91少女集中营

ENG 428/627: Publishing for Writers 
W 6:00 鈥� 9:00 PM 
Dr. Rachael Fowler 
Considering a job as an editor? Want to see your name listed in an esteemed literary journal? ENG 428/627 welcomes all creative writers who鈥檇 like to learn more about the world of literary publishing. In this class, we鈥檒l work to produce an issue of Mississippi Review and Product Magazine, giving you the chance to have a reading/editorial position in both and see the full production process of a journal from receiving submissions, to designing an issue, to launching/publicizing. We鈥檒l also read a variety of texts that introduce you to the historical and current role of the literary editor along with other career paths in the editing world. You鈥檒l complete an in-depth research project on a specific aspect of publishing that is interesting to you along with the professional materials you need to apply to editing internships, fellowships, and jobs. By the end of this class, you鈥檒l gain editorial experience, skills needed to collaborate with a community of literary citizens, a growing knowledge of the literary market, and practical documents you need to step into the professional editing world. 

 
ENG 485/585: Survey of Literature of the South 
M/W 4:00 鈥� 5:15 PM 
Dr. Kate Cochran 

 

 

ENG 498CA/598CA: British Studies I 
Starting March 18 (8 week 2), M 4:00鈥�5:15 PM + Study Abroad in London, May 16鈥揓une 1 
Dr. Leah Parker 
**fulfills early literature course requirement; fulfills course in British literature requirement 
Legends of Camelot 
Students in this course will examine British national mythmaking: stories about the past that shape what it means to be British in the present. Our primary focus will be legends of King Arthur and stories about Camelot both medieval and modern, but we will also explore stories associated with lauded historical rulers like Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Elizabeth I, and Victoria that narrate Britishness across the centuries.  
This course will meet weekly during the second half of Spring semester, then spend 16 days based in London in late May. Because it is a Spring course, a Graduate Assistantship tuition waiver can cover the tuition, making Study Abroad uncommonly affordable. Better yet, this class will fulfill the 鈥渆arly British literature鈥� or 鈥渆arly literature鈥� requirement for the English MA or PhD.  
During the latter half of Spring semester, we will prepare by reading a canonical example of Arthurian legend as well as poetry reflecting the formation of British national identities. In late May, we will move our classroom to London and beyond, visiting sites such as Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, the National Gallery, and Winchester Cathedral. This year only, students will have the rare opportunity to catch the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, where it is on loan from France; this embroidery depicting the Norman Conquest is back in England for the first time since its creation there almost a thousand years ago. While in the UK, we will read short literary excerpts associated with our excursions, from authors such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Tolkien. Each student will also research a longer literary work that engages in national mythmaking, introducing that work to the class and writing a final essay that synthesizes analysis of British literature with the experience of visiting British cultural landmarks. 
Application for this course is required through the USM Office of Study Abroad. The deadline is November 1, 2026. 
 

 
ENG 644: Literary Theory鈥擜rchive Theory and Literary Studies 
M/W 1:00 鈥� 2:15 PM 
Dr. Eric Tribunella 
Archive Theory and Literary Studies: Archival Approaches to Literature and Literary Criticism   
Literary studies depends in large part on archives and libraries for the preservation and recovery of literary texts, the practice of textual studies and the preparation of scholarly editions, and the uncovering or understanding of the historical and biographical contexts of literature.  This course will provide an introduction to archival theory and research and their use in literary studies and criticism.  We will read a set of historical and theoretical works on libraries and archives and discuss the recovery of forgotten or ignored literary works, the practice of textual criticism and scholarship, and the importance of historical context and biographical milieu to literary analysis.  We also will examine related issues or approaches adjacent to archival science and literary studies, such as book history and digital humanities (DH).  Special emphasis will be given to the practice of recovering lost literary works and the role of archives in this type of scholarship.  The class will read about and visit the de Grummond Children鈥檚 Literature Collection, and students will practice archival approaches to literary studies by developing their own DH and recovery projects that reintroduce and revalue neglected works.  Readings will include the following: 
  
叠补迟迟濒别鈥檚 Library: An Unquiet History 
顿别谤谤颈诲补鈥檚 Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression  
厂迟别别诲尘补苍鈥檚 Dust: The Archive and Cultural History 
Fox and Wilkerson鈥檚 Introduction to Archival Organization and Description  
Williams and Abbott鈥檚 An Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies, Fourth Edition 
Finkelstein and McCleery鈥檚 Introduction to Book History 
 
 
 
ENG 716: Elegy and Its Afterlives 
W 2:30 鈥� 5:15 PM 
Dr. Chris Spaide 
 Everyone dies; some poets write about it. That sums up a good deal of poetic history, as we鈥檒l learn in this graduate seminar, a selective history of the genre we call elegy: poetry of loss, mourning, and consolation. Our reading comprises three units. First, we鈥檒l swiftly survey the elegy鈥檚 history from classical antiquity to Alfred Lord Tennyson鈥檚 In Memoriam A. H. H. (1850). Next, we鈥檒l devote our longest unit to the English-language elegy from the mid-nineteenth century to today, considering exceptional case studies (the Irish elegy during the Troubles, the postcolonial Nigerian elegy, the American AIDS elegy), unmissable subgenres (the modern war elegy, the family elegy, the self-elegy), and pinnacles of the genre (from Thomas Hardy鈥檚 Poems of 1912鈥�13 to M. NourbeSe Philip鈥檚 2008 book-length poem Zong!). Finally, we鈥檒l consider the genre鈥檚 afterlives, tracing the elegiac mode and anti-elegiac refusals through a film like Abbas Kiarostami鈥檚 Taste of Cherry (1997) or Hirokazu Kore-eda鈥檚 After Life (1999), George Saunders鈥檚 experimental novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) and its correspondingly experimental audiobook, and Phoebe Bridgers鈥檚 album Lost Weekend (2026). Along the way, we鈥檒l become familiar with thinkers from Sigmund Freud to Christina Sharpe who have written on the elegy (and its alternatives), mourning (and its alternatives), and death (no alternatives there). Our assignments include critical and creative exercises, presentations on our readings and your own side quests, and a conference paper drafted in our second unit and revised during our third unit. All reading, listening, and viewing will be made available in accessible digital form and often in physical form too. 
 
 
ENG 721: Fiction Writing 
T 2:30 鈥� 5:15 PM 
Dr. Olivia Clare Friedman 
This semester, you may workshop either short stories or novel chapters. You will be workshopped twice, and you will write a flash fiction piece toward the end of the semester.  
We will incorporate various craft topics, with a specific focus on interiority. We will discuss your writing practice and what you can carry forward with you (habits, routines, generative techniques) outside of the classroom.  
 
Texts: PDFs to be distributed, including work by Rebecca Makkai, Ruthvika Rao, George Saunders, and Kirstin Valdez Quade 

 
ENG 722: Poetry Writing 
TH 2:30 鈥� 5:15 PM 
Dr. Angela Ball 
 GRADUATE POETRY WORKSHOP: THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS 
  
This workshop has its source in Lars von Trier鈥檚 2003 film, The Five Obstructions, in which von Trier asks his mentor, director Jorgen Leth, to remake his 1967 short film, The Perfect Human in accordance with various crippling stipulations, or 鈥渙bstructions,鈥� such as 鈥渘o frame longer than twelve seconds,鈥� 鈥渟et it in the worst place in the world,鈥� etc. In the workshop version, the student submits his or her poem, which is commented on by the first respondent, also known as the 鈥渧ile obstructionist,鈥� then by the group as a whole.  At the end of the discussion, the obstructionist provides the poet one or more obstructions which he or she must use in the revision.   
  
I consulted a few of our former graduate student poets for their response to the Obstructions workshop.  Here is what two of them had to say: 
  
Gary Wilkens: 
One way that will beat the fluff out of your lines is to move the poem to the other side of the formal/free distinction. If it's verse, remove the meter. If it's free, put it into iambic pentameter. Going from verse to free allows the voice to speak, well, freely, and leads to discovery, and moving from free to verse eliminates excess and creates rhythm. 
  
Greg Weiss: 
I found that the obstructions that helped me the most were those that were fairly general, but still changed the poem in a fundamental way--two examples would be obstructions related to the length of the poem--"Make it twice/half as long"--or the point of view of the poem--"Write it from this character's perspective."  
  
The notion behind the workshop resides in a paradox: sometimes the imposition of requirements is freeing to the poet and to the poem. 
 
 
ENG 761: 18th Century British Literature 
T 2:30 鈥� 5:15 PM 
Dr. Nicolle Jordan 

 
ENG 771: Contemporary American Literature 
TH 6:00 鈥� 9:00 PM 
Dr. Ery Shin 
What makes certain sensibilities and stories uniquely American? In an age of heightened reflection upon the meaning of nationhood and belonging, this remains a question whose answers circulate as narratives that spawn yet more narratives about their inception. Everyday rituals are culturally rooted, but 鈥淐ulture,鈥� particularly American culture which encompasses a vast territory and multitude of communities, seems to lose its contours the harder one strives to keep it in view. 
 
SAMPLE READING LIST 
Claudia Rankine, Triage 
Andrea Lawlor, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl 
Vladimir Nabokov, Glory 
Jackson Mac Low, The Pronouns: A Collection of Forty Dances for the Dancers (excerpts) 
Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn 
Maya Deren, Collected Writings on Film (excerpts) 
Iceberg Slim, Pimp 
 
 
HUM 402/502: Digital Humanities Practicum 
T/Th 11:00 AM 鈥� 12:15 PM 
Dr. Jennifer Andrella  
In this course, students will work collaboratively on a Digital Humanities project while learning digital methods, community-engaged best practices, and archival research. We will engage in the entire process of constructing a digital project, from idea to public launch. Through this course, students will gain valuable skills in web authoring, team-based learning, and project management. By working closely with local archives, special collections, and/or community partners, students will explore how the digital humanities can connect scholarship with public audiences in meaningful ways.