Below is the current department course list for Fall 2026 in Letters (LTRS). Please refer to ClassNav or ONE for semester, location, and time. Please keep in mind that, depending on enrollment numbers or instructor availability, courses may change before the start of a semester.
LTRS 1203 Horror Literature | Instructor: Garofalo | Days & Time: TR 3:00 PM–4:15 PM | Gen-Ed: AF
Vampires, ghosts, monstrous women, haunted houses and murderous video tapes–Gothic horror has terrified us for two centuries. This course studies horror literature from across the world from the nineteenth-century to the present.
LTRS 2003 Fantasy Literature | Instructor: Anderson | Days & Time: MWF 1:00 PM–1:50 PM | Gen-Ed: WC
This class will focus on the writing of J. R. R. Tolkien. From his teenage years until he died in his early eighties Tolkien devoted himself to the crafting of a private world that ended up becoming an international phenomenon. His Middle Earth was fed by many sources: a fascination with languages, whether living or long-dead, a profound aesthetic sensibility, his experience of early loss as well as the trauma of the Great War and his ardent Catholicism. It included the legendarium of The Silmarillion, which rises from primordial myth into the great tales of his First Age and it culminates in The Lord of the Rings, set thousands of years later and blending the everyday world of the hobbits with an epochal confrontation between good and evil.
LTRS 2103 Intro-Constitutional Studies | Instructor: Harpham | Days & Time: TR 4:30 PM–5:45 PM | Gen-Ed: WC | Letters Category: History or Philosophy| Area 1, 2, 3, 4 ConstuStu
Provides a broad introduction to the theory and history of constitutional governance. Includes the classical roots of constitutional thought, the contribution of the English common law tradition, the origins and structure of the U.S. Constitution, along with a sense of the constitutional basis of contemporary political controversies.
LTRS 2213 Crime and Detective Fiction | Instructor: Garofalo | Days & Time: TR 1:30 PM–2:45 PM | Gen-Ed: AF
This course studies the forms, contexts, and themes of the Crime and Detective Fiction genre.
LTRS 3013 Sacred Texts as Literature | Instructor: Anderson | Days & Time: MWF 11:00 AM–11:50 AM
In this class we will examine the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as a collection of literary works—creation myths, poetry, history, letters, wisdom literature, prophetic visions. While theology, history and metaphysics cannot be set aside we will focus on topics of characterization, plotting, verse form, parallelism and imagery. In doing so we will come to appreciate the aesthetic sensitivity and imaginative richness of these authors and gain some insight into why later generations found these diverse writings so compelling.
LTRS 3133 Examined Life III: Enlightenment | Instructor: R. Huskey | Days & Time: MWF 1:00 PM–1:50 PM | Gen-Ed: WC | Letters Category: History, Literature, or Philosophy| Area 2 Const Stu
Come explore historical and fictional tales of dire circumstances and human resilience in 18th century Europe. Readings include Voltaire’s dark comic novel Candide, the thought of the great-grandmama of feminism Mary Wollstonecraft, and the (heretical?) writings of David Hume. The class will consider how these texts have impacted modern-day thinking. This course will count towards the history, literature, or philosophy requirement of the Letters major.
LTRS 3223 Revolutions | Instructor: Harpham | Days & Time: TR 1:30 PM–2:45 PM | Gen-Ed: WC| Area 3 Const Stu
Prerequisite: ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213. This course studies the “Age of Revolutions”and focuses on different revolutionary traditions which may include, for example, the French, Haitian, American and English Revolutions from C 17 to C 19. Readings will cover the work of historians, philosophers, and literary writers as well as speeches and writings of important historical figures.
LTRS 3323 Violence | Instructor: Selinger | Days & Time: MWF 2:00 PM–2:50 PM | Gen-Ed: WC | Letters Category: History or Philosophy |Area 2, 4 Const Stu
Prerequisite: ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213. This course studies political and social theories of violence together with filmic and literary representations of various forms of violence in a variety of historical periods and artistic traditions. The course examines the work of theorists who consider the causes and forms of violence in relation to several major topics such as empire and revolution.
LTRS 3353 Interpreting American Founding | Instructor: Selinger | Days & Time: MWF 11:00 AM–11:50 AM | Gen-Ed: WC| Area 2 Const Stu
Prerequisite: ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213. Examines the various ways that scholars have interpreted the Founding over the past two hundred years. It is a study, then, of the historiographic interpretations of the events of the American Founding era rather than a study of the events and historical figures themselves.
