wofford college creative writing

Catalog 2024-2025

English language and literature (engl).

The Department of English offers a major in English. The major can be completed with or without a Concentration in Creative Writing or Film and Digital Media. In addition, the department offers minors in English, Creative Writing, and Film and Digital Media. The minors in Creative Writing and Film and Digital Media are only available to students who are not completing the major in English.

Honors Courses 

The Department of English encourages its students to undertake honors work. For further information, students should review the section on  Honors Courses  in this  Catalog .

Julie Sexeny

Allison Douglass Natalie S. Grinnell Kimberly A. Hall Bria N. Harper Pearl Kwan Yin Lee James R. Neighbors Sheri A. Reynolds Kimberly A. Rostan Amy D. Sweitzer Carey R. Voeller John M. Ware Patrick N. Whitfill Carol B. Wilson

Students who intend to do graduate work in English are advised to acquire a reading knowledge of French, German or Spanish.

Requirements for the Major in English

Requirements for the Major in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing

Requirements for the Major in English with a Concentration in Film and Digital Media

The successful completion of at least one 200- level English course is a prerequisite for all 300- level or 400- level courses.  

Preferably, ENGL 260 would be completed during the sophomore year.

Requirements for the Minor in English

Requirements for the Minor in Creative Writing

Requirements for the Minor in Film and Digital Media

  At least one 200-level ENGL course must be successfully completed before enrolling in a 300- or 400-level course.

ENGL 101. College Composition. 3 Hours.

An introduction to basic composition, including a review of mechanics, sentence patterns and basic usage, in order to master writing expository prose across the curriculum.

ENGL 102. Seminar in Literature and Composition. 3 Hours.

An in-depth study of some topic in literature. Reading and discussion lead to written work and independent investigation. Objectives are to read critically, think analytically, and communicate effectively. Students are required to write several papers, one of which includes documentation. The course should be taken in the freshman year.

Prerequisite: LIBA 101 with a minimum grade of D or ENGL 101 with a minimum grade of D or HUM 101 with a minimum grade of D.

ENGL 200. Introduction to Literary Study. 3 Hours.

A study of the genres of fiction, poetry, and/or drama designed to develop the student's abilityto read literature with sensitivity and understanding and with a sense of literary tradition. Emphasis is on close reading of works from a variety of critical perspectives.

Prerequisite: ( ENGL 101 with a minimum grade of D or HUM 101 with a minimum grade of D or LIBA 101 with a minimum grade of D) and ENGL 102 with a minimum grade of D.

ENGL 201. English Literature to 1800. 3 Hours.

A study of works representative of the major writers and periods from the Middle Ages through the 18th century, with emphasis on critical understanding of these works and on the influences that produced them.

ENGL 202. English Literature Since 1800. 3 Hours.

A study of works representative of the major writers and periods from the Romantic movement to the present, with emphasis on critical understanding of these works and on the influences that produced them.

ENGL 203. Literature Written in the United States. 3 Hours.

A study of works representative of significant writers working in the U.S. from the Colonial Period to the present, with emphasis on critical understanding of these works and on the influences that produced them.

ENGL 204. Survey of World Literature. 3 Hours.

A survey of literary texts from locales around the globe (outside Britain and the United States). Readings will include short stories, poems, and a few select novels spanning Asia, South Asia, South America, Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Europe. Authors will range from prize-winning world figures such as Salman Rushdie and Anita Desai to writers who less known internationally, but equally important in their national literary histories.

ENGL 205. Introduction to the Study of Film. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the study of film as a technology, industry, cultural artifact, and art form. Students will learn how to analyze visual texts, employing formal elements, such as editing, camera work, and sound, and exploring the different ways these techniques have been employed by filmmakers in Hollywood and across the globe.

ENGL 206. Survey of African American Literature. 3 Hours.

A survey of literary works by African American writers and artists from the twentieth century to the present with emphasis on the critical understanding of these works and the influences that produced them. Central themes include: systemic, institutional, familial, and communal structures of racism, oppression, and liberation.

ENGL 207. Introduction to the Craft of Literary Forms. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the study of literary forms, including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. Students will read and analyze published works in each genre to gain an understanding of craft elements and the architectural decisions made by writers; students will compose original short works in all four genres to apply those skills.

Prerequisite: LIBA 101 with a minimum grade of D and ENGL 102 with a minimum grade of D.

ENGL 208. Girl Talk: Woman to Woman Literature. 3 Hours.

This course explores the works of women writers before 1800, concentrating specifically on those writers who anticipated a female audience. Students will consider women's writing and reading in the context of the cultures of antiquity, the middle ages, and the early modern periods.

Prerequisite: ENGL 102 with a minimum grade of D.

ENGL 209. Medieval Monsters: Race, Gender, and the Other in Medieval Literature. 3 Hours.

This course explores the definitions of the human in medieval literature through an examination of monstrosity with special emphasis on gender, race and sexuality.

ENGL 210. 18th Century British Literature. 3 Hours.

A survey of British literature from 1660-1800 including poetry, prose, and drama. Writers will include John Dryden, Aphra Behn, Alexander Pope, Eliza Haywood, Samuel Johnson, and Jane Austen.

ENGL 260. Introduction to English Studies. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the methods and methodologies of advanced English studies, including an exploration of the discipline's reading and writing genres, the variety of its research methods, and some of its theoretical frameworks.

ENGL 280. Selected Topics in Literature. 1 to 4 Hours.

Selected topics in literature at the introductory or intermediate level.

ENGL 290. Selected Topics in Communication Studies. 1 to 4 Hours.

Selected topics in Communication Studies at the introductory or intermediate level.

ENGL 301. British Medieval Literature. 3 Hours.

A study of British literature from 800 to 1450, excluding Chaucer. Works studied include Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory's Morte d'Arthur. Category A.

Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL course with a D or better.

ENGL 302. Chaucer. 3 Hours.

A study of Chaucer's major poetry, with some attention to medieval language and culture. Category A.

ENGL 303. English Renaissance Drama. 3 Hours.

A study of English Renaissance drama (excluding Shakespeare) including authors such as Jonson, Marlowe and Webster. Category A.

ENGL 304. Spenser, Milton and the Renaissance Epic. 3 Hours.

A study of the three great epics of the English Renaissance: Spenser's Faerie Queen, Milton's Paradise Lost, and Milton's Paradise Regained. Category A.

ENGL 305. Shakespeare's Comedies and Histories. 3 Hours.

A study of Shakespeare's comedies and histories. Category A.

ENGL 306. Shakespeare's Tragedies and Romances. 3 Hours.

A study of Shakespeare's tragedies and romances. Category A.

ENGL 307. English Renaissance Poetry. 3 Hours.

A study of important works of poetry from the 16th and 17th centuries, including such authors as Wyatt, Ralegh, Ben Jonson, Donne, and Marvell. Cateogory A.

ENGL 310. Arthurian Literature, 500-1800 CE. 3 Hours.

A study of Arthurian literature written in the British Isles between 500 and 1800 CE, including works by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layamon, Marie De France, Spenser, Johnson and Fielding. Category A.

ENGL 311. The English Romantic Period. 3 Hours.

A study of English Romanticism with an emphasis on the poetry of Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Category B.

ENGL 312. The Victorian Period. 3 Hours.

A study of representative literature of the Victorian age, with emphasis on the poetry of Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, and the pre-Raphaelites. Category B.

ENGL 316. Contemporary British Literature. 3 Hours.

A study of British literature after World War II, including poetry, fiction, and drama, with emphasis on the cultural and historical context. Category B.

ENGL 320. Black Literature in the United States. 3 Hours.

A study of selected writings by Black identified writers working primarily in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Questions of origins, conceptual models, and the constitution of Black culture in the U.S. will be addressed. Readings will stress the diversity and multiplicity of Black literature in the U.S. Category C.

ENGL 321. Antebellum Abolition Literature. 3 Hours.

American literature up to the Civil War. Category C.

ENGL 322. American Literature Post Civil War. 3 Hours.

American literature from the Civil War to World War II. Category C.

ENGL 323. Southern Literature. 3 Hours.

A study of major Southern authors of the 20th century, with emphasis on the literature as an expression of Southern culture. Authors include the Agrarians, Faulkner, Warren, O'Connor, Welty, and Dickey. Category C.

ENGL 324. Ethnic Literature in the United States. 3 Hours.

A survey of readings that represent ethnic literature and culture in the U.S., with emphasis on the historical and cultural context of each text. A wide range of populations that identify as ethnic cultures in the U.S. will be included. Category C.

ENGL 326. Contemporary American Fiction. 3 Hours.

American fiction after World War II. Category C.

ENGL 327. Contemporary American Poetry. 3 Hours.

American poetry after World War II. Category C.

ENGL 328. Contemporary Drama. 3 Hours.

Drama after World War II, including Beckett, the Modernists, and the Post-Modernists. Cross-listed with THEA 328 . Category C.

ENGL 329. Rhetoric, Writing and Race. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the intersections among rhetoric, writing, and race with a focus on works by Indigenous, Black, and Latinx people. Explore the ways that rhetoric and writing have shaped and argued about race. The basic concepts of rhetorical analysis will be utilized to examine and research a variety of texts to comprehend how the power of discourse and thinking about race has dominated the policies of the U.S. Category C.

ENGL 330. Black Arts Movement. 3 Hours.

A study of the close ties between art and politics in the Black Arts and Black Power movements of the mid-to-late 1960's. Writings taken from African-American literature including poetry, fiction, plays, manifestoes, and performance pieces that came out of the Black Arts movement. Readings supplemented with films, FBI documents, and popular news magazines. Category C.

ENGL 332. Global Medieval Literature. 3 Hours.

A medieval culture is one active between 500 and 1500 CE with a primarily agrarian society, a written literary tradition, and a distinct class system. In this course, students will read medieval literature from three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) and reflect on the intersections of race, gender and class in global medieval settings and cultures as reflected in the literary texts. Category D.

ENGL 336. Early European Masterpieces. 3 Hours.

A study of selected masterpieces from the European tradition, including such writers as Homer, Rabelais, Dante, and Cervantes. Category D.

ENGL 337. Later European Masterpieces. 3 Hours.

A study of selected masterpieces from the European tradition, including such writers as Moliere, Goethe, Ibsen, Flaubert, and Dostoyevsky. Category D.

ENGL 339. Race, Gender, and Empire. 3 Hours.

A study of world literature (from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, South America, and the Middle East) as well as the shifting debates about post-coloniality and imperialism. Category D.

ENGL 340. African Literature. 3 Hours.

Explores African writers from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Wole Soyinka, Zakes Mda, and Zoe Wicombe. While investigating how African writers have responded to the West's history of overtly sexualized and romanticized discourses on Africa, the course will explore several common thematic strands in African Literature, including: colonialism and African nationalisms, the relationship between gender/race and nation, the politics of food, AIDS, and language innovation. Category D.

ENGL 341. Literary Theory. 3 Hours.

A survey of criticism and theory, introducing students to various methods of reading and evaluating literary texts. Category E.

ENGL 342. The Grammar and History of English. 3 Hours.

A study of contemporary English grammar and its relationship to the history of the English language. Topics will also include language change, varieties of English, and standardization. Category E.

ENGL 344. Adolescent Literature. 3 Hours.

Principles for selection of works of literature appropriate for study at various levels in secondary schools; methods of teaching such works, including use of various media; and analytical discussion of specific works from major genres. Category E.

ENGL 345. Literature & Gender Theory. 3 Hours.

A study of gender theory and the application of the theory to a variety of texts. Category E.

ENGL 346. American Political Rhetoric. 3 Hours.

A survey of the history of political rhetoric in the United States and a study of the methodology of rhetorical analysis, including its application to past, and especially, current policital debates. Category E.

ENGL 347. Visual Rhetoric. 3 Hours.

An exploration the ways in which images and visual elements of design can be read, analyzed, constructed, and manipulated, interrogating how images and visual design inform our reading of historical and political events, of personal identity, of public and private spaces. Category E.

ENGL 348. Literature, Culture, and Society. 3 Hours.

A study of values and foundations of various social groups through interdisciplinary study of literary and media works and theory. An examination and consideration of the role of literature in defining and shifting culture in given societies. Category E.

ENGL 350. Digital Media Theory. 3 Hours.

A survey of the historical development of digital media as it informs theoretical approaches to the study of mediums such as the Internet, social networks, videogames, electronic literature, and mobile devices. Introduces students to the critical analysis and production of digital media texts within a historical continuum. Category E.

ENGL 371. Short Story Workshop. 3 Hours.

A creative writing course focusing on the writing of short stories. Students read manuscripts in class and meet with instructor for individual conferences. Category F.

ENGL 373. Poetry Workshop. 3 Hours.

A creative writing course focusing on the writing of poetry. Students read manuscripts in class and meet with instructor for individual conferences. Category F.

ENGL 375. The Art of Personal Essay. 3 Hours.

A creative writing course focusing on personal essays. Students write and revise at least six personal essays and discuss assigned readings, student essays, and essays by visiting writers. Category F.

ENGL 376. Playwriting Workshop. 3 Hours.

A course in creative writing focusing on plays. Cross-listed with THEA 376 . Category F.

ENGL 377. Digital Filmmaking. 3 Hours.

This film workshop will give students the tools to transform a written text or script to the screen. Students will learn how to tell a story visually, focusing specifically on the director's work with the script, the staging of actors, and the use of the camera as narrator. This course also serves as a general introduction to the elements of film language, grammar, and style. Category F.

ENGL 378. Novella Workshop. 3 Hours.

An advanced course in creative writing in which each student will write an original novella. Category F.

ENGL 379. Screenwriting Workshop. 3 Hours.

In this course, students will learn the basic principles of visual storytelling: dramatic conflict, action, structure, plot, character, and dialogue. They will read texts about screenwriting, view narrative feature films, pitch a story idea to the class, develop a scene-by-scene outline of their stories, and write, workshop, and revise the first and second acts of their screenplays. Category F.

ENGL 380. Selected Topics in English. 1 to 4 Hours.

An examination of a particular topic, theme, media, through various texts and documentation methods. Specific content varies from semester to semester. Students should consult the department as to how a specific offering to the major in English.

ENGL 385. Composition & Rhetoric. 3 Hours.

An advanced composition course in which students study a wide variety of essays from different disciplines and write for a variety of purposes. Category F.

ENGL 387. Business and Professional Writing. 3 Hours.

A practical course in writing and analyzing reports, instructions, letters, memoranda, and other material typical of business, industry, and the professions. Category F.

ENGL 388. Public Speaking. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the fundamental principles and strategies of communicating well in a group setting. Topics focus on how to research, organize, and deliver a speech. Students will prepare and deliver various types of speeches. Category F.

ENGL 400. Communications in Community. 1 to 3 Hours.

A practicum designed to allow students to apply communication skills in a community setting under the direction of an on-site supervisor and a communication instructor. A student may earn a maximum of six semester hours in 400 courses. Permission of instructor required.

ENGL 401. Old English. 3 Hours.

An introduction to the language of Old English. Students will build basic skills in Old English vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, along with a beginning knowledge of Anglo-Saxon history, literature and culture. Students will acquire basic skills in pronouncing, parsing, translating, and interpreting Old English poetry and prose. Category A.

ENGL 411. Restoration and 18th Century British Drama. 3 Hours.

A study of a variety of plays written and performed in Britain between 1660 and 1800 with particular emphasis placed on comedies. Dramatists studied are likely to include George Etherege, John Dryden, Aphra Behn, Susanna Centlivre, Oliver Goldsmith, and Elizabeth Inchbald. Cateogory B.

ENGL 412. Restoration and 18th Century Prose and Poetry. 3 Hours.

A study of important works from the literature of the period, selected from satire (poetry and prose), essays, lyrics, and biographies. The chief authors studied will be Dryden, Swift, Pope, Gray, Johnson, Behn, Fielding, and Gay. Cateogory B.

ENGL 413. The Early English Novel. 3 Hours.

A study of representative British novels of the 18th century and the Romantic period, including works by Defoe, Fielding, Austen, and Shelley. Category B.

ENGL 414. The Later English Novel. 3 Hours.

A study of major novels of the Victorian and modern periods, including works by Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, and Woolf. Category B.

ENGL 415. Modernist Fiction. 3 Hours.

A study of selected American and British modernist fiction, with a focus on novels, including works by Joyce, Woolf, and Hemingway. Category B.

ENGL 416. US & British Poetry, 1914-1945. 3 Hours.

A study of representative American and British poetry from the first half of the 20th century. Category B.

ENGL 420. 20th Century Am. Short Story. 3 Hours.

A survey of American short stories, with emphasis on post World War II fiction. Category C.

ENGL 421. Early American Popular Novels. 3 Hours.

A study of popular, often best selling, American novels of the early national and antebellum periods. Students will read works by Susanna Rowson, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, George Thompson, Maria Cummins, and Harriet Beecher Stowe as well as historical essays and literary criticism. Cateogory C.

ENGL 422. Native American Literature. 3 Hours.

A study of the works of Native American writers of poetry, drama, fiction and nonfiction prose. Category C.

ENGL 424. African American Drama. 3 Hours.

Focuses on the creation of African American identity on the American stage from the early 19th century through the present. Students will read Baraka, Kennedy, Wilson, Parks, Hughes, etc. as well as engage with issues of race, literature, performance, and authorship in class discussion, written work and oral presentations. Cross-listed with THEA 424 . Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirements for graduation. Category C.

ENGL 425. American Theatre & Drama. 3 Hours.

The theatrical history of the United States is older than the nation itself. From Robert Hunter's satire Androboros (1714), the earliest printed American play, and Thomas Godfrey's tragedy The Prince of Parthia (1765), the first American play professionally performed on an American stage, to George Aiken's stage adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, one of the most popular works of its period in both America and Europe, pre-twentieth century American drama is a complex and compelling topic. This class will address ideas and issues of nationhood, the frontier, American identity, race and race relations, and popular and high culture. Cross-listed with THEA 425 . Category C.

ENGL 427. Queer Black Literature. 3 Hours.

An inquiry into lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay literature written by Black authors in the 20th and 21st centuries. Special emphasis will be placed on historical context, formations of non-normative personal and cultural identities, and the concepts of queering and eroticizing aesthetic production and political activism.

ENGL 428. Slave Narratives as Resistance. 3 Hours.

Exploration of slave narratives written (or dictated) from the late 18th century to the 1860s. Texts will examine how slave narratives served as crucial Black cultural and literary genres that interrogated, challenged and resisted antebellum racist and white supremacist discourses. Category C.

ENGL 430. American Horror Film. 3 Hours.

A study of American horror films released between 1931 and the present. ?American" refers to the nationality of a central figure behind a film (director, producer, actor, or screenplay writer) or the company or studio primarily responsible for a film?s production. ?American? includes films from South, Central, and North America. Assigned films include major motion pictures and independent features. We will consider films from a variety of perspectives such as genre analysis, historical analysis, formalism, and cultural studies. Critical readings will model these approaches. Category C.

ENGL 431. International Horror Film. 3 Hours.

A study of horror films released in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia between 1920 and the present. Topics include: transnationality, the way in which films defy easy placement within a single national cinematic tradition, formal technique, and genre conventions. Aspects of production such as location, cast, and financing will also be considered. Assigned films encompass a variety of types (popular and art films, major studio and independent productions, box office successes and failures), subgenres (supernatural, slasher, splatter, zombie), and aesthetic movements (Expressionist, New Wave, Extreme). Comparison of films through cultural studies perspectives such as gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status will be included.

ENGL 433. European & US Drama, 1870-1950. 3 Hours.

A study of plays by late 19th- to mid-20th century European and American dramatists, for exam-ple, Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, Pirandello, Wilde, Shaw, O?Neill, and/or Williams. Cross-listed with THEA 433 . Category D.

ENGL 435. Global Digital Cultures. 3 Hours.

A survey of the role of digital media in non-Western cultures, including immigrant communities within the United States. Readings and screenings will explore the use of social media in activist movements in the Middle East and North Africa, media arts in Japan and Korea, network culture in China and Africa, and changing representations of global citizenship within the United States. Cateogy D.

ENGL 436. Literature & Human Rights. 3 Hours.

An introduction to literary representations of collective atrocity and human rights campaigns - from genocide to environmental disasters. Course readings will have a global context, spanning Poland, Rwanda, South Africa, Argentina, Sudan, Chile, Cambodia, Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka. Category D.

ENGL 437. Selected Topics in World Literature. 3 Hours.

An introduction to world literature from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America. Students will read short stories and novels from major voices in world literature which may include: Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Jorge Luis Borges, Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The course will be structured around a specific theme and may focus on aspects such as: short stories, "southernness," visual images in literature, etc. Category D.

ENGL 438. Greek & Roman Drama. 3 Hours.

Selected Greek and Roman comedies and tragedies will be read in translation. The course will concentrate on the thematic, philosophical, and religious aspects of ancient drama. Cross-listed with THEA 438 . Category D.

ENGL 441. Black Feminism. 3 Hours.

Examination of Black feminism through historical foundations, literatures, and current events. Includes introduction and origins of key figures in 1st wave feminism (1850-1930s); the Combahee River Collective and Black feminism in the 2nd wave (1940s-1980s); and hip hop and the 3rd wave of Black feminism (1980s-2010). Also includes current and future states of Black feminism as presented in the works of writers, artists, and other types of popular culture. Category E.

ENGL 445. Sexuality in Film. 3 Hours.

What is sexuality? Is it a feeling, gender, practice, activity, behavior, orientation, or way of life? Why is sexuality so difficult to pin down, and at the same time, how has it come to signify something that is central to our sense of self? In this interdisciplinary course, we will explore theories of sexuality in relation to cinematic representations and consider how film theorists have responded to questions of gender and sexuality. This course will also serve as a broad introduction to the study of film. Category E.

ENGL 446. Screen Surveillance: Film, Television and Social Media. 3 Hours.

A study of how film, television and social media engage us in practices of seeing. Students will learn how to analyze visual texts and relate theories of spectatorship and identity to questions about surveillance (re: national security, civil liberties, privacy and social control). They will explore how the act of seeing might inform the construction of self and other, desire and power. Category E.

ENGL 447. Digital Literature. 3 Hours.

This course is a study of the literature produced within digital platforms, popularly known as "electronic literature," as well as an exploration of how computing technology informs contemporary modes of reading and writing. Category E.

ENGL 451. Film & Digital Media Capstone. 3 Hours.

The capstone gives students the opportunity to create research or production projects of their own design. Synthesizing the knowledge and technical skills gained in their coursework and internships, students will work with an instructor to pursue a project in film and/or digital media history, theory, or production.

ENGL 470. Independent Study. 1 to 3 Hours.

Directed independent study in an area of student interest. Projects should be approved by the instructor by midterm of the semester prior to the semester in which the work is to be undertaken. After approval of the topic, the student is expected to engage in general bibliographical study, to participate in conferences with the instructor, to report on reading, and to write papers as directed by the instructor. Only one independent study may be counted toward the major.

ENGL 471. Advanced Short Story Workshop. 3 Hours.

An advanced course in creative writing in which each student will write original short stories. Category F.

ENGL 473. Advanced Poetry Workshop. 3 Hours.

An advanced course in creative writing, culminating in the publication of poetry chapbooks. Category F.

ENGL 474. Writing in Digital Environments. 3 Hours.

An introductory overview of rhetorical strategies for reading and composing in digital spaces (i.e. use of images, colors, shapes, sounds, fonts, and textures) to create arguments in multiple media, as well as how to recognize, analyze, and adhere to the genre conventions and technical affordances of digital environments. Students will compose content that is audience-specific, concise, and rhetorically effective, keeping in mind the particulars of interactivity and design in digital composition. Category F.

ENGL 476. Advanced Playwriting Workshop. 3 Hours.

ENGL 477. Advanced Digital Filmmaking. 3 Hours.

Students will learn how to tell a story using a camera. They will gain a greater understanding of cinematography, camerawork, blocking, storyboarding, directing actors, and editing. Throughout the semester, they will shoot, direct, and edit two 5-7 minute short films and one longer 10-15 minute short film. Category F.

ENGL 479. Advanced Screenwriting Workshop. 3 Hours.

In this course, students will master the principles of dramatic, visual storytelling. They will read original screenplays, texts about screenwriting, view narrative feature films, and write, workshop, and revise an original, feature screenplay of their own. Students may also choose to employ the screenwriting principles they?ve learned to write two original pilot episodes of a television or web series. Category F.

ENGL 480. Advanced Topics in Literature. 1 to 4 Hours.

A seminar intended for advanced-level students majoring in English. Topics vary from year to year.

ENGL 481. Special Topics in English. 3 Hours.

ENGL 490. Advanced Topics in Communication Studies. 1 to 4 Hours.

Selected topics in Communication Studies at the advanced level.

ENGL 500. Honors Course. 3 Hours.

At the discretion of the faculty, students may undertake a six-hour independent course of study in the senior year in order to broaden their educational experience within their major area of study. Students must meet specific GPA standards and arrange a faculty sponsor. The honors course criteria are outlined in the Academic Honors portion of the catalog.

Prerequisite: ENGL 207 with a minimum grade of D.

Print Options

Send Page to Printer

Print this page.

Download Page (PDF)

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

Download PDF of entire 2024-2025 Catalog

Newsroom Menu

Shared worlds writing camp.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – At Wofford College’s Shared Worlds , a science fiction/fantasy teen writing summer camp, teen writers work together to design and build their own worlds.

Shared Worlds, now in its 11th year, is a unique summer camp for rising eighth- through 12th-graders that takes an innovative approach to student collaboration and creative writing. Participants are placed in small groups in which they engage in “world-building.” After imagining the landscapes and lifeforms of their worlds as part of a group, they then write fiction set in the worlds they have created, receiving direct, professional feedback from best-selling and award-winning authors who teach in the program.

“The objectives are to write good fiction, develop the skills necessary to work well in a group and realize creative potential – all in a safe and structured environment,” says Dr. Tim Schmitz, associate provost for administration and director of summer programs at Wofford.

Although there are only a few spots remaining for this year’s program, which runs from July 14 through July 27, the program continues to accept applications. “We always try to create space for last-minute applicants excited about our program,” Schmitz says. Go to www.sharedworldscamp.com to register or to get more information.

This year’s participants will represent more than 20 states. The program routinely draws students from around the U.S. and the globe, Schmitz says. In fact, so far this year the program has two international applicants. Shared Worlds has been featured in The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.

This year is exciting already for Shared Worlds, Schmitz says, noting that the program’s co-director, Jeff VanderMeer, and editor-in-residence Ann VanderMeer have teamed up to edit a new anthology, “The Big Book of Classic Fantasy” (Vintage), which will be available in July. The work is the third in a series of comprehensive anthologies. Previously, they published “The Big Book of Science Fiction” (2016) and “The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories” (2012).

This year’s roster of guest writers again includes an array of Shared Worlds veterans and some authors appearing for the first time. They include:

Victor LaValle, author of the short story collection “Slapboxing with Jesus;” four novels, “The Ecstatic,” “Big Machine,” “The Devil in Silver” and “The Changeling;” and two novellas, “Lucretia and the Kroons” and “The Ballad of Black Tom.” He also is the creator and writer of a comic book “Victor LaValle’s DESTROYER.” He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Whiting Writers’ Award, a United States Artists Ford Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Shirley Jackson Award, an American Book Award and the Key to Southeast Queens. LaValle was raised in Queens, New York, and now lives in Washington Heights with his wife and children. He teaches at Columbia University.

Kali Wallace, who studied geology and earned a Ph.D. in geophysics before she realized she enjoyed inventing imaginary worlds more than she liked researching the real one. She is the author of the young adult novels “Shallow Graves” and “The Memory Trees” and the upcoming middle-grade fantasy “City of Islands.” Her first novel for adults, the science fiction horror-thriller “Salvation Day,” will be published by Berkley Books this year. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, F&SF, Asimov’s, Tor.com and other speculative fiction magazines. After spending most of her life in Colorado, she now lives in southern California.

Ekaterina Sedia, whose critically-acclaimed and award-nominated novels “The Secret History of Moscow,” “The Alchemy of Stone,” “The House of Discarded Dreams” and “Heart of Iron” were published by Prime Books. Her short stories have appeared in Analog, Baen’s Universe, Subterranean and Clarkesworld as well as numerous anthologies, including Haunted Legends and Magic in the Mirrorstone. She also is the editor of the anthologies Paper Cities (World Fantasy Award winner), Running with the Pack, Bewere the Night and Bloody Fabulous as well as The Mammoth Book of Gaslit Romance and Wilful Impropriety. Her short-story collection, “Moscow But Dreaming,” was released by Prime Books in 2012. She also co-wrote a script for “Yamasong: March of the Hollows,” a fantasy feature-length puppet film voiced by Nathan Fillion, George Takei, Abigail Breslin and Whoopi Goldberg to be released by Dark Dunes Productions. Gwenda Bond, author of many novels, including the Lois Lane and Cirque American trilogies and the first official Stranger Things novel, “Suspicious Minds.” She and her husband, author Christopher Rowe, also co-write a middle-grade series, the Supernormal Sleuthing Service. She is co-host of Cult Faves, a podcast about the weird world of cults and extreme belief. Visit her online at www.gwendabond.com or @gwenda on Twitter.

Christopher Rowe, a science fiction and fantasy author, great cook, raconteur and independent bookseller. (Some of these things may be lies, or none of them, he says.) His story collection, “Telling the Map,” was released by Small Beer Press in 2017. He also co-writes a series for younger readers, the Supernormal Sleuthing Service, with his wife, author Gwenda Bond, from Harper’s Greenwillow imprint. He currently is hard at work on “Sarah Across America,” an unusual fantasy novel about maps and megafauna, among sundry short stories and the second installment of the Supernormal Sleuthing Service. His first novel, “Sandstorm,” fulfilled his childhood dream of writing a D&D novel and was published by Wizards of the Coast. He also has published numerous stories and has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon awards.

Maurice Broaddus, who, when he’s not writing or editing, is a champion curler and often impersonates Jack Bauer, but only in a French accent. He raises free range jackalopes with his wife and two sons … when they are not solving murder mysteries. He really likes to make up stories. A lot. Especially about himself. His work has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine, Weird Tales, Apex Magazine, Asimov’s, Cemetery Dance, Uncanny Magazine, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, with some of his stories having been collected in “The Voices of Martyrs.” His books include “The Knights of Breton Court” trilogy and “Buffalo Soldier.”

Julia Elliott, whose writing has appeared in Tin House, The Georgia Review, Conjunctions, The New York Times, Granta online, Electric Literature and other publications. She has won a Rona Jaffe Writer’s Award, and her stories have been anth9ologized in “Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses” and “The Best American Short Stories.” Her debut story collection, “The Wilds,” was chosen by Kirkus, BuzzFeed, Book Riot and Electric Literature as one of the best books of 2014 and was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Her first novel, “The New and Improved Romie Futch,” was pubished in 2015. She is working on a novel about Hamadryas baboons, a species she has studied as an amateur primatologist. She teaches English and women’s and gender studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Ann VanderMeer, editor-in-chief of Shared Worlds. She has more than 30 years of editing experience for which she has received numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award. She was editor-in-chief for Weird Tales for five years and now is an acquiring editor for Tor.com. She is co-founder of Cheeky Frawg Books. Visit https://vandermeercreative.com/ for more information.

Jeff VanderMeer, co-director of Shared Worlds. He has written or edited numerous works of speculative fiction, including the critically acclaimed Southern Reach trilogy and 2017’s “Borne,” which was released to rave reviews.

Tuition for Shared Worlds 2019 is $2,400 per person and includes accommodations, all meals, instruction, supervisory personnel, program material, activities, professional evaluation and certificates. Need-based financial aid is available on a limited basis.

“Shared Worlds is a great way for students to meet their creative peers from across the country and around the world and publish their work with the help of award-winning authors,” Schmitz says. “Shared Worlds takes the ideas and enthusiasm of young writers seriously and encourages their creativity in a fun, dynamic and safe learning environment on the beautiful Wofford campus.”

Library Services for Students

• Research Help by Subject or Course

Writing Center Information

• Course Reserves
• Citing Sources This link opens in a new window
• My Librarian This link opens in a new window
• Study Spaces and Room Reservations
• Print, Scan, Copy
• Renew Books Online This link opens in a new window
• Ask A Librarian
• Topic Exploration
• Videos for Starting Research

We’re write there with you! 

Drop in to work on any piece of writing for your courses and beyond. Every writer needs feedback to communicate better, and we are here to talk things through, whether you’re nearly finished or you haven’t written the first word yet. 

What to expect

The Writing Center strives to be a supportive, inclusive space, and if you bring your work to us, our goal is to help you move toward  your  goals. It can be stressful to share your ideas, but our consultants will spend time getting to know you and give you another person’s non-judgmental perspective. You can come in at any stage of the writing process, and you are free to come in multiple times for the same project to develop a dialogue about your writing. The Writing Center is open to all members of the Wofford community.

The Writing Center is located on the main floor of Sandor Teszler Library in a big glass room to your right. 

To learn more about us  visit our website , where you can make an appointment, see our daily hours, find writing resources, and a lot more! 

Contact us at [email protected]

And follow our instagram @wocowritingcenter.

• << Previous: Research Help by Subject or Course
• Next: Course Reserves >>
• Last Updated: Mar 19, 2024 11:27 AM
• URL: https://libguides.wofford.edu/servicesforstudents