General registration for spring 2025 opens on October 30. It normally opens at or around 9am eastern. Priority registration, which includes veterans and active military, opens earlier. Students who know that they qualify for priority registration, or who would like to know if they do, should contact the graduate English PACT advisor Lydia Yearwood at lyearwood@mercy.edu for help arranging your priority registration. Any student in need of help with registration should contact Lydia. If anyone has any questions about any of the courses below, please contact the Program Director at cloots@mercy.edu. Note that the descriptions below might change a bit as professors work more on their courses during the fall, but these descriptions basically express the spirit of each course. Book orders will be shared later in a future blog post.

ENGL 510 Theory and Practice of Writing (Dr. Proszak)

• In this course, students learn about how writing has been studied and theorized across writing studies and related disciplines. The course specifically focuses on cultural issues endemic to writing and how race, ethnicity, gender, and class enter into conversations on writing instruction and assessment. Students who take this course will understand how writing functions across contexts and communities, including within higher education. All course texts will be scanned or available online. Readings will likely include chapters from A Short History of Writing Instruction; Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies and chapters from texts on the open-access WAC Clearinghouse, including Situating Writing Processes; Writing Assessment, Social Justice, and the Advancement of Opportunity; Genre in a Changing World. Fulfills the Writing & Literary Forms field requirement or an elective.

ENGL 515 Murder, Mystery, and Suspense (Dr. Dugan)

• The genre of the murder-mystery novel is often viewed as “escapist “or “diversionary,” but in addition to it being entertaining for many, the genre rather offers insights into the social, cultural, and historical context from which the stories emerged. This course will trace the development of the murder-mystery genre from the 19th century to present-day, with a focus on, among many other things, the question of why stories of this genre have been and continue to be so interesting to so many people. 3 credits. Fulfills an elective by default but can instead fulfill a Literature Group 2 requirement upon request. Note that this last ran as ENGL 560; if a student took that instance or any earlier instance of this courses titled “Murder, Mystery, & Suspense,” they cannot take this course again.

ENGL 521 Themes & Genres of Medieval Lit (Dr. Fritz)

• This course is designed to cultivate students’ awareness of the themes, genres, and issues related to medieval literature and to the study of medieval literature. Students will explore the major genres of medieval literature, including epics, lays and romances. Fulfills a Literature Group 1 requirement or an elective.

ENGL 540 Shakespeare (Dr. Kilpatrick)

• Students in this course will critically study and discuss select Shakespeare works. During the course of this study students will gain familiarity with the syntax and lexicon of Shakespeare’s language, and develop a basic understanding of the cultural and intellectual background in which Shakespeare lived, and out of which his drama emerged. Fulfills a Literature Group 1 requirement or an elective.

ENGL 560 Hemingway / Modern Cryptography (Dr. Loots)

• This course follows Ernest Hemingway, through his writings, from his early days in Paris to his final moments in Ketchum, Idaho. Readings will include many of his major novels and short stories, and some non-fiction. By exploring Hemingway’s travels and writings we will experience through his eyes the rise of modernity; the unprecedented way that the world changed forever in the early twentieth century; and the relationship of modern literature and art to modernity. We will as well consider the interrelated effects of Hemingway’s self-engineered celebrity status—as the rugged bearded “macho man” world traveler—which coincided precisely with the rise of modern media technology, exceeded his literary fame even within his lifetime, and belied the complexity, gentleness, and queerness of the man. We will as well consider how Hemingway’s groundbreaking style exemplifies a type of modernist code, a type of literary cryptography, requiring of us delicate work to interpret/intuit/decode what secrets and subtle meanings weave through the writings of this giant of 20th-century American literature, arguably the most influential American writer of all time. Fulfills a Literature Group 2 requirement or an elective. Note that this last ran as 514; if a student took that instance or any earlier instance of this course titled “Hemingway / Modern Cryptography” they cannot take this course again.

ENGL 599 Master’s Thesis

• 599 doesn’t actually appears on the schedule in Connect. The way to enroll in a 599 Master’s Thesis tutorial is to follow the instructions here. Students need to take 599 as one of their courses during whatever is their final semester in the program (so if spring 2025 is not your final semester in the program, then you won’t be able to enroll in a 599 tutorial in the spring). Contact cloots@mercy.edu if you have any questions about this, and/or if you need assistance establishing a thesis mentor for your 599 in spring 2025.