World of Literature Series
Drs. Lori Garner, Michael LaRosa, Scott Newstok, and Caki Wilkinson
These courses introduce students to languages and literatures from around the world.
Tuition for all four courses is $700 | 2.7 CEU
Visit our registration form to signup for any course or any series offered this Fall.
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Contemporary American Poetry
Dr. Caki Wilkinson, PhD University of Cincinnati, Associate Professor of English
This course will introduce participants to a large sampling of American poetry from the mid-20th century to the present day, including the work of poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Yusef Komunyakaa, John Hollander, Joy Harjo, A.E. Stallings, and Jericho Brown. Discussions will center on specific poems and recent trends in contemporary poetry as well as the creative process more broadly, making this course a good fit for readers and writers alike.
Text: The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry, ed. J.D. McClathchy, Vintage Press 2003, ISBN 978-1400030934
Three Wednesdays: November 6, 13, and 20 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Tuition: $165 | .6 CEU
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The History of the English Language
Dr. Lori Garner, PhD University of Missouri, Columbia; Associate Professor of English
Ye knowe eek, that in forme of speche is chaunge. . . (Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde)
This course offers an overview of major stages in English language history and the influences within its development. We will (very briefly) trace the language’s Indo-European and Germanic origins, its development into Old and Middle English, and its transformation from the early modern period into its diversity as a modern “world” language. Language cannot be separated from the people who speak it, and our emphasis will fall equally on linguistic and social aspects of language change. Together we will explore such topics as language and literature, the earliest English dictionaries and the notion of “standard” English, the transition from manuscript culture to printing press and even digital texts, and the ever-relevant social implications of dialectal variation.
Text: Seth Lerer, Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language, Columbia University Press 2015, ISBN 978-0231174473
Three Thursdays: August 29, September 5 & 12 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Tuition: $165 | .6 CEU
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John Milton’s Paradise Lost
Dr. Scott Newstok, PhD Harvard University, Professor of English and Director of the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment
Join the “fit audience . . . though few” who have read “Paradise Lost”! This major epic of the English language, based on the story of Genesis, encompasses profound and still relevant reflections on liberty, rebellion, history, providence, social hierarchies, and domestic relations, all in magnificent verse. As a contemporary writer praised this undertaking: “You who read 'Paradise Lost,' the sublime poem of the great Milton, what do you read but the story of all things?” Seminar participants are invited to join Rhodes students in a marathon recitation of the poem.
Text: John Milton’s Paradise Lost
Three Mondays: August 26, September 9, and 16 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Tuition: $165 | .6 CEU
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