Undergraduate Courses
Composition courses that offer many sections (ENGL 101, 201, and 277) are not listed on this schedule unless they are tailored to specific thematic content or particularly appropriate for specific programs and majors.
Developmental/ESL
ENGL 039 English as a Second Language
S01 MWF 12-12:50 p.m.
S02 MWF 11-11:50 a.m.
Kelly Pankratz
ENGL 039 concentrates on the study of academic English for multilingual international students. This course is a prerequisite for ENGL 101 for students who score below a 263 on the ACCUPLACER writing test.
100-200 level
ENGL 201: Environmental Writing
S06 MWF 10-10:50 a.m.
S11 MWF 12-12:50 p.m.
Gwen Horsley
English 201 will help students develop the ability to think critically and analytically and to write effectively for other university courses and careers. This course will provide opportunities to develop analytical skills that will help students become critical readers and effective writers. Specifically, in this class, students will (1) focus on the relationships between world environments, land, animals and humankind; (2) read various essays by environmental, conservational, and regional authors; and (3) produce student writings. Students will improve their writing skills by reading essays and applying techniques they witness in others’ work and those learned in class. This class is also a course in logical and creative thought. Students will write about man’s place in the world and our influence on the land and animals, places that hold special meaning to them or have influenced their lives, and stories of their own families and their places and passions in the world. Students will practice writing in an informed and persuasive manner, in language that engages and enlivens readers by using vivid verbs and avoiding unnecessary passives, nominalizations, and expletive constructions. Students will prepare writing assignments based on readings and discussions of essays included in Literature and the Environment and other sources. They will use The St. Martin’s Handbook to review grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage as needed.
ENGL 201.S05 Composition II: Writing the Environment
TuTh 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Dr. Paul Baggett
For generations, environmentalists have relied on the power of prose to change the minds and habits of their contemporaries. In the wake of fires, floods, storms, and droughts, environmental writing has gained a new sense of urgency, with authors joining activists in their efforts to educate the public about the grim realities of climate change. But do they make a difference? Have reports of present and future disasters so saturated our airwaves that we no longer hear them? How do writers make us care about the planet amidst all the noise? In this course, students will examine the various rhetorical strategies employed by some of today’s leading environmental writers and filmmakers. And while analyzing their different arguments, students also will strengthen their own strategies of argumentation as they research and develop essays that explore a range of environmental concerns.
ENGL 201.S14 English Composition II: Food Writing
TuTh 8-9:15 a.m.
Jodilyn Andrews
In this composition class, students will critically analyze essays about food, food systems and environments, food cultures, the intersections of personal choice, market forces, and policy, and the values underneath these forces. Students will learn to better read like writers, noting authors’ purpose, audience, organizational moves, sentence-level punctuation, and diction. We will read a variety of essays including research-intensive arguments and personal narratives which intersect with one of our most primal needs as humans: food consumption. Students will rhetorically analyze texts, conduct advanced research, study their writing processes, and write essays utilizing intentional rhetorical strategies. Through doing this work, students will practice the writing moves valued in every discipline: argument, evidence, concision, engaging prose, and the essential research skills for the 21st century.
ENGL 201.ST2: Composition II: The Mind/Body Connection
ONLINE
Dr. Sharon Smith
In this online section of English 201, students will use research and writing to learn more about problems that are important to them and articulate ways to address those problems. The course will focus specifically on issues related to the body, the mind, and the relationship between them. The topics we will discuss during the course will include the correlation between social media and body image; the psychological effects of self-objectification; and the unique mental and physical challenges faced by college students today. In this course, you will practice analyzing the arguments of others and constructing your own arguments. At the same time, you will be honing your skills as a researcher and developing your abilities as a persuasive and effective writer. Ultimately, you will write a research paper on a topic related to the mind and/or the body. The point of the course, however, is not to learn as much as possible about our particular course topic but to use sources related to this topic to develop skills related to analysis, writing, and research, skills students can use and apply both in and beyond this class. In other words, the topic is a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
ENGL 201.S17: Composition II–Honors / The Power of Story
TR 12:30–1:45 p.m.
Dr. Katherine Malone
In this course, you will hone your critical thinking, writing, and research skills as we explore the power of storytelling and language in everyday life. How do stories influence our view of self and others? What effect does reading have on an individual’s mind or morals? How do the metaphors and terms we use shape our modes of thinking? Through our reading, you will strengthen your skills in analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing complex arguments. And through our discussions, research, and writing assignments, you will become adept at constructing and supporting persuasive arguments of your own.
LING 203: English Grammar
MWF 1-1:50 p.m.
Dr. Nathan Serfling
The South Dakota State University 2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog describes LING 203 as consisting of “[i]nstruction in the theory and practice of traditional grammar including the study of parts of speech, parsing, and practical problems in usage.”
“Grammar” is a mercurial term, though. Typically, we think of it to mean “correct” sentence structure, and, indeed, that is one of its meanings. But Merriam-Webster reminds us “grammar” also refers to “the principles or rules of an art, science, or technique,” taking it beyond the confines of syntactic structures. Grammar also evolves in practice through application (and social, historical, economic changes, among others). Furthermore, grammar evolves as a concept as scholars and educators in the various fields of English studies debate the definition and nature of grammar, including how well its explicit instruction improves students’ writing. In this course, we will use the differing sensibilities, definitions, and fluctuations regarding grammar to guide our work. We will examine the parts of speech, address syntactic structures and functions, and parse and diagram sentences. We will also explore definitions of and debates about grammar. All of this will occur in units about the rules and structures of grammar; the application of grammar rhetorically and stylistically; and the debates surrounding various aspects of grammar, including, but not limited to, its instruction.
ENGL 210.ST1 Introduction to Literature
ONLINE
Jodilyn Andrews
Readings in fiction, drama and poetry to acquaint students with literature and aesthetic form. Prerequisites: ENGL 101. Notes: Course meets SGR #4 or IGR #3.
ENGL 222.S01: British Literature II
TR 9:30–10:45 a.m.
Dr. Katherine Malone
This survey of British literature from the late eighteenth century to the present will introduce you to key authors, texts, genres, and debates during the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, and Postmodern eras. We’ll discuss literary works in the context of cultural forces including war, industrialization, empire, democracy, individualism, and changing attitudes about race, class, and gender. We’ll also read writers’ manifestos and criticism to consider how the purpose of art and the role of the artist have been defined during these two tumultuous centuries. Our class meetings will consist of lecture, discussion, and student presentations. Exams and essay assignments will help you improve your critical reading skills and enhance your appreciation of the history and functions of literature.
ENGL 240.ST1 Juvenile Literature: Young Adult
ONLINE
Randi Anderson
A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various types of juvenile literature.
ENGL 240.ST2 Juvenile Literature: Elementary-5th Grade
ONLINE
April Myrick
A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various types of juvenile literature.
ENGL 242.S01 American Literature II
TuTh 11:00am-12:15pm
Dr. Paul Baggett
This course surveys a range of U.S. literatures from about 1865 to the present, writings that treat the end of slavery and the development of a segregated America, increasingly urbanized and industrialized U.S. landscapes, waves of immigration, and the fulfilled promise of “America” as imperial nation. The class will explore the diversity of identities represented during that time, and the problems/potentials writers imagined in response to the century’s changes—especially literature’s critical power in a time of nation-building. Required texts for the course are The Norton Anthology of American Literature: 1865 to the Present and Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.
ENGL 283.S01 Introduction to Creative Writing
MWF 1-1:50 p.m.
Professor Steven Wingate
Students will explore the various forms of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) not one at a time in a survey format—as if there were decisive walls of separation between then—but as intensely related genres that share much of their creative DNA. Through close reading and work on personal texts, students will address the decisions that writers in any genre must face on voice, rhetorical position, relationship to audience, etc. Students will produce and revise portfolios of original creative work developed from prompts and research. This course fulfills the same SGR #2 requirements ENGL 201; note that the course will involve creative research projects. Successful completion of ENGL 101 (including by test or dual credit) is a prerequisite.
ENGL 284.ST1: Introduction to Literary Criticism
TuTh 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Dr. Sharon Smith
This course introduces students to the theoretical approaches that have shaped English studies and, in doing so, familiarizes them with the history of the discipline and the ways it has changed and developed over time. Students will consider approaches to literary studies that defined the Classical period, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the nineteenth century. They will also consider the formalist, economic, historical, psychoanalytical, and cultural approaches that have shaped twentieth- and twenty-first-century literary studies. In addition to reading about these theoretical approaches, students will study a selection of primary texts by key theorists, applying them during class discussions and in writing assignments, as well a selection of literary criticism. Our primary literary texts will include Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Nella Larson’s Passing.
300-400 level
ENGL 379: Technical and Professional Communications
This writing intensive course provides instruction and practice in communicating effectively in technical and professional situations. Students can expect to write and deliver both informal and formal reports, proposals, and other professional documents, using standard and electronic formats and effective, concise, and ethical written and spoken English. Students will develop skills in document design and information literacy while analyzing workplace audiences (including global audiences) and writing collaboratively. In this course, students will prepare a variety of workplace/business-related documents such as emails, memos, cover letter & resume, instructions, formal reports and proposals, and presentations for both technical and lay audiences.
Sections and instructors:
S01 Darren Halvorsen MWF 1-1:50 p.m.
S02 Prof. Steven Wingate MWF 12-12:50 p.m.
S03 Samantha Algood TuTh 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
S04 Samantha Algood TuTh 2-3:15 p.m.
S05 Samantha Algood TuTh 8-9:15 a.m.
S06 Daniel Spangler MWF 1-1:50 p.m.
ST1 Lisa Madsen ONLINE
ST2 Lisa Madsen ONLINE
ST3 April Myrick ONLINE
ENGL 383.S01: Creative Writing I
M-W-F 2-2:50 p.m.
Amber Jensen
Creative Writing I encourages students to strengthen poetry, creative nonfiction, and/or fiction writing skills through sustained focus on creative projects throughout the course (for example, collections of shorter works focused on a particular form/style/theme, longer prose pieces, hybrid works, etc.). Students will engage in small- and large-group writing workshops as well as individual conferences with the instructor throughout the course to develop a portfolio of creative work. The class allows students to explore multiple genres through the processes of writing and revising their own creative texts and through writing workshop, emphasizing the application of craft concepts across genre, but also allows students to choose one genre of emphasis, which they will explore through analysis of self-select texts, which they will use to deepen their understanding of the genre and to contextualize their own creative work.
ENGL 478.ST1 Poetry
ONLINE
Professor Steven Wingate
The worldwide history of poetry is steeped in sound, and long before we read poems on the page, we heard them aloud. This course focuses on understanding and experimenting with the sound patterns that build poems, particularly the musicality of the poetic line and the structure provided by various received forms. By paying close attention to sound and structure, poets develop their ears and learn to discover ever-greater interconnectedness in their own work—and in that of others. Expect to workshop each other’s poems and to revise and gather your own into a chapbook manuscript that you can (if you wish) design, assemble, and print.
ENGL 485: Writing Center Tutoring
Meeting times TBD
Dr. Nathan Serfling
Since their beginnings in the 1920s and 30s, writing centers have come to serve numerous functions: as hubs for writing across the curriculum initiatives, sites to develop and deliver workshops, and resource centers for faculty as well as students, among other functions. But the primary function of writing centers has necessarily and rightfully remained the tutoring of student writers. This course will immerse you in that function in two parts. During the first four weeks, you will explore writing center praxis—that is, the dialogic interplay of theory and practice related to writing center work. This part of the course will orient you to writing center history, key theoretical tenets, and practical aspects of writing center tutoring. Once we have developed and practiced this foundation, you will begin work in the writing center as a tutor, responsible for assisting a wide variety of student clients with numerous writing tasks. Through this work, you will learn to actively engage with student clients in the revision of a text, respond to different student needs and abilities, work with a variety of writing tasks and rhetorical situations, and develop a richer sense of writing as a complex and negotiated social process.
ENGL 492.S02: The Western in Context: The American West in Literature, Film, and Culture
Tuesdays 3-5:50 p.m.
Dr. Jason McEntee and Dr. Sharon Smith
The Western is the quintessential American genre. Other than the Gangster/Crime genre, no other genre comes close to it in terms of popularity. At the same time, few genres go to such great lengths to both articulate American values and ideals and expose American mythologies and failures. In this class, we will interrogate the myth of the American West as it is represented in literature and film from 1900 to the present. As we do so, we will pay careful attention to genre construction (Why is a horse a “convention” of the Western genre? What in the world is a “Spaghetti Western”?); gender (How do Westerns both reinforce and disrupt traditional gender roles? How do they acknowledge/fail to acknowledge the complexities of gender?); race (How do Westerns represent people of different races and ethnicities? How do race and ethnicity shape how Westerns are made, read, and watched); and history (How do Westerns function as narratives of colonization? How do they both construct and offer alternatives to a “true” history of the West?).
GRADUATE COURSES
ENGL 578.ST1 Poetry
ONLINE
Professor Steven Wingate
The worldwide history of poetry is steeped in sound, and long before we read poems on the page, we heard them aloud. This course focuses on understanding and experimenting with the sound patterns that build poems, particularly the musicality of the poetic line and the structure provided by various received forms. By paying close attention to sound and structure, poets develop their ears and learn to discover ever-greater interconnectedness in their own work—and in that of others. Expect to workshop each other’s poems and to revise and gather your own into a chapbook manuscript that you can (if you wish) design, assemble, and print.
ENGL 592.S02: The Western in Context: The American West in Literature, Film, and Culture
Tuesdays 3-5:50 p.m.
Dr. Jason McEntee and Dr. Sharon Smith
The Western is the quintessential American genre. Other than the Gangster/Crime genre, no other genre comes close to it in terms of popularity. At the same time, few genres go to such great lengths to both articulate American values and ideals and expose American mythologies and failures. In this class, we will interrogate the myth of the American West as it is represented in literature and film from 1900 to the present. As we do so, we will pay careful attention to genre construction (Why is a horse a “convention” of the Western genre? What in the world is a “Spaghetti Western”?); gender (How do Westerns both reinforce and disrupt traditional gender roles? How do they acknowledge/fail to acknowledge the complexities of gender?); race (How do Westerns represent people of different races and ethnicities? How do race and ethnicity shape how Westerns are made, read, and watched); and history (How do Westerns function as narratives of colonization? How do they both construct and offer alternatives to a “true” history of the West?).
ENGL 704.S01 Introduction to Graduate Studies
Wednesdays 3-5:50 p.m.
Dr. Paul Baggett
Introduction to Graduate Studies is required of all first-year graduate students. The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to modern and contemporary literary theory and its applications. Students will write short response papers and will engage at least one theoretical approach in their own fifteen- to twenty-page scholarly research project. In addition, this course will further introduce students to the M.A. program in English at South Dakota State University and provide insight into issues related to the profession of English studies.
ENGL 792.S01 History of the English language
Thursdays 3-5:50 p.m.
Dr. Michael Nagy
To the casual observer, the English language is a muddled mess of seemingly random rules governing its phonology, morphology, and syntax. In order to dispel this impression, students in this course will study the systematic development of the English language from its theoretical roots in Proto-Indo European up to the present day. In so doing, they will learn the mechanisms of linguistic change from conquest to commerce while they explore different varieties of the English language and the sociopolitical conditions that brought them forth.
Likely Texts:
Baugh, Albert and Thomas Cable. History of the English Language. Philadelphia: Routledge, 2013.
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
ENGL 792.ST1 Technical and Professional Writing
ONLINE
Amber Jensen
This online course is designed to teach students to write effectively and strategically within their professional context, with an emphasis on the scholarly and grant writing needs in that profession. Students will research their professional community’s writing context, including its standards and practices, and will produce a variety of professional documents, such as research/grant proposals, informal reports, and academic presentations. In doing so, they will improve their understanding of rhetoric and the ways in which their writerly choices effect the accessibility and usability of writing in a professional and scholarly context.