Course Descriptions
for Special Topics (English 1102)

ENGL 1102 Writing About Film and Drama
3-0-3
Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
As you research and write, you will travel through space and time.  Star Wars as mythology, The Matrix as a modern depiction of Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” What Dreams May Come as Dante’s “Inferno" provide enlightenment as well as enjoyment.  Among other films are Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, The Color Purple, Troy, Gladiator, To Dance with the White Dog, and Ben Hur.  Come join us for a great ride into fantasy and fact.

ENGL 1102 Writing About Popular Culture 3-0-3

Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
You may be a Heroes fanatic, or your weakness may be that you just can’t live without one more episode of House, Prison Break, Supernatural or 90201. But television may not be your “addiction.” It could be your iPod, your mp3 or your cell phone. Maybe you think it’s “soooo not cool” to ignore text messages from your bff, not to mention posting to the latest blogs. Whatever it is, we all take part in what theorists call popular culture. Although chat rooms, text messaging, playlists, You Tube and TiVos are all modern-day terms, they are not necessarily new concepts.

This course will encourage you to take a closer look at pop culture. We’ll look at its tools and images – things like current-day television programs, hip-hop, advertising, blockbuster movies and other pop culture artifacts. A close examination of these artifacts will enable you to better utilize critical thinking skills, read more closely, and enhance your writing skills. You will leave this course as a more developed, more informed and more conscious writer so that you begin to live a more examined life.

ENGL 1102 Writing in an Electronic World
3-0-3
Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
Want to learn how the e-world has changed the way we communicate? Join us in “Writing in an Electronic World” to find out. We’ll consider important issues like your freedom of speech and privacy on the Internet, and the impact of the Internet on how we learn. We’ll examine how electronic communication has changed the way you network and socialize at school and work. Join us and get connected, learn about e-etiquette and emoticons, create and publish your own web page, and more. Become a savvy Internet driver on the Information Highway!

ENGL 1102 Writing About Social Conscience
3-0-3
Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
Are you concerned about the world around you and want the chance to affect change in a public way? This course focuses on “concerned writers" who want to get involved in local issues. The course combines the use of photography, video, and other media to write about and change the injustices of the world.  Through hands-on fieldwork, research, and creative visual and writing projects, the course gives you the practical opportunity through writing to participate in the process of social justice.  We will include active, social writing such as letters to editors, proposals to local governments, reporting on community affairs, etc.  Engage in expanded opportunities to use writing in the real world.

ENGL 1102 Writing About Graphic Novels
3-0-3
Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
Today’s graphic novels are wildly popular.  Recently, the entertainment industry has embraced graphic novels and is rapidly adapting many of them into films.  Why is this particular medium enjoying so much attention?  In Writing About Graphic Novels we will explore this comic book phenomenon!  We will try to define the “graphic novel” by critically analyzing serialized comics and longer works.  We will read graphic novels such as Maus, Watchmen, 30 Days of Night, Batman: Year One and others in our exploration of the genre.  In addition, this course will end with a project where you’ll get a chance to create your own graphic novel!   

ENGL 1102 Writing About The Network Society
3-0-3
Prerequisites: "C" or better in ENGL 1101
How we work, how we study, and how we play is shaped by networks--not just computer networks, but networks of people, institutions, and organizations. Ever wonder how West Nile Virus ended up in the United States? Or why "world music" has become big business? Or how local economic events can take on a global significance?

"The Network Society" will address these and related issues. This course is offered as part of SPSU's First Year Experience Progam. Students are encouraged to take part in all First Year Experience events as an enrichment to our classroom discussion, including: lectures by guest speakers, films and performances, and some rather unique campus-based activities.