Lower Division Courses

Sidney Thompson

MW 9 – 9:50

Core: CORE, FAR

This course serves as an exploration of the creative writing process, particularly regarding creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. You will develop a fundamental understanding of the craft and contemporary conventions of each genre, including such elements as voice, imagery, characterization, dialogue, line integrity, rhyming action, and narration. To inform your writing of original essays, poems, and short stories, you will read essays on the craft of writing, in addition to contemporary literary models. You will also routinely read and discuss each other’s in-class exercises and more polished out-of-class work in a workshop format—because writing is a much more communal activity than most realize. Truth and style are often timid, elusive creatures. We need help to bang the pots and light the fires to root and smoke them out.

Chantel L. Carlson

TR 9:30 – 10:50

TR 2 – 3:20

Core: CORE, FAR

This is a creative writing workshop in which students present their writing (fiction, poetry, drama, creative nonfiction) for class analysis; will be complemented by lectures on the genres and readings that exemplify outstanding technique.

When asked by his students what makes a successful writer, Ernest Gaines responded with the following advice: “Read, read, read. Write, write, write.” Over the course of the semester in this LEC workshop, students will be doing just that – reading and analyzing the works of poets, fiction writers, and playwrights and then applying what they learn to compose original works of their own.

Ann Sloan 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

Texas noir stories have captivated audiences with their gritty, atmospheric tales of crime and moral ambiguity set against the backdrop of the Lone Star State. In this course, we will focus on reading contemporary Texas noir novels to explore the concept of "noir" and its literary significance. As an introduction to fiction, this course will use Texas noir to delve into fundamental aspects of literature, such as character development, plot, setting, figurative language, and narrative point of view. Additionally, we will consider the historical, social, and cultural contexts of these stories to understand why Texas noir has remained a compelling and enduring genre over time. 

Clayton Dillard 

MWF 2 – 2:50 

MWF 3 – 3:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

Fiction is comprised of plot, point of view, characterization, setting, symbols, and theme. And so, we will study them, in short stories, novellas, and novels by a variety of authors. Each work of fiction will present us with new challenges. What does it mean when prose is “hard to read?” What does it mean, on the other hand, when a work of fiction is “accessible?” These questions, and any you have about the wide world of fiction, will be addressed. Readings by John Cheever, James Baldwin, Julio Cortázar, Flannery O’Connor, Willa Cather, and Philip Roth, among others. 

David Sutton 

MWF 4 – 5:20 

TR 5 – 6:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

This course will explore the development of the Hero's quest and how each hero is presented with tests and trials to become something greater than they were in the beginning.  Texts explored will include: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Batman: A Death in the Family, and Alanna: The First Adventure.  Students will engage in active discussions, draft argumentative papers, and create riveting presentations alternated with each selection. 

Lorenzo Casanova 

MWF 9 – 9:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

The course will focus on narratives from scholars of color with an emphasis on intersectionality. The intersections that people of color navigate daily provide multiple perspectives and lived experiences that allow students to engage with the literature from our course. The literature will center on 21st-century contemporary authors from the Americas. Students will become familiar with interpretive strategies and examine the course texts concerning literary antecedents, literary analysis as a research method, and the cultural circumstances of composition. 

Bridgette Copeland 

TR 12:30 – 1:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

This course examines how American short stories and films reflect cultural anxieties about science & technological innovation and how those fears have evolved over the past 200 years. Through genres like horror, science fiction, and dystopia, students will analyze how narratives express societal concerns about the future, identity, and control. Topics include artificial intelligence, surveillance, bioengineering, and the unintended consequences of innovation. We’ll pay close attention to historical context and how it shapes these stories. Assignments include exams, analytical essays, film responses, and a final project exploring the intersection of literature, film, and techno-anxiety. 

Yingwen Yu 

MWF 8 – 8:50 

MWF 9 – 9:50 

MWF 10 – 10:50 

Core: WCO 

Get ready to enter a world where stories breathe, shadows speak, and the past lingers just out of sight! In this composition course, we’ll explore Indigenous ghost stories—from traditional oral tales to contemporary fiction—to see how they reflect relationships between people, land, animals, and the spirit world. These aren’t just spooky stories for fun (though some will definitely give you chills); they carry deep cultural knowledge, warnings, humor, and lessons about balance and responsibility. As we read and write, you’ll think about how stories shape your own way of seeing the world—and maybe even start to notice what’s hiding in plain sight. Along the way, we’ll practice key writing skills like observation, reflection, and analysis, all while asking: what haunts us, and why? 

Ashok Bhusal 

MWF 9 – 9:50 

MWF 10 – 10:50 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

MWF 3 – 3:50 

Core: WCO 

Description: 
Welcome to the Fall 2025 ENGL 10803 class! This course is designed for you to engage in various forms of compositions with writing serving as your starting point. Through these compositions, you will learn about yourself and the world. To accomplish this, you’ll engage in processes of composition including invention, critical reading, drafting, revision, and editing as you complete written as well as non-written tasks that will enable you to make sense of the world around you. This is a skill-oriented, hands-on and task-based class and so I want you to see every assignment as a “final exams” since an aggregate of the points you earn from each task throughout the semester will determine your final grade. 

Learning Outcomes 
ENGL 10803 fulfills the TCU Core Essential Competency, Written Communication 1. The learning 
outcomes listed below are the goals we are working toward. By the end of ENGL 10803, 
students should demonstrate: 
1. The ability to write in a range of genres, using appropriate rhetorical conventions, for 
example: 
• write multiple assignments in different academic genres. 
• write for different rhetorical situations (audience, purpose, genre). 
• produce texts with a controlling idea, appropriate support for their claims, and 
appropriate conventions of format and structure (including being able to create 
appropriate organizational structures in the absence of models). Write multiple 
assignments in several genres, expanding their repertoire beyond predictable 
forms (e.g. the 5-paragraph essay) 
2. Competency in reading, quoting and citing sources, as well as competency in balancing 
their own voices with secondary sources, for example: 
• critically read texts for main ideas and arguments, for use of genre conventions, 
for rhetorical strategy, and for the position of the author. 
• summarize, respond to, and critique texts. 
• find, evaluate, analyze, synthesize and cite appropriate sources to inform and 
situate their own claims. Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize appropriate 
primary and secondary sources to inform and situate one’s own claims. 
3. The ability to employ flexible strategies for generating and revising their writing, for 
example: 
• receive feedback on their writing from peers and instructor. 
• work both inductively and deductively to develop a focus, claim, or thesis. 
• write multiple revisions, which might include substantive changes in ideas, 
structure, and supporting evidence. 
• edit their texts according to the conventions of Edited American English. 
4. Students will engage in multiple methods of inquiry. 
5. Students will explore writers’ cultural positions and the influence of those positions on 
what and how they write. 

Bridgette Copeland 

TR 11 – 12:20 

Core: WCO 

This course is designed to help students develop clear, effective writing skills with a focus on academic conventions and proper documentation. Emphasizing the writing process—from brainstorming to revision—students will practice crafting organized, well-supported essays across a range of genres and purposes. Key areas of instruction include thesis development, structure, voice, and audience awareness. Special attention will be given to integrating sources responsibly, with instruction on MLA citation styles, summarizing, & responsible use of AI-assisted writing tools. Students will engage in peer reviews, reflective writing, and multiple drafting processes to strengthen their work. The course culminates in a multimedia composition project that allows students to apply their writing, research, and design skills in a creative, real-world format. 

David Sutton 

MW 5:30 – 6:50 

Core: WCO 

Traditional writing courses focus on the development of essays to perfect the ability to rhetorically communicate effectively.  This course will take the process to the next level with the incorporation of digital assignments where pieces are created and delivered using technology.  In this way, all students can complete the writing process by delivering their work through media and build a portfolio of work that will be applicable to their majors. 

Yingwen Yu 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

Core: GA, LT 

“The women are telling stories, the women are singing—listen, listen.” With these powerful words, Winona LaDuke invites us to tune into the vibrant, courageous, and often overlooked voices of Indigenous women. In this course, we’ll do just that. What do Indigenous women write about? Everything. Love, loss, resistance, survival, sovereignty, laughter, and perhaps monsters. We’ll read across genres and geographies to discover how Indigenous women use storytelling to challenge injustice, protect the earth, and imagine thriving futures. Along the way, we’ll discuss how oral traditions live on in contemporary works, how fiction becomes a form of activism, and how writing can be a powerful tool for survival and renewal. You’ll also engage with Indigenous literary theory, practice close reading, develop your writing and analytical skills, and contribute your own voice to the conversation. Whether you’re Indigenous or not, this course invites you to read deeply, think critically, and listen with intention to some of the most compelling writers on the continent. Together, we’ll explore a rich range of contemporary Indigenous women’s texts—written and visual, fierce and funny, haunting and healing. 

Theresa Gaul 

TR 3:30 – 4:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

Did you know that women today write the majority of all new books published in the United States, or that the average female-authored book has higher sales, readership, and engagement than the average book written by a male author? How did this come to be?  This course will explore the origins of women writing in the United States. We will read novels, short stories and essays by women writers from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Along the way, you’ll learn about US women’s history, how women entered the sphere of authorship, what they wrote about and why, and why many of their writings continue to speak to us in meaningful ways.

Jill C. Havens 

MWF 10 – 10:50 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

Core: LT, CSV, HUM 

This course specifically examines the representation of criminals and outlaws in literature from the Early Medieval period to the modern day, with specific focus on how these depictions help to identify weaknesses and inequities in law over time. We will start with early Old English and Old Norse texts that depict outlaws as heroes, victims of their cultural and historical circumstances and the unjust laws that constrain them. Next, we will explore the representations of criminality the better-known ballads of Robin Hood and other medieval popular criminals like Hereward the Wake and Fulk FitzWaryn, who become popular symbols of rebellion and dissent. The course will conclude with the Booker Prize-winning novel True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey which captures the legend of Australia's most famous outlaw, Ned Kelly. 

Layne Craig 

MWF 10 – 10:50 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

Core: LT, HUM 

Neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, facing his own cancer diagnosis, turned to the words of playwright Samuel Beckett to characterize the sense of limbo he felt in facing his prognosis, repeating to himself the quotation, “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” For Kalanithi, and for many facing medical diagnoses and crises, narrative and literary language provide frameworks, inspiration, and a sense of identity that can have profound effects on the patient’s experience of illness and health. In fact, these effects are being acknowledged by more and more medical schools as they integrate health humanities courses into their curricula. In this class, we’ll examine the ways in which narratives and metaphors influence our views of human health, sickness, and people dealing with illness and disability. We’ll read memoirs, poetry, short stories and a novel focusing on the experiences of patients and medical providers, expanding our thinking about both literature and medicine.

Clayton Dillard 

MWF 8 – 8:50 

MWF 11 – 11:50 

MWF 1 – 1:50 

Core: WCO 

Many hear the term “argument” and think of a disagreement between two or more people. It can be. But there’s a lot more to the concept, which this course engages. We’ll consider how argument is arguably the defining term of our times, and we’ll trace its lineage through discussions involving rhetoric, philosophy, and culture. For our content, we’ll consider four different topics, each one comprising their own unit on argument within the larger course. These are: border policy, stand-up comedy, animal rights, and music in media. Argument is everywhere, and in everything, but not in quite the same way. We’ll discuss, and write about, why.