spring-Term Seminar in Literary Studies: Neo-Slave Narratives (3). Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirement. How does an engagement with the genre of neo-slave narratives help to develop our thought about the institution of slavery across the Americas? Most importantly, how does this body of work force us to reexamine our cultural inheritance? This course addresses these questions via the thoughtful examination of a range of theoretical, fictional, and cinematic texts. This course involves a five-day residency at the Berry Hill Plantation in South Boston, Virginia. While exploring the plantation and surrounding communities, we visit slave cemeteries and some of the most well-preserved slave quarters in the nation. (HL) Wilson.

Spring 2019, ENGL 295-02: Spring-Term Seminar in Literary Studies: Adapting the 19th Century (4). Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirement. This course considers what it takes to adapt facets of the 19th century for 21st-century audiences. We read literary works ranging from “Rip Van Winkle” to “The Tell-Tale Heart” to Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, as well as neo slave narratives, film, and artefact curation that either adapt these works or otherwise engage the difficult questions that emerge out of adapting the 19th century (slavery, empire, etc.). Students think about what makes something literature, what goes into adaptation, and what alternative versions of a given text can show us about their source material. The course includes visits to Monticello and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Students eventually work towards adapting/curating an aspect of W&L’s 19th-century history for modern audiences. (HL) Millan.

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