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_FALL 2020 | Course Offerings at OSU-Marion_ IMPORTANT NOTE: Please consult with the Marion Academic Advisor for English Majors, Shellie Shirk (shirk.20@osu.edu), or the Marion English Faculty Coordinator, Stuart Lishan (lishan.1@osu.edu), concerning which English major concentration and/or other requirements are met by your choice of the following courses. ✪✪✪✪✪ English 2201 | Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800 Nathan Wallace MW 9:30-10:50 / 3 Credit Hours In this survey of British and Irish literature from the Middle Ages to 1800, we will study major works of fiction, drama, and poetry such as the anonymous Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, Marie de France’s Lanval, Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, William Shakespeare’s Othello, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, William Hogarth’s Marriage a la Mode, and Frances Burney’s Evelina. In addition to discussing their literary qualities, we will also consider these works’ meanings in historical and cultural contexts. Major themes of discussion will be: religious and political history through literature, the development of language and national identity, women’s writing, and the central importance of theatricality in England particularly. In this class, you will be responsible for study questions, two exams, and three essays. ✪✪✪✪✪
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English 2220H | Introduction to Shakespeare: Bad to the Bone, or How to be Evil in Five Acts Peter C. Dully, Jr. TR 1:30-2:50/ 3 Credit Hours This fast-paced and rollicking course is not your grandparents’ Shakespeare, but your grandparents will be excited and impressed that you’re taking Shakespeare come Thanksgiving. This course focuses on how villains are introduced and perfected in the form of Othello’s Iago, Macbeth’ s Lady Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice’ s Shylock, Richard III’s Richard and others. Along the way, we’ll look at other villains from popular culture, including Hannibal Lecter, the Wicked Witch of the West and Tupac Shakur. After all, Shakespeare is one of those academic foundations; it’s what bright-eyed, eager and thoughtful college students do, and they’ve been doing it for generations. Come see why Shakespeare is the center of the literary canon in the western tradition and why he is almost universally considered the most engaging and accomplished writer in the history of the English language. The course is structured like a seminar—it is heavy on discussion so that we can find our way through the myriad ways and means of the texts. We’ll look at several films in order to see how other readers have interpreted Shakespeare’s villainy. Secondary readings will expand your interpretive abilities, and you will demonstrate your expanded abilities by writing three shorter papers. There are also two exams so that you can show what you know. In short, it’s a hoot—it’s an interpretive playground where we’ll talk about challenging ideas big and bigger. ✪✪✪✪✪ English 2263 | Introduction to Film Nathan Wallace MW 11:00-12:20 / 3 Credit Hours Through class discussions and critical writing assignments, students will gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of film. This course familiarizes students with the formal principles of film narrative (ex: plot structure, patterning of motifs, and generic conventions) and the technical aspects of film style (ex: mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound). We will study The Wizard of Oz ( 1939), Citizen Kane (1941), Titanic (1998), and Deadpool (2016). In this course we will have regular study questions, a midterm exam, and a final essay. ✪✪✪✪✪
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English 2265 | Introduction to Fiction Writing Stuart Lishan MW 3:15-4:35 / 3 Credit Hours
The world now consumes films, novels, theatre, and television… with such ravenous hunger that the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration…. A culture cannot evolve without honest, powerful storytelling. -- Robert McKee
Feed the “ravenous hunger” of the world! Write stories! That’s what English 2265 is all about. It’s a course centered on the writing of fiction. Specifically, it’s a course on the writing of “honest, powerful” stories starring “made up” characters that are "true" (What is the truth of fiction, anyway? Excellent question! We'll talk about it!). To do that, we’ll work with playing at reading and writing stories and parts of stories. We’ll also be sharing our stories with one another around the metaphorical campfire that is a writer’s workshop. Requirements: English 1110 (which can be taken concurrently if you talk with me beforehand and get my permission to do so). That's it. You don't have to have written fiction before. You don't even have to think that you're especially" creative" (which, I have it on good authority, is Balderdash!). You can all join in to produce a blast of meaningful work. And you certainly don't have to be averse to having fun. Texts: Steering the Craft (Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew) , by Ursula K. Le Guin; The Story and Its Writer, 10th Edition, edited by Ann Charters; and, of course, the writing that you create. (Note: You can take the course twice – for ten credit hours total- and receive full credit)/ English 2265 counts toward requirements for the English Major and Creative Writing Minor) ✪✪✪✪✪ English 2269 | Digital Media Composing Ben McCorkle MW 1:30 - 2:50 / 3 credit hours Web 2.0. The Cloud. Social Networking. Twitter. Podcasting. Ten years ago, we would have been scratching our heads trying to figure out the meanings of these cryptic terms, but today, they are becoming increasingly commonplace for us. More and more, we have a hand in actively giving shape to the World Wide Web, the landscape where these things live.
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For this course, we will focus on the issues associated with creating digital media content (in other words, using computers to make meaning by combining words, images, and sound). In addition to examining the formal properties and social implications of digital media texts (the various genres of online discourse and how they circulate through the web), we will also investigate the practical, rhetorical, and ethical dimensions of composing in a digital world. No experience with digital media is required for this course, but during the semester, you will develop a digital portfolio that includes a variety of smallish and larger projects using different combinations of images, audio, and animation. Texts will consist primarily of an online course packet of readings/viewings/listenings. For more information, contact Ben McCorkle (mccorkle.12@osu.edu). ✪✪✪✪✪ English 2290 I Colonial and U.S. Literature to 1865 (Aliens in America) Sara Crosby TR 1:30 - 2:50 / 3 Credit Hours “And when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks back at you.” – Nietzsche This class will ask you to look (just a bit) into that abyss, as we investigate the alien encounters that made “America.” When Old and New Worlds met, the clash shook identities and truths that had seemed eternal. The unthinkable became reality, and ideas that previous generations would have judged insane—democracy, for instance—became “American.” In this class, we will meet some of the criminals, captives, rebels, so-called lunatics, and outcasts who emerged as “American” authors, and we will examine the strange new literature they wove out of their experiences on the edge of the unknown. In short, we’ll try to map the development of an American psychology and understand the aliens in our own minds. ✪✪✪✪✪ English 2291 I U.S. Literature 1865 to Present (America the Freakish) Sara Crosby TR 9:30-10:50 / 3 Credit Hours “America the Beautiful” may be our official dream vision of America, but what about our nightmare? How does U. S. literature come to terms with that distorted mirror—America the freakish, weird, criminal, or downright mutant? Modern writers have displayed a strange obsession with the grotesque, and this class will explore that preoccupation by examining U. S. literature between 1865 and the present through the figure of the “freak” or outcast. We will learn how discourses of abnormality dating from the late-19th century, such as racial “science,” criminology, and Social Darwinism, impacted and continue to influence U. S. literature. Our readings will cover a spectrum of poetry, drama, fiction, and film, including works by Anne Rice, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Tennessee Williams.
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English 2463 | Introduction to Video Games Analysis Ben McCorkle MW 11:00- 12:20 / 3 Credit Hours Ready, Player One? This course offers an introductory exploration of video games from a variety of angles: the history, their impact on the broader culture, implications for education and psychological research, formal/ structural/ technological innovations, and more. We’ll look at how games have helped shape our notions of gender, violence, ethics, and the like. Throughout the term, we will discuss, read about, and write about video games. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to create multimodal content in conjunction with your exploration of the subject. And lastly: yes, you’ll have the opportunity to play some games as well.
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English 3372 | Science Fiction and/or Fantasy Ben McCorkle MW 9:30 – 10:50 / 3 credit hours Join the brave, able crew of the USS English 3372 as we venture into the strange and harrowing world of Science Fiction. Our mission: to explore the genre as it evolves over the course of the 20th century and into the 21st. Alien invasions, computer-augmented realities, berzerker humanoid robots, government-engineered nanoviruses, and so much more await us on our fateful journey. This course will focus exclusively on U.S. Sci-Fi, and will feature not only literature, but also television, film, and other media forms. Readings and viewings TBD. Coursework includes critical essays and major end-of- term project. For more information, send email to: mccorkle.12@osu.edu. ✪✪✪✪✪
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✪✪✪✪✪ English 4551 I Special Topics in U.S. Literature to 1865 (Six Degrees of Poe) Sara Crosby TR 11:00 - 12:20 / 3 Credit Hours Cheap con man or gentleman critic, vicious lunatic or modernist innovator—Edgar Allan Poe has always provoked strong reactions from writers and readers. But, love him or hate him, they could not ignore him. He may have reveled in literary mud-slinging and hoaxing, but he also gnawed obsessively at the hidden horrors of 19th-century America and invented major modern genres, such as the detective mystery and the tale of psychological horror. In this class, we’re going to read American literature from 1830 to1865 through Poe-tinted glasses and immerse ourselves in a Poe-haunted America. ✪✪✪✪✪ English 4582 | Special Topics in African-American Literature Malcolm Cash TR 9:30 - 10:50 / 3 Credit Hours
“WE, AS A PEOPLE, WILL GET TO THE PROMISED LAND” English 4582 will survey the Black American Revolutionary Literary and Leadership tradition by critically examining the writings of African American creative writers as reflected in their literary works on the life, leadership, and legacy of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. To better understand the Movement, we will
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first look at the Black American Revolutionary literature of the Harlem Renaissance leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. The class will focus on how these writers have engaged, portrayed, critiqued, and expanded our understanding of African American literature, especially in relation to the Civil Rights advancement, and powerful roles of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s leadership for human rights and equality globally. We will examine Black writers on King in the genres of narrative nonfiction, poetry, drama, and fiction. The central writers we will study will be James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and Amiri Baraka. We will conclude the class with select writings of Thomas Merton on the Black Revolution. ✪✪✪✪✪ English 4584 | Special Topics in Literacy Studies Catherine Braun T/R 1:30-2:50 This course will explore three big questions relating to Digital Literacy: ● What does it mean to be “literate” in our digital age, which is marked by screens, information abundance, and constantly shifting modes of digital communication? ● What types of texts and discourse do the terms “reading and writing” describe in our current cultural context, which is dominated by social media such as Twitter and Instagram, speedy sharing of content to multiple audiences, and easy creation of media that used to be only accessible to professionals (video, audio, web pages, etc.)? ● And finally, the big question: How do digital technologies and the Internet affect our literacy: the ways we read, write, and think? Projects will include both traditional writing and digital forms (such as memes, audio/video, and web composing).
PALS | Pride And Life Skills Mentoring Program
The Pride And Life Skills mentoring program (PALS) is a cooperative venture between The Ohio State University at Marion, the Boys & Girls Club of Marion County, and Marion Public Schools to develop a mentoring program that is a win-win situation for both elementary, middle school students, and college students. PALS, connects college students from the Marion campus with grade school children in the Marion area to provide one-on-one mentoring opportunities for kids. The Boys & Girls Club matches program volunteers with school age children and provides each a useful handbook to direct them through the mentoring process. Students earn 1-credit per term of independent study by attending mentoring sessions regularly, coming to a few meetings, and writing a two-page report about their mentoring activities at the end of each term. OSUMARION.OSU.EDU/ACADEMICS/PALS.HTML For further information contact: Ben McCorkle • mccorkle.12@osu.edu Nikole Patson • patson.3@osu.edu
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