Summer Course Description Booklet | Department of English

Summer 2026

Updated 06/16/2026. Because of the long lead time, the descriptions should be considered to be rather tentative. Although it is assumed that most instructors will be offering the courses as described here, students should be aware that some changes are possible.

How to Use This Booklet

This booklet should be used with the Schedule of Classes issued by the Office of Registration and Records. The English Department Course Description Booklet contains as many descriptions of courses as were available as of April 16, 2008. The Booklet may include descriptions of some courses that are not found in the official Schedule of Classes. If the course is described in this Booklet, but not in the Schedule of Classes, it should be assumed that the course will be offered as described in this Booklet. In every case the student should remember that in the interval between now and the start of the next semester, changes are inevitable, even though every effort is made to describe accurately in this Booklet what the Department intends to offer.

Level of Courses

Students should not take more than six hours at the 100 level. These courses are intended for beginning students; upperclass students should take courses on the 200, 300, and 400 level. Course numbers with a middle digit of 5 mark writing courses, which are required in some colleges. Consult your college bulletin.

Independent Study

Independent Study is intended for students who want to undertake readings or similar projects not available through regular course offerings. Students may do up to six credit hours of Independent Study with a member of the professorial staff, but not with lecturers or graduate assistants. Before registering for Independent Study, students must complete an Independent Study Contract form, available from the English Advising Office, 201 Andrews, which describes the reading list, written work, times of meeting and the basis of the grade. The Contract Form must be signed by both the student and the supervising professor and a copy submitted to the Chief Advisor for department records. The student may then obtain the call number for the appropriate Independent Study course -- 199, 299, 399, 399H, or 497. The registration of any student who has not filed the contract with the Chief Advisor by the end of Drop/Add period will be canceled.

English Majors

All Arts & Sciences College English majors (including double majors) should see their advisors every semester. For further information, see the English Advisor, in Andrews 201.

Student Appeals Committee

Students wishing to appeal a grade may address their grievances to the Department of English Appeals Committee. Under ordinary circumstances, students should discuss problems with their teachers before approaching the Committee. Inquire in the English department main office, Andrews 202, for the name and office of the Appeals Committee chair.

Students may inform the Chair of the Department, Andrews 204A, of cases where the content of courses materially differs from the description printed in the Course Description Booklet. Questions or complaints concerning teachers or courses should also be addressed to the Chair of the Department.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a public university committed to providing a quality education to a diverse student body. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln not to discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran's status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation. This policy is applicable to all University administered programs including educational programs, financial aid, admission policies and employment policies.

Complaints, comments, or suggestions about these policies should be addressed to the Chair of the Department.

Guide to the English Department's Curriculum

The English Department offers a great many courses, more than are listed by title in the University Bulletin. These include courses in British and American literature, women's literature, other literatures in English, some literatures in translation, minority literatures, composition, creative writing, linguistics, film, popular literature, and English as a Second Language.

Knowing something about the organization of the curriculum may help majors or non-majors who are trying to find courses. The numbering system provides some guidance, first by levels:

Courses numbered from 100 to 151 are first-year composition courses.

English 180 and 200-level courses are considered entry-level courses, for majors and non-majors alike.

300-level courses are historical surveys of literature, advanced author courses, or advanced writing or rhetoric or linguistics courses.

4/800-level courses are combined senior/graduate classes and are more professional in their approach.

The numbering system provides additional guidance to types of courses. For example, middle-digit 5 courses, like 150, 252, 354, are all writing courses, including creative writing. Here is a quick guide to the numbering system:

A middle digit of "0" indicates courses in types of literature, such as short story (303), poetry (202), drama (4/801), or fiction (205).
A middle digit of "1" indicates special thematic courses or courses examining literature in relation to particular issues (several women's literature courses, Plains Literature, Illness and Health in Literature, for example).
A middle digit of "2" indicates language and linguistics courses.
A middle digit of "3" indicates courses focusing on authors (Shakespeare, The Brontës, Major American Authors).
A middle digit of "4" indicates ethnic minority courses, courses in translation, and courses that represent literature written in English in countries other than the United States and Britain (Judeo-Christian Literature, Canadian Literature, African-American Literature, for example).
A middle digit of "5" indicates creative writing or composition courses.
A middle digit of "6" indicates a historical survey of literature.
A middle digit of "7" indicates courses in criticism, theory, rhetoric (Literary/Critical Theory, Film Theory and Criticism).
A middle digit of "8" indicates interdisciplinary courses (Contemporary Culture).
A middle digit of "9" indicates special and professional courses.

Note: Film courses are spread throughout the numbering system, by analogy with literature courses. Thus Writing for Film and TV is numbered 259; Film Directors, 239; and so on.

The practical lesson from this numbering system is that if you find one course that interests you, you may be able to find others by looking for similar numbers at different levels. As may be clear from these examples, there is a lot of repetition in the English Department curriculum. (Anyone interested in a list of English courses by categories can obtain one from the English Advisor in 201 Andrews Hall.)

ENGL 107 - Words on Fire: Seven Books to Light Your World

Aim: This course is designed to spark intellectual curiosity in first-year students, including possible English majors or minors, with a study of literary texts that have had profound social, historical, or cultural influence while also serving as examples of riveting, highly effective literature—texts which stay with a person for a lifetime. The class is designed around big ideas and small stakes: students will read texts from a diverse range of historical and global contexts and discuss how they impacted the history of philosophical, political, social, and literary thought as well as how such works create their own individual literary power. The assignments are designed to encourage discussion and reflection, to foster proficiency in significant terms and concepts from the literature and its historical context, and to build a sense of the historical development of major ideas and literary forms; there are minimal writing requirements. Note: all texts not originally in English are read in translation.

Scope: Individual instructors will assign seven (or more) of texts from a designated list, all of which share qualities of intrigue and impact from all realms of the world and all ages, from works like The Book of Job, the Bhagavad Gita, the Analects of Confusius, King Lear, or Kafka’s Metamorphosis. The main idea is to put together seven (or more) very strong literary texts which will stretch students’ minds and spark excitement about other worlds, both temporally and globally. Ideally, texts would be new to students coming from high school

ENGL 151 - Writing and Argument

This is a first-year English composition course that engages students in the study of written argument: developing an informed and committed stance on a topic, and using writing to share this stance with particular audiences for particular purposes. Students can expect to produce the equivalent of 25 double-spaced pages of polished prose (a minimum of three writing projects) during the semester. This course is recommended for students who wish to improve their writing and reading skills through the study and practice of argument.

ENGL 180 - Introduction to Literature

NOTE: This course does not fulfill any part of the freshman composition requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences.

This course is intended to introduce first and second-year students to examination of reading, especially the reading of literature. In order to examine the process of reading, students can expect to explore literary works (poems, stories, essays, and drama), some works not usually considered literary, and the students' own reading practices. The course will deal with such questions as how do we read, why do we read, and what is literature and what are its functions.

Pre-Session

ENGL 151 - Writing and Argument

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class#
Arr	Arr	100	Ezenwa, C	2780

ENGL 253 - Intro to Writing Poetry, "Poetry is Art"

This course is focused on 1) developing new techniques for experimenting with poetry and 2) learning how to talk and write about poetry like a poet. As this is an introductory course, no previous poetry knowledge is required. We will think about poetry as words to be spoken and heard; as visual objects to be seen and touched; as sounds to be made and felt; as experience to be shared; as pedagogy; as politics; as play; and as performance. We will ask and seek answers to questions such as what gets to count as a “poem”? what can a poem do? what should a poem do? why make poems? and weigh our own answers against those given by theorists and critics of poetry, literature, and aesthetics. You will produce poems, read and respond to each other’s work, and practice a variety of techniques for experimenting with words. Your work for the class will be a mix of independent poetry-making activities, workshops, and three short responses to assigned poems and readings on poetics (the theories of what poetry is, why it’s made, and how to make it). The assigned reading, listening, and viewing will include “traditional” poetry as well as work that pushes the boundaries of common definitions of “the poem” and work that incorporates other art forms (such as music, visual art, and performance). We will foreground work by poets who are BIPOC and/or in the LGBTQ+ community. ACE 7 Course.

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR	ARR	100	Brunton, J	2851

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 303 - Short Story (online)

If you believe that "imagining a brighter tomorrow has always been an act of resistance," then THIS is the class for you! This course introduces students to the historical context, criticism, and engaged reading of short stories. We will focus on literature written in the 20th and 21st centuries and will be interested not so much in a comparative approach, but in examining the multiple ways short stories have been deployed in the United States to address distinct socio-political challenges. Our course texts contain stories that "explore new forms of freedom, love, and justice." These short stories "challenge oppressive American myths, release us from the chokehold of our history, and give us new futures to believe in." Our readings will be supplemented by student-chosen texts. As a result, and also because this is a 300-level course, I'll invite you to respond to our course readings in an advanced and sophisticated manner.

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	100	Muchiri, N	2823 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Not self- paced. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 317A - Lit and Environment

In this field immersion course taking place at Cedar Point Biological Station, we will immerse ourselves into literature of the Great Plains spanning the past century. Our syllabus prioritizes the work of Indigenous authors, weaving those texts together with those from a settler colonial context to offer a more comprehensive perspective on the stories of the Great Plains. This course will closely explore the complex history of the region, while looking towards potential methods for cultivating a responsible relationship with the space we inhabit. Our exploration of literature and the environment will center on discussions of the different ways humans inhabit, claim, and impact the land in the Great Plains, introducing and exploring settler colonialism, Indigenous sovereignty, historical geography, and the production of space. Beginning with Zitkala-Ša and ending with Diane Wilson, we will explore questions such as: who tells the stories of this space, and how? How does paying attention to space and environment change our understanding of literature and culture? How do we see the stories and histories we read inscribed onto the land around us?

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	391	Rau, E	2881

Class meets at Cedar Point from May 26th – June 7th.

1st 5-Week Session

ENGL 151 - Writing and Argument

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
1000-1135a	MTR	501	Manieson, A	2859
1100-1235p	MTR	502	Tsamaase, T	7873
0100-0235p	MTR	503	Kergal, L	7874

Class meets MTR via zoom with asynchronous activities on WF.

ENGL 215 - Intro Womens Lit

Introduction to variety of works by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writers. Significant literary, cultural, social, and historical issues and themes.

ACE: ACE 5 Humanities ACE 9 Global/Diversity

Cross listed with WMNS 215

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	700	John, F	2930 - online

ENGL 216 - Children's Literature

A study of the historical and cultural development of the genre of children's literature.

ACE: ACE 5 Humanities

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	700	White, L	2850

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Not self- paced. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

Aim: This course will explore the genre of children's literature, a genre which mostly came into being in the nineteenth century; we will focus on this literature's mirroring of such transatlantic cultural concerns as the nature of childhood, the threats of modernity, gender's obligations, imperialism and "other worlds," and religion. Texts will be mostly British, but we will also read some foundational European texts (e.g., by Hoffmann, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Anderson) and some key American children's literature (i.e., Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Uncle Remus, The Emerald City of Oz).

Teaching Method: Some lecture, mostly discussion. Requirements: One group project, one paper, about ten short quizzes, one comprehensive final.

Tentative Reading List: Wordsworth, "Intimations Ode"; selected nursery rhymes; Anderson, "The Little Mermaid," selected other tales; Hoffmann, selected tales from The Tales of Hoffmann; Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, selected fairy tales; Carroll, both Alice books; Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Baum, The Emerald City of Oz; Alcott, Little Women; Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Harris, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Stories; Beatrix Potter, selected tales; Bannerman, Little Black Sambo; Kipling, Just So Stories; Stevenson, Treasure Island; and Barrie, Peter Pan. Our last session will consider Harry Potter (all seven novels) in relation to the nineteenth century.

ENGL 252 - Intro Fiction Writing - On-Line

This course satisfies Student Learning Objective #7: Use knowledge, theories or methods appropriate to the arts to understand their context and significance.

This is an introductory course in fiction writing, designed to give you a basic mastery and understanding of various fictional techniques. You'll learn how to put together a scene, how to create interesting and believable characters, how to write effective dialogue, how to build suspense, how to use setting to heighten atmosphere and mood. You'll learn how to structure a story, and how to avoid plot clichés. You'll learn how to revise. You'll learn how to highlight your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Along the way, you'll also practice the more general craft of prose-writing, because many of the technical aspects of fiction-writing (sentence construction, punctuation, and word usage, for example) apply to all the prose-writing you'll do in your life at this university, and in your life after college as well.

Though some of you may want to become professional writers, I know that's not the goal for everyone here. Whatever your level of talent, expertise, background, whatever your future ambitions, you can gain from this course. Even if you never write another story in your life after this semester, if you do the work of the course you'll come away with a better understanding of and more respect for good fiction, because you'll understand the process from the inside out; you'll have lived for a while as a writer.

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	700	Maxton, I	2743 - online

Class is taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 254 - Writing and Communities

By passing this course, you will fulfill ACE Learning Outcome 1: “Write texts, in various forms, with an identified purpose, that respond to particular audience needs, incorporate research or existing knowledge, and use applicable documentation and appropriate conventions of formal and structure.”

In this class, we will spend the majority of our time looking at the ways in which individuals use the written and spoken word to take up issues important to them and to engage in meaningful community conversations. Drawing on our experience as members of and contributors to multiple community conversations, we will explore what motivates us to speak and write about issues important to us.

Throughout the class, as you study and write about issues important to you, you’ll develop three writing projects through which you will 1) research and analyze how writing is used in a particular community in order to participate in community conversations; 2) represent a conflict and compose an argument around an issue of importance to community members; 3) advocate for issues important to you and other stakeholders in a particular community conversation.

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	700	Rasaq, M	2743 - online
ARR-ARRp	ARR	701	Maitra, A	2965 - online
ARR-ARRp	ARR	702	Brown, A	2964 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 344B - Black Women Writers

Engl 344B is an intermediate level literature course. The course contextualizes the work of some Black Women produced during particular literary time periods within the socio-cultural historical time frames that allowed for myriad artistic expression.

We begin with the role slavery and race play/ed in the shaping of African-American literature, culture, and identity, not only of African Americans. In addition, a discussion of whiteness and its privileges attends the course. The imagination is significant here because much of what we know about race is imaginary (i.e., in this course we proceed from the premise that racial categories are fictitious, or that racial hierarchies are not valid, or both).

Understanding some or all of this to be known to our authors, many of whom possessed remarkable insight into the racial dynamic well back into the nineteenth century and probably earlier, just imagine how much creative possibility existed or exists for them to interrogate the complexities of race and class. We will discover what was available to them that informed their rich canvass of imaginative possibility that touched on aesthetic modes.

Cross listed with ETHN 344B

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	700	Dreher, K	2852 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 957B - Neb Writing Project

Nebraska Writing Project’s premiere program, the Summer Institute is open to teachers of all disciplines and grade levels. The 2023 Summer Institute redesigns the National Writing Project model as an hybrid experience to allow both in-person and distance access. Participants will generate writing, share best teaching practices for writing at their grade level and disciplines, and engage in inquiry and research into aspects of writing. Participants may also qualify for monetary stipends of between $300 and $500 to help offset the cost of 6 graduate credit hours (approximately $2000) in English or Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education. Enrollment is by application only (see Nebraska Writing Project website for details).

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0900-0330p	MTWRF	591	Shah, R	2536

PREQ: Permission. Class meets from June 1 - June 19th

ENGL 992 - Nebraska Humanities Project: Media Literacy And Democracy Building

Description

As teachers, we help students become comfortable with the discomfort of learning, so that they can engage new perspectives, gain experience discussing complex issues, and grow in their ca

writers. This work has become more difficult in a cultural moment saturated with fear. Fear drives book bans and curriculum censorship, with claims that such acts protect students from difficult ideas or information. Fear also impacts teachers, who may anticipate consequences for conversing with students about the many difficult issues threaded through literature and our students’ writing and lives--race, gender identity, suicide, poverty. Fear also prevents possibilities for dialogue and connection. In this hybrid Advanced Institute, we will come together to explore strategies for teaching difficult conversations in a divisive political moment and for communicating the value of this work to the public. Because of the additional labor this requires of educators, we will also consider how we can support ourselves, our students, and one another in this challenging time.

Early Application Deadline: Final Application Deadline

To apply, please send a 1-page letter of application to Nebraska Writing Project Director, Dr. Rachael Shah (rshah@unl.edu) that helps us get to know you and your interest in the institute.

Possible questions to address in the Advanced Institute letter include:

What has been your previous involvement with the National Writing Project and/or the Nebraska Writing Project?

What draws you to this year's Advanced Institute? (For example, how does the topic resonate with your current teaching experience? What motivates your application?)

What are you looking for from this class and the community of writers and teachers you would be joining? (For example, what are you looking to take away? What experiences or questions about the topic might you bring to the table? What might you do with what you will learn?)

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0900-1200p	MTWRF	591	Harpster, J	2962

PREQ: Permission. Class meets from June 3 - June 19th

45 hours (3 credit hours), either in-person or online (for those outside of Lincoln)

1st 5-Week Mini Sessions

ENGL 495 - Internship in English, "Young Writers Camp"

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0900-0200p	MTWRF	591	Waite, S	Permission

Permission.

From July 13th – July 24th

ENGL 895 - Internship Teaching Engl - "Young Writers Camp"

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0100-0400p	MTWRF	591	Waite, S	Permission

Permission.

From July 13th – July 24th.

ENGL 957B - Nebraska Writing Project

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0900-0330p	MTWRF	591	Shah, R	2536

PREQ: Permission. Class meets from June 1st - June 19th

ENGL 992 - Nebraska Humanities Project: Media Literacy and Democracy Building

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0900-1200p	MTWRF	591	Harpster, J	2962

PREQ: Permission. Class meets from June 3 - June 19th

45 hours (3 credit hours), either in-person or online (for those outside of Lincoln)

Description

As teachers, we help students become comfortable with the discomfort of learning, so that they can engage new perspectives, gain experience discussing complex issues, and grow in their capacity as thinkers and writers. This work has become more difficult in a cultural moment saturated with fear. Fear drives book bans and curriculum censorship, with claims that such acts protect students from difficult ideas or information. Fear also impacts teachers, who may anticipate consequences for conversing with students about the many difficult issues threaded through literature and our students’ writing and lives--race, gender identity, suicide, poverty. Fear also prevents possibilities for dialogue and connection. In this hybrid Advanced Institute, we will come together to explore strategies for teaching difficult conversations in a

divisive political moment and for communicating the value of this work to the public. Because of the additional labor this requires of educators, we will also consider how we can support ourselves, our students, and one another in this challenging time.

Early Application Deadline: Final Application Deadline

To apply, please send a 1-page letter of application to Nebraska Writing Project Director, Dr. Rachael Shah (rshah@unl.edu) that helps us get to know you and your interest in the institute.

Possible questions to address in the Advanced Institute letter include:

What has been your previous involvement with the National Writing Project and/or the Nebraska Writing Project?

What draws you to this year's Advanced Institute? (For example, how does the topic resonate with your current teaching experience? What motivates your application?)

2nd 5-Week Session

ENGL 151 - Writing And Argument

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
1000-1135a	MTR	601	Omorjarabi, O	2900
1100-1235p	MTR	602	Bissell, A	7879
0100-0235p	MTR	603	Cabada, C	7881

Class meets MTR via zoom with asynchronous activities on WF.

ENGLISH 180 - Introduction to Literature

NOTE: This course does not fulfill any part of the freshman composition requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences.

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	800	Steadman, Q	2879 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 254 - Writing and Communities

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	800	Ber (Anena), A	2785 - online
ARR-ARRp	ARR	801	Anuonye, C	2963 - online
ARR-ARRp	ARR	802	Milligan, K	3011 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 315B - Women In Pop Culture

Description: Relation between women's roles and popular images in the media, including romances, television shows, science fiction, and magazines, with attention to their historical development.

ACE: ACE 9 Global/Diversity

Cross Listed with – WMNS 315B

TIme	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class #
0830-0920a	MWF	800	Hill, A	2984 - online

NOTE: Class taught via Canvas. Computer, E-mail and Internet required.

ENGL 386 - Shakespeare's Dramatic Arts

Time	Days	Sec	Faculty	Class, #
ARR-ARRp	ARR	601	Miller, L	2891

Further information unavailable at this time

Content

Summer 2026

How to Use This Booklet

Level of Courses

Independent Study

English Majors

Student Appeals Committee

Guide to the English Department's Curriculum

Content

ENGL 107, ENGL 151, ENGL 180

Pre-Session

1st 5-Week Session

1st 5-Week Mini Sessions

2nd 5-Week Session