All Undergraduate Courses
Course Offerings for Current and Upcoming Semesters
Downloadable PDF:
Fall 2024 Undergraduate Courses
For course offerings from previous semesters, click HERE for the Undergraduate Course Description Archive.
The Department of English’s course numbering system changed in Fall 2016. Click HERE for information about old course numbers.
Please consult the UM Undergraduate Catalog for complete and up-to-date information about the English program.
Sample Academic Course Plan
With Creative Writing Emphasis
List of Courses
Eng 103 Appreciation of Literature
This class will focus on the enjoyment of reading and interpreting literature. Topics will vary.
Eng 199: Introduction to Creative Writing (replaces Eng 300 starting Fall 2020)
Students will be introduced to two different creative writing genres.
Eng 220: Survey in Literary History
Multi-century survey of a topic in literary history across multiple genres.
Eng 221 Survey of World Literature to 1650
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 222 Survey of World Literature since 1650
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 223 Survey of American Literature to the Civil War
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 224 Survey of American Literature since Civil War
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 225 Survey of British Literature to the 18th Century
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 226 Survey of British Literature since Romantic Period
This course will cover prose, poetry, and drama.
Eng 299 Introduction to Literary Studies
A gateway course that prepares students for upper-division course work in English by emphasizing the methods of close reading and textual analysis and by developing students’ writing and research skills. The course is required for all English majors.
Eng 300 Introduction to Creative Writing (replaced by Eng 199 starting Fall 2020)
This class is designed to introduce students to the three genres of poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. Students will examine many technical aspects of craft and engage in exercises designed to improve their ability to create meaningful works of art.
Eng 301 Poetry Workshop
Students will study and practice the craft of poetry. Prerequisite: Eng 199 or Eng 300.
Eng 302 Fiction Workshop
Students will study and practice the craft of fiction. Prerequisite: Eng 199 or Eng 300.
Eng 303 Nonfiction Workshop
Students will study and practice the craft of expository writing. Prerequisite: Eng 199 or Eng 300.
Eng 304 Screenwriting Workshop
This course is an introduction to the craft of screenwriting through reading and writing. Prerequisite: Eng 199 or Eng 300.
Eng 305 Advanced Writing for English Majors
This course is a structured, writing-intensive workshop designed to prepare English majors to write analytical essays and interpret literary works in a variety of forms and genres.
Eng 306 History of the English Language
This course is a general introduction to the history of the English language.
Eng 307 Introduction to Literary Criticism and Theory
This course is an overview of influential movements in literary criticism and theory.
Eng 308: Introduction to Editing, Writing, and Publishing for the Digital Age
Students will be introduced to contemporary theories and practices of editing, writing, and publishing literature and other texts. Prerequisite: Eng 199 or 300.
Eng 309 Studies in Genre
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 310 Introduction to Cinema Studies
This course is an overview of cinema history and an introduction to the study of cinema form and criticism. It is a lecture course with weekly film showings.
Eng 311 Studies in Cinema/Media Genres
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 312 Studies in Cinema/Media History
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 313 Introduction to World Cinema
This course is a study of world cultures through cinema and/or other media. All films are subtitled in English. The course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 314 The Cinematic South
This course is an examination of Southern culture as perceived in film, television, documentaries and/or other forms of visual media.
Eng 316 Introduction to Medieval Studies
This course introduces students to medieval culture and to seminal works of medieval literature.
Eng 317 Chaucer
Students will be introduced to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and to the pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary of Middle English.
Eng 318 Medieval Romance
This course is an introduction to and survey of major works of medieval romance.
Eng 319 Medieval Drama
This course is an introduction to Medieval drama.
Eng 320 The Heroic Age
This course is an introduction to the vernacular literary traditions and cultures of early Medieval northwestern Europe. Old English, Old Irish, Middle Welsh, and Old Norse texts will be read in modern English translation.
Eng 321 Literature of Medieval Europe
Students will examine European literary tradition from late antiquity through the late middle ages; works from several languages will be read in translation.
Eng 322 Studies in Medieval Literature
This course is an intensive study of a Medieval English author, genre, or literary tradition. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 324 Shakespeare
Students will study the major plays.
Eng 326 Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
This course is an interdisciplinary approach to this era in European history through a study of its literature, religion, economic conditions, artistic and scientific achievements, as well as its politics, geographical exploration, colonization, and slave trade.
Eng 327 Early Modern Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 328 Studies in Early Modern Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 330 Studies in 18th-Century Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 332 18th-Century Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 333 Studies in Early American Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 334 Early American Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 335 Studies in Transatlantic Literature to 1900
This course is a study of literatures within a transatlantic frame. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 337 Studies in Romanticism
This course is a survey of the principal works of major authors of the Romantic Period in British literature (roughly 1789-1832). Authors to be covered may include William Blake, William Wordsword, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Matthew G. Lewis, Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 338 Studies in Victorian Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 339 Victorian Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 340 Studies in Antebellum American Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 341 Studies in American Literature 1860-1900
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 343 Studies in 19th-Century Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 344 19th-Century Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 346 Studies in 20th– and 21st-Century British Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 347 Studies in 20th-and 21st-Century US Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 348 Transatlantic Literature, 1900-present
This course is a study of literatures within a transatlantic frame. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 349 Modern/Contemporary Genres
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 350 Studies in Modernism
Students will examine selected prose, poetry, and/or drama from roughly 1900-1950. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 352 Studies in Contemporary Literature
Students will examine selected literature from roughly 1950-present. This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 354 Survey of Southern Literature
Students will examine selected Southern literary texts of early settlement to the present day, with an emphasis on the development of regional culture in the South.
Eng 355 Studies in Southern Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 357 Women in the South
This course is a study of the experience of women in the South as revealed primarily through their writings and other expressions.
Eng 359 Survey of Native American Literature
Students will study selected Native American literature from before contact to the present day.
Eng 361 African American Literature Survey to 1920
Students will examine selected African American prose, poetry, and drama from early settlement to the 20th century.
Eng 362 African American Literature Survey since 1920
Students will examine selected African American prose, poetry, and drama of the 20th century.
Eng 363 African American Genres
This course is an intensive study of genres, subgenres, or forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 364 Studies in African American Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 365 Literature in Prison
Students will examine writers of literary significance, covering a range of history and genres. It is a writing-intensive course that is taught in Mississippi prisons.
Eng 366 African American Science Fiction Literature
Student will study African American science fiction and speculative fiction.
Eng 367 Blues Tradition in American Literature
This course will examine how writers have translated the oral culture and social milieu of blues musicians into a range of literary forms, including epigrams, poems, stories, novels, plays, folkloric interviews, and autobiographies.
Eng 370 Studies in World Literatures
Students will examine transnational or comparative approaches to literature from a variety of national traditions. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 371 Studies in Anglophone Literature
Students will examine English-language literature that may include texts from the British Isles, Ireland, the United States, Africa, South Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 372 Survey of 20th and 21st Century Irish Literature
Students will examine selected Irish literature within the context of Irish history.
Eng 373 Studies in 20th and 21st Century Comparative Black Literature
Students will examine various black literatures, including African, African-American, and African-Caribbean, in a comparative, socio-cultural context. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 374 Survey of Caribbean Literature
This course is a survey of Caribbean literature from pre-Columbian cultures to the present.
Eng 375 Survey of 20th and 21st Century African Literature
This course is a survey of the development of African literature in the context of African history and of the political, social, and cultural forces that have influenced various African countries.
Eng 376 Studies in Asian Literature
This course is an introduction to contemporary Asian literature in cultural context. Texts may include examples from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, and other Asian nations. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 377 Studies in National Counter-Canons
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 378 Studies in Postcolonial Literature
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 380 Studies in Literary Criticism and Theory
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 382 Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies
This course is an introduction to the theory, scholarship, and critical approaches to the study of gender and sexuality studies.
Eng 383 Studies in Gender and Feminism
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 384 Studies in Gay and Lesbian Literature/Theory
This course studies gay and lesbian representations in literature and other media. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 385 Women in Literature
This course is a study of the images of women in British and American literature. The content will vary.
Eng 386 Gender on Film
Students examine issues of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality within racial and national identity as represented in mainstream or independent films.
Eng 388 Studies in British Environmental Literature
This course is a study of major works of poetry and prose. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 389 Studies in American Environmental Literature
This course studies major works of poetry and prose. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 391 Environmental Genres and Forms
This course is an intensive study of genres and forms. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 392: Directed Research Assistantship I (1-3 hours)
Directed research project conducted under English faculty supervision and with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. May be repeated, but only 3 hours of Eng 392 or 492 may be applied to the English major or minor. Z-grade.
Eng 393 Studies in Popular Culture
This course is a study in less traditional literary forms and themes that reflect popular culture, such as science fiction, the “Western,” the literature of war, etc. The course’s content varies and it may be repeated once for credit.
Eng 394: Internship in Editing, Writing, and Publishing
Students may earn English credit for career-related experience in editing, writing, and publishing, with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. May be repeated, but only 3 hours may be applied to the English major or minor. Z-grade.
Eng 395 Studies in Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 396 Studies in Counter-Canons and Critical Issues
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 397 Studies on Location
This is a special topics course led by English department faculty in locations outside the university. It may be repeated with departmental approval.
Eng 398 Studies Abroad
Students complete departmentally approved advanced studies at a foreign university. It may be repeated with departmental approval.
Eng 399 Internship
Students may earn up to three hours of English elective credits for career-related experience with approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Z-grade.
Eng 400 Advanced Poetry Workshop
This course is an advanced study and practice of the craft of poetry. Prerequisite: Eng 301.
Eng 401 Advanced Fiction Workshop
This course is an advanced study and practice of the craft of fiction. Prerequisite: Eng 302.
Eng 402 Advanced Nonfiction Workshop
This course is an advanced study and practice of the craft of non-fiction/expository writing. Prerequisite: Eng 303.
Eng 403 Advanced Screenwriting Workshop
This course is an advanced study and practice of the craft of screenwriting. Prerequisite: Eng 304 or Thea 305.
Eng 404 Special Topics in Creative Writing
Eng 405 Nature Writing
This course is an advanced study and practice of creative nonfiction exploring the natural environment.
Eng 407 Special Topics in Literary Theory
This course is an advanced study of current issues and intellectual trends in literary theory.
Eng 409 Special Topics in Genre
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 411 Special Topics in Cinema/Media Studies
This course is an advanced study of specific genres, historical periods, directors or themes. The course’s content varies, and it may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 412 Special Topics in Cinema/Media Studies Theory, History
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 413 Special Topics in Media/Cultural Studies
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 414 Special Topics in the Cinematic South
This course is a critical analysis of Southern culture as perceived in cinema, documentaries, television plays, and/or other forms of visual media, and (when relevant) their literary sources. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 417 Early Middle English
This course is an introduction to English literature in the vernacular from the period between the Norman Conquest and Chaucer (1100-1300) in its dialectical and generic variety.
Eng 418 Advanced Studies in Chaucer
This course usually focuses on Troilus and Criseyde and/or the earlier works. Attention may be given to Chaucer criticism and scholarship, to issues in medieval historiography, or to Chaucer in the English or European literary tradition.
Eng 419 14th-Century English Literature
Students examine major figures of the age of Chaucer–excluding Chaucer himself but including Langland, Gower, and the Gawain-poet–and the problems in the relation of literary to intellectual, social, and cultural history that they raise. Prerequisite: Eng 317, 318, or 319.
Eng 420 Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Literature
This course is an advanced study of the vernacular poetic traditions of the British Isles in the early Middle Ages. Topics vary and may include Old English, Old Irish, Middle Welsh, or Old Norse texts in modern English translation. It may be repeated once for credit.
Eng 421 Special Topics in the Literature of Medieval Europe
Students examine the European literary tradition from late antiquity through the late middle ages; works from several languages will be read in translation.
Eng 422 Literature of Medieval Piety
This course is a study of orthodox and popular religious texts, practices, and artifacts.
Eng 423 Special Topics in Medieval Literature
This course is an intensive study of the techniques and themes of Old and/or Middle English literature and culture in historical context. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 424 Medieval Forms and Genres
This course is an intensive study of the techniques and themes of Old English/Middle English literature and culture in historical context. Its content varies. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 426 Seminar on Shakespeare
This course is an intensive study of Shakespeare’s plays in their cultural and historical context. Prerequisite requirements for this course may also be satisfied by consent of instructor. Prerequisite: Eng 324
Eng 427 Shakespeare on Film
This course is a study of Shakespeare’s plays in action through an analysis of film.
Eng 428 Special Topics Early Modern Literature
This course studies a major theme or problem. Its content varies. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 431 Special Topics in 18th-Century Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 434 Special Topics Early American Literature
This course studies selected topics in Early American literature. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 435 Transatlantic Literature to 1900
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 438 Special Topics in Romanticism
This course’s content varies. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 439 Special Topics in Victorian Literature
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 442 Antebellum American Literature
This course covers various authors that may/may not include Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, and others. This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 443 Special Topics American Literature 1860-1900
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 445 Special Topics in 19th-Century Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 448 Special Topics in 20th– & 21st-Century British Literature
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 450 Special Topics in 20th– & 21st-Century American Literature
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 452 Transatlantic Literature 1900-Present
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 454 Special Topics in Modernism
Students will examine selected prose, poetry, and/or drama from roughly 1900-1950. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 457 Special Topics in Contemporary Literature
Students will examine selected prose, poetry, and/or drama from roughly 1950-present. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 458 Southern Environmental Literature
Students will examine fiction, nonfiction prose (including travel writing and memoir as well as nature writing) and poetry written about the human and nonhuman ecologies of the South.
Eng 460 Faulkner
This course is a study of the major texts.
Eng 461 Special Topics in Southern Literature
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 462 Special Topics in the Global South
This course will cover transnational and/or comparative approaches to literatures of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, focusing on historical, social, and cultural connections involving the U.S. South. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 465 Special Topics in Native American Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 468 Major African American Writers
This course is a comparative look at the development and impact of African American writers.
Eng 469 Special Topics in African American Literature
This course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 472 Seminar in Counter-Canons/Critical Issues
This seminar focuses on emerging and alternative canons, with attention to the conditions that shape the production, dissemination, and critical reception of these texts. Topics vary by semester, and this course may be repeated once for credit.
Eng 473 Prison & the Literary Imagination
Students will explore how writers of twentieth-century African American literature depict prison life, and issues related to the U.S. criminal justice system.
Eng 474 Special Topics in World Literatures
This course studies selected topics in World Literature. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 476 Special Topics in Anglophone Literature
This course studies selected topics in Anglophone Literature. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 478 Special Topics in Irish Literature
This course studies selected topics in Irish literary studies. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 479 Special Topics in Comparative Black Literature
This course is a study of various black literatures, including African, African-American, and African-Caribbean, in a comparative, socio-cultural context. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 481 Special Topics in Caribbean Literature
This course studies selected topics in Caribbean Literature. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 483 Special Topics in African Literature
This course studies selected topics in African Literature. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 486 Special Topics in Postcolonial Literature
Literature produced by writers in previously colonized countries; including a study of critical arguments suggesting that these texts contribute to a distinct literary theory. This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 488 Special Topics in Gender/Sexuality Studies
This course studies selected topics in gender/sexuality. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 489 Power, Knowledge, and Gender
This course is a critical, interdisciplinary examination of identity as related to sex, race, and class and as imbricated in knowledge and power, through a study of literary, cultural, and intellectual history.
Eng 490 Special Topics in Queer Theory
This course will trace major movements in the development of queer theory from the 1970s to the present. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 491 Special Topics in Gender and Literature
This course studies images of women and men in literature by women and men, the special role of the woman writer, recurrent formal and contextual convention in literature written by women, and feminist critical theory. The course’s content varies, and it may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 492: Directed Research Assistantship II (1-3 hours)
Advanced directed research project conducted under English faculty supervision and with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. May be repeated, but only 3 hours of Eng 392 or 492 may be applied to the English major or minor. Z-grade.
Eng 493 Special Topics in Race and Ethnicity
This course studies selected topics regarding race and ethnicity. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Eng 494 Special Topics in Environmental Studies
This course may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 495 Literature and the Nonhuman
This course traces historical changes in the representation of animals in literary and cultural texts like film. It may be repeated for credit if topic varies.
Eng 496 Directed Reading
Independent study restricted to advanced majors. Topics, texts, and requirements will vary; substantial reading list and significant writing component required. See Director of Undergraduate Studies in English for further requirements.
Eng 497 Studies Abroad
Students complete departmentally approved advanced studies at a foreign university.
Eng 499 Senior Thesis
Students conduct a significant investigation under the supervision of a faculty member. Instructor approval required; may be repeated for credit.
Eng 500 Studies on Location
This is a special topics course led by English department faculty in locations outside the university. It may be repeated with departmental approval.
Eng 501 Studies Abroad
Students complete departmentally approved advanced studies at a foreign university. This course may be repeated with departmental approval.
Eng 502 Directed Reading – FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY
Students conduct an independent study under faculty supervision. This course is restricted to advanced majors. Instructor approval required; may be repeated for credit.
Eng 504 Descriptive Grammar
This course is a structural examination of English grammar, with special attention to usage on different levels, formal and informal, standard and nonstandard, written and spoken; emphasis on phonology, morphology, and descriptive theories of grammar.
Eng 505 Historical Linguistics
This course is a study of words, speech languages, and language changes from the point of view of evolution in the course of time, particularly in Indo-European languages. Prerequisite: Eng 306 or graduate standing.
Eng 506 Old English I
This course is an introduction to the Old English language — phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary — and to Old English literature, with special attention to translating prose.
Eng 507 Old English II
This course is a study of Beowulf: historical context, manuscript, translation, and interpretation. Prerequisite: Eng 506.
Eng 508 History of the English Language II
This course is an advanced study of the history of the English language. Prerequisite: Eng 306 or graduate standing.
Eng 509 Semantics
This course is a study of word meaning in human languages, especially English, history, issues, and theories of semantics.
Eng 510 Modern English Grammar
This course is an advanced treatment of syntactic structures, with special attention to current interpretations; emphasis on morphology and generative transformational theories of syntax.
Eng 511 World Englishes
This course will investigate the spread and development of English throughout the world.
Eng 512 Seminar in Linguistics
This course’s content varies.
Eng 513 Old Norse
This course is an introduction to the Old Norse language — phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary — and to Old Norse literature, with special attention to translating prose. Prerequisite: Ling 313 or graduate standing.
Eng 514 Studies in Faulkner
This course is a study of the relationship between Faulkner’s novels and the geography, history, and people of North Mississippi.
Eng 515 Non Fiction Workshop
Students create individual writing projects. This course may be repeated for credit.
Eng 516 Fiction Workshop
This course is an advanced workshop intended for graduate students. Prerequisite: Eng 401 or graduate standing.
Eng 517 Poetry Workshop
This course is an advanced workshop intended for graduate students.
Eng 518 Writing Theory
This course examines theories of rhetoric and composing as they conflict and converge to form our prevailing theories of writing. Following a brief survey of rhetorical theory, ancient to modern, the course focuses on contemporary theories of composing written discourse.
Eng 519 Teaching English Grammar
Students learn methods for teaching grammar to secondary school students. This course will not count for credit toward the M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D. in English.
Eng 520 Teaching Writing for Thinking
This course examines current theories and practices of teaching writing. The course focuses on the process theory of writing to foster thinking and learning in subject areas, collaborative learning, and error analysis and grammar instruction.
Eng 521 Topics for English Teachers
This course is an intensive study of a special topic in English designed for secondary school teachers. The emphasis is on research and writing, pedagogy and classroom resources. This course will not count for credit toward the M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D. in English. It may be repeated once for credit.
Eng 522 Special Topics in English
This course’s content varies. It may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.