Summer 2026: Undergraduate English Courses
ENG 300 001 LITERARY FORM AND ANALYSIS
Instructor: Tom Fisher
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This course is low-cost.1
The focus of this class will be critical methods, genre analysis, and the academic essay. Rather than focusing on one period or one literary genre, the class will introduce students to a range of critical methods that expand interpretive possibilities across diverse genres. Key writers will include Henry James, Langston Hughes, Hilda Doolittle, Lorine Niedecker, and others. We also read some literary theory and criticism. Student work will include weekly response essays, discussion posts, and a mid-length final essay.
ENG 301U 001 TOPICS: SHAKESPEARE GENRE
Instructor: Keri Behre
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This class may count toward the Historical Literacy requirement of the English and Creative Writing majors (and may also be taken as an English elective).
ENG 305U 001 TOP: MASTERPIECES OF CINEMA
Instructor: Michael Clark
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
ENG 326 001 LIT COMM DIFF
Instructor: Josh Epstein
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
In fulfillment of the Culture, Difference, and Representation component of the PSU English and Creative Writing majors, ENG 326 examines “the formation, practice, and representation of social identities” (PSU Bulletin). In short, the course engages with novels, films, and essays that ask difficult questions about individual and social identity. We’ll ask how these texts imagine and represent encounters within/between the self and the other, and how they make such encounters legible to a public. This course is online/asynchronous and will take place during the second four-week summer session (7/20 - 8/16).
Texts will include the following, supplemented by short readings posted via Canvas:
- Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
- Omar El Akkad, What Strange Paradise
- Hilary Leichter, Temporary
- Films: Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You and Sean Baker’s The Florida Project
This class may count toward the Culture, Difference, and Representation requirement of the English and Creative Writing majors (and may also be taken as an English elective).
ENG 342U 001 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE
Instructor: Bill Knight
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This class may count toward the Historical Literacy requirement of the English and Creative Writing majors (and may also be taken as an English elective).
ENG 461 001 TOP: DOUGLASS & MELVILLE
Instructor: Anoop Mirpuri
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This course is low-cost.1
This course will be a comparative study of two major nineteenth century American writers: Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville. Although they mostly worked in different genres—Douglass wrote mainly nonfiction, while all of Melville’s major prose works are fiction—both were cosmopolitan thinkers par excellence, attuned to questions of difference, circulation, and cultural transmission and exchange. But they were also visionaries who indelibly shaped how American writers would think about writing, literature, knowledge, perception, and power.
Rather than a biographical study of both authors, we will read some of their shorter works alongside each other, while situating them in their wider historical context. In doing so, we will attend as much to the formal qualities of their writing as to the literary and philosophical questions raised by their work (e.g., What is freedom? What is the relation between slavery and wage labor? How do we draw the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, deception and truth, performance and authenticity?). Finally, the course will explore the impact of their writing on the development of American literature.
Required Books:
- Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Oxford University Press)
- Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave: A Cultural and Critical Edition (Yale University Press)
- Herman Melville, Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
This class may count toward the Historical Literacy requirement of the English and Creative Writing majors (and may also be taken as an English elective). If you wish to count ENG 461 as a Historical Literacy class, please speak with your pathway advisor.
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Summer 2026: Graduate English Courses
ENG 561 001 TOP: DOUGLASS & MELVILLE
Instructor: Anoop Mirpuri
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This course is low-cost.1
This course will be a comparative study of two major nineteenth century American writers: Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville. Although they mostly worked in different genres—Douglass wrote mainly nonfiction, while all of Melville’s major prose works are fiction—both were cosmopolitan thinkers par excellence, attuned to questions of difference, circulation, and cultural transmission and exchange. But they were also visionaries who indelibly shaped how American writers would think about writing, literature, knowledge, perception, and power.
Rather than a biographical study of both authors, we will read some of their shorter works alongside each other, while situating them in their wider historical context. In doing so, we will attend as much to the formal qualities of their writing as to the literary and philosophical questions raised by their work (e.g., What is freedom? What is the relation between slavery and wage labor? How do we draw the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, deception and truth, performance and authenticity?). Finally, the course will explore the impact of their writing on the development of American literature.
Required Books:
- Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Oxford University Press)
- Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave: A Cultural and Critical Edition (Yale University Press)
- Herman Melville, Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
This class may count toward the pre-1900 requirement for the MA in English.
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Summer 2026: Undergraduate Writing Courses
WR 121Z 001 COMPOSITION I
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
This course is no-cost.2
WR 212 001 INTRO FICTION WRITING
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 227Z 001 TECHNICAL WRITING
Instructor: Sidouane Patcha
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 227Z 002 TECHNICAL WRITING
Instructor: Jacob Tootalian
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 301 001 WIC: CRITICAL WRTING ENGLISH
Instructor: Sarah Lincoln
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 323 001 WRITING AS CRITICAL INQUIRY
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 323 002 WRITING AS CRITICAL INQUIRY
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 323 003 WRITING AS CRITICAL INQUIRY
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 327 001 TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING
Instructor: STAFF
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
WR 331 001 BOOK PUBLISHING FOR WRITERS
Instructor: Robyn Crummer
Instructional Method: Online - No Scheduled Meetings
Book Publishing for Writers provides writers who aspire to one day publish a book or those who are curious about the book publishing industry with an overview of the business and process, organized around the division of labor typically found in publishing houses. In addition to learning how to find an agent or publisher, students learn about editorial, design, production, marketing, distribution, and sales.
By the end of this class, you should be able to
- Understand book publishing terminology and processes
- Effectively target literary agents and publishers for publication
- Organize developmental editing feedback
- Copyedit
- Identify a book’s audience
- Write book marketing copy
WR 474 001 PUBLISHING STUDIO
Instructor: Robyn Crummer
Instructional Method: Online - Scheduled Meetings
Publishing Studio & Lab are cross listed and split listed courses, which means they run concurrently. Enrollment depends on whether you need a one-credit or four-credit course as an undergraduate or graduate student for your individual degree requirements. There are no prerequisites.
Publishing Studio & Lab are the courses for hands-on learning at Ooligan Press. Designed to give students the freedom and responsibility of running a real-world trade book publishing house, students are assigned to projects where they will work on a variety of publishing tasks. Project teams will work collaboratively to assess, plan, and execute editorial, design, digital content, marketing, and sales tasks throughout the term.
Publishing Studio: Graduate students in Publishing Studio should expect assignments to take approximately 12 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Studio should expect 9 hours per week.
Publishing Lab: Graduate students in Publishing Lab should expect assignments to take approximately 4 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Lab should expect 3 hours per week.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- explain and understand the book production cycle;
- competently use industry-standard terminology;
- analyze disruptions to their project as they arise and actively problem-solve to address issues;
- track, maintain, and update project management software, in the form of Trello;
- communicate efficiently through email and face-to-face meetings;
- complete assigned tasks efficiently as an individual and within a group; and
- perform various tasks at a professional level, as assigned by a team manager.
WR 475 001 PUBLISHING LAB
Instructor: Robyn Crummer
Instructional Method: Online - Scheduled Meetings
Publishing Studio & Lab are cross listed and split listed courses, which means they run concurrently. Enrollment depends on whether you need a one-credit or four-credit course as an undergraduate or graduate student for your individual degree requirements. There are no prerequisites.
Publishing Studio & Lab are the courses for hands-on learning at Ooligan Press. Designed to give students the freedom and responsibility of running a real-world trade book publishing house, students are assigned to projects where they will work on a variety of publishing tasks. Project teams will work collaboratively to assess, plan, and execute editorial, design, digital content, marketing, and sales tasks throughout the term.
Publishing Studio: Graduate students in Publishing Studio should expect assignments to take approximately 12 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Studio should expect 9 hours per week.
Publishing Lab: Graduate students in Publishing Lab should expect assignments to take approximately 4 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Lab should expect 3 hours per week.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- explain and understand the book production cycle;
- competently use industry-standard terminology;
- analyze disruptions to their project as they arise and actively problem-solve to address issues;
- track, maintain, and update project management software, in the form of Trello;
- communicate efficiently through email and face-to-face meetings;
- complete assigned tasks efficiently as an individual and within a group; and
- perform various tasks at a professional level, as assigned by a team manager.
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Summer 2026: Graduate Writing Courses
WR 574 001 PUBLISHING STUDIO
Instructor: Robyn Crummer
Instructional Method: Online - Scheduled Meetings
Publishing Studio & Lab are cross listed and split listed courses, which means they run concurrently. Enrollment depends on whether you need a one-credit or four-credit course as an undergraduate or graduate student for your individual degree requirements. There are no prerequisites.
Publishing Studio & Lab are the courses for hands-on learning at Ooligan Press. Designed to give students the freedom and responsibility of running a real-world trade book publishing house, students are assigned to projects where they will work on a variety of publishing tasks. Project teams will work collaboratively to assess, plan, and execute editorial, design, digital content, marketing, and sales tasks throughout the term.
Publishing Studio: Graduate students in Publishing Studio should expect assignments to take approximately 12 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Studio should expect 9 hours per week.
Publishing Lab: Graduate students in Publishing Lab should expect assignments to take approximately 4 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Lab should expect 3 hours per week.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- explain and understand the book production cycle;
- competently use industry-standard terminology;
- analyze disruptions to their project as they arise and actively problem-solve to address issues;
- track, maintain, and update project management software, in the form of Trello;
- communicate efficiently through email and face-to-face meetings;
- complete assigned tasks efficiently as an individual and within a group; and
- perform various tasks at a professional level, as assigned by a team manager.
WR 575 001 PUBLISHING LAB
Instructor: Robyn Crummer
Instructional Method: Online - Scheduled Meetings
Publishing Studio & Lab are cross listed and split listed courses, which means they run concurrently. Enrollment depends on whether you need a one-credit or four-credit course as an undergraduate or graduate student for your individual degree requirements. There are no prerequisites.
Publishing Studio & Lab are the courses for hands-on learning at Ooligan Press. Designed to give students the freedom and responsibility of running a real-world trade book publishing house, students are assigned to projects where they will work on a variety of publishing tasks. Project teams will work collaboratively to assess, plan, and execute editorial, design, digital content, marketing, and sales tasks throughout the term.
Publishing Studio: Graduate students in Publishing Studio should expect assignments to take approximately 12 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Studio should expect 9 hours per week.
Publishing Lab: Graduate students in Publishing Lab should expect assignments to take approximately 4 hours per week; undergraduate students in Publishing Lab should expect 3 hours per week.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- explain and understand the book production cycle;
- competently use industry-standard terminology;
- analyze disruptions to their project as they arise and actively problem-solve to address issues;
- track, maintain, and update project management software, in the form of Trello;
- communicate efficiently through email and face-to-face meetings;
- complete assigned tasks efficiently as an individual and within a group; and
- perform various tasks at a professional level, as assigned by a team manager.
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