An introduction to the study of literature that focuses on the intersections between imaginative literature and other fields of human endeavor. Why is imaginative literature worth reading and taking seriously? How can becoming a better reader enhance other aspects of our careers and our lives?

Offers a changing selection of writing and rhetoric courses focusing on rhetoric and composition in digital platforms.

An interdisciplinary survey of global time-travel novels, film and music (Kindred, The Time Machine, Interstellar, Back to the Future, Janelle Monáe, Bob Marley). Armed with genre vocabulary and physics concepts (special relativity, time dilation, retrocausality), we will untangle science fiction from science fact and unpack the thorny ethical, narrative and physics implications of time travel. Assignments include time machine design, time policy proposals and a capstone Time Travel Convention.

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.

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.

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.

A graduate-level seminar in English literature.  Topics vary from year to year.  For more details on this class, please visit the department website at https://english.as.virginia.edu.