ENG 240 - Lighting the Page: Digital Methods in Literary Studies

4 credits (Fall or Spring)

How do you write an interactive short story? How do machines read and write? And how do humans and machines read and write together? Students in this course learn about electronic literature and digital literary studies, using digital tools to develop skills in creative and scholarly reading and writing. The class begins with electronic literature. After reading works of e-lit such as Szilak and Tsibouski’s Queerskins: A Novel and Ana María Uribe’s Tipoemas y Anipoemas, students use digital tools to create their own works. The class then takes up computer-aided textual analysis. This part of the class combines literary texts, critical readings in the digital humanities, and hands-on programming exercises. Students will also use digital tools to analyze and revise their own writing. Assignments will include individual and group projects using digital tools and methods. No technical skills are required, but willingness to gain them is fundamental to the course.

Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors ENG 120 or ENG 121, or third-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Simpson