Concentration in Cultural Studies (Bachelor of Arts in English)

Students on Summer 2018, Fall 2018, or Spring 2019 requirements ENGCULSCON

The Concentration in Cultural Studies allows students to explore popular culture, social movements, and interdisciplinary methods of analysis. Students may choose from a broad range of classes that include the study of popular genres (such as science fiction and graphic novel), the rhetoric of significant contemporary movements (for example, environmentalism or feminism), and the impact of technology on cultural production.

Requirements

The concentration requires at least 15 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.

Concentration Courses. Four (4) courses:
- ENG-L 389 Feminist Literary and Cultural Criticism
- ENG-L 393 Comics and the Graphic Novel
- ENG-L 395 British and American Film Studies
- ENG-R 340 The Rhetoric of Social Movements
- ENG-R 342 Rhetoric and Race
- ENG-R 348 Environmental Communication
- ENG-R 355 Public Memory in Communication and Culture
- ENG-R 397 Visual Rhetoric
- ENG-R 398 Culture, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Place
- One (1) of the following:
  - ENG-L 210 Studies in Popular Literature and Mass Media
  - ENG-L 230 Introduction to Science Fiction
  - ENG-L 295 American Film Culture
  - ENG-R 209 Topics in Rhetoric and Public Culture
  - ENG-R 210 Introduction to Digital Rhetoric
  - ENG-R 211 Rhetoric and Sports
  - ENG-R 212 Communicating Sustainability
ENG-L 389 Feminist Literary and Cultural Criticism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected critical approaches to the issue of gender over time and in various cultural settings. Topics vary, but may include feminist criticism and popular culture, the history of feminist expository prose, or deconstructionism and feminism.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 393 Comics and the Graphic Novel
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the literary and poetic dimensions of various forms of contemporary graphic literature. Readings draw from graphic memoirs, graphic fiction, comics, and other varieties of graphic storytelling.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 395 British and American Film Studies
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Intensive study of specific topics related to film narratives; emphasis on American or British film as a cultural phenomenon. Topic varies.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 340 The Rhetoric of Social Movements
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces rhetorical theories and practices which inform and are informed by the study of social movements. Topics vary and focus on a specific social movement or a range of social movements.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum total of 6 credit hours in CMCL-C 340 and ENG-R 340.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 342 Rhetoric and Race
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the relationship between rhetoric and race, including the possibilities and implications entailed by an understanding of race as a rhetorical artifact, and rhetoric as a necessarily raced phenomenon.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 342 or ENG-R 342.
- Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2024CASE DUScourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE DUScourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE DUScourse
ENG-R 348 Environmental Communication
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
This class is grounded in the perspective that symbolic and natural systems are mutually constituted and therefore, the ways we communicate about and with the environment are vital to examine for a sustainable and just future. The focus of the class may vary to engage topics such as environmental tourism or environmental disasters.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 348 or ENG-R 348.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-R 355 Public Memory in Communication and Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the contested nature of public memory from a communication and culture perspective. Focuses on the nature of public memory, its methods of perpetuation, its role in shaping citizens, and its implications for society.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 355 or ENG-R 355.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-R 397 Visual Rhetoric
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Focuses on distinctive rhetorical features of visual discourse to examine the political, cultural, persuasive, and ideological functions of media images in United States' public culture. Explores examples from advertising, journalism, and entertainment across media, including print, television, and film. Interrogates the consequences of conducting public communication through commodified imagery for contemporary social life.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 432 or ENG-R 397.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 398 Culture, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Place
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Invites advanced undergraduate students to consider the rhetorical dimensions of places with a particular focus on theories of culture and identity (e.g., race, gender, and nationality). Students will critically examine how places are the product of strategic communication choices that have been made to influence how human beings think and behave.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 425 or ENG-R 398.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 210 Studies in Popular Literature and Mass Media
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Popular literary modes in England and America, such as detective, western, fantasy; history and theories of “mass” or “popular” culture; uses of literacy. Literary analysis of particular mass media forms, including television drama. Topic varies.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 230 Introduction to Science Fiction
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of the kinds, conventions, and theories of science fiction. Course may include both literature (predominantly British and American) and film.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 295 American Film Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Film in relation to American culture and society. Topic varies. Works of literature may be used for comparison, but the main emphasis is on film as a narrative medium and as an important element in American culture.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 209 Topics in Rhetoric and Public Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines how rhetorical practice shapes public culture. May focus on a medium or mode of rhetorical practice, such as documentary film, social movement, or political speech; a theme or issue, such as race, gender, or democracy; or a particular historical period. Topic varies.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum total of 6 credit hours in CMCL-C 209 and ENG-R 209.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 210 Introduction to Digital Rhetoric

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Workshop-oriented course exploring new forms of writing, interaction, and design for rhetorical purposes and digital environments. Emphasis on producing, interpreting, and analyzing traditional and emerging texts and technologies.
ENG-R 211 Rhetoric and Sports
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines how discourse shapes—and is shaped by—sports culture. Uses a variety of rhetorical frames to analyze historical and contemporary sports communication, contextualize sports events and discourse in relation to particular socio-politico moments, and craft sophisticated responses (across media) to sports-oriented exigencies.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 212 Communicating Sustainability
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
'Sustainability' is the capacity to negotiate environmental, social, and economic needs and desires for current and future generations. Traces historical and global discourses of sustainability; defines key terms and frames sustainability; engages related concepts of democracy, citizenship, and community; and develops critical thinking, research, and communication skills.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 212 or ENG-R 212.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
Advanced English Elective. One (1) course:
- Additional ENG course at the 400–499 level
Concentration GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
1. At least 9 credit hours in the concentration must be completed at the 300–499 level.
2. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the concentration.
3. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the concentration—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
4. Exceptions to concentration requirements may be made with the approval of the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.