ENG 102: The Rhetoric of Myth and Legend. Myths are powerful forms of persuasion. They are stories that explain the creation of the cosmos and the reasons for the characteristics of the Earth, animals, plants, and human beings. They pass on a culture's supernatural traditions, its gods, and its heroes. They reflect how the individual relates to his or her culture and to the universe. Myths come into our consciousness as revelations, and their stories are reenacted through ritual. This writing-intensive course examines the relationship between myth and rhetoric. Students learn to write critically about how different types of myths serve different rhetorical purposes. How do societies use mythology to create, preserve, and transmit their cultural values? How do myths teach us important lessons about our role in society and what it means to be human?

ENG 102: The Rhetoric of Salvation. This writing-intensive course examines the persuasive language of the religious quest, in particular how revealed knowledge (gnosis) leads to a deeper understanding of the self. It examines such fundamental questions about the religious quest as: What is salvation and what psychological needs are there within us that drive us to to seek it? What religious visions have guided us to this point in human history and how might those visions shape our future? Does the search for "hidden knowledge" ultimately reveal universal truth? What is the importance of rhetoric in both discovering spiritual truth and in relaying it to others?

ENG 104: Contemporary Magick and Witchcraft. As human beings, we all have a deep psychological need for the mysterious; a need to connect our consciousness to ideas that are larger than us, and to realms that lie beyond our limited understanding. But as our culture becomes more technologically sophisticated it becomes increasingly difficult to draw from the ancient psychological well of archtypal images that sustained earlier generations. In an attempt to fill that void an ever increasing number of people are embracing old religions--particularly witchcraft and shamanism--to regain a connection with our ancient past; religions that have at their core the practice of magic. This writing-intensive course examines the relationships between myth and magick, between people and the supernatural forces in which they believe.

ENG 104: Fairy Tales, Myths, and Other Archetypal Stories. Fairy tales hold the wisdom of a culture. Not only do they teach us how to live, but human beings use fairy tales and folklore to explain life's mysteries. Jesus explained his teachings through parables, giving his followers difficult problems in easy-to-understand form. Plato communicated abstruse philosophical concepts through simple myths and allegories. Folklore has the mysterious capacity to contain and communicate paradoxes, allowing us to see through, around, and over the dilemma to the real heart of the matter. In this writing-intensive course we will critically examine myths, fairy tales, and their distant cousins, urban legends. We will address attitudes toward such subjects as sex, gender identity, good and evil, as well as other subjects or attitudes which we might discover as we proceed.

ENG 104: The Rhetoric of Paranoia. This writing-intensive course examines how different texts employ the rhetoric of paranoia in order to persuade audiences that their fears about ethnicity, religion, technology, and government are justifiable. Students gain practice in reading critically, thinking logically, responding to texts, developing research skills, and addressing specific audiences. By focusing on techniques of sound argumentation, students learn how to recognize propoganda, hate literature, half-truths, hype, and emotional appeals--in other words, to sort out "truth from trash." This is not a course that wallows in conspiracy theories and extraterrestrial sightings. Quite the opposite. This is a writing course that uses the study of paranoia as a useful exercise to promote sound thinking and clear communication.

ENG 203: Business Writing. Instruction and experience in writing for business, industry, and government, with emphasis on clarity, conciseness and effectiveness in preparing letters, memos, and reports for specific audiences. Student's will work in groups within one of several ficticious corporations and prepare reports, proposals, and a corporate web page.

ENG 230: Early American Literature. A survey of canonical American literature from the Colonial Era to the Civil War, with emphasis on writing as a way of reading and thinking about American literary themes.

ENG 230: Modern American Literature. A survey of canonical Modern and post-modern American literature, with emphasis on writing as a way of reading and thinking about American literary themes.

ENG 270: The Old Testament as Literature. The Hebrew Bible (referred to by Christians as the Old Testament) is one of the foundational books of both western and world culture, and serves as the basis for Judaism and Christianity. This course will pursue close readings of selected biblical stories, acquaint students with critical methods for the study of the Bible, and situate the Hebrew Bible within the literature and culture of the ancient Near East. The focus will be primarily literary, stressing issues such as style, compositional history, plot, and characterization. Finally, students will be introduced to basic methods of scriptural interpretation among modern literary critics.

ENG 271: The New Testament as Literature. Through readings, discussion, and some lectures, this writing-intensive, introductory course intends to explore the literature of the early Christian movement. Our study will progress in two stages: 1) an investigation of the cultural and religious contexts out of which Christianity developed; and 2) a selective survey of the New Testament literature itself with an emphasis on the diversity of the religious perspectives it reflects. To this end we will not only be reading books contained in the New Testament canon, but also some non-canonical Christian texts from the first and second centuries.