Course Information
Want to know more about the English courses offered this or next semester? Below are the approved courses offered by the Department of English. We've compiled all the details including specific topics and themes so you can choose the classes that interest you. Click on the tabs below to see the classes available for specific semesters.
Course Descriptions
- Courses
- Fall 2025 Courses
- Spring 2025 Courses
ENGL 110
Introduction to College Writing for ESL Students
Units: 3
A writing workshop designed for non-native speakers of English to prepare them to take ENGL 121. Instruction in the fundamentals of various modes of written expression, including English grammar, sentence structure, understanding the importance of audience, editing and revision. Readings selected from non-fictional prose works and film documentaries. Students are encouraged to use the Writing Center, staffed by trained peer-tutors. Every semester.
ENGL 115
Introduction to College Writing
Units: 3
A writing workshop to prepare students to take ENGL 121. Instruction in the fundamentals of various modes of written expression, including sentence work, understanding the importance of audience, editing, and revision. Readings from non-fictional prose works. Students are encouraged to use the Writing Center, staffed by trained peer-tutors. Every semester.
ENGL 200
Writing the Research Paper
Units: 3
A topics course that develops information literacy and critical thinking skills needed to write a well-reasoned research paper. Satisfies Core Information Literacy (CILT) and Core Critical Thinking (CCTH) requirements. Students must satisfy Core First Year Writing (CFYW) prior to taking this course.
ENGL 200
Writing the Research Paper
Units: 3
A topics course that develops information literacy and critical thinking skills needed to write a well-reasoned research paper. Satisfies Core Information Literacy (CILT) and Core Critical Thinking (CCTH) requirements. Students must satisfy Core First Year Writing (CFYW) prior to taking this course.
ENGL 215
Children's Literature
Units: 3
Reserved for students in credential programs. Literary and popular texts produced for children. Emphasis on analysis of how children’s texts construct gender, sex, race, class, family structure, power relations, and violence, for example. Includes phonemic awareness, word analysis, and field experience.
ENGL 220
Studies in Genre
Units: 3
Readings in a type of literature, ranging through periods and nationalities. May include drama, narrative, epic, tragedy, comedy, biography, autobiography, or others. Every semester.
ENGL 222
Poetry
Units: 3
An introduction to the study of poetry. Readings include a variety of poetic forms and range across literary periods and nationalities. Every semester.
ENGL 226
Studies in Literary Traditions
Units: 3
Readings in a particular body of literature, which may be defined formally, topically, ethnically, or otherwise, as it develops over a period of time. Every semester.
ENGL 230
Studies in United States Literature
Units: 3
Readings in some period or aspect of the literature of the United States, including that of underrepresented groups. Every semester.
ENGL 236
Studies in World Literature
Units: 3
Readings in some period or aspect of literature outside England and the United States. Works not originally in English will be read in translation. Every semester.
ENGL 240
Shakespeare
Units: 3
Studies in the plays and poems of William Shakespeare, including the major genres (tragedies, comedies, histories, and romances). Every semester.
ENGL 244
The Alcalá Review
Units: 3
The Alcalá Review is USD’s premier publication venue for undergraduate creative work in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, photography, art, and beyond. This course introduces students to the history of literary and art journals. And through a practical engagement with the arts at USD and with journal publishing, it prepares them, if they choose, to become contributors to The Alcalá Review.
ENGL 250
Literary Foundations
Units: 3
Focuses on texts that have provided a foundation for literature written in English and have a current presence in literary studies. Topics might include the Bible, British Literature to 1800, Ovid, Dante, etc.
ENGL 260
Critical Reading
Units: 3
Focuses on developing skills essential to the major or minor, including close reading, contextualized study via basic criticism and theory, literary devices and genres (at least 2), and fundamentals of literary research. Enrollment restricted to English majors and minors only.
ENGL 292
Southeast San Diego Tutoring Program
Units: 1 TO 3
Practical experience tutoring students in low-income schools, grades K-8. Open to all USD students, regardless of major. Offered every semester for one to three units.
ENGL 294
Special Topics
Units: 1 TO 3
Lower division courses that treat a special topic, genre, or author. See departmental list of offerings each semester.
ENGL 298
Internship
Units: 1 TO 3
Practical experience tutoring students in low-income schools, grades K-8. Open to all USD students, regardless of major. Offered for one to three units of upper or lower division credit. Every semester.
ENGL 300
British Literature to 1800
Units: 3
This course presents a survey of English literature from the seventh century (Caedmon) to 1800, including texts representative of the Old English and Medieval periods, the Renaissance, and the 18th century. Topics will include the evolution of the language and the development of literary/poetic form as well as historical and cultural contexts. Texts and writers usually include Beowulf, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Pope, Swift, and others. Every semester.
ENGL 301
Introduction to Creative Writing
Units: 3
A workshop on imaginative writing, with examples drawn from literature.
ENGL 304
Advanced Composition
Units: 3
A workshop course in the writing of expository, descriptive, and critical prose. This course is designed to fulfill the upper division written literacy requirement for non-English majors; it will fulfill an upper division elective for English majors. Every semester. Students may not receive credit for both ENGL 304 and ENGL 304W.
ENGL 311
Genres and Traditions
Units: 3
Focuses on a literary genre or tradition within a historical or developmental context. Emphasis on literature across time and foundational texts in conversation with contemporary works; attention given to diversity.
ENGL 315
Literary Periods
Units: 3
Focuses on literary periods and movements. Emphasis on: literature across time; literature in historical contexts; foundational texts in conversation with past or contemporary works. Attention given to diversity.
ENGL 319
Topics in Literary Histories
Units: 3
Treats a special topic or theme within literary history.
ENGL 321
Literature of Race, Gender and Sexuality
Units: 3
Focuses on ways of reading literature, cultural formation and theory with a focus on race, gender and/or sexuality. Will include close reading, contextualized study via basic criticism and theory, and literary devices. Will include at least two genres.
ENGL 323
Perspectives on US Society
Units: 3
Focuses on ways of understanding society in the United States, as formed by cultural and literary texts. Attention to the dynamics of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and other critical forms of diversity.
ENGL 325
Literary Theory
Units: 3
Investigation of the values and assumptions that inform literature and literary criticism through readings in important theorists.
ENGL 329
Topics in Literary Cultures and Theories
Units: 3
A special topic that focuses on ways of reading literature, cultural formations, and literary theories. Includes close reading, contextualized study via basic criticism and theory, literary devices. Includes at least two genres.
ENGL 330
Dante
Units: 3
Dante’s Divine Comedy, Vita Nuova, and selected other works in their literary and historical contexts. Texts will be read in English translation.
ENGL 331
Medieval Studies
Units: 3
This course considers literary texts composed from late antiquity through to the 15th century that may be drawn from European and other traditions of the period (Persian, Arabic, Indian, Slavic, Chinese, others). The course may include such topics as: the Heroic age; the Arthurian cycle; the age of chivalry; the Crusades. Texts are generally read in translation. May be repeated when topic changes.
ENGL 333
Chaucer
Units: 3
The life and work of Geoffrey Chaucer, set in the historical and cultural context of late 14th-century England. The course gives particular attention to The Canterbury Tales, as well as to some of Chaucer’s shorter poems. Readings will be in Middle English.
ENGL 335
Renaissance Drama
Units: 3
Studies in the English drama of the 16th and 17th centuries, focusing on such contemporaries of Shakespeare as Marlowe, Jonson, Webster, and others.
ENGL 337
Renaissance Studies
Units: 3
Studies in the literature and culture of early-modern England. Readings may include poetry, drama, and prose, fiction and non-fiction.
ENGL 338
Milton
Units: 3
Studies in the poetry and prose of John Milton, with emphasis on Paradise Lost.
ENGL 341
Eighteenth Century Studies
Units: 3
Studies in British and American literature written between 1680 and 1820. A multi-genre course that may include may and female writers such as Pope, Swift, Haywood, Montagu, Franklin, Johnson, Burney, Jefferson, Burney, Wheatley, Cowper, Burke, Radcliffe. Readings are grounded in the social, intellectual, political and cultural history of the period.
ENGL 342
Romanticism
Units: 3
Poetry and prose of first- and second-generation Romantic writers. May include Blake, the Wordsworths, Coleridge, Byron, the Shelleys, and Keats, as well as European and American Romantic writers.
ENGL 344
Victorian Studies
Units: 3
Poetry and prose of the Victorian period. May include works by Carlyle, Tennyson, the Brownings, the Pre-Raphaelites, Arnold, Wilde, Ruskin, Newman, Mill, and letters, journals, and diaries of the period.
ENGL 348
Nineteenth Century Novel
Units: 3
Readings in Austen, Dickens, the Brontës, George Eliot, Hardy, Conrad, and others. May also include letters, essays, and verse of the period.
ENGL 352
United States Literature to 1900
Units: 3
Readings will include works by Bradstreet, Hawthorne, Cooper, Poe, Twain, Dickinson, James, Whitman, Melville, and others.
ENGL 355
Early United States Literature
Units: 3
Readings may include works by Franklin, Poe, Dickinson, Melville, Hawthorne, Fuller, Douglass, Emerson, Peabody, Thoreau, Whitman, or others.
ENGL 356
United States Fiction 1900-1940
Units: 3
Readings will include works by Crane, Robinson, Dreiser, Wharton, James, Cather, Frost, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and others.
ENGL 357
Modern United States Literature
Units: 3
Readings may include works by James, Adams, Gilman, DuBois, Stein, Wright, W.C. Williams, T. Williams, Baldwin, Rich, Sexton, Lorde, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Ginsberg, Stevens, or others.
ENGL 358
United States Ethnic Literature
Units: 3
Studies in African-American, Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Chicano/Latino, and Native-American literatures. May be taught from a comparatist perspective and include other U.S. ethnic groups. Historical, political, and cultural material may be provided as context.
ENGL 360
Modern And Contemporary Poetry
Units: 3
A selection of poets from early modernists to the present. May include works by Yeats, Stein, Eliot, Stevens, Hughes, Brooks, Rukeyser, Sexton, Yau, or others.
ENGL 362
Modern And Contemporary Drama
Units: 3
A study of selected plays from the past 125 years. Playwrights may include Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw, Brecht, O’Neill, Churchill, Mamet, August Wilson, or others.
ENGL 363
Global Studies
Units: 3
Studies in literatures from across the globe, with a focus on political and social contexts.
ENGL 364
Global Literature and Culture
Units: 3
Engaging with issues of diversity and social justice in a global context, this course examines literature and other cultural forms and media from various geographic regions, including Africa, South Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
ENGL 366
Modern and Contemporary European Literature
Units: 3
Readings may include works in translation by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Colette, Tsvetayeva, Camus, Levi, Duras, Handke, Bernhard, Perec, Jelinek, Drndic or others.
ENGL 367
London Plays in Production
Units: 3
ENGL 367/THEA 367 is an interdisciplinary course taught in London by one faculty member from English and one from Theatre. It will introduce students to the wide diversity of London theatre in what is arguably the theatre capital of the English-speaking world. Students will read a variety of scripts and see a range of productions in an assortment of venues. In addition, students will participate in field trips designed to provide background, history and context for their theatre experience. Class discussion, two essays, field trips, the integrative core project and the final exam will underscore the interdisciplinary and integrative focus of our study. Students enrolled in ENGL 367 will satisfy core requirements for Literary Inquiry and Advanced Integration. Students enrolled in THEA 367 will satisfy core requirements for Artistic Inquiry and Advanced Integration.
ENGL 370
Modern and Contemporary Fiction
Units: 3
Studies in selected works of recent fiction from around the world.
ENGL 372
Film Studies
Units: 3
Aspects of film as narrative are considered. Topics may include film genres (the silents and early talkies, historical dramas, film noir, cinéma vérité), cinematic adaptation of literary texts, film theory, and the history of film.
ENGL 374
Gender and Literature
Units: 3
Studies in the social and cultural construction of gender in literature and literary theory, as well as the impact of gender on the formation of literary canons.
ENGL 377
Development of the English Language
Units: 3
Studies in the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of the English language; synchronic and diachronic variation; current theories of the grammar of English; theories of language acquisition and contact. Required of teacher credential candidates.
ENGL 381
Intermediate Poetry Writing
Units: 3
Workshop in poetry writing with examples drawn from literature. Prerequisites: ENGL 301.
ENGL 382
Intermediate Fiction Writing
Units: 3
Workshop in fiction writing, especially the short story, with examples drawn from literature. Prerequisites: ENGL 301.
ENGL 383
Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing
Units: 3
Workshop in creative nonfiction writing, with examples drawn from literature. Prerequisites: ENGL 301.
ENGL 385
Topics in Creative Writing
Units: 3
Workshop discussion and analysis of student poetry, fiction, or drama (including screenwriting). Prerequisites: ENGL 301.
ENGL 401
Advanced Poetry Writing
Units: 3
Investigates and hones the craft of poetry. Prerequisites: ENGL 381.
ENGL 402
Advanced Fiction Writing
Units: 3
Workshop to discuss recently published short fiction and students’ stories. Prerequisites: ENGL 382.
ENGL 403
Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing
Units: 3
Workshop to discuss published creative nonfiction writing and students’ own work. Prerequisites: ENGL 383.
ENGL 410
Advanced Writing in the English Major
Units: 3
Fulfills the Core requirement for Advanced Writing, with attention to the literary and scholarly skills needed in the English Major. Students practice all phases of writing, including research, invention, drafting, revision and editing. Topics vary. Required for English Majors. Prerequisites: ENGL 260.
ENGL 420
Advanced Studies in Shakespeare
Units: 3
Advanced writing-intensive seminar focusing on an aspect of Shakespeare’s work: particular plays, poems, genres, themes, theatrical culture, etc. Topic varies. Satisfies CADW. Prerequisite: ENGL 240, or ENGL 335, or ENGL 337, or permission of instructor
ENGL 492
Southeast San Diego Tutoring Program
Units: 1 TO 3
Practical experience tutoring students in low-income schools, grades K-8. Open to all USD students, regardless of major. Offered every semester for one to three units.
ENGL 493
Writing Center Tutors
Units: 1 TO 3
Theory and practice for Writing Center tutors. Consent of Writing Center director required. Every semester.
ENGL 494
Special Topics
Units: 1 TO 3
Courses that treat a special topic, genre, or author. See departmental list of course offerings each semester.
ENGL 495
Senior Project
Units: 3
A capstone course designed to help seniors produce an original research project. Addresses research methods, critical thinking, and writing process. Recommended for students planning on graduate work. Prerequisites: ENGL 260
ENGL 496
Research
Units: 1 TO 3
Students participate in ongoing research projects and publications, under the guidance of English faculty. Current projects include: The Tudor Plays Project and The Alcalá Review. See faculty for more information.
ENGL 497
Senior Project with Advanced Integration
Units: 3
A capstone course designed to help seniors produce an original research project. Addresses interdisciplinary research methods, critical thinking, and writing process. Recommended for students planning on graduate work.
ENGL 498
Internship
Units: 1 TO 3
Internship opportunities in the workplace or community involving writing or reading may taken for credit, with the oversight of English faculty. For more information, and for assistance finding an internship, see the English Department website.
ENGL 499
Independent Study
Units: 1 TO 3
Arranged with the consent of a faculty advisor and the department chair. Restricted to upper division English majors or students who have completed at least one upper division literature course.