ENG-3050 Contemporary Literature
This course emphasizes the capacity of literature to intervene in matters of urgent concern-social, political, economic and cultural. The focus will be on either English or American literature of the recent past, though older texts may be read for context. Typically the course will be organized around a particular issue - gender equality, the American Border, environmental writing, etc. Students will learn not only to think more nimbly about the issue at hand, but also to appreciate the unique ways literature can attend to the complexities of oppression, intersectionality, historical memory, etc.