Argumentation Across Disciplines examines how the linguistic and rhetorical features of argument vary from discipline to discipline. The course will make two primary movements: The first is an examination of what argument is through the lens of classical and new rhetorical theory. Second, students will do comparative research on the linguistic and rhetorical features of texts in two different disciplines.

Political propaganda often persuades through conspiracy theories that create suspicion and fear. This course examines the rhetorical strategies of conspiracy-driven propaganda from the 20th and 21st centuries. By examining the arguments, evidence, images, myths, and tropes that animate propaganda and conspiracy theories, we will identify how they are circulated to inflame our emotions, exploit our prejudices, and bias our decision-making.

Iconic American sites such as Monticello, Walden Pond, and our network of national parks have inspired generations of Americans. But displacement is just as much a part of our national identity. In this class we will analyze fiction, journalism, film, paintings, photographs and other elements of visual culture that document the stories of Indigenous dispossession, housing discrimination, Japanese internment, redlining, gentrification, and homelessness. 

This class examines the history of voluntary, coerced, and forced migration in the U.S., tracing the paths of migrating groups and their impact on urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. We'll dig for cultural clues to changing attitudes about migration over time. Photographs, videos, books, movies, government records, poems, podcasts, paintings, comic strips, museums, manifestos: you name it, we'll analyze it for this class.

Students in Making Books (ENWR 3810) will gain a broad view of book editing and publishing in the 21st century, as well as hands-on experience with developmental, substantive, and copy editing. Appropriate for aspiring publishing professionals, but also for anyone who simply wants to better understand the often-hidden lives of books-in-progress, or to take their writing skills to a new level. 

This seminar offers an interdisciplinary approach to disability in the social, cultural, political, artistic, ethical, and medical spheres and their intersections. It also introduces students to critical theory concerned with the rights of the disabled.

Limited enrollment. Topics vary from year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses.

Moving through much of the New Testament, from the Gospels to Revelation, this course focuses on deepening biblical literacy and sharpening awareness of biblical connections to whatever members of the class are reading in other contexts. Along the way we will discuss translations; textual history; and interpretations, ancient to contemporary. No previous knowledge of the Bible is needed or assumed. Can be taken before or after Part 1.

Reading of the poem, emphasizing critical methods and exploring its relations to the culture of early Medieval England. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://english.as.virginia.edu/. Prerequisite: ENGL 5100 or equivalent.

In this graduate-level seminar, we'll read selections from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation. This course focuses on deepening biblical literacy and sharpening awareness of biblical connections to readings in other contexts. Along the way we will discuss English translations of the Bible; the process of canonization; textual history; and the long trail of interpretive approaches, ancient to contemporary.