Course Offerings: Fall 2026, Spring 2027
Fall 2026
Seminar Literary Research
Kris Bluemel
EN-502-50
Tuesday, 6:05–9 p.m.
The catalog course description reads: “Methods and materials for composing and presenting graduate research centered upon selected texts chosen by the instructor; bibliography, reference resources, critical analysis, and evaluation of sources; techniques, forms and formats for research projects and papers.” What this means is that this Seminar in Literary Research will consider the essential questions of the function of research in literary scholarship, including why one researches, what one researches, and how one researches. It will provide you with a foundation for reading and understanding researched material, including primary critical and theoretical influences, while emphasizing the value of literary research for your future course, thesis, manuscript, and professional work. By the end of the semester, you should be able to identify appropriate research sources for a scholarly and/or critical project, distinguish among various types of sources, and begin to recognize the theoretical assumptions shaping any given approach. You should be able to compile and annotate a bibliography, write a strong paper proposal, and understand appropriate use of researched scholarly material in your efforts to advance a “critical conversation” within the fields of literary studies. We will read literature in multiple genres (poems, short stories, videos, play, etc.) and will also consider the impact of digital media and technology on literary research.
Victorian Novel
Jeffrey Jackson
EN-538-50
Thursday, 6:05–9 p.m.
This year’s theme and focus for EN 538-50: The Victorian Novel will be “Varieties of the Victorian Gothic,” in which we will consider “the Victorian Gothic” as a possible subcategory and/or historical demarcation of Gothic literature more generally. The semester will proceed as a roughly chronological study of variants and subgenres of Gothic fiction during the Victorian Era (1837-1901) to consider such literary-theoretical issues as the Gothic mode as a register of social and cultural controversies, the Victorian Gothic’s relationship to the classic or “first-wave” British Gothic of the eighteenth century, the Victorian Gothic and evolving trends in readership, and the Victorian Gothic in relationship to Victorian theories of art, literature, and the novel more broadly. Possible authors and subcategories may include Charles Dickens, William Harrison Ainsworth, “the Newgate Novel,” the Bronte sisters, “sensation fiction,” and such end-of-the-century horrors as “Carmilla,” Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Rhetoric of Science and Society
Patrick Love
EN-548-50
Monday, 6:05–9 p.m.
Examination of how language-using agents (corporate, governmental, educational, journalistic, and scientific) outside the activities of a professional scientific community (and sometimes within it) rely on the dominance and force of scientific language and its symbol systems to influence the society we live in.
Fiction Workshop
Alena Graedon
EN-611-50
Monday, 4:30–7:20 p.m.
In a workshop setting, students will present their own short stories and novel chapters for intensive examination by workshop participants. They will also analyze readings to understand and become aware of the variant forms, techniques, and approaches used. This course may be retaken for credit.
Craft Intensive Seminar
Mihaela Moscaliuc
EN-652-01
Wednesday, 6:05–9 p.m.
Craft intensive seminars involve an intensive study of advanced creative writing craft techniques through close readings, lectures, discussion, written analysis, and the rigorous application of said techniques through writing exercises and workshops.
In this seminar, we will examine the long form in poetry. We will discuss its functions across various time periods and traditions to gain a nuanced understanding of the craft issues and strategies involved in constructing and sustaining the narrative and lyrical modes. We will review forms such as the epic, verse novel, poetry cycle, book-length poem, sequence, sonnet crown, renga, choka, and zuihitsu. We will also spend time with the ‘projects’ at the heart of our visiting writers’ new collections to extend our understanding of the possibilities inherent in long forms and to ask, with poet and critic Stephanie Burt: “What holds a book of poems together? What makes it feel like something more than, something other than, a gathering, a stack, a heap, a mere collocation?” As Burt continues, “we might equally ask: what holds together a life?”
The seminar is reading-intensive. Participants will submit focused analyses of assigned readings; produce and revise 12-15 pages of interconnected work (poetry or hybrid forms) that incorporates research and is accompanied by notes and a list of references; respond to one another’s work in writing and during workshops, and give a 20 minute presentation on a book selected in consultation with the instructor.
Spring 2027
Philadelphia Stories
Literature and Culture in the Cradle of Liberty, 1790–1900
Lisa Vetere
EN-561-01
Tuesday and Thursday, 4:30–5:50 p.m.
This seminar examines Philadelphia as a major center of American literary production in the nineteenth century, exploring how the city’s unique position as former national capital, publishing hub, and diverse urban community shaped American letters. Often overshadowed by New York and Boston in literary histories, Philadelphia was actually the heart of America’s print culture, home to major magazines like Graham’s and Godey’s Lady’s Book, and the setting for groundbreaking works of urban Gothic, African American fiction, and women’s writing. Drawing on recent scholarship in urban studies and print culture, we will investigate how Philadelphia writers represented their city’s distinctive spaces, from Quaker meeting houses to working-class districts, from elite society parlors to underground railroad stations. We will examine works by both canonical and lesser-known Philadelphia authors—including Leonora Sansay, George Lippard, Frank J. Webb, and Rebecca Rush—alongside materials from the city’s thriving periodical culture. This course combines traditional literary analysis with hands-on archival research and experiential learning through field trips to historical Philadelphia sites, libraries, and museums. Students will engage with primary sources, explore digital archives, and create original research projects that contribute to the growing field of Philadelphia literary studies.
Craft Seminar
Special Topics: Exit 105: Literary Journal Editing and Publishing
Ken Womack
EN-598-50
Thursday, 6:05–9 p.m.
This graduate-level Special Topics course offers students the opportunity to conceive, develop, and launch a new digital literary journal, Exit 105. Working closely with the instructor, students will combine the study of contemporary literary publishing with hands-on editorial practice, engaging in the full cycle of a literary journal—from establishing its editorial vision, to soliciting and editing submissions, to designing and producing the inaugural issue, to developing strategies for marketing, promotion, and distribution, to building the necessary infrastructure to ensure its ongoing success. The course will culminate in the publication of the very first issue of Exit 105. Admission to the course will be based in part on students’ applications for specific editorial roles, such as editor-in-chief, managing editor, prose editor, and poetry editor. Because students will be responsible for developing and launching the journal’s first issue, they will receive not only academic credit for their work but also recognition as co-founders of Exit 105.
Craft Seminar
John Vercher
EN-615-50
Monday, 4:30–7:20 p.m.
Students will study creative writing craft techniques through close readings, lectures, discussion, written analysis, and the rigorous application of said techniques through weekly writing exercises and short workshops. Genre and seminar topics vary by professor. This course may be retaken for credit.
Writing for Digital Audiences
Courtney Wright-Werner
EN-619-50
A study of theories and concepts of writing and rhetoric in digital media with emphasis on the uses of written, aural, and visual media in digital spaces, such as websites, social media, infographics, digital video, apps, advertisements, and other digital technologies. Topics examined include new literacy and multiliteracy studies, visual literacy and rhetoric, technorhetorics, and multimedia participation, design, and creation. Students further examine digital infrastructure, from hardware to socioeconomic factors of authorship/audience, including racial disparity.
Special Topics/Global Seminar: Writing Place, Myth, Memory
Mihaela Moscaliuc
EN-698
In this CW Global Seminar, we will deepen our understanding of the craft of creative writing by immersing ourselves in the Irish literary landscape, with a focus on the study of poetic traditions and contemporary poetry. During in-person sessions at Monmouth University, we will discuss Irish poetry and essays on Irish poetry, history, and culture, and generate research-inspired creative work (poetry, flash non-fiction, and micro essays) and reflective essays that demonstrate an understanding of Irish poetry and culture. During the seven-day trip to Ireland, we will experience and reflect on the landscape and culture(s) that informed the studied work, with the purpose of understanding how history, myth, folklore, traditions, politics, and geographical and human scapes inform one’s writing and the production of national and local literatures. By the end of the semester, we will have also produced a revised 20–25 page portfolio of poetry and essayettes that engage with the course material and the trip.