ENGL 431 - New Media and Literature (3 credits)

(=NMDC 431) (Prereq: ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 or ENGL 211 and one other 200 level ENGL course) This course is required for a minor. This class will explore the future (and past) of literature in the digital age. We will begin with some historical examples of hypertext (that is, in its original meaning, text that goes “beyond” or “above” limitations of the written word) from Heraclitus, Dante, early modern broadsides, Blake and Woolf. The second part of the class will be dedicated to encounters with the literature and criticism of New Media. We will continue with some pre-professional preparation designed to make English majors aware of the changing textual landscape of their discipline.