Upcoming - Fall 2025

1110: Composition I

Many days, times, and online sections available

Covers Composition I: Stretch I and II in one semester, focusing on analyzing rhetorical situations and responding with appropriate genres and technologies. (EPW)

Credit for both this course and ENGL 1110X may not be applied toward a degree program.

Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area I: Communications.

Prerequisite: ACT English =16-25 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing =450-659 or Next Generation ACCUPLACER Writing =>279 or Lobo Course Placement English Placement Tool = 20 or WritePlacer = 6-8.

1110X: Composition I (Stretch I)

Many days, times, and sections available

First semester of Composition I stretch sequence. Focuses on analyzing rhetorical situations and responding with appropriate genres and technologies. (EPW)

This is the first course in a two-part sequence. In order to receive transfer credit for ENGL 1110, all courses in this sequence (ENGL 1110X, ENGL 1110Y) must be taken and passed.

Credit for both ENGL 1110X and ENGL 1110 may not be applied toward a degree program.

Students with ACT English  =<15 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing  =<449 or ACCUPLACER Sentence Skills =<278 or Lobo Course Placement English Placement Tool = 10 will begin their English Composition Sequence with ENGL 1110X. 

1120: Composition II

Many days, times, and online sections available

Focuses on academic writing, research, and argumentation using appropriate genres and technologies. (EPW)

Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area I: Communications.

Prerequisite: 1110 or 1110Y or 1110Z or ACT English =26-28 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing =660-690 or Lobo Course Placement English Placement Tool = 30

1410.001: Introduction to Literature

Face to Face, TR 0930-1045 (MWF 900-9:50?)

Jesse Costantino, jcostantino@unm.edu 

This course takes a unique approach to the study of contemporary literature and the ways we consume it. While the ultimate goal for this course is to read and understand the concerns and styles of present-day writers, the course also recognizes that “reading” happens in many varied forms beyond printed books, and even beyond digital e-books. The frequent opposition between print and digital reading disguises the important ways that each format has grown increasingly heterogeneous and blended. In fact, despite what many doomsayers claim, we very likely read more now than ever before. There is no overt “theme” that unites the texts we will read in this class; instead, you will learn to be attentive to the ways in which new literary forms better suit today’s needs. By the end of the course, you will have developed an informed understanding of the many different guises that literature adopts in contemporary life. Be prepared to read from a broad sample of texts and to produce regular short written responses, analyses, and creative work. 

1410.004: Introduction to Literature

Online

Scarlett Higgins, shiggins@unm.edu 

In this course, students will examine a variety of literary genres, including fiction, poetry, and drama. Students will identify common literary elements in each genre, understanding how specific elements influence meaning.

2000-Level

1000-Level | 2000-Level | 300-Level | 400-Level

2110.001: Traditional Grammar

Face to Face, MWF 0900-0950
C. Tyer Johnson, ctylerjohnson@unm.edu

In this course, I hope to convince you that grammar is not something to fear; grammar is your friend. You rely on grammar all day and every day, regardless of whether you realize it. As a speaker of English, you have an enormous repository of grammar information. This course will use that intuitive, unconscious knowledge of grammar to create an explicit, conscious roadmap of English grammar so that you can be more confident of your communicative choices. By the end of the semester you will have the ability to:  

• Recognize word forms and explain their functions in phrases and sentences; 
• Identify sentence constituents and analyze common sentence patterns; 
• Recognize and understand structural relationships among verb phrases, noun phrases, and adverbial and adjectival modifying phrases and clauses; 
• Demonstrate flexibility of composition through phrase modification, nominalization, and other writing strategies that employ knowledge of grammatical forms and functions; 
• Distinguish differences of prescriptive and descriptive grammar.

2120.001: Intermediate Composition: A Study of Work, Class, and Fulfillment in Media

Face to Face, MWF 0900-0950
Paris Baldante, pbaldante@unm.edu 

In this course, we’ll look at media that addresses the intersection of and conflict between our dreams and our jobs. Many of us have been told to readjust our career expectations and aim for more practical and realistic goals. But where do work and happiness converge? Class conflict and the role of labor in our lives will be a major topic of discussion. Other inquiries we will delve into include: Is consumerism inescapable? How does industrialization and automation impact us? What is the role of bureaucracy? Are labor movements any match for corporations? Is “do what you” even good advice?

2120.002: Intermediate Composition: Medieval Monsters

Face to Face, MWF 1100-1150
Sydney Brazil, sbrazil1@unm.edu 

The definition of what makes a “monster” shifts between different cultures and time periods. This course will explore the cultural influences of the construction of monstrosity and the differing presentations of monstrosity in medieval literature. In this class, we will draw on Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Theory: Reading Culture to define and explore medieval monstrosity, as well as to see how medieval monstrosity subverts or contrasts with Cohen’s assertions. Students will read a variety of texts from medieval literature, examine how definitions of monstrosity reveal the anxieties of a culture, and engage with modern representations of these monsters to supplement the material.

2120.003: Intermediate Composition: Defiining Queer

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350
Zach Matthews, zqmatthews@unm.edu 

What does it mean to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, or queer and what role does the media we consume have in defining our understanding of these identities? Through this course we will read queer short stories and short films with the goal of questioning not just how various queer identities are defined but if they should be defined to begin with. While this course will be focused on narratives that have been recently published, we will explore the past, present, and future to understand where traditional definitions come from, what they mean, and what they may become.

2120.004: Intermediate Composition: Monstrous Feminine Figures

Face to Face, TR 1400-1515
Avery Armstrong, karmstrong4@unm.edu 

From Medusa to Midsommar, monstrous women have haunted the stories we tell ourselves and each other. This course will explore how myth, politics, crime, film, and video games have portrayed women who defy the confines of humanity. Students will use critical lenses such as monster theory and feminist theory in combination with primary text and modern publications to examine how societal expectations impact monster-making. Final projects will ask students to propose their own adaptation of an infamous monster based on the conclusions they’ve drawn through the semester. Together we will do the critical work to uncover what makes a woman truly monstrous.

2120.005: Intermediate Composition: Bodies in the City: Urban Narratives, the Politics of Place, and the Lived Experience

Face to Face, TR 1230-1345
Maryam Tadayon, mtadayon@unm.edu 

How do cities shape who we are, and how do our bodies navigate, resist, and redefine urban space? If you've ever wondered how the places we live in influence our identities, movements, and opportunities, this course invites you to explore urban life as both a physical and symbolic landscape. Bodies in the City examines the politics of place and embodiment through literature, film, critical theory, and composition. Students will write in multiple genres—autoethnography, critical analysis, and research-based writing—to examine issues such as gentrification, surveillance, mobility, and marginalized urban experiences. Through personal observation, evaluating sources, and composing multimodal projects, students will refine their academic and professional writing skills.

2120.006: Intermediate Composition: The Best Medicine: Humor in Contemporary American Literatures, Films, and Art

Face to Face, TR 930-1045
Wendi Lee, wwlee19@unm.edu 

This course will examine humor in contemporary American literatures, films, art, and other multimodal representations and its impact on activism, culture and history. Humor and comedy refer to methods of communication (stories, performance, cinematography etc.) that convey certain messages and insights about the world, environment, society, and community we live in. We will examine how humor literature is a powerful form of storytelling through literary texts, films and art, and its influence on social disruption, change, and unification between peoples and within societies. We will discuss texts, films and art forms from all facets of American society, ranging from Caucasian-American, African-American, Asian-American and Native American.

2120.007: Intermediate Composition: Love Is What Binds Us: The Representation of “Modern Families” in Media

Online
Lucas Garcia, lgarcia20@unm.edu 

The “family” as a social unit and arrangement has long been a site of cultural preoccupation, and “modern” families all the more so. This class will ask students to encounter and analyze representations of “modern” families in a range of media, and to approach questions and topics that emerge in the making and keeping of these “modern” families through focused research. Students will consider emergent questions through a variety of lenses, including but not limited to queerness, race, adoption, migration, class, etc. and ultimately posit an answer to the questions: What makes a family “modern,” and what will “family” mean in the future?

2210: Professional & Technical Communication

Many days, times, and online sections available

Professional and Technical Communication will introduce students to the different types of documents and correspondence that they will create in their professional careers. This course emphasizes the importance of audience, document design, and the use of technology in designing, developing, and delivering documents. This course will provide students with experience in professional correspondence and communicating technical information to a non-technical audience. (EPW)

Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area I: Communications.

Prerequisite: 1120 or ACT English =>29 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing =>700.

Course description video

2240.001: Intro to Studies in English

Face to Face, T 1230-1345

1H *This course is scheduled for the FIRST eight weeks*

Diane Thiel, dthiel@unm.edu

English 2240 is a one-credit, eight-week class that brings together students majoring in English. It is a required course and must be taken before embarking on the major coursework. Students are introduced to the subfields of rhetoric and professional writing, creative writing, and literary studies. Students will be introduced to the life of the department through in-person class visits with faculty members, attendance at departmental events, and a variety of additional online readings and discussions. Some class sessions will include conversations about employment or opportunities for graduate school. The final task will be to craft a letter of intent documenting an intended course of study and future goals.

2240.002: Intro to Studies in English

Face to Face, W 1300-1350

2H *This course is scheduled for the SECOND eight weeks*

Diane Thiel, dthiel@unm.edu

English 2240 is a one-credit, eight-week class that brings together students majoring in English. It is a required course and must be taken before embarking on the major coursework. Students are introduced to the subfields of rhetoric and professional writing, creative writing, and literary studies. Students will be introduced to the life of the department through in-person class visits with faculty members, attendance at departmental events, and a variety of additional online readings and discussions. Some class sessions will include conversations about employment or opportunities for graduate school. The final task will be to craft a letter of intent documenting an intended course of study and future goals.

2310.001: Introduction to Creative Writing

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350

TBA,

This course will introduce students to the basic elements of creative writing, including short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Students will read and study published works as models, but the focus of this "workshop" course is on students revising and reflecting on their own writing. Throughout this course, students will be expected to read poetry, fiction, and non-fiction closely, and analyze the craft features employed. They will be expected to write frequently in each of these genres. Prerequisite: 1110 or 1110Y or 1110Z.

2310.002: Introduction to Creative Writing

Face to Face, TR 1100-1215

TBA, 

This course will introduce students to the basic elements of creative writing, including short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Students will read and study published works as models, but the focus of this "workshop" course is on students revising and reflecting on their own writing. Throughout this course, students will be expected to read poetry, fiction, and non-fiction closely, and analyze the craft features employed. They will be expected to write frequently in each of these genres. Prerequisite: 1110 or 1110Y or 1110Z. 

2310.007: Introduction to Creative Writing

Online

TBA,

This course will introduce students to the basic elements of creative writing, including short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Students will read and study published works as models, but the focus of this "workshop" course is on students revising and reflecting on their own writing. Throughout this course, students will be expected to read poetry, fiction, and non-fiction closely, and analyze the craft features employed. They will be expected to write frequently in each of these genres. Prerequisite: 1110 or 1110Y or 1110Z.

2510.001: Analysis of Literature

Face to Face, TR 0930-1045

Jesus Costantino,

This course is an introduction to literary analysis and writing applied to literary techniques, conventions, and themes. In the process, you will also become familiar with the history of the primary mediums, forms, and genres that fall under the auspices of the “literary,” including prose, verse, illustrated text, oral text, digital text, and so on. Students will learn how to write focused literary analyses, demonstrating their understanding of biographical, critical, cultural, and historical contexts of various writers and genres. Students will also learn proper documentation, as well as other skills, such as quoting, paraphrasing, and integrating sources, both primary and secondary. By the end of the course, you will have developed an informed understanding for how to write, research, and talk about literature in its many historical, geographical, and culturally-specific guises.

2510.002: Analysis of Literature

Online

Scarlett Higgins, shiggins@unm.edu 

English 2510 is the gateway course to the English major. In it you will learn the fundamental skills needed for textual analysis in literary and cultural studies, including critical reading practices, the construction of an argument, the use of textual evidence to support an argument, and the best practices for bringing all of these skills together in a research essay.

To do so, you will study a variety of texts in the major genres (literary fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as film and graphic novels), many of which have then been adapted, transformed, or created as an homage to a text in a different genre. Close analysis of these texts will allow us to see clearly the ways that concepts of genre, inherently involving reader/viewer expectations, affect our reading practices.

2610.001: American Literature I

Face to Face, TR 1100-1215
Melina Vizcaino-Aleman, mviz@unm.edu 

This course surveys American literature from the time of contact and conquest to the first half of the nineteenth century. It begins with a critical consideration of the term “America” before delving into the writings of Puritan settlement and Spanish colonization and the impact of both on Native American communities. In addition to focusing on the early writings of contact and colonization, including major English and Spanish writers, the class will also consider Native American creation stories, oral narratives, and other folk narratives, before moving into captivity narratives, religious poetry, and the slave narrative. The course covers writing from the Enlightenment and Revolutionary era, and it pays particular attention to the ways conquest, territorial expansion, and slavery inform the major genres and literary movements that define early American literature. Fulfills a pre-1830 literature survey requirement for the English major. Assignments include in-class and on-line discussion forums; three analysis essays; and three exams. Required text includes Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: A Norton Critical Edition, 2^nd edition, ed. Frances Smith Foster and Richard Yarborough. Additional readings available on UNM Canvas.

2620.001: American Literature II

Face to Face, MWF 1100-1150
Bernadine Hernandez, berna18@unm.edu

In this course, we will survey the development of U.S. literary history from the end of the civil war (1865) to the present as we examine a diverse scope of authors and major literary movements, styles, and forms in the development of the nation. We will be looking at the major literary movements and consider texts in the context of new poetics, realism, naturalism, modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, postmodernism, creative non-fiction and the contemporary and neo-slave novel. We will also link historical moments, such as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, The Civil War, Reconstruction, the World Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement to literary styles, genres, and movements.  Simultaneously, as we attempt to understand the characteristic and importance of each movement, we will also examine that many authors and texts resist easy categorization and what literary innovations they use to comment and respond to a changing nation. Additionally, we will look at how processes of differentiation, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality manifest throughout American history.  Over the course of the semester, we will be supplementing and complementing our readings and discussions of later American literature in two ways: first, to think about this literature within a larger cultural context, we will look at it alongside other media from the period, including film, music, and art. Additionally, we will incorporate digital tools for literary and cultural study as a way of interpreting American literature of this period.

2630.001: British Literature I

Face to Face, MWF 1200-1250
TBA, 

This course is a survey of literary works produced in Britain from the early Middle Ages to the close of the 18^th century. Readings include the epic Beowulf, the romance Sir Orfeo, medieval and Renaissance drama, the poetry of John Donne, Eliza Haywood’s novel Fantomina and the memoir of Olaudah Equiano. The goal of the course is both to gain an understanding of the development of literary forms and traditions as well as to put texts into conversation with each other in order to gain a sense of both the history and the variety of human experience.

2640.001: British Literature II

Face to Face, MWF 1000-1050
Belinda Wallace, bwallace@unm.edu 

In this survey of British and Irish Literature, students will be introduced to key authors and works from the late 18th century to the modern era. To add structure to our discussions, this course will also address relevant historical, cultural, and biographical details and trace shifting ideals surrounding power and agency woven through texts from Romanticism, Victorianism, Literature in Transition, Modernism, Post-modernism and Postcolonialism. Students will learn analytical and argumentative methods foundational to literary studies and will practice writing about literature effectively.

2650.001: World Literature I

Face to Face,  TR 1230-1345
TBA, 

A general overview of early world literature and culture with a focus on the themes of hate and restorative justice. Readings will include all or parts of such works as the Epic of Gilgamesh; Medieval Romance poetry from the British Isles and the Continent; selections from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and the Qur’an; a play by Euripides; poetry by Sappho, Li Bai, Ono no Komachi, and Farid ud-dun Attar, among others. Our ambitious goal is to investigate texts from China, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Japan, Persia, Arabia, India, and the Americas by exploring how we can read texts through a restorative justice model. Through this mode of study, we will gain a sense of the differences and similarities that shape the varieties of human experience across time and cultures. We will also explore how the globalization of colonization affects our understanding of early world literature and how to decenter a Western gaze in the study of the past.

In this course, students will read representative world masterpieces from ancient, medieval, and renaissance literature. Students will broaden their understanding of literature and their knowledge of other cultures through exploration of how literature represents individuals, ideas, and customs of world cultures. The course focuses strongly on examining the ways literature and culture intersect and define each other. Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area V: Humanities and Fine Arts.

2670.001: African American Literature

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350
Finnie Coleman, coleman@unm.edu 

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

300-Level

1000-Level | 2000-Level | 300-Level | 400-Level

304.002: Bible As Literature

Online
Kelly Van Andel, kvanande@unm.edu

This course studies biblical texts within their historical and literary contexts, and it examines how the authors of the Bible utilize literary forms and tools such as the parable, proverb, allegory, and so on, to convey particular messages. It additionally explores the importance of the Bible as a source of English and American literature. Units of study include Narrative, Poetry, the Gospels, the Letter, Apocalyptic Literature, and the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament in English and American Literature. There are weekly quizzes and class discussions, two exams, and one short presentation. 

305.001: Mythology

Face to Face, TR 0930-1045
Nicholas Schwartz, nschwar@unm.edu

There are no more important texts for understanding the world of the past and of today than cultures’ earliest: myths. The texts covered in this course—some thousands and others hundreds of years old—provide a lens through which one can glimpse the development of ideas, cultural mores, and traditions which continue to exert great influence in the Western world today. While these stories are often remembered and retold because they include accounts of perseverance, the miraculous, superhuman accomplishment, love, devotion, success, justice, and other fodder for inspiration, many of those same texts betray darker motifs like heteropatriarchal dominance, cultural chauvinism, misogyny, intolerance, and the victimization of the young, the powerless, the poor, and the other, amongst other themes. This course invites students to grapple with this duality present in so much of mythology. It encourages critical examination of these texts that have been so fundamental, for better and for worse, to the development of what has traditionally been called “Western Civilization.” No previous knowledge of mythology is required, and all are welcome to sign up for this course.

315.001: T: Hip Hop Culture

Face to Face, MW 1600-1715
Finnie Coleman, coleman@unm.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

321.002: Intermediate Creative Writing – Fiction

Online
Andrew Bourelle, abourelle@unm.edu

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.”

         —Stephen King

In this class, we’re going to do as Stephen King suggests—we’re going to read a lot and write a lot. And we’re going to talk about what we read and what we write because discussing writing is also an important part of growing as a writer.

At this point in your undergraduate career, everyone in the class should have taken at least one creative writing class, if not more. So you’ve been exposed to the genres of literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. In this class, we will build upon what you have already learned and focus specifically on fiction.  You will read, analyze, and discuss published examples of fiction, examining elements of craft. You will also complete writing exercises, write at least one complete story, and share your work with classmates, giving and receiving feedback as a way to improve your writing and the writing of your classmates.

322.001: Intermediate Creative Writing – Poetry

Face to Face, TR 1100-1215
Diane Thiel, dthiel@unm.edu

In this intermediate workshop course, the readings and class sessions will focus on particular techniques or elements of poetry (i.e.: perspective, diction, rhythm, forms of poetry, etc.).  Creative exercises and assignments will accompany these discussions. Students will also be workshopping several poems throughout the course. Because students arrive in such courses with a variety of backgrounds, styles, and interests in poetry, conversations about lineage and the different schools of thought in poetry will be a vital element of the class. Some of this discussion will arise from the workshop of student poems.

323.001: Intermediate Creative Writing – Nonfiction

Face to Face, TR 1230-1345
Lisa Chavez, ldchavez@unm.edu 

This is an intermediate level creative writing class in creative nonfiction, a wide-ranging genre that includes memoir, personal essay, literary journalism and the lyric essay, among others. Though we will likely focus on memoir, you will be introduced to a variety of different types of essays, and you will learn how to craft compelling scenes and reflection, as well as learn some of the unique ethical challenges of writing and discussing this genre. In addition to writing, we will read a lot—both work by established writers and work by you and your classmates.

349.001: Beowulf to Arthur

Face to Face, MWF 1000-1050
Lisa Myers, myersl@unm.edu 

This course is designed as an introductory survey to the literary works produced in England in the Middle Ages, c. 700-1500. While most texts will be read in Modern English translations, class lectures will provide some background on the development of the English language. The class will focus on both the specialized terminology and literary devices particular to medieval English texts as well as the cultural, social and political factors that influenced the development of English literature. Readings will introduce students to a wide variety of medieval genres and will include: epic, lyric poetry, romance, mystical revelation, hagiography, and outlaw tale.

352.001: Early Shakespeare

Face to Face, MWF 0900-0950

Lisa Myers, myersl@unm.edu 

This course covers the Elizabethan-era works of William Shakespeare. In examining his drama and poetry, the course will focus on the various conventions of the sub-genres of comedy, history and tragedy. Students will gain familiarity with the early works of Shakespeare and an understanding of the Early Modern theater as well as the importance of Shakespeare’s dramatic innovations. Texts include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard III, Richard II, Henry V, Titus Andronicus, and Hamlet.

353.007: Later Shakespeare

Online
Marissa Greenberg, marissag@unm.edu

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, even tasting—Shakespeare’s plays engage all our senses. In this class we will examine a selection of Shakespeare’s later plays for their evocation of these sensorial experiences. Our examination will begin with curated content on the plays, some familiar (like Macbeth) and others not so much (ever heard of Pericles?). Your study of Shakespeare’s later plays will deepen through guided scholarly readings and through embodied research activities. You will also have opportunity to consider still-relevant issues in these 17th-century works, such as racism and Othello, environmental crisis and Cymbeline, and domestic violence and The Winter’s Tale.

This section of Later Shakespeare is held online in a fully asynchronous modality, so effective time management will be vital to your success in this class.

354.001: Milton

Online
Marissa Greenberg, marissag@unm.edu

Satan, the Garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit – whatever you imagine when you read these words, it’s probably been shaped by John Milton’s Paradise Lost. First published in England in 1667, Milton’s epic has influenced how generations of readers think about good and evil, conscience and reason, gender and marriage, faith and free will. In this class we will approach these concepts in a few ways. Guided reading will introduce you to Milton’s characters, including Satan, God, and Eve; the epic’s historical contexts, from Galileo’s telescope to England’s civil wars; and Milton’s other writings on such topics as freedom of the press and blindness. An individual editorial project will deepen your understanding of Paradise Lost’s poetic, political, and theological cruxes. Caucus-based discussions and creative adaptations, by writers like Neil Gaiman, Ronald Johnson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Toni Morrison, will provide opportunities to unravel and debate the poem’s meanings for readers today.

This class is held online in a fully asynchronous modality, so effective time management will be vital to your success in this class.

368.001: T: Hawthorne and Melville

Face to Face, TR 1230-1345
Jesse Aleman,  jman@unm.edu

This course examines the life, times, and major works of two of nineteenth-century America’s most celebrated and complex writers—Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. The course will span their respective biographies, letters, short stories, and novels to read their works for influences and aesthetic innovations, especially in The Scarlett Letter and Moby-Dick. We’ll also explore in detail their much-debated special relationship—one that led Melville to dedicate Moby-Dick to Hawthorne and, in turn, led to Hawthorne’s letters to Melville to be destroyed. By the end of the course, we’ll come away with an in-depth understanding of their major works; a nuanced understanding of their intriguing personal relationship; and an excellent understanding of the rise of mid-nineteenth century US literary culture. You’ll be an expert on both authors by the time you’re done.

374.001: Southwest Literature and Culture

Online
Melina Vizcaino-Aleman, mviz@unm.edu 

New Mexico and the greater Southwest has long been a contested region. In this course, we will examine how literature and visual culture provide complex portrayals of the beauty, borders, and violence that form the Southwest’s unique history. We begin with Simon Ortiz and a critical Indigenous lens to understand Spanish colonial history and Manifest Destiny. The class then moves into the 19th-century and its print culture, and we read one of the “first” Native American novels, as well as a selection of dime novels that inch into the early 20th century. The course content focuses especially on 20th-century Chicana/o and Native American literature and culture, which respond to and reconfigure dominant perceptions of the region.

This course will also make use of some of the University of New Mexico’s unique collections of art and literature at the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, especially its dime novel collections and modernist “little” magazines. Students will develop ways to think about the Southwest through its literary and cultural histories that include conflict and accommodation in the literature, art, and public histories about the region. Assignments include a series of discussion forums, two analysis essays, and two exams.

387.001:T: Comic/Graphic Novels

Face to Face, TR 1100-1215

Jesus Costantino, jcostantino@unm.edu 

This course examines the historical origins, cultural impact, and varied forms of the comics medium. From early twentieth-century strips to contemporary graphic novels, we will attempt in this course to identify what makes comics unique as a literary-visual medium. Comics appear in many national and cultural variations, across many languages and visual arts traditions, including American superhero comics, underground comix, experimental art books, Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées, midcentury pulp comics, Japanese manga, and more. Through a combination of historical study, textual analysis, and comics creation, we will attempt to articulate what distinct social and political work comics might do. By the end of the course, we will have developed a genealogy of the medium, a history of its contested legitimacy, and a sense for its close, often-tense relationship to other visual and literary mediums.

400-Level

1000-Level | 2000-Level | 300-Level | 400-Level

410.001: Criticism and Theory

Face to Face, TR 1100-1215
Jesse Aleman,  jman@unm.edu

This course charts the rise of major schools and movements in literary theory and criticism from Marxism to post-colonial studies. We’ll study psychoanalysis, structuralism, and post-structuralism; feminism, gender studies, and queer theory; new historicism, cultural studies, and post-colonial theory. The class will consider the intellectual foundation of each theoretical paradigm and explore what’s at stake with the questions specific theories pose, but our overall goal will be to work toward understanding how ideas, terms, and concepts overlap, undermine, or repeat theories of meaning, being, identity, and representation. By the end of the course, you’ll have a broad repertoire of critical tools to advance your studies in literary and cultural analysis. 

417.002: Editing

Face to Face, MWF 1000-1050
Bethany Davila, bdavila@unm.edu

This course places an emphasis on professional editing for the workplace and may also help students improve the editing of their own writing. Along with practicing advanced copyediting skills, you will learn how to perform comprehensive editing that results in documents that are complete, accurate, comprehensible, usable, and reader focused.

Assignments include regular homework, two projects, and a reflection on your progress toward student learning outcomes. This course does not include a midterm or a final exam.

418.001: Proposal and Grant Writing

Face to Face, TR 1400-1515
Charles Paine, cpaine@unm.edu

In this course, you will learn how to write persuasive grant proposals. Drawing on the principles of rhetorical analysis, you will learn how to develop a clear statement of need, offer achievable objectives, design logical step-by-step plans, create specific and accurate budgets, and present your project clearly and compellingly. We will explore how to locate appropriate funding opportunities and how to evaluate requests for proposals. We will also discuss methods for writing persuasively and for designing documents that are organized transparently and inviting to read.

Although it is not essential, I urge you to seek out a proposal project that is real or at least realistic. Some of you may be working on your own individual research or startup project. Some of you may be working with an organization or company with which you can work and develop your all-important collaboration competencies. Others should do their best to find such an organization or company. In any case, by working on a real or realistic proposal project, you’ll probably encounter some additional challenges, but you’ll enjoy the process more and you’ll learn a lot more.

This course should be useful for advanced undergraduates who are within a year or two of graduation. It should also be useful for students who are already operating within a professional setting where proposals are important and who want to enhance their understanding of how proposals work, how to critique them, and how to write them more effectively.

420.001: T: Blue Mesa Review I

Face to Face, MWF 1400-1450
Marisa Clark, clarkmp@unm.edu

This course introduces you to the production of UNM’s national literary magazine, Blue Mesa Review. We receive hundreds of submissions each year from writers hoping to see their stories, essays, or poems published in our journal. Your primary responsibility will be to work alongside graduate students in our MFA program to assess these submissions for possible publication in BMR. In addition, you will keep a log about your participation reading submissions, write a couple of short papers (maybe a blog post or book review for BMR's website), and engage in discussions that arise from the submissions we receive. Understanding how literary magazines work can be of great value for writers; not only can it help you improve your own writing, but it can focus your editorial sensibilities as well as help you learn more about the submission and publication process.

Ideally, to enroll, you will have completed at least the introductory creative writing course; however, exceptions can be made, depending on experience. Send an email to Dr. Clark detailing your literary interests and courses you've taken, and be sure to include your Banner ID number.

This is a class you can take multiple times for full credit. We thrive when there are experienced readers, so please join our team!

420.002: T: Rhetoric: The Dark, Light, and Useful Versions

Face to Face, TR 1230-1345
Charles Paine, cpaine@unm.edu

From ancient times to the present, enemies of rhetoric have maintained it is inherently a “dark art,” at best just a knack for bamboozling others with fancy talk, but more often the weapon used by evil doers, like Hitler and whoever our political and cultural opponents happen to be. This is the rhetoric used, for instance, by Satan, as described in John Milton’s Paradise Lost: Satan’s discourse is “false and hollow,” calculated to “make the worse appear / The better reason, to perplex and dash / Maturest counsels” (II, 113–15).

We’ll explore ways to recognize and defend ourselves against dark-rhetoric strategies and how to use these strategies productively and ethically. As we’ll discover, it’s not possible to strip discourse of rhetoric. We can’t simply choose to communicate “a-rhetorically,” but we can become more aware of what rhetoric is and does, and how it does that. And as we become more aware, we’ll become more powerful producers (writing, speaking, etc.) and more astute receivers of communication.

To do this, we’ll begin by exploring selections written by theorists and practitioners from ancient times to the present. Mostly, though, we’ll aim to develop our rhetorical know-how of various rhetorical techniques that extend beyond the helpful but very, very basic ethos-pathos-logos strategies.

In addition to mandatory attendance, you’ll complete three or four major assignments. If necessary (and I hope it won’t be), there will also be reading quizzes.

421.002: Advanced Creative Writing Workshop - Fiction

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350
Daniel Mueller, dmueller@unm.edu

Students will draft and distribute to the members of the workshop original works of fiction that will then be discussed by the class as a whole. Integrated into the course will be assigned readings of fiction and craft essays written by prominent contemporary writers and writers from the past as well as writing prompts designed to impart a variety of narrative strategies.  Participation in class discussions will be heavily emphasized.  This is an opportunity for serious fiction writers to have their fiction read and discussed by an equally serious panel of peers. In other words, to have fun!

423.001: Advanced Creative Writing Workshop - Nonfiction

Face to Face, MWF 1100-1150
Marisa Clark, clarkmp@unm.edu

In this workshop-centered course, you will hone the skills you learned in English 323 and expand on and experiment with them. Each student will work on drafting, workshopping, and/or revising two essays, as well a number of exercises. We will read a variety of published works to broaden our knowledge of the subgenres of creative nonfiction, with an emphasis on literary journalism and the personal essay.

Ideally, I’d like us all to join in creating a supportive, respectful, instructive, and enjoyable creative atmosphere.

440.001: T: Digital Rhetoric

Face to Face, MWF 0900-0950
Bethany Davila, bdavila@unm.edu

This course focuses on how rhetoric works in digital spaces—including how different online spaces shape our individual and community practices. Students will learn how to analyze digital rhetoric from established and emerging platforms such as YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and viral memes. There will be regular reading and homework assignments with three major research and writing projects – all of which will give students the opportunity to develop analytical and creative skills in various forms of digital media (blog posts, podcasts, memes, etc.).

445.001: History of English Language

Face to Face, MWF 1100-1150
Nicholas Schwartz, nschwar@unm.edu 

Ever wonder where “bad words” come from? Have you ever looked at a passage from Chaucer or Shakespeare and wondered why everything seems misspelled? This course is for you! The English language has a long and fascinating history, but to many people the most ancient form of English—Old English—looks practically nothing like the Present-day English we are all familiar with today. Have no fear! This course will trace the development of the English language from its very earliest Indo-European beginnings all the way up to the present. Students will learn about important historical and linguistic influences on English and develop skills for analysis and an appreciation of the English language. No previous experience with linguistics or Old or Middle English is needed for this course. All are welcome.

451.001: T: Medieval Latin

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350
Jonathan Davis-Secord, jwds@unm.edu  

The phrase “medieval Latin” covers a wide array of times, genres, and areas. It applies to philosophical treatises written in Italy in the fifth century, letters written in northern Europe in the ninth century, and saints’ lives written in England in the fifteenth century. As a result of this abundance, this course will touch upon only a small number of important texts and authors from the medieval period. We will concentrate on sections of these texts to allow students to become familiar with major texts and authors of Medieval Latin and increase their facility with Latin generally and their knowledge of the distinguishing features of Medieval Latin specifically. Prerequisite: familiarity with Latin grammar and syntax.

451.002: T: Uppity Medieval Women

Face to Face, R 1600-1830
Anita Obermeier, aobermei@unm.edu 

This course examines medieval discourses about women and by women. Even though many dichotomous labels exist for women in the Middle Ages—such as saint and sinner, virgin and whore—these belie the variety of subcategories within the spheres of medieval women: handmaidens to God, virgin saints, mystics, anchoresses, trobairitz, courtly ladies, ethereal dolce stil nuovo women, bourgeois merchants, lovers, witches, writers, and fighters. The course explores female characters penned by male authors and works written by medieval women. Women in the Middle Ages can be “uppity” in a number of ways but especially through sword, pen, and sex. For instance, female authorship is a transgressive act. We examine the ways the writings of medieval women differ from works by men, both in British and continental literary texts. For the theoretical framework, we apply medieval authorship theories, ancient and medieval gender theories, and modern feminist approaches. Authors and texts may include, but are not limited to, Sappho, Ovid’s Heroides, trobaritz poetry, Lais of Marie de France, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Julian of Norwich, Celtic Women, the Virgin Mary, Christina of Markyate, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Roman de Silence, Chaucer, Boccaccio, Christine de Pizan, The Condemnation Trial of Joan of Arc, and the Malleus Maleficarum.

456.001: British Romanticism

Face to Face, TR 1400-1515
Aaron Haynie, ahaynie@unm.edu 

What does it mean to live in a time of profound and (in some cases) disturbing change?

In this course we will read British Romantic literature (1785-1832) within the socio-political context of the French and Haitian Revolutions, the British Abolition Movement, 18th century feminism, and concerns with industrialization and (even) climate change. This was a period of radical re-examinations of the self in relation to government, nature, and the arts. Later, in 1855, Charles Dickens will characterize this period: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us" (A Tale of Two Cities). In what ways is the Romantic glorification of the natural, the imagination, and individual freedom still part of our contemporary cultural heritage? We will read a mix of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.  Assignments with be a mix of short papers, class presentations, and creative assignments. 

462.001: American Realism and Naturalism

Face to Face, MWF 1300-1350
Kathryn Wichelns, wichelns@unm.edu

As literary movements, American realism and naturalism express and respond to the crisis in national identity that characterizes the post-Civil War period. The era is marked by cultural shocks: demographic shifts, as non-Protestant, non-white, and non-English speaking immigration to the U.S. increases; unprecedented economic inequality, urbanization and overcrowding; federal withdrawal from the South and the rise of Jim Crow; continued Westward expansionism and the series of brutal conflicts known as the Western Indian Wars; the 1898 Spanish-American War; the emerging visibility of women workers; and an explosion in scientific and pseudoscientific discourses (including social Darwinism and eugenics) that arise in the wake of the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Writing in the period of the Gatling gun, the railroad, the telegraph, and the photograph, these authors call for an end to literary romanticism, seeking to depict life as it really is. In different ways, each examines the influences of environment, race, heredity, and gender on individual development. Mark Twain, Henry James, and Edith Wharton explore the conflicts of their own changing society through depictions of characters who most embody its values. Rebecca Harding Davis, Louisa May Alcott, W.E.B. DuBois, and Jacob Riis form new approaches to writing as activism. Sarah Orne Jewett, Gertrude Bonnin/ Zitkala-Ša, Charles W. Chesnutt, and Abraham Cahan dismantle the notion of a cohesive (Anglo-American) national identity by emphasizing differences of region, race, and ethnicity. The conflicts evident in literary expression during this dynamic era reflect profound contradictions inherent to the concept of an American national consciousness—variously understood by the authors we examine as a bad joke, a hard-won social good, a naive fantasy, or a form of colonial whitewashing. 

466.001: African American Literature

Face to Face, MW 1400-1515
Finnie Coleman, coleman@unm.edu 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

472.001: Contemporary Literature

Face to Face, MWF 1000-1050
Sarah Townsend, sltownse@unm.edu 

This course will focus on fiction published since 2000 by authors who hail from or live in the UK and Ireland. We will focus, in particular, on the upstarts – women, minority, queer, and working-class writers – who have challenged traditional structures of literary prestige and gatekeeping over the past quarter century. Part of our investigations will be sociopolitical and economic, as we track how major historical transformations have shaped literary form and style, like the spread of multiculturalism, the global financial crash of 2007-08, the reemergence of far right ethno-nationalism, Brexit, and setbacks to the Northern Irish peace process. The other portion of our investigations will focus on how the practices of writing, publishing, and reading have changed during this period with the success of small independent presses, the elevation of genre fiction, and new forms of publicity that have transformed the status of the celebrity writer. Potential authors include Bernardine Evaristo, Anna Burns, Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, Melatu Uche Okorie, Sally Rooney, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jojo Moyes, Douglas Stuart, Paul Mendez, Tana French, Emma Donoghue, and Claire Keegan. We will also read literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, and the popular genre of the literary think piece in order to contextualize our study of fiction. Course assignments will include written or video book reviews, class presentations, public-facing scholarship, and research essays.

487.001: T: Speculative Fiction

Face to Face, TR 0930-1045
Lisa Chavez, ldchavez@unm.edu 

What do murderbots, vampires, and heroic quests have in common? They fall into the category of contemporary speculative fiction, a term for a variety of fictional genres, including fantasy, science fiction, and horror.  From dystopian worlds to alternate history to ghost stories, writing in this genre focuses on worldbuilding and  "what if?" and lets readers and writers engage their imaginations in the broadest sense.  We'll read a variety of award-winning short fiction, focusing on work by writers working in the genre today. This course is appropriate for both readers and writers of speculative fiction, and writing assignments will have creative options.

499.001: Internship

Online
Tiffany Bourelle, tbourell@unm.edu 

COURSE DESCRIPTION