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The abilities to read critically and to write well are vital elements in a liberal
education, and the English Department stresses the teaching of these skills in its
curriculum. The department offers both traditional courses in American, English, and
world literature, and an array of special topic courses, including ones on single authors
(James Joyce), specialized application (Topics in Text and Performance), on
literary movements (Modernism), and on rhetorical forms in the modern world. A
number of the department's courses are related to other special programs and majors: American
Studies, Media Studies, Women's Studies.
The faculty engage in a wide range of scholarly and artistic activities that enrich and
inform their teaching. Paul Mann has a special interest in critical theory, and Arden Reed's
interest is in the relationship between literature and the visual arts; Martha Andresen
emphasizes performance possibilities in her Shakespeare course; Rena Fraden and Cristanne
Miller work in the fields of American literature, popular culture, and Women's Studies;
Edward Copeland and Paul Saint-Amour specialize in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English
literature. Robert Mezey, and Steve Young write, translate, and/or perform poetry, fiction,
and drama and teach a range of literature in all forms from Old English to contemporary.
Incoming faculty members jointly appointed in English and Media Studies, and in English and
Black Studies will enrich the curriculum. The department has recently designed and built a
portable stage for the mounting of in-class productions.
Recent or current scholarly studies by members of the department include books on Jane Austen,
Emily Dickinson, Marianne Moore, the Black Theater of the 1930's, the avant-garde, and a
translation of Jorge Luis Borge's poetry. Works in progress include studies of Black theater
performance, Manet and literature, maps in fiction, issues of literary property in the
nineteenth-century, and practices of teaching.
The department directs the Claremont Literary Series, which brings writers of distinction to
the campus for readings and for meetings with students. Pomona students publish an annual
journal, The Spectator, and underground publications like Swill and
Prophetic Voices, as vehicles for their own creative writing.
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