________________________________ Dear English Majors, I'm writing to let you know about two fabulous recent additions to the Fall 2017 course schedule: English 331 (60037), Chaucer. This elective course, taught by Madeleine Saraceni, meets on Wednesday evenings, from 6:40pm-9:30pm in RA 102. It satisfies the "British Literature before 1800" area elective requirement. English 351 (60038), Borders and Outsiders in the American Nineteenth Century. This elective courses, taught by Kate Schnur, meets on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:10pm-4:25pm. It satisfies the "American literature before 1900" area elective requirement. Course descriptions for these-and all the Fall 17 200- and 300-level electives-are available on the English department website: http://english.qc.cuny.edu/undergraduate/curent-undergraduate-courses/ They're also below, for your reference. If you have questions about these courses, or about planning your Fall schedule, please don't hesitate to be in touch. With my good wishes for these hectic final weeks of the semester, Andrea Walkden Associate Professor of English Director of Undergraduate Studies, 2016-17 Queens College, CUNY andrea.walkden@qc.cuny.edu<mailto:andrea.walkden@qc.cuny.edu> Office: Klapper Hall, Room 601 MW 12:00-3:00, or by appointment ENG 331-01(60037) W 6:40pm -9:30pm, RA 102: Saraceni Chaucer Few authors can claim a more significant role in English literary history than Geoffrey Chaucer, hailed as the "fader" and "firste fyndere of oure faire language." How did Chaucer come to achieve this title? What characteristics of his writing were new? And what about him remains innovative over six hundred years later? This course offers an intensive study of Chaucer's works with consideration of their cultural and historical contexts. Readings include The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame and selections from The Canterbury Tales. Special topics include the politics and status of Middle English, Chaucer and women, and the legacy of Chaucer. No previous knowledge of Middle English is assumed. ENGL 351-01 (60038) T/R 3:10pm-4:25pm: Schnur Borders and Outsiders in the American Nineteenth Century Though questions of how to draw and protect borders, as well as who should be allowed within them, are, today, rooted in twentieth-century nationalism and geopolitics, the American nineteenth century is defined by wars fought on American soil, violent federal policies, and diplomatic deals that determined the boundaries of this country and the American citizenry. Using moments like the Louisiana Purchase, the westward expansion inspired by Manifest Destiny and the Gold Rush, the Trail of Tears, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, we will look at how nineteenth-century American literature probed the formation of American borders and American identity, as defined through these historical moments and their fallout. Aided by some (light) use of literary theory, we will interrogate how questions of class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality shaped questions of boundaries and nationhood. We will also look at how these anxieties surrounding national borders extended to discussions of the borders of our body, or, indeed, of the borders that define American literature. Our reading list may include the works of: Zitkala Sa, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Kate Chopin, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Frederick Douglass, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Charles Chesnutt.