Information about the Department of English

Office

Location: Engineering and Technology A604
Phone: (323) 343-4140
Website: Department of English

Chair

Linda Greenberg
Email: linda.greenberg@calstatela.edu
(323) 343-5812

Overview

The English Department at California State University, Los Angeles, cultivates students’ imaginations and critical skills through the intensive study of literature and language. Offering programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts degrees, the department provides courses that build on the traditional study of British and American literary history while encouraging students to further explore literary theory and criticism, world literatures and transnational critical paradigms, children’s literature, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, interdisciplinary cultural analysis, and the history and structure of the English language.  Drawing on the richness of L.A.’s geographical and cultural context, the department equips students to see the study of literature and language as both personally enriching and publicly meaningful within their own communities. These broad horizons signal a commitment to both the mastery of literary traditions and the development of new kinds of knowledge, both local and global.

Study in English provokes intellectual and personal development while providing effective preparation for a number of careers. Graduates of Cal State LA’s M.A. program in English regularly gain acceptance to the top doctoral programs in the country; the department’s undergraduate Single Subject Credential option and emphasis on pedagogy help to prepare students for careers in education. Teaching, however, is only one of the many professions open to English majors; the department’s commitment to providing students with rigorous training in textual analysis, research, writing, and critical thinking skills makes graduates attractive to professional schools and a wide array of employers in the legal profession, business, civil service, the non-profit sector, the entertainment industry, and other venues. Whatever their vocation, English majors possess not only practical abilities but also a subtle understanding of the varied ways in which human beings search for meaning and strive to express the complexity of individual and communal experience.

The Faculty

Professors:  Mary Bucci Bush, Michael A. Calabrese, Linda M. Greenberg (Chair), Maria Karafilis, Andrew Knighton, Jun Liu, Lauri Scheyer, Bidhan Roy, Alison Taufer.
Associate Professors:  Christopher S. Harris, Nicole Horejsi, Atef Laouyene.
Assistant Professors: Mais Al-Khateeb, Danelle Dyckhoff-Stelzriede, Laren Heintz, Juan Lamata, Sarah Minslow, Kathryn Perry, Mijan Rahman.
Emeriti: Betty Bamberg, Sharon Bassett, Alfred Bendixen, Peter A. Brier, Roberto Cantú, Hema Chari, John L. Cleman, Saralyn R. Daly, Melvin Donalson, Marilyn R. Elkins, James Garrett, Rosemary L. Hake, Martin Huld, Steven S. Jones, Caroline McManus, Barry Munitz, Elaine Osio, Thomas H. Peterson, Vilma Potter, Ruben Quintero, Sidney Richman, Alice M. Roy, Carl M. Selkin, Timothy Steele, Gaby Stuart, John H. Weston.

Programs

• English, B.A.

• Minor in Comparative and Applied Linguistics and Literacy Studies
• Minor in Creative Writing
• Minor in English

• English, M.A.

• Single Subject Credential - English

Courses

• ENGL 5001 - Theoretical Foundations of Literary Studies
• ENGL 5002 - Research Methods in Literary Studies
• ENGL 5040 - Seminar: Theories of Composition and Rhetoric
• ENGL 5050 - Seminar: Topics in Composition, Rhetoric, and Language
• ENGL 5055 - Principles and Strategies in Teaching Writing
• ENGL 5060 - Seminar: The Writing Process
• ENGL 5070 - Seminar: Writing Fiction
• ENGL 5080 - Seminar: Writing Poetry
• ENGL 5100 - Seminar: Language and Literacy
• ENGL 5190 - Proseminar in Literature
• ENGL 5200 - Seminar: Contemporary Critical Approaches
• ENGL 5400 - Seminar: British Literature
• ENGL 5600 - Seminar: American Literature
• ENGL 5700 - Seminar: World Literature
• ENGL 5910 - Advanced Engaged English Studies
• ENGL 5960 - Comprehensive Examination
• ENGL 5980 - Graduate Directed Study
• ENGL 5990 - Thesis
• ENGL 5995 - Project

• ENGL 1000 - Supplemental Writing Practice
• ENGL 1004 - Introduction to College Writing
• ENGL 1005A - College Writing I
• ENGL 1005B - College Writing II
• ENGL 1010 - Accelerated College Writing
• ENGL 1050 - Argumentative Writing and Critical Thinking
• ENGL 1665 - Introduction to Science Fiction (also listed as LBS 1665)
• ENGL 2010 - Intermediate College Writing (3)
• ENGL 2030 - Introduction to Technical Writing
• ENGL 2070 - Beginning Creative Writing
• ENGL 2090 - Introduction to Playwriting (also listed as TA 2760)
• ENGL 2100 - Language and Society (also listed as ANTH 2300)
• ENGL 2260 - A Journey Through World Cinema (also listed as TVF 2260)
• ENGL 2310 - Gods, Monsters, and Heroes in World Mythology
• ENGL 2600 - Literary Los Angeles
• ENGL 2665 - Race and Ethnicity in Science Fiction (also listed as LBS 2665)
• ENGL 2700 - Why Literature Matters
• ENGL 2710 - Contemporary World Literature
• ENGL 2730 - Fictions of Gender and Sexuality
• ENGL 2760 - Pulp Fictions and Popular Literatures
• ENGL 2800 - Shakespeare and Popular Culture
• ENGL 3000 - English Tutorial: Reading and Writing in the Major
• ENGL 3010 - Advanced College Writing
• ENGL 3030 - Professional and Technical Writing
• ENGL 3050 - Issues in Writing Pedagogy
• ENGL 3060 - Discourse Analysis for Language Studies
• ENGL 3100 - Readings on the English Language
• ENGL 3200 - Readings in Theory
• ENGL 3300 - Readings in Ancient World and Medieval British Literatures
• ENGL 3400 - Readings in British Literature: Renaissance to Modern
• ENGL 3600 - Readings in American Literature(s)
• ENGL 3700 - Readings in Modern and Contemporary World Literatures
• ENGL 3810 - Literary Explorations of Racism and Justice (also listed as PAS 3810)
• ENGL 3815 - Money and Meaning
• ENGL 3820 - The Body in Literature and Culture
• ENGL 3822 - Ethnicity and Emotions in U.S. Film (also listed as PAS 3822)
• ENGL 3825 - Psychology in Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature
• ENGL 3830 - Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture (also listed as TVF 3830)
• ENGL 3835 - Sex and Gender in Language and Literature (also listed as COMM 3835)
• ENGL 3840 - Aging in Literature
• ENGL 3850 - Violence, Ethics and Literature
• ENGL 3855 - Crimes, Scenes, Interpretations: Literature and the Law
• ENGL 3870 - American Indian Literature and Theatre (also listed as AIIS 3870, TA 3870)
• ENGL 3900 - Research Tutorial and Symposium
• ENGL 3910 - Engaged English Studies
• ENGL 3920 - Statement and Literary Magazine Editing
• ENGL 3930 - Introduction to Archival Research
• ENGL 3940 - Introduction to Grant Writing as Community Engagement
• ENGL 3950 - English Major Mentorship and Professionalization
• ENGL 3960 - Introduction to Narrative Practices of Healing
• ENGL 3970 - Internship Supervision
• ENGL 3980 - Cooperative Education (also listed as UNIV 3980)
• ENGL 4011 - Practicum in Tutoring English
• ENGL 4020 - Evolving Literacies, Cultures, and Writing Technologies
• ENGL 4060 - Writing Nonfiction
• ENGL 4070 - Writing Fiction
• ENGL 4080 - Writing Poetry
• ENGL 4100 - Introduction to Linguistics (also listed as ANTH 4710)
• ENGL 4101 - Introduction to English Linguistics
• ENGL 4110 - History of the English Language
• ENGL 4111 - Topics in the History of the English Language
• ENGL 4120 - Language in Space and Time
• ENGL 4130 - Language and Culture (also listed as ANTH 4700)
• ENGL 4170 - Modern English Grammar
• ENGL 4180 - Issues in English Language Teaching
• ENGL 4200 - Topics in Theory
• ENGL 4205 - Signs, Texts, Meaning: An Introduction to Semiotics
• ENGL 4210 - Cultural Studies and Literature
• ENGL 4260 - Film and Literature
• ENGL 4303 - The Bible as Literature: Old and New Testaments
• ENGL 4305 - The Medieval Amatory Tradition
• ENGL 4306 - The Arthurian Tradition
• ENGL 4320 - Anglo-American Modernism
• ENGL 4330 - Transnational Women Writers
• ENGL 4340 - Diasporic Literatures
• ENGL 4370 - Greek and Roman Drama in Translation
• ENGL 4371 - Medieval Drama
• ENGL 4379 - Modern and Contemporary Poetry
• ENGL 4401 - Medieval English Literature
• ENGL 4402 - Dramatic Literature of the English Renaissance
• ENGL 4403 - The English Renaissance
• ENGL 4404 - Seventeenth-Century Literature