The English and Comparative Literature curriculum at HWS begins with traditional coverage of great literature, renowned authors and classic genres. The English department not only focuses on the conventional, it encourages students to explore special concentrations through programs in critical theory, film, theatre, and particular century or national tradition.
English offers a disciplinary major, a B.A., and a disciplinary minor.
If you'd like to view a full listing of our course options in English or any other subject, please visit the Online Course Catalogue.
disciplinary, 11 courses
ENG 101, six English core courses, at least one of which must focus on a period before 1800; and four additional English courses numbered 175 or above. Up to two literature courses taught outside the department may count toward the major with the consent of the department chair. Students interested in majoring in English should contact a department faculty member to discuss possible areas of concentration or alternative courses to those within the department.
disciplinary, 5 courses
ENG 101, and at least two core courses numbered 175 or above. ENG 101 should be taken before the others, preferably in the first or second year. One literature course taught outside the department may count toward the minor with the consent of the department chair.
Our students choose from a variety of introductory and advanced courses, each designed to provide students with an understanding of critical literary, textual analysis and writing.
Below, you'll find a sampling of some of our most popular classes, as well as suggestions for making English a part of your larger interdisciplinary experience at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Explore the issue of whether an author's gender defines his or her voice, through a series of theoretical and literary readings by authors who challenge prevailing notions of gendered authorship, and complete a series of analytical and creative writing assignments in response to these works. Continue examining the role that gender plays in society by enrolling in SOC 226, Sociology of Sex and Gender.
Read screenplays and study the films that have been made from them, while paying special attention to elements of story, structure, character development and techniques for turning written text into moving images. Discover the art involved with the methods, materials and history of imaging in ART 165 Introduction to Imaging.
Study Shakespeare from an evolutionary perspective and explore how Shakespeare plays have been appropriated and repurposed over the past four hundred years. What makes Shakespeare so adaptable? How do different cultures and different eras make their mark on Shakespeare by means of adaptation? And how can we determine where "Shakespeare" stops and where "adaptation" begins on this continuum? Learn more about how adaptation relates to people groups by enrolling in ANTH 205 Race, Class and Ethnicity.
