Department of English

Topic: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

A survey of British and American literature written (roughly) between the years 1700 and 1900. Our goal will be to consider the ways in which diverse writers used literature to represent, shape, and sometimes resist their rapidly changing worlds. We'll pay special attention to the dynamics of canon-formation itself. How have racialized and gendered regimes of personhood impacted the creation, reception, circulation, and legacy of various texts? How might we—as 21st century readers and critics—engage with the archive while also attending to its gaps and limitations? And how might the inclusion of non-canonical texts (especially those written by women, Black, and Native authors) revise our sense of English literary history?

• A&H
• What are CASE requirements?