Life of the mind
Essential poetry:

English 132: Writing Poetry
In a workshop format, students write and analyze their own poems, using traditional and contemporary models. Visiting professor Eleanor Wilner offers practice in the use of "poetic logos," a language that she describes as distinct from both daily and academic discourse.

English 155: Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
Associate professor Maria Christina von Nolcken examines Chaucer's art as revealed in selections from The Canterbury Tales, noting earlier works that influenced Chaucer's writings.

English 267: Whitman
Situating Walt Whitman's poetry in a historical context, associate professor William Brown poses questions about the relationships between literature and history, pleasure and politics, and cultural production and reception.

Spanish 283: Invención de la decadencia
Assistant professor Patrick O'Connor examines the poetic and critical traditions that willingly adopted the self--image of decadence in Spanish and Latin American literature. Students read Cambaceres, Casal, Agustini, and others, exploring such topics as poetry and the city, the politics of aestheticism, and theories of irony and masks.

English 291: American Poetry at the Millennium
Assistant professor Danielle Allen and the American Poetry Committee invite seven award--winning poets to campus for a series of first--hand readings and lectures. Poets include such notables as Shelley Award--winner Frank Bidart, Korean poet Ko Un, and Pulitzer Prize--winner Yusef Komunyakaa.