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Volume CXXXII, Number 2 |
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Major changes for English department
TED REINERT
ORIENT STAFF
The English department has experienced several changes in both course requirements and faculty this semester. The English department has dropped the number of credits in literature of the Americas needed for the English major from two to one. The change does apply to current majors.
"It seemed to us to be unnecessary in a major of ten courses, where there are three pre-1800 courses required, to require more than one course in this area," said Marilyn Reizbaum, chair of the English Department.
The interdisciplinary major in English and Theater is also evolving. Introduced last year and currently in the college catalogue, this major "focuses on the dramatic arts, broadly constructed, with a significant focus on the critical study of drama and literature," according to the catalogue. 12 courses constitute the major.
Pending approval from the Curriculum and Educational Policy
Committee, the updated requirements will still be six courses from each
component, but will be more specified. The 12 requirements include a 200-level
and a 300-level elective in each department and eight from more specific
categories, such as the English department's Shakespeare courses.
"The healthy major is constantly reconsidering itself and revising
itself," observed Reizbaum.
Among other changes, the department welcomes several new faculty members this semester. Veronica Chambers, a visiting writer-in-residence on campus, is teaching a creative nonfiction writing course, and a first-year seminar titled "The Literary Other: Inside Black and Asian Culture," which exploring connections between the minorities through literature.
Aaron Kitch joins the department after completing a Ph.D. in Renaissance literature at the University of Chicago. He is teaching English literature of the Renaissance and a first-year seminar titled "The Canonical Cannibal" this semester. In addition, visiting professor Mark Phillipson is teaching the first-year seminar "Creative Reading" this fall and will teach English 242, "The Romantic Audience," in the spring. According to Reizbaum, Phillipson uses the web extensively in his courses.
The above new faculty members will help replace the void created by several professors who have taken leave this year. Writer-in-residence Anthony Walton is on leave for the year, as is professor David Collings; while professors Celeste Goodridge and William Watterson are on leave for the fall semester only.
A complete list of requirements for the English and Theater interdisciplinary major is available in the College Catalogue.