English

This course explores what comedy can do through a survey of the stage comedy of the two greatest periods of theatrical creativity in London: the Elizabethan-Jacobean era and the Restoration era. It spans the the entire 17th century, with attention to continuities and revolutions in dramatic practice and the changing forms of comedy.

The end of the 19th century, roughly from 1880-1900 or so, has become one of the most dynamic fields in literary studies in recent years. The 1890s was a time of literary innovation, epitomized by a figure like Oscar Wilde, in which the "new" was championed. The course focuses on a range of literature and some visual culture from the period to consider the ways in which aesthetics and politics intersect. What is art for art's sake? How did agitation for women's rights or Irish home rule find their way into the culture of the day? Why were gender and sexuality so hotly discussed? How was empire imagined by the end of the century? Students examine ideas around aestheticism, decadence, degeneration, radical politics, urbanism, and empire. 

The undergraduate research program places students in research opportunites to conduct indpendent research under the supervision of a Chinese University of Hong Kong faculty. Students are expected to spend approximately 15 to 20 hours per week in independent research as well as attend lectures and labs.

Creative writing encompasses forms of writing outside of professional, journalistic, academic, or technical writing. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of creative writing, with an emphasis on crafting prose. Students learn about the different tools that writers of fiction and creative nonfiction (also known as narrative nonfiction) employ to make these forms successful in a myriad of ways. Through reading, discussion, and practice, the class explores the ways in which writers creatively manipulate structure and language. The course discusses how literary devices are employed to give their writing a unique tone and style. Each week, the class reads and discusses examples of creative texts to analyze which stylistic elements make the pieces successful. Then, students apply what they learn to their own writing through weekly writing exercises, and strengthen the work through subsequent feedback in workshop, culminating in one fully-formed piece of writing at the end of the course.

This course offers a study of English female novelists from the end of the 17th century through the 18th century. Authors include: Aphra Behn; Charlotte Lennox; Eliza Haywood; Frances Burney; Virginia Woolf. The class also analyzes the circumstances, history, and strategies of female writers of this era. 

This course is founded on the understanding that through engaging with narratives of dystopias, futures, and other speculative realities, we can gain some clarity of the pressing issues we face in the world today. Through examining five thematically structured units over the course of the term, students consider how the study of narratives that exist in 'other worlds' can offer insightful and nuanced analyses of complex questions involving environmental, political, historical, and/or societal concerns. Students also consider how these broader contexts and concerns can be utilized to further interrogate literary texts.