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Literature Minor

Literature Minor


IN THIS SECTION
  • English
    • English Major
    • English Minor
    • Master of Arts in English
  • Narrative Studies of Health and Body
    • Narrative Studies of Health and Body Minor
  • Literature
    • Literature Minor
  • Writing
    • Writing Minor

Explore great works of literature.

The Literature Minor will familiarize you with the classics of world literature. You will learn about the major authors, works, and literary movements that distinguish English and American literature and, at the same time, be introduced to “alternative voices” in literature—voices that are new to the literary canon or that occupy a literary space outside of it. The study of literature will help you communicate clearly, logically, and effectively; use research methods intelligently; analyze, interpret, and enjoy literature; and develop a perspective on the world that is informed by intensive study of literature and its critical methods.

Explore sample courses in this program.
EN-210 Survey of American Literature I
American literature, from its beginning to the Civil War: colonial and federal periods and the transcendentalists.
3 credits
EN-211 Survey of American Literature II
American literature since the Civil War: naturalism and realism.
3 credits
EN-220 Survey of English Literature I
The development of English literature from the beginnings to 1798.
3 credits
EN-221 Survey of English Literature II
The development of English literature from 1798 to the present.
3 credits
EN-240 Survey of Postcolonial and Transcultural Literature
Introduction to literatures in English from formerly colonized countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, and from the postcolonial diaspora.
3 credits
EN-255 Methods of Literary Study
Introduction to critical methods of interpreting literature through examination of works by major authors.
3 credits
EN-120 Race in Comics
Comics offer a unique combination of tools for representing race. Artists have long used either language or visual art to think about identity, but comics merge the two in new ways. In this course, students analyze innovative comics and graphic novels/nonfiction to better understand why this medium is such a productive way to reflect on racial identity. How do comics authors engage with the difficult history of racial caricature and the longstanding lack of diversity in the field? And what can the combination of image and text say about the tension between appearance and identity?
3 credits
EN-132 World Literature
Representative poems, stories, plays, both ancient and modern, from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
3 credits
EN-140 Introduction to Poetry
Examination and appreciation of the techniques and types of poetry including the sonnet, the pastoral, the mock heroic, and the ode.
3 credits
EN-156 Mythology
Myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome that form a part of the classical tradition in English literature.
3 credits
EN-158 Science Fiction
The nature and function of 19th- and 20th-century science fiction literature: Wells, Verne, Asimov, Bradbury, and others.
3 credits
EN-168 Film and Literature
An examination of the fundamental rhetorical techniques of film and literature to determine the similarities of and differences between the two forms of expression.
3 credits
EN-256 Creative Writing: Fiction
An opportunity to develop the student’s writing ability and critical sense; work of students and professional authors are analyzed.
3 credits
EN-266 Journalism: Practice and Techniques
Training in developing, reporting, writing, and editing straight news, feature, profile, and interpretive stories.
3 credits
EN-275 Sportswriting
Introduces students to the journalistic art of sportswriting, reporting, and interviewing for various media.
3 credits
EN-348 Postcolonial Women’s Writing
Writing by women from colonized and formerly colonized countries on local and global issues shaping women’s lives and creative expression.
3 credits
EN-322 Community Writing
An introduction to writing about, for, and with communities. By working with Worcester State’s Binienda Center for Civic Engagement, for example, students learn to successfully complete individual or group community writing projects, which begin when relationships are built with community organizations to identify a communication need. Then, in collaboration, possible solutions are identified to address the communication need with the goal of developing and delivering a document for use by the partnering community organization that helps to solve the problem. As a result, students develop practical writing experience and an ability to act as as a writing consultant.
3 credits

Meet your faculty

Name not found

Elizabeth Bidinger

Professor of English

Elizabeth Bidinger teaches a variety of creative writing and literature courses, and she specializes in the study and practice of memoir writing. She has published memoir essays as well as scholarly articles on memoir as a literary genre. Her book, [...]

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Name not found

Heather Macpherson

Full-time Temporary Faculty

As a practitioner of the essay and poem, my scholarly interests continue to reside in the history of the essay through its contemporary poeticized and experimental forms. Currently, my research is focusing on the bifurcation of metaphor. In addition, [...]

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Jacqueline Morrill

Instructor

Jacqueline Morrill is an English alum of WSU with a Masters of Fine Arts in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poetry has been published in a variety of print and online journals such as The Worcester Review, Best Indie Lit New England and [...]

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Riley McGuire

Assistant Professor

Riley McGuire is an Assistant Professor of English at Worcester State University where he specializes in nineteenth-century British literature, queer theory, and disability studies. Prior to joining the faculty at WSU, he completed his Ph.D. in [...]

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Jamie Remillard

Assistant Professor of English

As an assistant professor of English, Jamie Remillard teaches courses in technical writing, science and environmental communication, creative nonfiction, and medical and health journalism. Her recent projects include field-based research to examine [...]

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Christina Santana

Associate Professor of English (Writing)

Christina Santana is an Associate Professor English at Worcester State University. She earned her doctorate at Arizona State University in 2016, specializing community writing, rhetorics, and literacies. Her professional life has included time spent [...]

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MaryLynn Saul

Professor

MaryLynn Saul is a professor of English and specializes in medieval literature, particularly Arthurian literature, as well as human rights, history of the English language, and feminist theory. She has published articles on courtly love and marriage [...]

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Hardeep Sidhu

Hardeep Sidhu is an assistant professor of English at Worcester State University, where he teaches courses on U.S. literature, race, immigration, comics, the novel, and college writing. Recent courses include "Race in Comics," "Narratives of U.S. [...]

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Karen Woods Weierman

Professor of English

Dr. Karen Woods Weierman is Professor of English at Worcester State University, where she teaches U.S. literatures and first-year writing. She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of [...]

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Name not found

Donald Vescio

Professor

Professional Summary [...]

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