Graduate Courses Fall 2026

Description: Particular historical periods or other groupings of dramas. The relation of the writers both to one another and to the aesthetic and intellectual climate of their times. Examples: drama survey, modern drama, American drama, and Shakespeare's contemporaries in drama.

Popular culture plays a significant role in shaping queer identity, even as queer identity shapes the culture at large. We’ll look at the history of queer representation in popular culture, queer influence on mainstream trends in art and entertainment past and present, and the intersection of literature, film, theater, and pop culture in forming identity. While the lecture and discussion-based class will examine many examples of popular culture dating from the mid-nineteenth century into the present day, we’ll closely examine such cultural phenomena as The Color Purple and Kiss of the Spider Woman, tracing their representation/interpretation from novel, to film adaptation, to Broadway musical, to movie musical, all playing out over forty years. Students will also be asked to bring to class their own favorite examples of LGBTQ+ popular culture, and to write analytical and creative responses to course materials.

Description: Topics in African poetry, fiction, and/or non-fiction prose.

Our course will transcend the “twin colonization of time and space” by engaging Black women's experiences in the natural world. The class unfolds in three movements. In the first section, we'll read colonial writers and examine the settler colonial gaze and its impulse towards acquisition and exploitation. In the second section, we'll delve into animal migrations to uncover how birds, fishes, as well as marine and land mammals travel long distances and shape varied ecosystems. Finally, we'll engage with the poetry and prose written by Black women in reflection of their experiences in the natural world.  

Cross listed with ENGL 845N, ETHN 445N

Prerequisites: Junior standing 

Topics in Native American poetry, fiction, and/or non-fiction prose. Critical theory and cultural criticism.

AIM: The subtitle for this class, "Ideas & Visions," issues from Vine Deloria, Jr.'s intriguing assertion that the "white man . . . has ideas; Indians have visions." The value of these visions, in Native poetry & fiction, has often been lauded. And yet "Indians" have "ideas," too, often expressed in expository prose of great eloquence & wit & wisdom (& sometimes vehemence): this class, then, is an avenue into the cultural criticism of this "visionary" ethnicity, a body of philosophical thought that examines Native identity, Native spirituality, the Native relationship with "Nature," and the role of the—potentially postmodern—Trickster in all such debates.

TEACHING METHOD: Discussion, with some lecture and group work.

REQUIREMENTS: Attendance & oral participation; informal written responses to the readings and two formal research papers; graduate students will have more extensive research writing requirements, and will also orchestrate the readings/discussion of (part of) one class period.

TENTATIVE READING LIST: 

• Nicholas Black Elk/John Neihardt: Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux

• N. Scott Momaday: The Man Made of Words: Essays, Stories, Passages†

• Vine Deloria, Jr.: For This Land: Writings on Religion in America

• Leslie Marmon Silko: Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit: Essays on Native American Life Today

• Linda Hogan: Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World

• Gerald Vizenor: Shadow Distance: A Gerald Vizenor Reader

• A good number of poems & essays in PDF format on Canvas

†: Assigned essays from this out-of-print book will be available as PDFs on Canvas.

Description: For advanced students with previous experience in poetry writing.

Further information unavailable at this time

Description: History, analysis and application of a variety of trends in literary and/or film theory

In Necropolitics, Achille Mbembe presents his theoretical intervention as a “critique of our time.” This notion evokes Michel Foucault’s famous genealogical principle of writing the “history of the present,” which seeks to inquire into the value of value itself—which in turn hearkens back to the Nietzschean notion of the “untimely,” that is, the need “to act counter to our time and […] for the benefit of a time to come.” To act counter to our time, today, means to act counter to a time of renewed—no longer merely incipient but insurgent—fascism. The question, however, is how one might accomplish this. Lest one make the mistake of, as Theodor W. Adorno quipped in Minima Moralia, merely glorifying the system that makes underdogs splendid—i.e., of perpetuating the very system of oppression by dint of naively engaging in “pseudo-activity” (allegedly) in opposition to said system—it may be necessary to rigorously conceptualize what it means to act (including to speak and write) “counter.” Adorno’s friend and colleague, Walter Benjamin, suggested in his famous essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Technological Reproducibility” that, at least in their time, acting counter might be a matter of producing “concepts [that are] completely useless for the purposes of fascism.” My wager is that the history of critical theory can—and perhaps should—be first and foremost understood as an ongoing conversation about what concepts—and thus what practices that are based on them—might be useless: useless for the instrumentalist and violent purposes of fascism (in whatever guise it might appear, including, inter alia, the various historical iterations of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, such as our own era’s AI-driven technofascist capitalism).

            Other thinkers have offered variations of these claims, not least also those writing in the Marxist tradition, starting with Karl Marx himself, who in his famous 11^th thesis on Feuerbach proclaimed that “Philosophers [or: Theorists] have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it,” which has long been misunderstood as an uncritical privileging of praxis over theory (Marx, after all, was, if nothing else, one of the greatest theorists of all time!) by both political activists and politically-minded cultural (e.g., literary, film, art, or rhetorical) critics. However, what is also important about Mbembe’s intervention quoted above is his assertion that he offers a critique of our times from a specific place, namely “from Africa, where I live and work (but also from the rest of the world, which I have not stopped surveying).” Importantly, Mbembe foregrounds his positionality in terms that emphasize both the local (in so far as “Africa” can be seen as “local”) and the global; in so doing, he also implicitly offers an intervention in the debate between particularism (the idea that all knowledge is embodied and grounded in identity-based experience) and universalism (the idea that there is something about human experience that is universally shared)—and thus also about the role of the intellectual, which itself has a long history (e.g., Antonio Gramsci’s organic intellectual, Jean-Paul Sartre’s universal intellectual, Foucault’s specific intellectual, Étienne Balibar’s singular intellectual, or more recently Sayak Valencia’s transfeminist, Fred Moten’s fugitive, and Bernard Harcourt’s critical praxis theorist).

            Taking its cue from Mbembe’s argument, this course will introduce students to (the history of) Theory—theoria, from its etymological roots in ancient Greek, connotes sight and speculation, seeing and conjecturing—by foregrounding the question of its relationship to socio-political practice in the age of resurgent fascism. Based on a selection of key theoretical movements, thinkers, and texts that have shaped theoretical and political debates over the last two centuries (this is meant to be an introductory-level graduate course, after all), we will ask in what ways (the history of) Theory—conceived of as a toolbox, as a pragmatics, and even as a provocation, rather than as primarily a hermeneutics—is not only capable of but also indispensable for offering a critique of our (fascist) time. 

            Among the thinkers we will likely read are Sara Ahmed, T. W. Adorno & Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Judith Butler, Gilles Deleuze, Franz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Bernard Harcourt, Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri, G. W. F. Hegel, the Invisible Committee, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, Achille Mbembe, Chantal Mouffe, Fred Moten & Stefano Harney, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jacques Rancière, Sayak Valencia, & Slavoj Zizek—but I have not yet finalized our reading list.

            Note 1: Our course will also directly engage with the “Humanities on the Edge” (HotE) speaker series, which I co-founded in 2010 and continue to co-organize. The topic for its 17^th season (academic year 2026/27) is “On Fascism.” In the fall, our two speakers are, on Thursday October 8, Johannes von Molteke (University of Michigan) and, on Thursday, November 19, Roland Végső, who co-founded HotE with me but is now at the University of Georgia. We will read some of their work in preparation for their visit, engage them during our class time, and attend their public lecture immediately following our seminar, at 5:30pm at the Sheldon. (I understand if a student cannot attend the lectures because they are enrolled in a seminar that meets at that time, but otherwise I expect that students attend the two lectures.)

            Note 2: I teach this course as a reading seminar. I do not expect any traditional seminar papers of any length, as I simply want students to focus on reading what are, at times, challenging (in multiple ways) theorists. I require that students use paper copies of books and essays, which means that I do not permit use of e-books or PDFs in class. I therefore expect that students print out PDFs that I will upload to our Canvas page and purchase assigned books via their preferred book sellers. The same “no-electronics policy” goes for notetaking. I will occasionally ask to see students’ paper notebooks so that I can review how students engage both the assigned texts as well as my lectures and our in-class conversations.

Description: The shift from printed to digital texts and its implications for the humanities. Practice in digitally representing texts, archival design, and analysis of representative electronic projects dedicated to a variety of authors and genres.

Aim:

This is an introductory course in the use of digital methods for literary study.  We will briefly explore the UNIX operating system (variants of which are commonly used for hosting web-based projects) before moving on to a gentle exploration of Go -- a general-purpose programming language particularly suited to text analysis and web development.  Though we'll be using literary and historical texts as examples in the course, the methods discussed are broadly useful to anyone working with textual data in the arts and humanities.

Teaching Method:

Lecture (with lots of hands-on work and interactivity).

Requirements:

This course does not assume any previous knowledge of any of the technologies we'll be studying (and explicitly assumes you have never done any programming of any kind). Successful students in past years are those who feel generally comfortable as users of ordinary computing systems and are curious about technology and how it works.

The primary work for this course consists of a series of graded exercises designed to reinforce the material and to encourage exploration of the technologies we'll be studying.

Reading List:

There are no required texts for this course. All the resources necessary for success in the course are available online.

Blended course with 1 in person session and 1 web conferencing session each week

Introduction to writing center theory and consulting practice. Students engage in research that contributes to scholarly conversations in writing center studies. Successful completion of ENGL 380 is strongly recommended for students seeking to work in the UNL Writing Center.

This course explores theoretical and practical questions around teaching and learning in the writing center, primarily within a one-to-one context. We will investigate the growing field of Writing Center Studies and examine theories and pedagogical commitments that inform and shape the practice of writing center consulting. This course also involves a substantial research component, inviting you to explore some aspect of writing culture within or beyond UNL and produce original scholarship. You will have the opportunity to observe consultations in the Writing Center, reflect on your own and others’ writing processes and experiences, explore the theoretical foundations of writing center work, and consider how this work relates to social justice. Completing this course makes you eligible for (but does not guarantee) a position as a consultant in the Writing Center. 

NOTE: Class meets August 25^th-October 27th

While focusing on their own research (typically a specific research project they have to complete for another course, or for their thesis or dissertation), students develop knowledge, skills, and proficiencies in many aspects of advanced research. The course emphasizes practical application of foundational theories and concepts to position students for success in high-level research in English and the humanities. We also investigate and critique assumptions of authority, knowledge systems, information ownership, and scholarly inquiry, as well as consider legal and ethical issues with bearing on research. Students cultivate and practice transferable problem-solving strategies for research in and beyond specific moments in time, environments, and infrastructures.

Cross listed with ANTH 946, MODL 946, HIST 946

Further information unavailable at this time

Description: The course has three elements: workshop, seminar, and discussion of the teaching of creative writing.

Short Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. This course has three elements: workshop, seminar, and discussion of the teaching of creative writing. We will do generative writing exercises in class to jumpstart the production of new work, and we will read, analyze, and discuss distinguished examples of published short stories and personal essays. For the workshopping of your own fiction or nonfiction, you can select either the traditional ("Iowa") workshop method or Liz Lerman's critical response process, and we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of teaching and learning with these and other feedback methods. Lastly, you will draft a syllabus for your own dream course in creative writing—one you would love to teach.

PREQ:  Permission.  Contact the department Office.

Further information unavailable at this time

AIM:  In this course, we will theorize and enact collaborative writing and learning, as we explore different approaches for using collaboration in our own classrooms and writing lives.  The course centers on key questions about collaborative writing and learning, moving from the worldviews that frame this work (such as neoliberalism or decolonizing frameworks), to key concepts and debates in the field (such as emergence, interactionist theories, authorship, consensus, and more), to sites of collaboration (such as Wikipedia writing, writing with students, participatory research methods, and human-AI collaboration).  Along the way, we’ll be experimenting with different forms of collaborative assignments and activities, from improv theatre to intertextual essays that defy the rules of citation. Students are invited to actively partner with the instructor in co-creating a community of interdependence, intellectual exploration, and play.

The class will include traditional grad seminar work such as reading and discussing academic texts, but students will also participate in more experiential ways of engaging class concepts (e.g. collaborative board games, collaborative assignments, collaborative art), and the course will include opportunities to interact with an in-process book project on collaborative writing.  Secondary teachers are welcome in the class. 

TEACHING METHOD: Discussion, class activities, collaborative writing experiences. 

REQUIREMENTS: Collaborative digital annotation on readings; co-designing and co-teaching a workshop; self-selected community contributions;  iterative intertextual essays; seminar project.  

Further information unavailable at this time.

Description: Emerging models of English studies that cross traditional boundaries. Traces disciplinary concerns across three registers: scholarship, curriculum, and pedagogy.

James Weldon Johnson’s essay “The Dilemma of the Negro Author” (1928) notes “a special problem which the plain American author knows nothing about. . . . The moment a Negro writer takes up his pen or sits down to his typewriter he is immediately called upon to solve, consciously or unconsciously, this problem of the double audience.” Black writers in the US face complex circumstances given that, historically, many prestigious publishing outlets have been white-controlled, and most potential readers are white even if a writer aims primarily for an African American audience. African Americans have navigated these challenges in various ways—through self-publishing; through sometimes fraught interactions with white patrons and publishers; and through working with Black publishers and publicists (including Oprah!). We will explore a series of case studies from early self-published pamphlet writing (most famously David Walker’s “Appeal . . . to the Colored Citizens of the World”) to the rise of African American newspapers and magazines. We will also examine Charles Chesnutt’s breakthroughs into mainstream publishing in venues such as The Atlantic Monthly and, with his novel The House Behind the Cedars (Houghton Mifflin, 1900). The curious push-pull of support and suppression will be studied via white patronage during the Harlem Renaissance and through efforts to police and intimidate Black writers through FBI surveillance and the McCarthy hearings. We will examine how these issues have played out in recent decades by considering the careers of James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Toni Morrison. This course, located at the intersection of African American literature, Book History, and textual studies, does not pre-suppose prior background in these areas and should benefit students across our graduate program.

Writers and texts we are likely to study:
David Walker, “Walker’s Appeal . . . To the Coloured Citizens of the World”
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
White and Black abolitionist newspapers: Wiliam Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator and one of Frederick Douglass’s several newspapers
Charles Chesnutt’s stories in Black newspapers and magazines and his stories in The Atlantic Monthly and his relationship with magazine’s parent company Houghton Mifflin
Pauline Hopkins, Booker T. Washington, and controversies over The Colored American Magazine
Nella Larsen, Passing, white patronage, and the Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues and Fine Clothes to the Jew.
Zora Neale Hurston, “What White Publishers Won’t Print”

Booker T. Washington, ed. The Negro Problem
Richard Wright, Native Son and censorship
James Baldwin, “The White Problem”

Toni Morrison, Sula

Teaching method: class discussion, lectures, presentations

Requirements: These are not yet finalized, but they are likely to include an annotated bibliography, a presentation and a seminar paper.