English Program

What's New?

Keep an eye out for our summer offerings!  Information will be posted on this website at the end of May.

Spring course offerings in the English Department

ENG269: Environmental Literature

Instructor: Kelly Peterson
Time: MWF 10:30-11:20
CRN: 72707

Take off your shoes! Feel the raw and rugged earth!

“…how can I pry the people free? The auto as tin can, the park ranger as opener…get out of them there machines, take off those *@$!@* sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs, look around…what is this life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare? eh? Take off your shoes for a while…dig your toes in the hot sand, feel that raw and rugged earth, split a couple of big toenails, draw blood! Why not?” - Edward Abbey

Not just a course for “tree huggers,” Environmental Literature is a course for city-dwellers, suburbanites, weekend warriors, nature lovers, and even those who fear nature! Don’t miss out on an exciting opportunity to begin to articulate your own idea of an appropriate relationship between the human and the natural world in the context of your own place here in Oregon, whether it be in the city, in the suburbs, in the country, or in the wilderness.

ENG 109: Intro To World Literature

Instructor: Suzanne Hesse

"With our thoughts, we make the world."  Siddhartha

Have you ever pretended to be somebody else?  What would you do if you could live for four hundred years?  How would you handle a new outbreak of the plague?  These questions and many more will be answered in Intro to World Literature.  The literature of the 19th and 20th century influenced and was influenced by tumultuous events.  World wars, the possibility of nuclear destruction, and awakening sexual freedom are all represented in the literature of this time.  Come join the ride and take a trip around the world.  Please contact Suzanne Hesse for more information, including a list of texts for the class. 

This class is available face to face, MWF 11:30-12:20 and online. 

NEW! Creative Nonfiction WR240

Transform your experiences into polished memoirs and essays in this imaginative writing course focusing on the increasingly popular genre of creative nonfiction.  Learn how to employ fictional techniques in nonfiction through writing workshops and some great reading. Two sections:

Salem Campus: CRN tba, Bob LeRoy, instructor. 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. Hybrid class.

Chemeketa Online: CRN tba,Tammy Jabin, instructor

Fiction WR241 (CRN 74255)

Come learn the fundamentals of the writer’s craft. This class helps you understand the basics of good storytelling, gives you some examples to learn from, and helps you to tell your own story with lots of personal feedback and help. Steve Richardson, instructor. Online.

Poetry WR 242 (CRN 73726)

This class helps you explore many poetic forms and techniques through short exercises, readings from a variety of student and published poets, and a final project. Steve Slemenda, instructor. 10:00 to 11:50 a.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays. Hybrid class.

Advanced Poetry WR245 (CRN tba)

For slightly more experienced poets, this course examines some of the finer aspects of writing poetry. You will regularly share your work and critique the work of others. You'll also learn the process of preparing and submitting work for publication. Instructor: Jeremy Trabue, instructor. Online.

Screenwriting WR262 (CRN tba)

This course looks closely at how movies are put together and helps you start to put your own movie into words. Short exercises, film clips, and short readings will culminate in the first act of your own original screenplay. Justus Ballard, instructor. Online.

The prerequisite for WR240, WR241, WR242, and WR262 is WR 121 or the consent of the instructor.  The prerequisite for WR 245 is WR242 or the consent of the instructor, based on a brief writing sample.

Film Noir FA 257

This spring, Film Arts 257: Film Noir will explore the world of the morally ambiguous private eye; the alluring, often deadly femme fatale; and the colorful cast of supporting characters-hypsters, shysters, molls and gunsels, crooked cops-that comprise this most fascinating and truly American film genre.  The course will situate the origins and golden period of film noir in the context of American culture and mores of post-war 40s and 50s, including shifting gender roles, the paranoia of the Cold War, and the nation’s loss of innocence and struggle to redefine itself in a challenging era.

MWF at 11:30 a.m. (CRN 72069) and 12:30 p.m. (CRN 72072), each with a choice of either a Monday 1:30 p.m. movie screening or a Tuesday noon screening. All sections are taught by Steve Slemenda.  Four credits. 

 Tuesday evening hybrid section at 6:15 p.m., (CRN 72078)  with a movie screening following at 8 p.m.

 You must enroll in a the corresponding lab screenings (see Film Arts class listings). 

Explore the environment through literature with Kelly Peterson this Spring

Random House Publishing

Enjoy some witty comebacks with Oscar Wilde in Eng. 109!

Find your voice!  Try a creative writing class this spring!

Along with such noir classics as The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and others, FA257 will complement vintage noir with such revisionist, neo-noir films as Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, The Usual Suspects, and more recent interpretations of the form.