English

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2017-18 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The major in English is designed to introduce students to the history of literature written in English, to acquaint them with a variety of historical periods and geographical and cultural regions of English language and writing, to create an awareness of methods and theories of literary and cultural analysis, and to provide continued training in critical writing.

Entry-level Writing Requirement

Students must have fulfilled the Entry Level Writing Requirement before taking any course in the Department of English. For further information, see the information contained in the Undergraduate Education section of this Guide.

Declaring the Major

Before declaring the major, students must have completed the Reading and Composition requirement of the College of Letters and Science, two major requirements, and have completed at least 30 units. For further information on major requirements, please see the Major Requirements tab on this page.

Honors Program

ENGLISH H195A-ENGLISH H195B is a two-semester course, graded IP at the end of the first semester. Honors in English cannot be granted without the successful completion of this course. Students who take ENGLISH H195A-ENGLISH H195B may choose to waive their ENGLISH 190 requirement. ENGLISH H195A is organized as a course in literary criticism working toward the formation of a thesis topic. ENGLISH H195B will include regular meetings with the thesis adviser plus small group meetings with the H195 instructor. During the second semester, each student will write an honors thesis of 40-60 pages. Completion of the thesis is required for a passing grade in the course. Students with an overall GPA of 3.51 or higher and a GPA of 3.65 or higher in courses taken at Berkeley for the English major are eligible to apply. Those accepted must enroll in ENGLISH H195A for the fall semester of their senior year. There may be more than one section offered per semester.

Minor Program

Students may register for the English minor once they have declared another major and completed one upper division course in the English department.  At that time, students should fill out a Minor Registration Card to be kept on file in the Department of English Office. After completing the five courses or during their final semester at UC Berkeley, students should complete the Completion of the L&S Minor petition, have it reviewed by their major adviser and turn it in the English department.

Visit Department Website

Major Requirements

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
  2. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Major Requirements

Foundational Courses
ENGLISH 45A
Literature in English: Through Milton 1
ENGLISH 45B
Literature in English: The Late-17th through the Mid-19th Century 1
ENGLISH 45C
Literature in English: The Mid-19th through the 20th Century 1
Select one course in Shakespeare: 2
ENGLISH 17
Shakespeare
ENGLISH 117A
Shakespeare
ENGLISH 117B
Shakespeare
ENGLISH 117J
Shakespeare
ENGLISH 117S
Shakespeare
Pre-1800 Course 3, 4
Select one upper division course in British, American, or Anglophone literature from an historical period before 1800; standard course offerings that meet this requirement include the following:
ENGLISH 104
Introduction to Old English
ENGLISH 105
Anglo-Saxon England
ENGLISH 110
Medieval Literature
ENGLISH 111
Chaucer
ENGLISH 112
Middle English Literature
ENGLISH 114A
English Drama
ENGLISH 114B
English Drama
ENGLISH 115A
The English Renaissance
ENGLISH 115B
The English Renaissance
ENGLISH 118
Milton
ENGLISH 119
Literature of the Restoration and Early Eighteenth Century
ENGLISH 120
Literature of the Later 18th Century
ENGLISH 125A
The English Novel
ENGLISH 130A
American Literature: Before 1800
Seminar Course
Select one of the following:
ENGLISH 190
Research Seminar
ENGLISH H195A
& ENGLISH H195B
Honors Course
and Honors Course
Elective Courses
Select six courses from the offerings of the English department 5
1

With approval and in consultation with a major adviser, the ENGLISH 45A/ENGLISH 45B/ENGLISH 45C requirements may be satisfied by substituting for each course two appropriate upper division courses. To meet the ENGLISH 45B and ENGLISH 45C requirements, one course equivalent must be in American literature and one must be in British literature in the appropriate historical periods. Any and all courses used to satisfy the ENGLISH 45A/ENGLISH 45B/ENGLISH 45C requirements must be taken for a letter grade.

2

Students may not use ENGLISH 117T to satisfy this requirement.

3

ENGLISH C107, any Shakespeare course, or a course outside of the department that does not include a substantial amount of literature in English may not be used to fulfill this requirement.

4

Certain designated sections of ENGLISH 190 or other courses may satisfy this requirement if designated as such by the instructor. Please consult the department's announcement of classes for current offerings.

5

Two of the six elective courses may be taken Pass/No Pass.  This includes ENGLISH 98, ENGLISH 99, ENGLISH 198, and ENGLISH 199. Students may use up to 4 units of these independent study courses to satisfy the elective requirements.

Additional Information

  1. Internships: Students wishing to receive academic credit for an internship must coordinate with an English Department faculty member who agrees to sponsor an independent study course (99/199) based on the internship. Students should provide the faculty member with official documentation from their internship employers. Credit is based on completion of a critical or creative work on a topic related to the internship. No more than 2 units will be awarded per internship. Please note that students must register for Summer Session, session C, for summer internships.
  2. Extra-Departmental Course Work: The options below are provided for enrichment and flexibility, not to replace regular semester courses within the department. Students approved to use two or more courses toward the English major from Education Abroad Programs (EAP) will not be permitted to count additional upper division course work from other UC Berkeley departments. With the exception of two UC Berkeley English Department summer courses, all of the following must be approved by a major adviser and recorded on the student's major record card.
  • Summer Session Courses: Two 3-unit Summer Session courses taken at UC Berkeley may be counted toward the major, one of which must be taken through the English department. One of these courses may be taken at another institution with approval. This includes courses taken through Education Abroad Programs. Courses taken through the English department at UC Berkeley during summer session do not require major adviser approval. For courses taken elsewhere (or outside the major, see below), students must petition for approval by providing documentation, including a course syllabus and a transcript showing the completion of the course. A course taken elsewhere during the summer may only satisfy an elective for the major.
  • Courses taken outside the department: With the approval of a major adviser, students may count up to two upper division courses in departments other than English for the major. Only one such course may be taken during the summer. Students will submit a Petition for Approval of a Course Taken Outside the Department to a major adviser. This form can be found in the racks outside the English department office, 319 Wheeler Hall. The student's request for course approval will include a course syllabus and a compelling intellectual rationale, one that explains how the student's work for the English major will be enriched through the inclusion of the particular outside course the student wishes to include. There is no preapproved list of courses. For possible courses outside English, consult the listings for anthropology, Celtic studies, comparative literature, ethnic studies, history, linguistics, philosophy, rhetoric, women's studies, etc.
  • Education Abroad Programs: A faculty major adviser determines credit toward the major for coursework completed through an Education Abroad Program on a case-by-case basis. Students should submit documentation (e.g., course descriptions, syllabi, completed exams, papers, and other written work) to demonstrate that the education abroad course is comparable in coverage, rigor, and substance to a UC Berkeley upper division course. This could include up to two education abroad literature courses in a foreign language. Although there is no official limit on the number of courses transferred from education abroad programs, generally two courses will be counted easily. Closer scrutiny will be given to subsequent course work. Only one summer course taken abroad may be approved for use towards the major. Although the major adviser determines the number of courses approved for use towards the major, the College of Letters & Science makes the final determination of unit credit for any and all courses taken abroad.
  • Online and Extension courses: Only one UC Berkeley Extension or on-line course may be counted toward the major. No UC Berkeley Extension or on-line course may be used to satisfy a core requirement for the major: ENGLISH 45A/ENGLISH 45B/ENGLISH 45C (or their upper division equivalents), Shakespeare, the Pre-1800 course, or the seminar requirement. To count toward the major, UC Berkeley Extension or on-line courses must be comparable in coverage, rigor, and substance to department courses. Students seeking to count a UC Berkeley Extension or online course toward the major should submit course materials and other relevant documentation to an English department major adviser or to the director of undergraduate studies.

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript in the memoranda section, but they are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for graded credit.
  2. A minimum of three of the upper division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
  4. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.
  5. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
  6. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which you plan to graduate. If you cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, please see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
  7. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)

Requirements

Upper Division
Select five upper division English courses

Additional Guidelines

  1. With the approval of a minor adviser, students may take up to two courses outside the Berkeley English department (e.g. in other departments, other academic institutions, and education abroad programs). Students will submit a Petition for Approval of a Course Taken Outside the Department to a minor adviser.  This form can be found in the racks outside 319 Wheeler Hall. The student’s request for course approval will include a course syllabus and a compelling intellectual rationale, one that explains how the student’s work for the English minor will be enriched through the inclusion of the particular outside course the student wishes to take. There is no preapproved list of courses.
  2. Only one Summer Session course taken at UC Berkeley may be counted toward the minor.
  3. Creative Writing courses in the English department do not count toward the minor.

College Requirements

Undergraduate students in the College of Letters & Science must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please review the College of Letters & Sciences page in this Guide.

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a US resident graduated from an American university, should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

American Cultures

American Cultures is the one requirement that all undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete a first-level reading and composition course by the end of their second semester and a second-level course by the end of their fourth semester.

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

  • 120 total units, including at least 60 L&S units

  • Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

  • Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your BA degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding EAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Plan of Study

Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the English major requirements before making a program plan. For more detailed information regarding the courses listed below (e.g., elective information, GPA requirements, etc.), see the College Requirements and Major Requirements tabs.

First Year
FallUnitsSpringUnits
L&S Breadth4Lower Division English Elective (Arts & Literature Breadth)4
Reading & Composition A4Reading & Composition B4
L&S Breadth4American Cultures Requirement4
Lower Division Elective3L&S Breadth3
 15 15
Second Year
FallUnitsSpringUnits
ENGLISH 45A4ENGLISH 45B4
L&S Breadth4ENGLISH 45C4
L&S Breadth4L&S Breadth3
Lower Division Elective3Lower Division Elective4
 15 15
Third Year
FallUnitsSpringUnits
Shakespeare English Course4Upper Division English Elective4
Upper Division English Elective4Upper Division English Elective4
Lower or Upper Division Elective4Upper Division L&S Non-Major Department Elective3
Lower or Upper Division Elective3Lower or Upper Division Elective4
 15 15
Fourth Year
FallUnitsSpringUnits
Pre-1800 English Course4ENGLISH 1904
Upper Division English Elective4Upper Division English Elective4
Upper Division L&S Department Elective4Lower or Upper Division Elective4
Upper Division L&S Non-Major Department Elective3Lower or Upper Division Elective3
 15 15
Total Units: 120

Notes

• This is a sample program plan. This plan assumes that the student has completed the Entry Level Writing, American History and Institutions, Quantitative Reasoning, and Foreign Language requirements prior to admission.

• Students are strongly advised to work with an academic adviser to determine a personal program plan. Your program plan will differ depending on previous credit received, your course schedule, and available offerings.

Accelerated Program Plans

For students considering graduating in less than four years, it's important to acknowledge the reasons to undertake such a plan of study. While there are advantages to pursuing a three-year degree plan such as reducing financial burdens, they are not for everyone and do involve sacrifices; especially with respect to participating in co-curricular activities, depth of study,  and summer internships, which typically lead to jobs upon graduation. All things considered, please see the tables for three and three and a half year degree options.

3.5 Year Plan

3 Year Plan

Student Learning Goals

Mission

The study of literature is not about canonical books or established facts, but about a process of interpretation and analysis, a process that begins in the classroom and develops over a lifetime. Upon completion of a BA degree in English, students should have well-developed writing and research skills as well as the ability to assess and appreciate language and literature in both professional and personal realms.

Learning Goals for the Major

  1. Identify historical periods of literature in English ( US, Britain, and Anglophone).
  2. Recognize and understand a variety of genres and modes of writing (the novel, poetic forms, short fiction, autobiography, etc.).
  3. Become conversant with key literary terms and theories.
  4. Develop an understanding of literature in interdisciplinary and multicultural contexts.

Skills

  1. Demonstrate the ability to give a close reading or explication of a text.
  2. Develop the ability to interpret and analyze literary texts and to articulate that in both writing and speaking.
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of the philosophical, cultural, social, and historical influences on the creation of literary art.
  4. Formulate a well-organized, well-supported argument.
  5. Develop research skills in the library and online.
  6. Demonstrate the ability to write clear critical essays, based on close reading of primary texts and secondary sources.
  7. Observe ethical and precise citation practices.
  8. For some, write well in creative modes: fiction, non-fiction, poetry.

Courses

English

ENGLISH R1A Reading and Composition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session
Training in writing expository prose. Instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Reading and Composition: Read More [+]

ENGLISH R1AN First-Year Reading and Composition 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2013 8 Week Session, Summer 2004 10 Week Session
Training in writing expository prose. Instruction in writing and reading expository prose. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
First-Year Reading and Composition: Read More [+]

ENGLISH R1B Reading and Composition 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session
Training in writing expository prose. Further instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Reading and Composition: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 17 Shakespeare 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2011, Fall 2010
Lectures on Shakespeare and reading of his best works.
Shakespeare: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 20 Modern British and American Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2014
Lectures on and discussion of major authors of modern British and American literature.
Modern British and American Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 24 Freshman Seminars 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester.
Freshman Seminars: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 25 English as a Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2006, Spring 2004
An introduction to the grammar of English, including phonology (sound structure), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (linguistic meaning), and pragmatics (contextual meaning), with consideration of different varieties of English in use within the United States and throughout the world, and comparison of English with other languages.
English as a Language: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 26 Introduction to the Study of Poetry 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
Lectures and discussion on poetry intended to develop the student's ability to understand and evaluate a poem. Designed primarily for students whose major is not English, but majors and prospective majors are welcome.
Introduction to the Study of Poetry: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 27 Introduction to the Study of Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Lectures and discussion intended to develop the student's ability to understand and evaluate fiction. Designed primarily for students whose major is not English, but majors and prospective majors are welcome.
Introduction to the Study of Fiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 28 Introduction to the Study of Drama 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Spring 2002
Lectures and discussion intended to develop the student's ability to read, understand and evaluate plays. Designed primarily for students whose major is not English, but majors and prospective majors are welcome.
Introduction to the Study of Drama: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 31AC Literature of American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
An introduction to the ethnic diversity of American literature. The course will take substantial account of the literature of three or more of the following groups: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, and European Americans. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" well before the beginning of the semester for details.
Literature of American Cultures: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 33 African American Literature and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Major literary and cultural texts in the African American tradition from origins to the present.
African American Literature and Culture: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 37 Chicana/o Literature and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014
Major literary and cultural texts in the Chicana/o tradition from origins to the present.
Chicana/o Literature and Culture: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 43A Introduction to the Writing of Short Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2012
A workshop course intended for students who have recently begun to write fiction or who have not previously taken a course in creative writing.
Introduction to the Writing of Short Fiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 43B Introduction to the Writing of Verse 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
A workshop course intended for students who have recently begun to write verse or who have not previously taken a course in creative writing.
Introduction to the Writing of Verse: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 43N Introduction to the Writing of Creative Non-Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A workshop course in creative non-fiction, a prose genre that takes on non-fiction subjects (the world of culture, history, personal experience) but also is alert to the creativity required to translate those subjects into the realm of writing. Students will study exemplary works of creative non-fiction in different modes (e.g. literary journalism, personal essay, travel writing) and write their own works in selected modes as well.
Introduction to the Writing of Creative Non-Fiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 45A Literature in English: Through Milton 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Historical survey of literature in English: Beginnings through Milton.
Literature in English: Through Milton: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 45B Literature in English: The Late-17th through the Mid-19th Century 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Historical survey of literature in English: The late-17th through the mid-19th century.
Literature in English: The Late-17th through the Mid-19th Century: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 45C Literature in English: The Mid-19th through the 20th Century 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Historical survey of literature in English: the mid-19th through the 20th century.
Literature in English: The Mid-19th through the 20th Century: Read More [+]

ENGLISH C77 Introduction to Environmental Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This integrative course, taught by a humanities professor and a science professor, surveys current global environmental issues; introduces the basic intellectual tools of environmental science; investigates ways the human relationship to nature has been imagined in literary and philosophical traditions; and examines how tools of scientific and literary analysis; scientific method, and imaginative thinking can clarify what is at stake in environmental issues and ecological citizenship.
Introduction to Environmental Studies: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 80K Children's Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2011
The study of selected works written for children.
Children's Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 84 Sophomore Seminar 1 or 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Sophomore seminars are small interactive courses offered by faculty members in departments all across the campus. Sophomore seminars offer opportunity for close, regular intellectual contact between faculty members and students in the crucial second year. The topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 sophomores.
Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 98 Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Group study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course and must be specific enough to enable students to write essays based upon their studies.
Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 98BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.

Course may be repeated for credit.
Berkeley Connect: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 99 Independent Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Meetings to be arranged. Reading and regular conference with the instructor in a field that shall not coincide with that of any regular course and shall be specific enough to enable students to write essays based on their studies.
Independent Study: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 101 The History of the English Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2012
The history of the English language from its Indo-European roots, through its Old, Middle, and Early Modern periods, as preserved in the literary heritage, to its different forms in use throughout the world today.
The History of the English Language: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 102 Topics in the English Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Topics vary from semester to semester.
Topics in the English Language: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 104 Introduction to Old English 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Basic introduction to the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of Old English designed to get students reading original texts immediately. Typical Old English texts include: riddles, charms, medical recipes, laws, chronicles, elegies, saints' lives, heroic poetry, and monster lore.
Introduction to Old English: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 105 Anglo-Saxon England 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2013, Fall 2010
The five centuries of the Anglo-Saxon period encompass a remarkably diverse range of literature: heroic epics and lyric laments; riddles, recipes, and magic spells; matter-of-fact accounts of monsters and miracles; and histories that set new standards for scholarship. This course surveys Anglo-Saxon literature in modern translation, encompassing texts originally written in both Old English and Latin, and prose as well as verse. At the heart of the semester is Beowulf, the period's great and enigmatic epic.
Anglo-Saxon England: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 107 The English Bible As Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 1996, Fall 1995
Introduction to the English Bible treated as a literary work.
The English Bible As Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 110 Medieval Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Development of literary form and idiom throughout the Christian West from the first to the fifteenth century.
Medieval Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 111 Chaucer 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2014, Spring 2010
Lectures on and discussion of Chaucer's major works.
Chaucer: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 112 Middle English Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2009
Middle English literature exclusive of Chaucer studied in the original language.
Middle English Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 114A English Drama 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
English drama to 1603.
English Drama: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 114B English Drama 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2008, Fall 2006
English drama from 1603 to 1700.
English Drama: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 115A The English Renaissance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2014
Beginnings of the English Renaissance and literature of the 16th century.
The English Renaissance: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 115B The English Renaissance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2009
Literature of the 17th century.
The English Renaissance: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 116 Backgrounds of English Literature in the Continental Renaissance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2001
A survey of the principal continental documents which are important to an understanding of the English Renaissance.
Backgrounds of English Literature in the Continental Renaissance: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117A Shakespeare 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
A chronological survey of Shakespeare's career.
Shakespeare: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117B Shakespeare 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
A chronological survey of Shakespeare's career.
Shakespeare: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117F Shakespeare and Film 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Close study of the texts and films based on 8 to 10 plays. Lectures will emphasize the critical implications of transposing plays to film. The goal of the course is the critical understanding of Shakespeare, and the course satisfies the departmental requirement of a course on Shakespeare in the major.
Shakespeare and Film: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117J Shakespeare 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2006, Spring 2006, Spring 2005
Study of selected plays, with practice in various critical approaches, e.g., establishing text, relation to source, changing concepts of comedy and tragedy, influence of theatrical conditions on technique.
Shakespeare: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117S Shakespeare 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Lectures on Shakespeare and reading of his best works.
Shakespeare: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 117T Shakespeare in the Theatre 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2007
The interrelation of Elizabethan plays and stage practices. Classroom exercises, written assignments, and a final examination. The course will usually culminate in the performance of a play.
Shakespeare in the Theatre: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 118 Milton 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Lectures on and discussion of Milton's major works.
Milton: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 119 Literature of the Restoration and Early Eighteenth Century 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Spring 2013
Lectures on and discussion of Dryden, Swift, Pope, and some of their contemporaries.
Literature of the Restoration and Early Eighteenth Century: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 120 Literature of the Later 18th Century 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Lectures on and discussion of later eighteenth-century British literature.
Literature of the Later 18th Century: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 121 Romantic Period 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2015
Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, and contemporaries.
Romantic Period: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 122 Victorian Period 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
Literature of the Victorian period with an emphasis on poetry and nonfiction prose.
Victorian Period: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 125A The English Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
Defoe through Scott.
The English Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 125B The English Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
Dickens through Conrad.
The English Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 125C The European Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Lectures on and discussion of major European novels.
The European Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 125D The 20th-Century Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Fall 2017
Lectures on and discussion of major novels of the twentieth century.
The 20th-Century Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 125E The Contemporary Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Important contemporary novels, some of which may be read in translation.
The Contemporary Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 126 British Literature: 1900-1945 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Lectures on and discussion of British literature written between 1900 and 1945.
British Literature: 1900-1945: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 127 Modern Poetry 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2014, Spring 2014
British and American poetry: 1900 to the present.
Modern Poetry: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 128 Modern Drama 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2001, Fall 1999
British and American drama: 1860 to the present.
Modern Drama: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 130A American Literature: Before 1800 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2014
Lectures on and discussion of the major writers of the early American period.
American Literature: Before 1800: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 130B American Literature: 1800-1865 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
Lectures on and discussion of the major texts of the American Renaissance.
American Literature: 1800-1865: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 130C American Literature: 1865-1900 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2012
Lectures on and discussion of American literature from the Civil War through 1900.
American Literature: 1865-1900: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 130D American Literature: 1900-1945 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
A survey of modern American literature.
American Literature: 1900-1945: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 131 American Poetry 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A historical survey of American poetry and its backgrounds.
American Poetry: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 132 American Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2013
A survey of major American novels.
American Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 133A African American Literature and Culture Before 1917 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Major literary and cultural texts in the African American tradition from origins through World War I.
African American Literature and Culture Before 1917: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 133B African American Literature and Culture Since 1917 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Spring 2012
Major literary and cultural texts in the African American tradition from the Harlem Renaissance through the twentieth century.
African American Literature and Culture Since 1917: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 133T Topics in African American Literature and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Topics in African American Literature and Culture: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 134 Contemporary Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2012
Lectures on and discussion of selected works written since the Second World War.
Contemporary Literature: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 135AC Literature of American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2014, Spring 2013
Study of the ethnic diversity of American literature. The course will take substantial account of the literature of three or more of the following groups: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, and European Americans. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" well before the beginning of the semester for details.
Literature of American Cultures: Read More [+]

ENGLISH C136 Topics in American Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
A course on the intellectual, cultural, historical, and social backgrounds to American literature. Topics will vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for current offerings well before the start of the semester.
Topics in American Studies: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 137A Chicana/o Literature and Culture to 1910 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2006
Major literary and cultural texts in the Chicana/o tradition from origins through the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
Chicana/o Literature and Culture to 1910: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 137B Chicana/o Literature and Culture Since 1910 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Major literary and cultural texts in the Chicana/o tradition from 1910 through the contemporary Chicana/o period.
Chicana/o Literature and Culture Since 1910: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 137T Topics in Chicana/o Literature and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2013
Topics in Chicana/o literature and culture.
Topics in Chicana/o Literature and Culture: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 138 Studies in World Literature in English 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
An examination of various aspects of the modern literature written in English in Africa, the Caribbean, India, and Southeast Asia. Topics will vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for current offerings well before the start of the semester.
Studies in World Literature in English: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 139 The Cultures of English 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Literatures of various regions in which English is one of the spoken languages, such as Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, Africa, India; and the writings of specific groups or distinctive cultures in the English-speaking world, including the U.S. and the British Isles. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for current offerings well before the start of the semester.
The Cultures of English: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 141 Modes of Writing (Exposition, Fiction, Verse, Etc.) 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Fall 2017
Writing in connection with reading in recent English literature and its continental background.
Modes of Writing (Exposition, Fiction, Verse, Etc.): Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143A Short Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Spring 2018
A seminar in writing short stories.
Short Fiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143B Verse 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
A seminar in writing poetry.
Verse: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143C Long Narrative 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Spring 2012
Students will work through the semester on a single project, either fiction (novel) or nonfiction (biography, history).
Long Narrative: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143D Expository and Critical Writing 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2001, Spring 2000
A seminar in expository and critical writing.
Expository and Critical Writing: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143E Playwriting 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2004, Spring 2003, Spring 2002
A seminar in playwriting.
Playwriting: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143N Prose Nonfiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
A seminar in the writing of prose nonfiction as an art.
Prose Nonfiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 143T Poetry Translation Workshop 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2013, Spring 2013
Open to those who wish to assimilate foreign influences for writing poetry or to seek a fuller understanding of any foreign poetry by rendering it into English.
Poetry Translation Workshop: Read More [+]

ENGLISH C143V Visual Autobiography 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2007, Fall 2003, Spring 2002
Since visual and literary studies have historically been viewed as separate disciplines, we will use theories from both to study those forms of self-representation that defy disciplinary boundaries, or what we call "visual autobiography." The course aims to help students become conversant with the elements of alphabetic literacy (reading and writing) and visual literacy (observing and making) in order to develop a third distinctive textual/visual literacy.
Visual Autobiography: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 152 Women Writers 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2013, Spring 2011
Topics will vary from semester to semester.
Women Writers: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 160 Methods and Materials of Literary Criticism 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2008, Spring 2008
An introduction to issues in literary criticism with emphasis on application of principles and methods to selected literary texts.
Methods and Materials of Literary Criticism: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 161 Introduction to Literary Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This class will focus on literary theory.
Introduction to Literary Theory: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 165 Special Topics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Designed primarily for English majors. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Special Topics: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 165AC Special Topics in American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Fall 2007, Fall 2006
Designed primarily for English majors. Study of a special topic related to the diversity of the United States. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Special Topics in American Cultures: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 166 Special Topics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session
Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Special Topics: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 166AC Special Topics in American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Study of a special topic related to the diversity of the United States. Topics vary from semester to semester. Student's should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Special Topics in American Cultures: Read More [+]

ENGLISH N166 Special Topics 6 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
Topics vary from summer to summer.
Special Topics: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 170 Literature and the Arts 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Studies in the relationship of literature in English to the arts.
Literature and the Arts: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 171 Literature and Sexual Identity 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
Sexual identity in literature in relation to thematics, literary convention, psychology, and the particular politics and sociology of individual cultures. The course may range broadly over Western literature or concentrate on one historical period.
Literature and Sexual Identity: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 172 Literature and Psychology 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2003, Spring 2000
Studies in the relationship of literature in English to psychology.
Literature and Psychology: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 173 The Language and Literature of Films 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
Studies in film as a mode of representing reality; cinematic techniques and the "language" of film. Lectures, class discussions, and film viewings.
The Language and Literature of Films: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 174 Literature and History 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
Topics will vary from semester to semester.
Literature and History: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 175 Literature and Disability 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Studies of the relationships among literature, culture, and "disability." The course may range broadly or concentrate on one historical period, genre, or issue.
Literature and Disability: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 176 Literature and Popular Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2012, Fall 2005
Topics will vary from semester to semester.
Literature and Popular Culture: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 177 Literature and Philosophy 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2004
Studies in the relationship of literature in English to philosophy.
Literature and Philosophy: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 178 British and American Folklore 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2004, Fall 2000, Spring 1999
Study of representative forms of folklore and oral literature among the English-speaking people of the British Isles and North America.
British and American Folklore: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 179 Literature and Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Fall 2012
Study of the English language as a medium for literature. Topics may include rhyme, alliteration, meter, poetic syntax, metaphor, irony, the language of point of view, narrative tense, orality, literacy, etc.
Literature and Linguistics: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180A Autobiography 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Lectures on and discussion of autobiographical forms.
Autobiography: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180C Comedy 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Studies of representative comic forms, techniques, and points of view.
Comedy: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180E The Epic 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2012
Reading and discussion of epics, considering their cultural and historical contexts, the nature of their composition, and the development of the form.
The Epic: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180H Short Story 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Lectures on and discussion of the form of the short story.
Short Story: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180J The Essay 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Study of the essay as a literary form, the circumstances of its use and development, and its fortunes in twentieth-century culture.
The Essay: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180L Lyric Verse 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
Study of lyric forms and techniques.
Lyric Verse: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180N The Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Study of the novel as a literary genre, its formal development and variations, its technical possibilities, its cultural functions. Topics may vary from semester to semester.
The Novel: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180R The Romance 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
Study of the romance as a literary genre. Topics may vary from semester to semester; focus may be historical or restricted to a particular period (e.g., medieval, modern).
The Romance: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180S Satire 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Study of representative satire forms, techniques, and points of view.
Satire: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180T Tragedy 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 1992
Study of representative tragic forms, techniques, and points of view.
Tragedy: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 180Z Science Fiction 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2012
Study of speculative fiction (or science fiction) as a genre. Topics may vary from semester to semester. Focus may be historical or thematic.
Science Fiction: Read More [+]

ENGLISH C181 Digital Humanities, Visual Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017
“Digital humanities” describes how digital formats and tools can be used to produce knowledge about cultural materials. This course introduces students to techniques used to study visual culture and related disciplines, possibly including mapping, network analysis, digital (re)construction of objects and environments; digital editions of texts or online exhibitions; digital manipulation of images; and content-management systems and structured data. The class also provides a framework to help students think critically about the values that underpin existing DH projects.

Digital Humanities, Visual Cultures: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 190 Research Seminar 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Research-oriented and designed for upper-division English majors. Intensive examination of critical approaches, literary theory, or a special topic in literary and cultural studies. Topics vary from semester to semester. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings well before the beginning of the semester.
Research Seminar: Read More [+]

ENGLISH H195A Honors Course 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This is a two-semester course, graded IP at the end of the first semester. During the second semester, each student will write an honors thesis. Completion of the thesis is required for a passing grade in the course.
Honors Course: Read More [+]

ENGLISH H195B Honors Course 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This is a two-semester course, graded IP at the end of the first semester. During the second semester, each student will write an honors thesis. Completion of the thesis is required for a passing grade in the course.
Honors Course: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
Enrollment is restricted by university regulations. Group study in a field that shall not coincide with that of any regular course and shall be specific enough to enable students to write essays based upon their studies.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 198BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate. Course may be repeated for credit.
Berkeley Connect: Read More [+]

ENGLISH 199 Supervised Independent Study for Advanced Undergraduates 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Meetings to be arranged. Enrollment is restricted by university regulations. Reading and conference with the instructor in a field that shall not coincide with that of any regular course and shall be specific enough to enable students to write essays based upon their studies.
Supervised Independent Study for Advanced Undergraduates: Read More [+]

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

+ Elizabeth Abel, Professor. Feminist theory, psychoanalysis, Virginia Woolf, race and gender.
Research Profile

Charles F. Altieri, Professor. Literature and the visual arts, Wittgenstein, Modern American poetry, Contemporary American poetry, history of aesthetic philosophy.
Research Profile

Oliver Arnold, Associate Professor.

Stephen Michael Best, Associate Professor. Film, English literature, African American literature, literary culture, legal culture.
Research Profile

C. D. Blanton, Associate Professor. Modernism, modern poetry, 19th- and 20th-century British literature, aesthetic and critical theory.
Research Profile

+ Mitchell Breitwieser, Professor. American literature, philosophy and religion.
Research Profile

Mark D. Danner, Professor. Central America, politics, Balkans, foreign affairs, journalism, Haiti, documentaries.
Research Profile

+ Kathleen Donegan, Associate Professor. Colonial America, early America, Native America, early Caribbean.
Research Profile

+ Ian Duncan, Professor. English, the novel, British literature 1750-1900, Scottish literature, history and theory of fiction, Scottish enlightenment/romanticism, Scott, literature and the human sciences, Darwin.
Research Profile

Nadia Ellis, Associate Professor. Black diaspora literature and culture, queer studies, the city.
Research Profile

Eric Falci, Associate Professor. 20th-Century Irish and British literature, contemporary Irish and British poetry, poetry and music.
Research Profile

Catherine Flynn, Assistant Professor. Modernism, Irish, British, comparative literature, critical theory, Avant-Gardes, James Joyce, Flann O'Brien.
Research Profile

Anne-Lise Francois, Associate Professor. Popular culture, English, comparative literature, the modern period, comparative romanticisms; lyric poetry; the psychological novel, novel of manners; gender, critical theory; literature, philosophy; fashion.
Research Profile

Joshua Gang, Assistant Professor. 20th- and 21st-century British literature, literature and the sciences of mind, literature and the history of philosophy (especially mind and language), modernism, contemporary literature, literary history, literary theory and criticism.
Research Profile

Cecil S. Giscombe, Professor.

Mark A. Goble, Associate Professor.

+ Steven Goldsmith, Professor.

Marcial Gonzalez, Associate Professor. Chicano and Chicana literature, twentieth-century American ethnic literatures, theory of the novel, marxism, critical theory, farm worker social movements.
Research Profile

+ Kevis Goodman, Associate Professor. 18th-century and Romantic British literature, Milton, literature and the history of science, especially medicine.
Research Profile

Dorothy J. Hale, Professor. English literature, American literature, the novel, narrative theory, critical theory, Henry James, William Faulkner, the modern novel of consciousness.
Research Profile

Kristin Hanson, Associate Professor. Linguistics, English, poetry, meter, rhyme, and alliteration, phonological theory, English grammar and usage.
Research Profile

Robert L. Hass, Professor. English, poetry, poetry writing, American poetry, history of the short poem in English, contemporary literature, translation, environmental writing, literature and the environment, the natural history tradition in American writing.
Research Profile

Lyn Hejinian, Professor. English, American literature, poetry writing, translation, modernist and postmodern literature, American postwar experimental literature, Gertrude Stein, the objectivists, language writing, Soviet Russian poetry, small press publishing, feminism.
Research Profile

Abdul R. Janmohamed, Professor. Critical theory; theory of subjection; postcolonial literature, culture, and theory; African American fiction; and minority discourse.
Research Profile

Donna V. Jones, Associate Professor. Critical theory, English, modernism, literature and philosophy, literature of the Americas, literature of the African Diaspora, postcolonial literature and theory, narrative and historiography.
Research Profile

Steven Justice, Professor. English, late medieval literature, medieval Latin, Chaucer, hagiography, Latin religious thought, literary criticism.
Research Profile

Victoria Kahn, Professor. Rhetoric, comparative literature, Renaissance literature, poetics, early modern political theory, the Frankfurt School.
Research Profile

+ Jeffrey Knapp, Professor. Religion, nationalism, theater, English literature, Shakespeare, English renaissance, Spenser, drama, imperialism, epic poetry, authorship, mass entertainment.
Research Profile

David Landreth, Associate Professor. English Renaissance literature 1500-1660.
Research Profile

Celeste Langan, Associate Professor. English, romantic poetry, 19th century literature, Wordsworth, Carlyle, Hardy, Rousseau, the French Revolution, Marxist theory, literature and the social sciences.
Research Profile

Joseph Lavery, Assistant Professor.

Steven Sunwoo Lee, Associate Professor. Twentieth-century American literature, comparative ethnic studies, diaspora, Soviet and post-Soviet studies.
Research Profile

Colleen Lye, Associate Professor. Postcolonial theory, critical theory, cultural studies, Asian American literature, 20th and 21st century literature, world literature.
Research Profile

David Marno, Assistant Professor.

Jennifer Miller, Associate Professor. English, philology, paleography, hagiography, medieval literature, literature in old & middle English, historiography, medieval rhetorical culture, insular political relations, multilingualism, translation & textual transmission, dialectology.
Research Profile

Maura Bridget Nolan, Associate Professor. Chaucer, drama, Middle English literature, Gower, Lydgate, medieval, 16th century, literary form, style.
Research Profile

Geoffrey O'Brien, Associate Professor. Modernism, Creative Writing, 20th and 21st century poetry and poetics.
Research Profile

Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe, Professor. Old English language and literature, textual criticism, Medieval Studies.
Research Profile

Samuel Otter, Professor. English, African American literature, 19th century American literature, 17th and 18th century American literature, Herman Melville, race in American culture, literature and history, discourse and ideology, close reading.
Research Profile

Genaro M. Padilla, Professor. American literature, Chicano/Latino literary and cultural studies, American autobiography.
Research Profile

+ Joanna M. Picciotto, Associate Professor.

+ Kent Puckett, Associate Professor. English, the novel, nineteenth-century British literature and literary theory, sociability, psychoanalysis and affect.
Research Profile

Poulomi Saha, Assistant Professor.

Scott Andrew Saul, Professor. English, African American studies, 20th century American literature and culture, performance studies, jazz studies, histories of the avante-garde.
Research Profile

+ Susan Schweik, Professor. Feminist theory, cultural studies, English, American poetry, disability studies, 20th-century poetry, literature and politics, war literature.
Research Profile

C. Namwali Serpell, Associate Professor. Theory, aesthetics, affect, ethics, uncertainty, the novel, film, 20th and 21st century Anglophone fiction, the face.
Research Profile

Katherine Snyder, Associate Professor. 19th- through 21st-century Literature in English, narrative and the novel, gender studies, post-traumatic and post-apocalyptic fiction.
Research Profile

Janet Linda Sorensen, Associate Professor.

George A. Starr, Professor. 18th-century English literary, social and intellectual history; prose style; bibliography and textual criticism, literature of California and the west.
Research Profile

Elisa C. Tamarkin, Associate Professor. American literature to 1900.
Research Profile

Emily Thornbury, Associate Professor. Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature.
Research Profile

James G. Turner, Professor. Gender, sexuality, English, 16th-18th-Century English, Italian and French literature, art and literature, 17th-Century political writing, landscape and the city, Enlightenment materialism, sexuality in Renaissance Italian art and Antiquity.
Research Profile

Bryan Wagner, Associate Professor. Critical theory, African American literature, historiography.
Research Profile

Hertha D. Sweet Wong, Associate Professor. English, American literature, native American literature, autobiography, ethnic American literature.
Research Profile

Dora Zhang, Assistant Professor. Critical theory, linguistics, narrative & the novel, 20th and 21st century Britain.
Research Profile

Lecturers

Melanie Abrams, Lecturer.

Vikram Chandra, Senior Lecturer SOE.

Thomas Farber, Senior Lecturer.

+ Georgina Kleege, Lecturer SOE.

John Shoptaw, Lecturer.

Emeritus Faculty

Joel B. Altman, Professor Emeritus. Rhetoric, Shakespeare, English renaissance, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, history of literary theory.
Research Profile

Julia Bader, Professor Emeritus. Comedy, English novel, modern American literature, women writers, feminist criticism.
Research Profile

Ann Banfield, Professor Emeritus. Virginia Woolf, English, the novel, literary and linguistic theory, the industrial novel, recent French literary theory, literature and philosophy.
Research Profile

John Bishop, Professor Emeritus. Psychoanalysis, English, the novel, modernism, 20th-Century literature, Joyce, experimental fiction.
Research Profile

Robert Bloom, Professor Emeritus.

+ Stephen Booth, Professor Emeritus. English, aesthetics, Renaissance literature.
Research Profile

Carol T. Christ, Professor Emeritus.

+ Frederick Crews, Professor Emeritus.

Richard Feingold, Professor Emeritus.

+ Donald M. Friedman, Professor Emeritus.

Catherine Gallagher, Professor Emeritus. English, 19th century British literature, British novels, victorian non-fiction prose, British women's literature, history and literature of the victorians, history of the novel, Victorian popular culture.
Research Profile

Richard Hutson, Professor Emeritus. Literature.
Research Profile

Maxine Hong Kingston, Professor Emeritus.

Ojars Kratins, Professor Emeritus.

Donald McQuade, Professor Emeritus. English, advertising, 20th century American literature and culture, theory and practice of non-fiction, literature and popular culture, the American Renaissance, the essay as literature.
Research Profile

D.A. Miller, Professor Emeritus. The novel, gay and cultural studies, classic cinema, Hitchcock.
Research Profile

Alan H. Nelson, Professor Emeritus. English, history of drama, medieval and Renaissance English literature, English Corpus Christi plays, English morality plays, medieval art and literature, history of staging in the middle ages and renaissance, medieval and early Renaissance paleography.
Research Profile

John D. Niles, Professor Emeritus.

Raymond Oliver, Professor Emeritus.

Morton D. Paley, Professor Emeritus. British Romanticism, William Blake, literature and art.
Research Profile

Carolyn Porter, Professor Emeritus. English, American literature, American intellectual history, American Renaissance, Faulkner, James, Fitzgerald, Henry Adams, American Literature of the 1930s.
Research Profile

Ishmael Reed, Professor Emeritus.

+ Hugh M. Richmond, Professor Emeritus. Shakespeare, Theatre, Comparative Literature (European).
Research Profile

Peter Scott, Professor Emeritus.

Robert Tracy, Professor Emeritus.

Alex Zwerdling, Professor Emeritus.

Contact Information

Department of English

322 Wheeler Hall

Phone: 510-642-3467

Fax: 510-642-8738

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Genaro Padilla, PhD

422 Wheeler Hall

gpadilla@berkeley.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Scott Saul, PhD

441 Wheeler Hall

ssaul@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Adviser

Ken Mahru

319 Wheeler Hall

Phone: 510-643-2494

kenmahru@berkeley.edu

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