sample syllabi- literature

Some of these are "dream courses." I have taught only the survey of American Lit course; the rest are proposed courses that I could teach immediately. I have more courses prepared, and would be happy to send copies on request.

• Survey of American Literature: Call & Response of the American Canon: Major authors from Colonial to Contemporary period. Sophomore seminar. Can be adapted for upper division courses. Approaches canonical & "minor" texts and the idea that all literature has a "call" and "response" format, adapting this African American literary trope for broader conversations about what makes a canon. Taught at LSUS Fall 2007 & Spring 2008.
• Intro to Literature: This course is a literature with writing emphasis course that I teach at NSU-La, Shreveport, since the January 2013. Because the campus is a nursing school, students respond very well to the end-of-course unit on literature with nurses, as well as thematic links to medical ethics and medical issues.
• Eng 1010: first-year composition course. The first of two at NSU-La, Shreveport. The introductory course, features rhetoric-composition basics such as ethos/pathos/logos, building thesis statments, organizational skills, etc.
• Eng 1020: a composition course, the second of two at NSU-La, Shreveport. This course further advances students' rhetorical skills. During the selected semester, I attempted to use all online courses and links instead of the adopted textbook. We had varying levels of success with that approach, but students did love the media we used.
• Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch? Magical Feminism as Feminist Literary Genre. a course that examines popular fiction, film, and television, and argues that the witch and the feminist have been tied together as an empowering metaphor for centuries. Examines a genre of literature/movies wherein this figure is used subersively to teach empowerment. Senior or graduate level course.
• Studies in American Literature: Speculative Fiction of the African Diaspora: a course that covers short stories and novels of writers from the 19th to the 21st century writing what is commonly thought of as Science Fiction. Explores conjure, Africa as homeland, and the future.
• Periods in American Literature: Women Naturalists & the 20th Century Novel: why is it that women writers are rarely mentioned as using Literary Naturalism?
• Major American Authors: Zora Neale Hurston: "Genius of the South." A graduate level seminar on one major author whose influence is felt in many places. Hurston was a folklorist, novelist, memoirist and character of the Harlem Renaissance.
• The Post Feminist(?) Era: Issues in Contemporary Women's Writing: This course uses a Third Wave feminist rhetoric deeply grounded in Second Wave Feminism and Theory. We read nonfiction, fiction, poetry, memoir/diary/letters and personal interviews. We will begin with a grounding in traditional women's theory on gender as "made" not "born".