ENG 366: British Romanticism (an ecocritical approach)

Spring 2017

MWF, 9:00-9:50, Rhyne 253

3 credits,ENG program, College of Arts & Sciences

L earning Outcomes: What can I ex-

pect to learn, know, and do after

this course? You will improve your

ability to:

Produce convincing arguments in

dialogue with appropriate research,

Produce convincing arguments

through appropriate multimodal

strategies,

Make arguments about literary texts

in relation to significant cultural

and literary contexts,

Analyze the ways in which literature

shapes our relationship to the envi-

ronments in which we live

Professor: Dr. Devon Fisher

Office(s): Rhyne 209 and Library

104B

Phone: 828-328-7455 (Rhyne

209)

Office Hours: MWF 11:00-12:00

and by appointment

Email: devon.fisher@lr.edu

Course Description: The LR Catalog has the fol-

lowing to say about this course: “Students will

explore a range of British literary texts written

between 1798 and 1837. They will develop a rich

understanding of the major ideas and develop-

ments of the period by placing these texts in rela-

tion to their cultural and literary contexts.”

We’re going to be adding a layer to the catalog description.

While we will accomplish all of the above, we’ll be looking at Brit-

ish Romanticism through the lens of ecocriticism, a critical per-

spective that asks us to think deeply about the relationship be-

tween ourselves, literary texts, and the environments in which

we live. The course will include a fairly significant service com-

ponent.

Grades: You will have four different ways in which you can

demonstrate your mastery of the course outcomes:

Daily work (30% of your grade): On most days, in addition to

the reading, there will be work assigned that will help you to

reach the course outcomes and to be prepared for class.

Final project (40% of your final grade): A multi-modal argu-

ment about a text/group of texts.

Final exam (10% of your final grade)

Civic/Service Learning (20% of final grade): 10 hours of com-

munity service/civic engagement related to the course con-

tent.

Please note that within each category, there will be multiple as-

signments.

We will use a standard grading scale: A=93%-100%, A-=90%-

92.99%, B+=87%-89.99%, B=83-86.99%, etc.

Books:

There is only one required book for this course:

Romanticism: An Anthology, edited by Duncan Wu. 4th edition.

Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN: 978-140590756.

While we will not cover the vast majority of the litera-

ture in this anthology, the anthology was cheaper

than purchasing individual editions, and it provides

valuable cultural context. Our schedule of readings

will be posted in Canvas using the “modules” tool.

General Course Policies

Disabilities

Any student with a documented disability who

is eligible for or has questions regarding accom-

modations should contact the office of Disabili-

ties Services at: 828-328-7296. The office of

Disabilities services will then let me know of any

accommodations the student needs and is enti-

tled to.

An ADA compliant version of this syllabus is

Integrity

A fundamental purpose of a liberal education is its attempt to culti-vate in the student a sense of honor and high principles pertaining especially to academics, but extending to all areas of life. An inher-ent feature of Lenoir-Rhyne is its commitment to an atmosphere of integrity and ethical conduct. As a student of Lenoir-Rhyne, I accept as my personal responsibility the vigorous maintenance of honesty, truth, fairness, civility, and concern for others.

My devotion to integrity demands that I will not cheat in academic work and that I adhere to the established and required community code of conduct. I accept the responsibility for upholding the estab-lished standards against those who would violate them. And I under-stand and accept the consequences of infracting upon or assisting others in infracting upon this code. In addition to and beyond the requirements of any code of law, I affirm my own commitment to personal honor and integrity in all matters large and small. Even though the ideal of honor is an abstract one, by implementing this ideal, I join the men and women of Lenoir-Rhyne in making the con-cept of honor a reality.