Upcoming Course Offerings

Few stories are as well-known and dearly loved as Tolkien’s tales of Middle Earth and Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. All sorts of readers seem to enjoy these works and to feel themselves becoming better people as they read them. This is as the authors intended. Both Tolkien and Lewis wanted to inspire their readers to want to become more Christlike. Yet both were keenly aware that most people read for enjoyment and dislike pointedly preachy books packed with heavy-handed symbolism. Accordingly, these two great writers (who were also great friends) sought to influence their readers in ways that were both more subtle and more truly influential. This course will look at how the simple but powerful storytelling of Tolkien and Lewis inclines us toward the Savior. Introductory readings will include Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-Stories” and Lewis’s essay “On Stories,” and portions of Michael Ward’s The Narnia Code. At the center of our course will be Tolkien’s The Fall of Gondolin and The Lord of the Rings, and Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

English 303 is a course that intends to help you become a better, more effective writer. As Stephen King wisely noted, good writing is born of careful reading and deep thinking, so this course will require a fair amount of reading, a lot of thinking (alone and with others), and a significant amount of writing. The course will focus on individual and collaborative writing practices designed to help students develop and hone their written and oral communication skills. Assignments may include—but are not limited to—reading journals, textual annotations, crafting abstracts and/or proposals, writing short essays, and preparing formal and informal oral presentations of their work. To take part in the scholarly conversations that surround the assigned texts, students will practice identifying and integrating credible sources into their own analyses, properly document those sources, and regularly share and reflect on their writing process. Substantive revision and workshops will be a core element of the course, and the culminating project will be an 8-10 page work of original literary criticism.

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been both celebrated and excoriated over the years since its publication in 1884. In 2024, Percival Everett published his novel James, which rewrites and reimagines Twain's story from the perspective of the enslaved man who is Huck's traveling companion. Especially since James won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, the time feels ripe to look at both Twain's and Everett's novels, individually and comparatively, and to learn how to research and write literary criticism about them that can join the long-standing and vigorous scholarly conversation surrounding Twain's novel and the newer discussion about Everett's.

In this class we’ll particularly focus on writing about adaptations of literature. This includes film or stage adaptations of literary texts as well as literature that is based on other texts. We’ll also look at literary “conversations” or instances where authors seem to respond or reply to other literary texts.

Art Spiegelman's Maus is a graphic novel that presents the story of Spiegelman interviewing his father about the Holocaust. While the story is true, Spiegelman's postmodern interpretation of his family's history presents all the characters as animals (the Jews as mice, the Nazis as cats, etc.). The resulting text is difficult to categorize, but rich in thematic impact and literary merit. In this section of 303, students will become conversant in the strengths of the comic book/graphic novel medium, explore the unique aspects of Spiegelman's iconic work, and develop proficiency in applying secondary critical sources while engaging in literary analysis.

This course is for students who are planning on, interested in, or otherwise curious about attending law school. Writing is essential to all areas of the law, from drafting case briefs as a 1L to issuing opinions as a Supreme Court justice. In this course, we will: 1) examine the different genres of legal writing; 2) practice the underlying principles of these genres through a variety of rule- and context-oriented writing activities; 3) learn from actual legal practitioners; and 4) put everything into practice through participation in a mock trial. This is NOT an undergraduate version of the legal writing classes you will take in law school. This is, rather, a course designed to help you better understand the distinctive principles, contexts, and expectations of legal writing. Doing so will, ideally, enable you to apply to law school with more confidence and, once accepted, proceed with a stronger foundation for success as a student and, ultimately, practitioner of the law.

This course will focus on the most popular texts published or read in America before 1800. These texts--about topics ranging from religion to crime, revolution, and seduction--provide insight into the needs, interests, anxieties, and aspirations of readers. Our consideration of these texts and readers will also help us understand ourselves as readers and our relationship to early American audiences. (Note: this class will count for either 331R or 388R, not both.)

Stealing a page from the British Museum’s popular publication The History of the World in 100 Objects, this section of ENGL 337R will tell the story of the British novel in six must-read books. After witnessing the genre’s humble origins and gangly adolescence through excerpts from Robinson Crusoe, Pamela, Tristram Shandy, and The Mysteries of Udolpho, we’ll see its dazzling coming of age in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (easily the world’s most popular pre-twentieth-century novel); its full flowering in Eliot’s Middlemarch (routinely voted the greatest of all British novels) and Forster’s A Room with a View (often labeled the “perfect” short novel); its fascinating mid-life crisis in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (#2 in the BBC’s 2015 poll of the best British novels) and Lewis Grassic-Gibbon’s Sunset Song (voted Scotland’s favorite book in 2005 and 2016); and its ongoing reinvention in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (consistently ranked among the best books of our own century). While the reading load will be heavy at times and the 8 AM start time a challenge for some, this is a class that any lover of great books should feel born to take, and I daresay no course in the Fall 2026 catalogue will offer as uninterrupted a series of bangers (as the kids would say) as this one.

While people have always told stories, the demand for storytellers in the workplace is at an all-time high. According to the Wall Street Journal, the “percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term ‘storyteller’ doubled” from 2024 to 2025. The rise in the popularity of storytelling can be seen not only in the worlds of media and communications but can also be found in fields ranging from healthcare to therapy, user experience to education, and fundraising to marketing. Students in this course will not only listen to stories and read contemporary scholarship on storytelling but will also learn how to tell their own and others’ stories. In addition to sharpening their storytelling craft, students will learn the art of deep listening. As students share and listen to each others’ stories, they will experience the magical power of storytelling to connect us to each other.

The Hebrew Bible is a national literature par excellence, gathering diverse Israelite texts into a single collection in an effort to shore up a national identity that had faced existential threats through a series of successful invasions and pressures to conform to Babylonian or, especially, Greek cultural norms. Beyond writing texts, Jews navigated these pressures by forming diaspora communities and by translating their sacred texts into Greek (the translation known as the Septuagint). Over time, some non-Jews (known as God-fearers) came to see the appeal of Jewish religion and ways of life and began to participate in them without formal conversion. In the first century CE, however, following the Romans' execution of Jesus, some Jewish Jesus-followers (notably Peter and Paul) began to see a path for Gentile inclusion in what was still at the time a Jewish sect. Our class will study their fraught efforts to turn the Hebrew Bible from a national literature into a transnational one—a project continued, in different ways, by the later efforts of the Gospel writers. This transnationalist project has roots in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in its monotheistic conception of covenant, but the texts of what would become the New Testament also contributed to a developing legacy of Christian anti-Judaism. The class will conclude by attending to modern theological efforts to reconsider this legacy in the aftermath of the twentieth-century Shoah.

English 344R engages in the study of multimodal texts and genres with ties to literature, based in theoretical grounding from the fields of adaptation studies, design, folklore, and digital rhetoric. Students will engage with stories that have appeared in multiple modes of storytelling and consider how the type of storytelling affects both the story itself and the audience’s reception. We will consider books, e-books, audiobooks, podcasts, online videos, films, television shows, video games, and other types of storytelling in order to explore narrative, adaptation, theme, author, and audience. Among the stories we will analyze are Frankenstein and Pride and Prejudice, as well as multimedia icons like Sherlock Holmes and Superman.

The core values of what the late historian David McCullough describes as “the American spirit”—ideas of individualism, equality, democracy, religious freedom, innovation, and so on — are manifest in various ways and to different degrees in what might be described as our national literature – a vast collection of texts written by people from diverse backgrounds from the pre-Columbian era to the present. In this course we will analyze the ways in which a cluster of contemporary American writers engage these “traditional” American values (many of which are also codified in the United States Constitution) in their twenty-first century texts and consider the ethical perspectives that orient and motivate the opinions, concerns, and positions expressed in their work.

The Hebrew Bible is a national literature par excellence, gathering diverse Israelite texts into a single collection in an effort to shore up a national identity that had faced existential threats through a series of successful invasions and pressures to conform to Babylonian or, especially, Greek cultural norms. Beyond writing texts, Jews navigated these pressures by forming diaspora communities and by translating their sacred texts into Greek (the translation known as the Septuagint). Over time, some non-Jews (known as God-fearers) came to see the appeal of Jewish religion and ways of life and began to participate in them without formal conversion. In the first century CE, however, following the Romans' execution of Jesus, some Jewish Jesus-followers (notably Peter and Paul) began to see a path for Gentile inclusion in what was still at the time a Jewish sect. Our class will study their fraught efforts to turn the Hebrew Bible from a national literature into a transnational one—a project continued, in different ways, by the later efforts of the Gospel writers. This transnationalist project has roots in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in its monotheistic conception of covenant, but the texts of what would become the New Testament also contributed to a developing legacy of Christian anti-Judaism. The class will conclude by attending to modern theological efforts to reconsider this legacy in the aftermath of the twentieth-century Shoah.

Note: 382 is for English Teaching Majors ONLY. English majors should register for ENGL 384R-001.

Readers of Shakespeare love the dynamic women that populate his plays: witty Beatrice, bombastic Katherine, traumatized Ophelia, calculating Lady Macbeth, and resolute Hermione. However, scholars continue to debate the way in which Shakespeare represents women. Does he stage a liberating view of women as capable, autonomous individuals? Or does he reinforce the limiting view popular in his time which characterized women as silent, object-like vessels? In this class, we will explore how Shakespeare either challenges or upholds (or perhaps a mix of both) early modern ideas about womanhood in context of religion, society, politics, medicine, genre, and the occult in All's Well that End's Well, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry VIII, Macbeth, Titus Andronicus, and The Winter's Tale.

In this major author course, we will examine the writings of the award-winning Black American playwright, Lorraine Hansberry. Although many readers are familiar with her play, "A Raisin in the Sun," many more are unaware of the other plays, essays, poems, interviews, and news articles she crafted before she died from cancer at the age of 34. Still more don't know about her pioneering work in the freedom movements of midcentury America. Thus, our class will put the range of Hansberry's work into conversation with key moments and movements of her day, exploring how this young, gifted, and Black writer from Southside Chicago helped transform America's literary and political landscape.

In an 1835 letter to an editor who found one of his pieces a bit too disturbing, Edgar Allan Poe responded, “To be appreciated you must be read, and these things are invariably sought after with avidity.” Both literary scholarship and popular culture demonstrate that Poe has been read consistently from the mid-1800s until now, although the appreciation came a bit later. In this course, we will read a lot of Poe! (Several of his poems, a selection of his essays and literary criticism, most of his short stories, his novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, and more.) We will also read several well-known pieces of Poe studies scholarship as a class while students will read specific Poe scholarship surrounding their own theoretical, historical, and/or literary interests. Finally, each student will read a full Poe biography. We will examine Poe’s invention of the detective genre; his success as a writer of horror and terror; his fame as a melancholy poet; his attempts at satire and comedy; and his theory of effect. We will dig deeper into the Poe corpus that many students probably know already, and we will discover a wide variety in his writings that might surprise some of us.

Why learn a language no one has spoken since the eleventh century? Because you'll learn to read the earliest form of English, which very few people can do! Although English speakers have borrowed a huge number of words from other languages, our core vocabulary comes from Old English, as much as 80% of the words we use in daily conversation. As we learn Old English as a language, we’ll explore the wonderful and the weird in Old English literature. We’ll translate texts about a cowherd and a dreamer, saints and seafarers, and fantastic beasts and where to find them. Join the linguistic and literary adventure!

There are no prerequisites, and no prior experience learning a foreign language is necessary. English majors should register for ENGL 386R to fulfill the pre-1800 literature requirement. GE students should register for ENGL 236R to fulfill the GE Letters requirement. Students doing majors in the Linguistics Department should register for ELING 525.

This is an ideal British lit. course if you have fears about poetry to overcome—or, for that matter, if you already love poems but want to intensify your enjoyment. It’s designed for lit. students, but also for creative writers and future educators, as we’ll study the workings of poetic craft. In short, we’ll see what the Romantics can teach us about making and experiencing poems. Where, then, does rebellion come in? For starters, the Romantic period is known for its rebellious energies, both in politics and art. We’ll learn about the Romantics’ rebellions. At the same time, we’ll undertake our own counter-cultural project. Shockingly few people read literature nowadays, and even fewer read poems. Slowing down enough to read, to focus, and to savor good poetry is a neglected spiritual practice. Those who adopt it develop a superpower that’s increasingly rare and needed in the world. Therefore, let’s do something unpopular but deeply cool. Consider yourself invited.

This course will focus on the most popular texts published or read in America before 1800. These texts--about topics ranging from religion to crime, revolution, and seduction--provide insight into the needs, interests, anxieties, and aspirations of readers. Our consideration of these texts and readers will also help us understand ourselves as readers and our relationship to early American audiences. (Note: this class will count for either 331R or 388R, not both.)

This course examines the rising preoccupation with the human mind in later-nineteenth-and early twentieth-century transatlantic literature. We will consider how and why artists separate themselves from scientific materialist conceptions of human nature, turning instead to the mystery of subjective conscious experience, from paranormal phenomena to cosmic epiphany. We will study major voices like Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf, and innovative philosophers of mind and metaphysics like William James and Henri Bergson, along with lesser-known early genre writers in cosmic horror like Algernon Blackwood and Harriet Spofford.

In this major author course, we will examine the writings of the award-winning Black American playwright, Lorraine Hansberry. Although many readers are familiar with her play, "A Raisin in the Sun," many more are unaware of the other plays, essays, poems, interviews, and news articles she crafted before she died from cancer at the age of 34. Still more don't know about her pioneering work in the freedom movements of midcentury America. Thus, our class will put the range of Hansberry's work into conversation with key moments and movements of her day, exploring how this young, gifted, and Black writer from Southside Chicago helped transform America's literary and political landscape.

Inscape: Journal of Creative Writing and Art is published every fall and winter semester on its shiny new website at inscape.byu.edu. The journal is managed and edited by graduate students in the creative writing MFA program and students in the art department. All staff members, either students enrolled in ENGL 394R or volunteers, learn the business and craft of editing and publishing through soliciting and evaluating creative writing and visual art submissions, content editing, and formatting pieces of writing. They also receive hands-on training and experience with web design and web editing, social media marketing, event planning, and writing contests. The staff uses Instagram, Facebook, Wordpress, Photoshop, Canva, and Monday.com for team assignments, as well as the submission platform Submittable. Experts in publishing, writing, visual art, editing, and marketing are guest presenters every Thursday evening.

Requirements: Students enrolled in ENGL 394R are required to create a professional portfolio that includes a resume and cover letter/letter of application for graduate school, a mock interview, a fleshed-out LinkedIn profile, a job networking experience, and stellar staff assignment participation. The Inscape internship is designed for students interested in careers in publishing, which makes it an exceptional opportunity for editing or creative writing minors. Inscape is the best student journal experience on campus—and it looks great on a resume.

Students will work on the staff of the new national children’s literary magazine, Whirligig. Staff members will be a part of each stage of magazine production: concept creation, acquisitions, writing, editing, art direction, designing, marketing, networking, and distribution. This is a great place to learn about writing for children and gain valuable practical experience in acquiring, revising, and preparing manuscripts for publication. Students will collaborate with authors and other publishing professionals both on and off campus.

What do ordinary language philosophy, linguistics, deconstruction, gender studies, political theory, and performance studies have in common? Performativity. We’ll dive into this alluring topic, investigating its winding genealogy and multiple deployments. In each iteration we’ll circle back to J. L. Austin’s organizing question: how do words do stuff? The pronouncement “Let there be light” is a divine performative that is both utterance and action. So is the legal designation of hate speech. This course gives occasion to ask several questions, including: How is language also action? What is the relationship between speech and the body? What kinds of force proceed from speaking, and what implications does this have for forming not just identity but also materiality and what is real? Performativity is a great ride.

In traditional Christianity, a Saint is someone who the faithful can trust lived an exemplary life and is now in the presence of God. In Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, this condition allows the Saint to act for the living and to bring to pass miracles from their position in heaven. Concepts of Sainthood extend beyond Christianity to Judaism, Islam, and Eastern religions. The faithful tell their stories orally, in writing, and through ritual performances. This course is a deep dive into the hagiography from the perspective of folklore as we examine how the living interact with the holy dead through the stories they tell orally, in writing, and that they perform through ritual.

How has studying Professional Writing and Communication prepared you for life and work beyond BYU? What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do you have—and still need—to successfully pursue your professional and personal goals? How will you use your undergraduate education to “serve, lift, and lead” in “a world yearning for hope and joy” (BYU Message)?

This capstone invites you to adapt your PWC training to become an effective communicator and a persuasive peacemaker. We’ll draw on multiple disciplines (rhetoric and writing studies, communication studies, peace and conflict studies) to understand rhetoric—the theory and practice of communication—as an art of peacemaking in personal, professional, and public contexts. We’ll study and present on case studies, especially of women, that model peacemaking communication in a variety of contexts.

You’ll apply what you learn to one of two capstone project options: an original research project that contributes to the capstone’s scholarly conversation; or an applied professional communication project relevant to your academic, professional, or personal goals. Either project will demonstrate how you’ve used your PWC training and capstone learning to create effective, ethical content that promotes your professional or personal goals.

If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (Article of Faith 13). For much of my academic career, I have shied away from directly engaging the sacred in my scholarship. This course is a repentant invitation for us to become more intentional about the ways through which we read, write, and talk about sacred stories.

What does it mean to call a story sacred? How do we make the sacred legible beyond a shared faith community? How do we more honestly interrogate the impacts of the stories we deem sacred? How might we elevate the sacred of another? How do definitions of what is sacred affect our spiritual and material realities? What happens when we place diverse sacred stories into collaborative conversation with one another?

From Indigenous stories to Latter-day Saint scripture, from the Quran to contemporary literary criticism, we will consider the intersecting beauty and complexity of sacred stories as we work to produce models of disciple scholarship that embrace and defend the divine diversity of religious expression.