MSU Billings Catalog

LIT - Literature

LIT 110 Intro to Literature. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Presents students with the opportunity to experience and analyze short and long fiction; narrative, dramatic and lyric poetry; stage and cinematic drama, and selected audio/visual materials. Students will develop skills and attitudes enabling them to experience the written word and selected audio/visual media for insight and entertainment (Course not applicable to English major).

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 201 Intro to Literary Studies. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Prerequisite(s): WRIT 101.

3cr. Focuses on reading and analyzing literary works to prepare students for literary studies at the college level. This course will introduce students to literary genres, literary terms, methods of literary criticism, and research skills focused on scholarly articles. Students will write analytical essays in response to various literary works.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 213 Montana Literature. 3 Credits

(alternating Sp) Examines literature by contemporary and historic writers who have a strong literary connection to Montana.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 230 World Lit Survey. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall

3cr. Introduces students to works of world literature in translation and in multiple genres (e.g., poetry, prose, and drama) which provide a comparative basis for understanding different cultures. Selections and approach will vary with each offering.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 240 The Bible as Literature. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Examines the Bible as a work of literary art. Considers such topics as literary genre, plots, character development, thematic concerns, historical and cultural contexts, and style of writings that make up the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 270 Film & Lit. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Focuses on modern and contemporary novels, plays or short stories which have been adapted to film. Emphasizes written and visual literacy.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 294 Seminar/Workshop. 1-3 Credits

Provides freshmen and sophomores an opportunity for experimental study in an area of English or the teaching of English.

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 300 Literary Criticism. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Prerequisite(s): LIT 201 or consent of instructor.

Surveys the leading literary critics and theorists from Plato and Aristotle to the Formalists of the mid- twentieth century.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 305 Lit by & About Native Amer. 3 Credits

Prerequisite(s): consent of instructor.

Includes fictional and non-fictional oral, written, and visual literature pertaining to Native Americans and created by Indians and non-Indians including traditional literature such as legends, myths, teaching stories, humor, songs, orations, dramas, captivity accounts, sign language, winter counts, and hide paintings; contemporary literature such as poetry, songs, short stories, novels, humor, newspapers, theatricals, movies, television, and picture books; and translation, interpretation, and criticism, with insight drawn from Indian cultural traditions, the humanities, and the social sciences.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 307 Latino Lit. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring (odd years)

Introduces Latino/a literature with focus on classic and contemporary writers of Hispanic origin living and writing in the U.S. Analyzes their historical, political, cultural, and literary discourses through fictional and some non-fictional works focusing on Latino/a society as a marginalized minority.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 317 Transatlantic Literature I. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall

Prerequisite(s): LIT 201 or consent of instructor.

3cr. Surveys the circulations, exchanges, and influences of literatures in the early Atlantic world, roughly 1500 to 1800, focusing primarily on British and American texts but also including African, Caribbean, South American, and/or indigenous literatures of North America.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 318 Transatlantic Literature II. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Prerequisite(s): LIT 201 or consent of instructor.

3cr. Surveys the circulations, exchanges, and influences of literatures in the modern Atlantic world, roughly 1800 to present, focusing primarily on British and American texts but also including African, Caribbean, South American, and/or indigenous literatures of North America.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 327 Shakespeare. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall

Prerequisite(s): LIT 201 or Consent of instructor.

3cr. Examines the major dramatic genres of Shakespeare: history/tragedy, and comedy/romance. Studies Shakespeare’s biography, historical context and knowledge of psychology, ethics, and philosophy as reflected in plays.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 335 Women & Lit. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall (even years)

Studies examples of the written, oral, and visual arts depicting women as “voices” of the periods which produced them, and examines how those voices influenced, and continue to color, women’s perceptions of their roles in society. Pays special attention to the literature written by such authors as Doris Lessing, Alice Adams, Anne Sexton, Alice Munro, Megan Terry, and Alice Walker.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 370 Science Fiction. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring (even years)

Examines the major Humanistic, biological, environmental, psychosocial, and technological themes of science fiction as a significant genre of modern speculative fiction and traces the historical development of science fiction from the 19th century to the present.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 381 Young Adult Lit. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Fall

Provides students with knowledge of books written specifically for young adults and with a background in the various kinds of material available for both in-class and out-of-class reading experiences for preteens and teenagers. Issues involved in assigning and recommending reading materials for Middle School, Junior and Senior High School students are covered, including units on censorship and methods of promoting books through classroom activities.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 398 Cooperative Educ/Internship. 1 Credit

Lecture Hours 1

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 432 Major Writers. 3 Credits

Provides advanced study of the work of a selected author or authors.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 437 Studies in Genres. 3 Credits

Term Typically Offered: Spring

Provides intensive study of a single genre—such as the epic, the novel, drama, or poetry—or the idea of “genre” itself. Selection and approach will vary with each offering.

Lecture Hours 3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 463 Studies in Contemporary Lit. 1-3 Credits

Prerequisite(s): upper division status or consent of instructor.

R-6. Provides advanced study of major developments, genres, or themes in American, British, and/or Western- European fiction, poetry, and drama (and film where relevant) since 1965. Appropriate connections among national literatures will be explored. Course content will vary, and the course may be repeated for credit.

Lecture Hours 1-3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 491 Special Topics. 1-3 Credits

Lecture Hours 1-3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 492 Independent Study. 1-3 Credits

Prerequisite(s): consent of instructor and chairperson of the department.

Provides outstanding students with an opportunity for individually guided research and study in English. A contract describing the study must be completed at the time of enrollment and filed in the English Department office. (Note: Not more than 6 credits of LIT 492 may be allowed toward any program in English.)

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 494 Seminar/Workshop. 1-3 Credits

Provides an opportunity for experimental study in an area of English and the teaching of English.

Lecture Hours 1-3

Department: English & Philosophy

LIT 498 Internship/Cooperative Educ. 1-9 Credits

Provides university credit for a work experience in the area of English, supervised by faculty. Learning agreement must be completed prior to registration (restricted).

Department: English & Philosophy