new Fall Course now on the schedule: 542 African-American Lit [update]

Because our graduate English program is attracting a large amount of interest and well-qualified applicants, and because our fall offerings are almost at capacity with nearly two months to go before the school-year begins, we have added an additional course to the fall schedule: ENGL 542 African-American Literature.

Dr. Morales is running the course. Note that this 542 course is in the catalog as “Classics of African-American Lit” but Dr. Morales is mixing it up a bit so that the course can enfold contemporary situations and texts. The course description Dr. Morales has provided for this fall instance is as follows:

• African-American literature has become an expansive field over the last several decades, which puts an instructor in a difficult position selecting texts and delimiting themes. As a result, this ENGL 542 African-American Literature course will focus on 20^th and 21^st century works, while thematically staying current with 21^st century issues such as the critical race theory, 1619 project, confederate monuments–[re-slavery], reparations, Juneteenth, black identity. and more. The course will incorporate theoretical statements of DuBois, Locke, Hurston, Schuyler, Hughes, Thurman, Wright, Ellison, Baldwin, Gayle, Baraka, Morrison, Wilson. Students will analyze select 20th-century literary works, a list which is still being determined but could possibly include James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Jean Toomer’s Cane, Nella Larsen’s Passing, Richard Wright’s The Man Who lived Underground, along with select plays and poetry; and more recent works, possibly (and for example) Kaitlyn Greenidge’s historical fictional work, Libertie [2021], which parenthetically explores the draft race riots [1863] and repatriation of African Americans to Haiti. The reading list is still in the works, and will be shared in August, but all readings will work within the theme and description expressed here.

Note that students enrolled in existing fall courses who are interested in dropping from one of those courses to add this 542 African-American Lit course can do so. Students can change up their schedule however much they like (as long as available seats exist) up until the start of any semester. The only students who cannot take this course are students who have taken 542 previously. For help with or questions about enrolling in 542 or changing your existing course schedule, contact Erika Tremblay at etremblay@mercy.edu.

GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS FOR FALL 2021- NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

We are now accepting applications for online TA position for fall 2021. We anticipate being able to employ three or four TAs this fall.

Experience as a TA can be a valuable line-item in a curriculum vitae. And assisting in an online classroom will provide a first-hand look at how an actual online college English course unfolds over a semester. TA positions are excellent experiential opportunities for anyone who aspires to teach at any level. For anyone who is already an active or experienced teacher, TA positions offer you a chance to use your expertise to make a significant positive impact on the development of undergraduate students who very much need your help.

Duties of the TA vary from class to class depending on the needs of the instructor. For more information, including qualifications for holding a TA position, consult the TA guidelines linked here. Review as well the TA Netiquette form linked here.

We anticipate that TAs this fall semester will be working 3 paid hours per week (remotely) and making $15/hour. The semester is 15 weeks long so the pay for the semester would be $675. The pay is therefore minimal. The real value of the TA position is the experience it provides.

To apply for a fall 2021 TA position send an email to cloots@mercy.edu by the end of Friday, July 16, using the subject line ENGLISH TA APPLICATION, and with the following materials attached:

1. Resume
2. The name of one MA faculty member who will recommend you (just list the name — we will check with the faculty member to confirm their recommendation; make sure you establish with that person beforehand if she or he will recommend you).
3. A short statement of purpose, just a paragraph or two (between 200 and 400 words) expressing why you are interested in being a TA at Mercy College.
4. A short statement of your philosophy of teaching, just a paragraph or two (between 200 and 400 words).
5. The completed activity linked here.

If you applied before for a TA position but were not offered a position you can resubmit, if you like, the same materials you submitted previously. If you worked for us as a TA in the past you can be considered anew for a TA position simply by indicating your interest (you do not need to resubmit the application materials). Please note that our priority with these positions is giving as many students as possible a chance to be a TA, so those who have already worked as TAs will be prioritized after other applicants.

Please send any questions to cloots@mercy.edu. Thank you.

Book orders for fall 2021 courses (So far) (Updated 7/7)

Below is some info regarding book orders for fall 2021 courses. This will be updated throughout the summer as professors finalize their courses. Note that in many cases professors will supplement these materials with links, PDFs, and other materials provided in Blackboard during the semester. So what you’re seeing here might not spell all of what you’ll be studying in any particular class. The college’s online bookstore is here. Books do not need to be purchased from the college store. The MA program recommends supporting your local bookseller, if one still exists; or using Powells.com for new books, or Alibris.com for used books.

ENGL 500 DLA (Dr. Kilpatrick)

• Leitch, Vincent B., et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. W.W. Norton, 2010. ISBN: 9780393932928.

ENGL 500 DLB (Dr. Sax)

• Leitch, Vincent B., et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. W.W. Norton, 2010. ISBN: 9780393932928.

• Shakespeare, William. Complete Sonnets. Dover, 1991, ISBN: 9780486266862.

ENGL 509 Perspectives on the Essay (Dr. Keckler)

• Atwan, Robert, et al, eds. Best American Essays 2020. ISBN 9780358359913.

ENGL 515 Magic in Literature (Dr. Sax)

• Hesiod. Theogony & Works and Days. Trans. M. L. West. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. ISBN:  9780192817884.
• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997. ISBN 0439708184.
• Roob, Alexander. Alchemy and Mysticism. Tachen: London, 2009. ISBN: 9783836517690 Updated: 9783836549363.
• Sax, Boria. Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human. London: Reaktion Books, 2013. ISBN: 1780231733.
• Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. New York: Penguin, 2000. ISBN: 9780743482776. Updated: 978-0140714890.
• Yates, Frances, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age. New York: Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 0415254094.

ENGL 540 Vice to Virtue: Seven Deadly Sins Then & Now (Dr. Ward)

• Marie de France: Poetry (First Edition) (Norton Critical Editions), (ISBN: 9780393932683) 
• The Selected Canterbury Tales (ISBN: 9780393341782) 
• Nine Medieval Romances of Magic (ISBN: 9781551119977) 
• Piers Plowman: The C Version (ISBN: 9780812215618)

ENGL 545 Lit of the Left Bank Paris (Dr. Loots)

Much will be provided in Blackboard in the form of PDFs (e.g. stories by Edith Wharton, selections from Joyce’s Ulysses, poetry by H.D., fiction by Zelda Fitzgerald, essays and poems by Richard Wright, etc.). Students do not need to secure the specific editions listed below; any edition will do:

• Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room. Vintage, 2013. ISBN: 9780345806567
• Benstock, Shari. Women of the Left Bank Paris: 1900-1940. University of Texas Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780292790407. (This is out of print but there are dozens of used copies for sale on Alibris.com for cheap.)
• Breton, Andre. Nadja. Grove Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780802150264
• Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast – Restored Edition. Scribner, 2010. ISBN: 9781439182710. (If you have the original edition, that works fine too.)
• Loy, Mina. The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. ISBN: 9780374525071
• Stein, Gertrude. Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein. Vintage, 1990. ISBN: 9780679724643. (We’ll be studying The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas.)

Recommended additional materials for those who want to go even deeper into the lit and culture of this era:

• Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. Beacon, 2012. ISBN: 9780807006238. (We won’t be studying this but it’s relevant to our units on Baldwin and Wright.)
• Cunard, Nancy. The Poems of Nancy Cunard. Bodleian Library, 2005. ISBN: 9781842331071. (I will provide PDFs of what poetry in this we’ll be studying, but you might want to own the book.)
• H.D. Trilogy: The Walls Do Not Fall; Tribute to the Angels; The Flowering of the Rod. New Directions, 1988. ISBN: 9780811213998. (I will provide PDFs of what poetry in this we’ll be studying, but you might want to own the book.)
• Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Scribner, 2014. ISBN: 9781476764528. (We won’t be studying this but it’s relevant to our unit on Hemingway.)
• Fitzgerald, F Scott. Tender is the Night. Scribner, 1995. ISBN 9780684801544. (We won’t be studying this but it’s relevant to our unit on Zelda.)
• Fitzgerald, Zelda. The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald. University of Alabama Press, 1997. (I will be providing a PDF of the Zelda work we’re studying, but if you’re interested in her you should own this.)
• Wright, Richard. Native Son. Perennial Classics, 2005. ISBN: 9780060837563. (We won’t be studying this but it’s relevant to our unit on Wright.)

ENGL 560 Hip Hop Lit & Culture (Dr. Horton)

• Decoded by Jay-Z (ISBN 9780812981155)
• Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America by Andrea Dennis and Erik Nielsen (ISBN 9781620973400)
• The Plot against Hip Hop by Nelson George (ISBN 9781617750243)