Course bulletin view / download PDF:
Gateway Course Required for the Beginning Major
Engl 25000
Introduction to Literary Study
33570 sec. B Tyson Ward M, W 9:30 – 10:45am
33569 sec. D TBA M, W 12:30 – 1:45pm
33571 sec. E Andras Kisery M, W 2:00 – 3:15pm
34252 sec. R Daniel Gustafson T, TH 3:30 – 4:45pm
34251 sec. T TBA T, TH 6:30 – 7:45pm
This course offers an introduction for beginning English majors to the practices and concepts in the study of literature. We will think carefully about literature as a form of representation – about what literary texts mean as well as how they mean. The course will help students to develop a critical vocabulary and method for reading and writing about literature, as well as introduce them to the cultural contexts and backgrounds of various literary traditions. Our readings will explore a variety of genres and styles – short fiction, the novel, narrative poetry, lyric poetry, and forms of drama. Above all, this is a class in reading and (frequent) writing which will emphasize close reading techniques, interpretive approaches, the making of arguments, and the development of individual critical voices in order to prepare students to succeed in advanced English elective courses.
Literature Courses
200- Level courses
Please note: These 200-level courses are designed to introduce beginning students to literary history, critical approaches, and formal terminology. They typically have a minimum of 3-5 shorter assignments, a variety of in-class writing tasks, and assume no prior background in the discipline. For this reason, majors are not permitted to take more than four (4) 200-level classes.
Engl 21200
Language, Identity and Power
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in sociolinguistics)
34253 sec. B Olivia Wood M, W 9:30 – 10:45am
In what ways are languages, identities, and power dynamics entangled? To explore this complex question, we will begin this course by examining an array of linguistic myths, such as “everyone has an accent except me,” “bad grammar is slovenly,” “some languages are just not good enough,” “America is ruining the English language,” and many others. We will also survey linguistic scholarship on cultural perceptions of language, the bonds between identity and language, as well as histories of linguistic variance and change. Building from this knowledge, we’ll consider research illustrating how language is used in education, employment, children’s films, the media, and the courts to identify, subordinate, and discriminate against groups of people.
Engl 21300
Grammar
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in sociolinguistics)
33573 sec. G Danny Katch M, W 5:00 – 6:15pm
This class will provide an overview of the rules of applied grammar, syntax, and sentence structure; an introduction to social and critical theories about “Standard” English and language diversity; and strategies and techniques for teaching grammar and writing.
Engl 25100
Historical Survey of British Literature
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. for either historical survey or pre-1900 literature)
34250 sec. P Elizabeth Mazzola T, TH 2:00 – 3:15pm
English 25100 is a Creative Expressions Pathways course designed for majors and non-majors, introducing students to the literary tradition in England. We will survey its beginnings in Anglo-Saxon verse and end with John Milton’s revision of the epic in Paradise Lost, reading widely and deeply and looking for recurring themes–like the fall of kings, the desire for intimacy, the changing role of the community—while also considering what happens when literacy becomes more common and printed texts start circulating widely. How do stories change when more people are writing and reading them? In addition to canonical works like Beowulf and The Faerie Queene, we will also investigate writings by lesser-known authors like Margery Kempe, Marie de France, and Lady Mary Wroth, aiming to grasp a lively, noisy world where men (and women) transformed their lives by writing about them and reshaped history by wrestling with language.
Engl 26000
Cross-listed with THTR 22900
Studies in Genre: Tragedy
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. for historical survey)
42434 sec. M Daniel Gustafson T, TH 11:00 – 12:15pm
As a literary genre, tragedy refers to much more than just a sad story. In this course, we will explore the history of tragic forms and ideas in literature (primarily in staged drama and in film) and grapple with some important questions: why do people remain drawn to, and even find pleasure in representations of horrific events? Do tragic representations bear a politics, and how have shifting identity politics (over time and across spaces) determined who counts as a tragic subject? What is tragedy’s relation to violence and loss, on the one hand, and communal affirmation on the other? How does tragedy (both old and new forms) help us address our contemporary preoccupations with democracy and its failures; war, refugeeism, and borders; citizenship, social inequity, and the politics of race and gender? We’ll read a selection of plays by ancient Greek authors, by early modern authors (Shakespeare, John Ford, Jean Racine), and by contemporary authors (Wole Soyinka, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Kane, Ayad Ahktar). We’ll also watch some films and discuss some philosophy and cultural theory.
Engl 28000
Cross-listed with CL 28000/FREN 40600
Introduction to Comparative Literature
41981 sec. F Bettina Lerner M, W 3:30 – 4:45pm
This course offers an introduction to the study of literature across different languages, time periods, and genres. It serves as a gateway course for students majoring or minoring in Comparative Literature and lays out the principal methods and challenges of this discipline. We will examine what it means to cross temporal and geographic boundaries in order read texts from different national, linguistic, and cultural traditions in relation to one another as well as in relation to other art forms. This kind of exploration lends itself to a broad range of works including the poems, plays, novels, films, paintings and more that will ground our discussions. We will also read literary theory and criticism as a way of thinking more deeply about the role that language, history, philosophy and social movements have played in the production and circulation of literary texts. Along the way, we will ask and try to answer questions about the relationship between aesthetics and politics, or, more specifically, how gender, race, and sexuality have each shaped how and what we read as literature.
300- Level Courses
Please note: 300-level classes assume some background and prior experience at the 200-level. Students should complete two 200 level courses before embarking on 300 level work; however, they may register for a single 300 level course if they are still completing 200 level requirements. Generally, these classes require two shorter essays and one longer assignment or final paper involving research or reference to secondary materials.
Engl 31722
Cross-listed with JWST 23200
Jews in Film and Fiction
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in ethnic/minority literature)
33463 sec. M Amy Kratka T, TH 11:00 – 12:15pm
This class explores the portrayal of Jewish characters in (mostly) post-WWII fiction and film. It discusses the depiction of Jewish identity and asks what role religion plays in these depictions. It also looks at the representation of women and men, parents and children, the importance of bearing witness to tragedy, and it investigates the way in which stories change when subjected to different media, discussing, in general, the larger questions that are posed by being Jewish in America.
Engl 31923
Cross-listed with JWST 31923
Fantasy Dreams & Madness in Yiddish Literature
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in ethnic/minority literature)
33464 sec. F Elazar Elhanan M, W 3:30 – 4:45pm
Using a trove of Yiddish novels, poetry, film, and comics we will examine the literary representation of the alienated mind. We will question how “mad” protagonists and their creators explore the possibility of self-revelation through fantasy, dreams, and inverted realities.
Engl 35301
Shakespeare I
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in Shakespeare)
34246 sec. M Elizabeth Mazzola T, TH 11:00 – 12:15pm
This course surveys some of Shakespeare’s earlier plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, The Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It. These plays share a deep interest in strategies for maintaining order and upholding power, and they often conclude with patriarchs restored, rebels punished, and legitimate authority renewed or returned. But I also want us to think about the ways these plays always insist on excluding certain figures—even teenaged lovers!–as if to suggest that domestic order and national stability require the policing of boundaries and eviction of foreigners. Where have we heard that before, and how do Shakespeare’s plays expose and challenge ideas about happy families, national borders, rightful kings, and deserving Christians?
Engl 35408
Love in the Time of Dragons
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. for pre-1900 literature)
33567 sec. P Mark-Allan Donaldson T, TH 2:00 – 3:15pm
This course will seek to familiarize students with the tremendous impact of the concept of love during and following the medieval period. It will consider C.S. Lewis’ argument that the focus on love popularized in the courtly romances of Middle Ages was a more impactful ideological shift in human culture than that of the Renaissance. We will examine the classical art of love and 9th century Arabic sources of love literature before engaging with some of the most famous examples of the tradition across the medieval world: the potion induced affair of Tristan and Isolde; the Persian romance of Vis and Ramin; the tortuously split desires of Lancelot as he struggles between his love for Arthur and Guinevere; and the simultaneously satisfying and horrifying relationships of Marie de France. The class will consider what elements of medieval love captivate and endure, and what impact the medieval texts have had on our own culture through the examination of film and music which retains medieval ideas of love. It will look at the relatable and the absurd aspects of love both within historical and contemporary contexts and delve into the plight of the lovers, interrogating why their emotional torture and the anguish of love is so enjoyable.
Engl 36401
War and Post-War in American Literature
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in American literature)
34245 sec. R Keith Gandal T, TH 3:30- 4:45pm
The unprecedented, meritocratic mobilizations for the World Wars and Vietnam effected dramatic social transformations in masculinity, the role of women, gender relations, sexual behavior, and the status of ethnic Americans and African-Americans. This course explores the representation of these mobilization-inspired transformations in modernist and postmodern literature, a brand new project in literary study.
Tentative Texts (with a number of these we will read excerpts):
WWI Ernest Hemingway, “A Very Short Story,” The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms
William Faulkner, Soldiers’ Pay
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby
Katherine Anne Porter, “Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Willa Cather, One of Ours
Thomas Boyd, Through the Wheat
Victor Daly, Not Only War
WWII William Burroughs, Junky
Jack Kerouac, Vanity of Duluoz
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
Robert F. Williams, Negroes with Guns
Vietnam Norman Mailer, The Armies of the Night
James Fallows, “What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?”
Engl 36515
VITAL LEGACIES: Modern and Contemporary American Poets Speak to Us and Each Other
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in American literature)
34050 sec. C Estha Weiner M, W 11:00 – 12:15pm
William Carlos Williams,’ Robert Hayden’s, and W.H. Auden’s vision is a gift to us, as is that of Cornelius Eady, Elaine Equi, and William Matthews. Equi’s inventive lean poems speak back to revolutionary Williams, as he spoke to her, as both of them to us. Eady’s recent project on Phyllis Wheatley speaks back to Hayden’s “Letter from Phyllis Wheatley,” and both of them to us. Auden’s generous wit, personal and political, spoke to multi-dimensional Matthews, as both of them speak to us. This literal and figurative talking will inform our readings and discussions, as well as two essays, a mid-term project, final project, and your constant participation.
Engl 36525
New World Seminar
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in either ethnic/minority or American literature)
37103 sec. F Grazyna Drabik M, W 3:30- 4:45pm
The immigrant experience has been richly represented in American literature since the beginning of the 20th c. Numerous narratives, in fiction and non-fiction, chart the dynamics, variations, and stages of the migration experience focused around the ur-concept of the “American Dream” and the process of “assimilation/acculturation” by which immigrants “become Americans,” espousing promises of a new life. These diverse narratives constitute a fundamental part of American cultural history. More recent works also challenge the literary canon, defined by national boundaries, questioning mainstream values and representation of American identity.
The New World Seminar pays special attention to a complex dynamic of cosmopolitan cities; the pull of cross-continental connections; points of tension characteristic of lives that strive to bridge two worlds, the country of origins and the adopted homeland; and the cultural impact of the massive and prolonged displacement. Many prominent, internationally recognized writers highlight the pain and conflicts resulting from such displacement, but they also explore new options and possibilities contained in the richness of bi-cultural, in-between, and trans-national identities.
We visit multicultural cities of Chicago, New York, and London. Our readings are centered around four novels: Stuart Dybek, I Sailed with Magellan; Chang Rae Lee, The Native Speaker; Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other; and Teju Cole, The Open City. The novels are supplemented by a selection of short stories, essays and poems by Uwem Akpan (Nigeria/ Florida), Rudolfo Anaya (Mexico/ New Mexico), Safia Elhillo (Sudan/ NY), Aleksandar Hemon (Sarajevo/ Chicago), Misha Hiller (Beirut/ UK), Jhumpa Lahiri (London/ New York/ Rome), Jean Said Makdisi (Jerusalem/ Cairo/ Beirut), Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnam/ California), and Charles Simic (Serbia/ New York).
Engl 36909
Working Class and Labor Movement Rhetoric
34107 sec. E Olivia Wood M, W 2:00 – 3:15pm
The U.S. labor movement is experiencing a surge of new growth. Workers at major companies like Amazon and Starbucks are unionizing. In 2023 alone, we saw strikes from Hollywood writers and actors, hotel workers in LA, the “Big 3” automakers, and a very near strike by UPS workers. Higher education itself is one of the labor movement hot spots, with graduate student workers, undergraduate workers, and even student athletes forming new unions. Police repression of campus occupations in Spring 2024 sparked illegal strike actions in several higher ed unions, including 48,000 workers at the University of California and a much smaller number at CUNY. Cafeteria and other service and support staff at Cornell University went on strike during the first week of their Fall 2024 semester, and the university responded by replacing their normal cafeteria food with piles of fruit.
This surge presents a series of critical rhetorical situations with high and immediate stakes: how can workers convince their coworkers to unionize, or to go on strike? How can workers convince others to support their strikes, especially workers in service professions like teachers and nurses? During an organizing drive or a contract campaign, workers and employers wage rhetorical battle with one another during class struggle. An enormous amount of writing is produced. In this class, we’ll examine the different rhetorical strategies and genres that organized workers use to achieve their goals, with a focus on contemporary movements and current events, alongside key historical works of working class rhetoric and rhetorical scholarship. Students will choose a particular working class/labor struggle to work with for the duration of the term and analyze the rhetorics at play in a series of scaffolded activities culminating in a final project.
Counts for English major, English minor, Certificate in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric, and free elective. Prior rhetorical study is helpful but not necessary.
Engl 37111
Musicality in African American Literature
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in ethnic/minority literature)
34930 sec. D Sokunthary Svay M, W 12:30 – 1:45pm
We will be looking at the connections between music and musicality within African diasporic literature in the United States from luminaries such as Du Bois, Baldwin, Morrison (etc) to influential Black musicians in the United States such as Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, Moses Hogan, and via genre from gospel to jazz, even hip hop and soul. This course seeks to find connections between the two artistic disciplines as it relates to African American literary expression.
Engl 37605
Cross-listed with ARAB 31201
Cinema of the Levant
(fulfills Secondary English Education conc. req. in ethnic/minority literature)
42339 sec. E TBA M, W 2:00 – 3:15pm
This course offers an overview of major events and figures through the lens of Arab cinema. In this class, students will explore how cinema serves as both a reflection and critique of historical events, societal changes, and political landscapes in the Arab world. Through critical analysis of films and supplementary materials, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the region’s history and the role of cinema in shaping cultural memory and historical narratives.
400-Level Courses
Please note: 400-level courses are designed for students who have completed at least two classes at the 300-level. Longer essays which involve research and work with secondary materials are typically required at the conclusion of the semester; and students are also expected to demonstrate their familiarity with a range of methodological approaches and critical perspectives.
Engl 46503
Global Modernism
33578 sec. L Robert Higney T, TH 9:30 – 10:45am
“Modernism” is an important term in the study of literary history, and also one of the most confusing and contested. Modernism attained prominence with 19th and 20th century avant-garde artistic and literary movements, but its uses and effects have extended to many places, periods, and cultures. Modernism has always been a global phenomenon. In this seminar, we will read works spanning the 1890s to the 1960s, from the rise of Anglophone modernism in the early years of the 20th century, in London and Harlem, to its influence on postcolonial literatures in Ireland, India, the West Indies, and beyond. What has it meant to be “modern” in these places and times? We will also read a substantial amount of recent criticism and
scholarship on modernism in global contexts. Authors will include, for example, James Joyce, Nella Larsen, Virginia Woolf, Mulk Raj Anand, Jean Rhys, and others. Assignments will include short journal entries, midterm and final research essay, short presentation.
Capstone Seminars – recommended after 24 credits in the major
These courses are strongly recommended upon completing 24 credits in the major and can only be registered with an English Advisor.
Engl 49015
The Gothic and Otherness
34049 sec. 3EF Lyn Di Iorio W 2:00 – 4:00pm
Contemporary culture is characterized by a reawakened interest in “Gothic”—the aesthetic discourse of fear and terror initiated by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto in 1764. This seminar weaves together the critical strands forming the main approaches to the Gothic: American Gothic, British Gothic, Female Gothic, Queer Gothic, the Sublime, the Uncanny, and Abjection. I also propose that the contemporary Gothic aesthetic in our Americas uncovers important issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and class about which there should be much more critical commentary. Consequently, besides the main approaches and classic Gothic texts, we will also put special emphasis on Latin American, Latinx, and African American fiction.
How do Gothic monsters reveal and revel in social tensions? How do revisions of classic Gothic texts improve on the originals? How do Gothic monster tropes fare with repetition? How do terror, horror, mutilation, melancholia, and loss constitute a new aesthetic structuring of the human psyche, linking Freud’s vision of the mind to the dynamics of Gothic villainy and victimization? From Dracula to Get Out, from Shirley Jackson to Mariana Enriquez, why are we so drawn to the Gothic?
Requirements: a paper-based presentation and a final essay or—if you are a creative writer—a short story based on Gothic tropes.
Texts we may read include: Gothic by Fred Botting (a critical overview); A Philosophical Enquiry into Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful by Edmund Burke; Carmilla by Joseph Le Fanu; The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle; Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales; We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; and Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova.
Creative Writing Courses
Engl 22000
Introduction to Creative Writing
42435 sec. 1DE Marc Palmieri M 12:30 – 3:15pm
36398 sec. B Kevaughn Hunter M, W 9:30 – 10:45am
33572 sec. F TBA M, W 3:30 – 4:45pm
36401 sec. G TBA M, W 5:00 – 6:15pm
36407 sec. L TBA T, TH 9:30 – 10:45am
36402 sec. P TBA T, TH 2:00 – 3:15pm
36404 sec. S TBA T, TH 5:00 – 6:15pm
While studying various forms of creative writing, emphasis will be placed on the creative process of writing while encouraging students to find their writing voice.
Engl 22003
Performance Poetry Workshop
37104 sec. C Allen Baez M, W 11:00 – 12:15pm
Performance poetry is a form of artistic expression that combines elements of poetry, storytelling, and performance. Language is active, word equals action, vocals are visible, and sound can be seen. In this workshop we will study the art of performing poetry as the poet hone’s both their creative writing and performing skills.
Engl 22100
Prerequisite: English 22000
Intermediate Creative Writing: Reading as Writers
34052 sec. E Estha Weiner M, W 2:00 – 3:15pm
Reading and Writing go together. This Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop links reading and discussing poems, short stories (fiction), and drama with improving your own writing in those three genres. You will read the texts as readers and writers, becoming more aware of the tools of each genre, as you do so. The readings should act as a catalyst/prompt for your own work. Be prepared to discuss those readings. Then comes presentation of your own first drafts in a workshop format, culminating in a final manuscript, and a required Reading Day. Workshopping will usually be in alphabetical order, to be fair. If we are able to workshop or privately meet about your final drafts, we will. Please attend readings at CCNY and throughout our five boroughs, and consider submitting your own work to college literary magazines.
34051 sec. L TBA T, TH 9:30 – 10:45am
This intermediate creative writing workshop focuses on the continued improvement of student writing through reading and discussing models in literature. This will include poems, short stories, and novel excerpts. The emphasis of the course is on reading texts as writers, and discussion of craft, based on the work of a few published authors considered in-depth. It operates with the belief that writers must read deeply and extensively in order to hone their work.
Engl 22200
Cross-listed with SPAN 32401
Writing Poetry in a Global Context
41984 sec. M Daniel Shapiro T, TH 11:00 – 12:15pm
This introductory creative writing class in poetry, structured as a weekly workshop, will be offered in spring and taught in English; students may enroll in the workshop for 3 credits. The class will help students understand the genre of poetry and will help guide them in writing and revising their own creative texts in English. The lecturer will assign readings of poems by major poets in outstanding English translations, representing various countries, from a number of sources including Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas, in order to discuss literary elements inherent to the genre as well as the role of translation, and to place the reading and writing of poetry in an international context. The readings will underscore the correspondences among various poets (e.g., Whitman’s influence on Neruda; Williams’s on Latino poetry), translators (e.g., Elizabeth Bishop, Langston Hughes, Charles Simic, Mark Strand as translators of Latin American/ European poets), and poetic traditions from around the globe. Students will be assigned written exercises developed from the readings in order for them to employ various elements of literature in their own creative texts; these texts will be addressed and critiqued in open class discussions. There will be a midterm project and a final project that will consist of groupings of complete poems. The goals of the course are to encourage students to attain familiarity with a breadth of international poetry; to discover and develop their unique poetic voices; and to help guide them toward crafting fully realized poems that express universality across cultures.
Engl 23000
Prose Writing Workshop
36408 sec. B TBA M, W 9:30 – 10:45m
36409 sec. D TBA M, W 12:30 – 1:45pm
36410 sec. F TBA M, W 3:30 – 4:45pm
36411 sec. L TBA T, TH 9:30 – 10:45am
36412 sec. M TBA T, TH 11:00 – 12:15pm
36413 sec. R TBA T, TH 3:30 – 4:45pm
In this course the varieties of prose writing, excluding fiction, will be practiced. The class is devoted to exploring such nonfictional forms as personal essay writing, reportage, memoir and biographical writing, sketches and opinion pieces. Throughout the semester students will read exemplary works from each area of nonfiction and will also spend considerable time practicing the genre through continuous exercises given by the instructor each week. Students will also learn to revise their works, respond to their peers’ writing, and work toward one to two major papers assigned for the semester.
Engl 23007
Prose Workshop: Business Writing
36738 sec. NP Pamela Stemberg TU 12:30 – 1:45pm
HYBRID ASYNCHRONOUS
In this course, tailored for students poised to enter the professional world, participants will master professional, clear, concise, and persuasive writing and spoken and visual/graphic communication. They will learn to effectively integrate Artificial Intelligence tools for enhanced communication strategies, applying these in practical business tasks such as resume writing, drafting business memos, developing grant proposals, and creating engaging presentations. Through case studies, possibly derived from introductory business courses, students will confront real-world business challenges, applying traditional and AI-enhanced methods. The course also emphasizes developing collaborative and public speaking skills through group work and presentations. Additionally, students will cultivate the art of revision and editing, leveraging instructor and peer feedback to refine their communication skills. This comprehensive approach ensures students are well-prepared for the modern business environment, equipped with communication skills and a deep understanding of how AI can enhance these skills in various business contexts.
Engl 32000
Prerequisite: English 22100
Workshop in Fiction
34249 sec. D Dalia Sofer M, W 12:30 – 1:45pm
This biweekly workshop aims to support you in becoming a more astute reader and writer of fiction. It is only to be taken by those who have already completed ENGLISH 22100. In the first part of the course, we will read and discuss a range of short stories and novel excerpts, focusing on various elements of craft—including point of view, character, narrative tension, form, and language. You will also complete brief writing exercises (sometimes in class) and assignments inspired by the readings. In the second part of the course, we will critique your manuscripts—short stories or excerpts from longer works—and again we will address questions of narrative and craft. The aim of our discussions will be to support you in your writing process, spark new ideas, and help you become a better editor of your own work.
34248 sec. R Mark J. Mirsky T, TH 3:30 – 4:45pm
The Advanced Fiction Workshop requires that a student submit at least 35 pages of original fiction. It can be in the form of short stories, the beginning of a novel or novella. The instructor will also assign several assignments to students in the class, and these pages will count as well toward the minimum page count.
I have taught this class now off and on at the graduate and undergraduate level. It assumes that students have read some fiction in the past and are willing to read stories that I will assign and discuss in class as models of what I consider successful work. What I am interested in listening for, when I read a story, is whether the author has a voice, a voice that is unique to him or her. Have you taken the experience of your own life or a life that you know well, in your family, or the streets you grew up in, and wrestled with its riddles. Have you dared to tell a story that it takes courage for you to tell?
At the very beginning of the Advanced Fiction Workshop we will ask what makes a story successful. Short stories will be assigned from the work of Joyce Carol Oates, Donald Barthelme, Robert Creeley, James Joyce, Henry James, Grace Paley, Franz Kafka, James Baldwin, Isaac Babel, Jorge Luis Borges and the pages of Fiction, a magazine which I have served as the editor of since its founding in 1972.
Engl 32004
Prerequisite: English 22100
Craft of the Novel
34247 sec. S Keith Gandal T, TH 5:00 – 6:15pm
This is not a workshop but rather an analytic “craft” course. In this course, you are not being asked to write creatively but instead to analyze novels from the writer’s point of view. Your writing assignments will be analytic essays. We will not be concerned, as in literature courses, with meaning or historical context, but rather with the construction of a novel.
We will look at just a few texts as we analyze all aspects of the novel-writing craft: plot and action; conflict and suspense, promises and questions; setting a scene; openings, climaxes, and endings; issues of pacing; issues of style; characters; flashbacks, background information, and reveal; dialogue and description; sense of place and time; interior monologue, and so on.
The focus will be on dramatic structure, which involves many of these elements—and whose effective achievement makes a book exciting to read. Dramatic structure is complex and counterintuitive, and thus we will use an analytic “textbook” on novel writing (the one I feel is the best on the subject).
Regarding the choice of texts: Iris Murdoch is a British literary novelist; the novels of hers we’ll be reading were published in the 60s and 70s. She has won a number of prizes, including the most prestigious British award for a novel, the Booker Prize, and she is arguably one of the great novelists in English in the second half of the 20th century.
This course was initially a response to student requests; another request was the use of my own work, of whose construction I obviously have full insider knowledge—and so provides a special opportunity for students to get an example of how a publishable creative text gets conceived, put together, and edited. The work of mine I’d like to use is a memoir—and memoirs have to have dramatic structures like novels—but this is something we will decide as a class.
Tentative Texts:
Jack Bickham, Writing Novels That Sell
Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head, A Fairly Honorable Defeat
Keith Gandal, Firsthand, A Comic Memoir
Engl 32100
Prerequisite: English 22100
Workshop in Poetry
33568 sec. G Michael Montlack M, W 5:00 – 6:15pm
Sometimes the muses just don’t show up. Or not as often as we’d like. This workshop is designed to lure them to your door and keep them coming back—through reading contemporary poets, discussing their techniques and styles, then incorporating them in some fashion into your own poems, even if it’s just as a source of inspiration. Drafts will be workshopped and revised on a weekly basis. Topics will include Portrait, Form, Imitation, Narrative, Repetition, and Direct Address. In addition, there will be some time spent on ways to revise more bravely, going beyond line edits and actually re-seeing poems.
There will be occasional in-class writing exercises and prompts to get things started. While each assignment is meant to develop an element of craft, you will be encouraged to forge your own voice and style. One aim might be to create a foundation for a chapbook or series. By the end of the semester, five (or more) revised poems will be submitted with a process paper that reflects on what you experienced and learned while creating them—whether it’s about poetry, craft, or yourself as an artist.
List of Interdisciplinary Electives that will be counted toward major requirements
Only one course offered outside of the English Department will count toward the English major requirement
ANTH 20200 (Language in Cross-Cultural Perspective)
ANTH 26500 (Language & Power)
ANTH 26504 (Language & Society)
ASIA (Modern Chinese Literature)
BLST 31891 (Harlem Renaissance)
FREN 28300 (Literature of Contemporary France)
PSC 31650 (Middle East Politics and Literature)
SPAN 28300 (Masterworks of Latin American Literature)
SPAN 45400 (Latino Culture and Literature in the US)
THTR 21700 (Queer Theatre)
WS 31117 (Queer Performance)
WS 32162 (Poetry of the Third Space)
Spring 2025 Publishing Certificate Program Courses
NOTE: Publishing courses are electives. They do not count toward English major or minor requirements, but only toward fulfillment of the Publishing Certificate Program (PCP), or as general electives taken individually. Publishing courses are open to students from all majors and require no prerequisites for registration. Students who intend to complete the Publishing Certificate must “add plan” in iDeclare.
The Publishing Certificate requires 15 elective credits (4 PCP-approved courses + Independent Study OR 5 PCP-approved courses). PCP-approved courses may include 1 select course in art, marketing, public relations, advertising, or economics. For more information, contact the PCP Director, Christina Marie Castro, via email at ccastro2@ccny.cuny.edu.
Engl 32501 – Introduction to Publishing
36497 sec. 2LM Jennifer Buño TU 9:30am – 12:00pm
36500 sec. 2ST Philip Rappaport TU 5:00 – 7:30pm
Introduction to Publishing introduces students to various roles at publishers of trade books (books for the general consumer). The course is designed to provide an overview of the book business—from the role of the author, agent, and acquiring editor at manuscript stage; how books are made and the book-making teams (design, production, managing editorial); and how books are sold (publicity and marketing, sales, distribution). Additional aspects of book publishing to be discussed include legal areas such as copyright and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging).
An important aspect of this course is helping students find their potential niche in book publishing should they pursue the full Publishing Certificate. The course concludes with steps to employment stressing resume preparation, introductory letters to publishers, and interview preparation. The course aims at inculcating professionalism and industry knowledge in students as they prepare for careers in book publishing.
Engl 32600 – Books for Young Readers
36504 sec. 1GH Nicholas Thomas M 5:00 – 7:30pm
A look at the world of publishing for children and young adults! Will include substantial reading and discussion of picture books, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, graphic novels, nonfiction, etc. Will cover all aspects of a publishing house and the business including editorial, marketing & publicity, sales, book finance, printing and production, contracts and negotiation, subsidiary rights, agents, international publishing and translation, etc. Strong focus will be given to helping students prepare for a career in publishing.
Engl 32700 – The Editorial Process
36505 sec. 3GH Daniel Vazquez W 5:00 – 7:30pm
An in-depth look at the editorial process from a corporate and employment-seeking perspective. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the various tasks for which editorial departments are responsible. Students will practice the management and administration of editorial labor in contemporary American book publishing with a focus on the different qualifications and expectations of each of the following roles: Editorial Assistant, Assistant Editor, Associate Editor, Editor, Senior Editor, Executive Editor, Editor-at-Large, and Publisher. Students will also perform various tasks associated with each role, including: compiling comp title lists; writing reader reports, editorial letters, marketing copy, and sales pitches; preparing jacket memos; and brainstorming lists of potential interlocutors for book tours. Includes visits from authors and other industry professionals.
Engl 32803 – Global Publishing
36508 sec. 4ST Edison García TH 5:00 – 7:30pm
Global Publishing offers a comprehensive exploration of international book export. Students delve into key aspects of book production and organizational dynamics, examining the evolving landscape of global publishing pre and post COVID-19. Through case studies and discussions, students learn how to initiate new publishing business ventures and foster collaborative efforts, with a focus on regions such as Asia, India, Europe, Australia, and Latin America. By course completion, students gain a nuanced understanding of global publishing principles, preparing them for careers in the dynamic field of international book export.
Engl 31003 – Independent Study (3 credits)
With an approved, polished, resume and cover letter, students may potentially register for a three-credit independent study that represents an internship in the book publishing field. Registration consideration is given after completion of 4 PCP-eligible courses. Permission and document approval by the Publishing Certificate Program director is required. Email Christina Marie Castro at ccastro2@ccny.cuny.edu
with your request for registration. Requests must be received in advance of your last semester of study.