2025-26 Courses

Overview

We are excited to introduce our department’s curriculum for the Academic Year 2025-26.

Please note that this schedule is subject to change, and students are encouraged not only to revisit this page but also to confirm the current semester's course listings in the "English @Barnard" section of the Directory of Classes.

English majors should contact their major advisor with any questions. Non-English majors, or those thinking of declaring an English major, should contact english@barnard.edu.

Fall 2025 Courses

Please note:

Fall courses will be held from Tuesday September 2, 2025 – Monday, December 8, 2025.
Course descriptions, sections and times, can be found in the "English @Barnard" section of the Directory of Classes.

COURSE	INSTRUCTOR	NOTES
ENGL BC1068 True Crime	Penelope Usher	For First Year students
ENGL BC1295 Graphic Autobiographies and Biographies	Benjamin Breyer	For First Year students
ENGL BC1808 Rooting for the Antihero – the Evolution of a Modern Archetype	Victor Zarour Zarzar	For First Year students
ENGL BC3101, section 1 The Writer's Process: A Seminar in the Teaching of Writing	Pamela Cobrin	Open only to Barnard students. Application required.
ENGL BC3101, section 2 The Writer's Process: A Seminar in the Teaching of Writing	Alexandra Watson	Open only to Barnard students. Application required.
ENGL BC3102 Academic Writing Intensive	Vrinda Condillac	Open only to Barnard students. To be considered for the course, please send a recent writing sample to clie@barnard.edu, ideally from your First-Year Writing or First-Year Seminar course, or any other writing-intensive humanities or social sciences course at Barnard (no lab reports please).
ENGL BC3103, section 1 The Art of the Essay	Peggy Ellsberg	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3103, section 2 The Art of the Essay	Vrinda Condillac	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3103, section 3 The Art of the Essay	Nina Sharma	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3105 Fiction and Personal Narrative	Zaina Arafat	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3107 Introduction to Fiction Writing	Kate Zambreno	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3110 Introduction to Poetry Writing, section 1	Brionne Janae	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3110 Introduction to Poetry Writing, section 2	Farnoosh Fathi	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3113 Playwriting I	Ellen McLaughlin	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3115 Story Writing I	Nellie Hermann	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3117, section 1 Fiction Writing	Weike Wang	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3117, section 2 Fiction Writing	Idra L. Novey	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3118 Advanced Poetry Writing I	Patricia Spears Jones	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3121 Public Speaking	Daniela Kempf	Limited enrollment. Attend the first day of class to receive instructor permission. Permission will NOT be granted in advance.
ENGL BC3123 Rhetorical Choices: the Theory and Practice of Public Speaking	Pamela Cobrin and Daniela Kempf	Open only to Barnard students. Application required.
ENGL BC3130 The American Cowboy and The Iconography of the West	Peggy Ellsberg
ENGL BC3134 Creative Non-Fiction	Nina Sharma	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3159, section 1 The English Colloquium (Renaissance)	Ross Hamilton	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3159, section 2 The English Colloquium (Renaissance)	Atefeh Akbari	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3159, section 3 The English Colloquium (Renaissance)	Eugene Petracca	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3163 Shakespeare I	Peter Platt
ENGL BC3167 Milton	Achsah Guibbory
ENGL BC3173 The Eighteenth-Century Novel	Monica Cohen
ENGL BC3177 Victorian Age in Literature	Jayne Hildebrand
ENGL BC3179 American Literature to 1800	Lisa Gordis
ENGL BC3183 American Literature since 1945	Maura Spiegel
ENGL BC3193, section 1 Critical Writing	Kristi Cassaro	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3193, section 2 Critical Writing	Andrew Lynn	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3193, section 3 Critical Writing	Eugene Petracca	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3195 Modernism	Kristi Cassaro
ENGL BC3208 What's Your Story Anyway?—Trauma Resistance through Creative Writing	Maria Hinojosa	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3214 Latinx and the ICE/Prison Industrial Complex—Access and Strategies for News Coverage	Maria Hinojosa
ENGL BC3242 Literature of Liberation Before 1900	Ken Chen
ENGL BC BC3243 Absent Mothers, Wicked Stepmothers	Wendy Schor-Haim
ENGL BC3249 The Marriage Plot	Peggy Ellsberg
ENGL BC3252 Contemporary Media Theory	Jonathan Beller
ENGL BC3597 Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Their Literary Afterlives	Jhumpa Lahiri	Course requires approval from waitlist to join.
ENGL BC3645 A Literary History of Marriage	Daphne Merkin
ENGL BC3760 American Exceptionalism	Kristi-Lynn Cassaro
ENGL BC3899 Reading Italians: Her Side of the Story	Jhumpa Lahiri
ENGL BC3992 Senior Project in Creative Writing	Ken Chen	Open only to senior Barnard English majors with a Creative Writing concentration.
ENGL BC3997, section 1 Senior Seminar: John Donne, etc.: An Experiment	Achsah Guibbory	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3997, section 2 Senior Seminar: Victorian and Modern Drama	Patricia Denison	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3997, section 3 Senior Seminar: Black Lives in the Enlightenment	James Basker	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3997, section 4 Senior Seminar: "a d—d mob of scribbling women": Nineteenth-century American Women Writers	Lisa Gordis	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.

Spring 2026 Courses

Please note:

Spring courses will be held from Tuesday January 20, 2026 – Monday, May 4, 2026.
Course descriptions, sections and times, can be found in the "English @Barnard" section of the Directory of Classes.
If you are unsure of whether or not a course requires special enrollment procedures, please see our full list of spring 2026 courses that require special enrollment.

COURSE	INSTRUCTOR	NOTES
ENGL BC1152 Poetry-ish: Hybridity and Society	Quincy Jones	For First-Year English students.
ENGL BC1901 Intro to Comics and Graphic Novels	Benjamin Breyer	For First-Year English students.
ENFL BC3001 Black Speculative Fiction	Danielle Dougé
ENFL BC3275 Nonhuman Intelligence	Meg McLagan
ENGL BC3104, section 1 The Art of the Essay	Shelly Fredman	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3104, section 2 The Art of the Essay	Peggy Ellsberg	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3104, section 3 The Art of the Essay	Vrinda Condillac	Enrolled and interested students MUST attend the first day of class.
ENGL BC3106 Fiction and Personal Narrative	Alexandra Watson	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3108 Introduction to Fiction Writing	Cleyvis Natera	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3110 Introduction to Poetry Writing	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3114 Playwriting II	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3116 Story Writing II	Nellie Hermann	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC31117 Fiction Writing, section 1	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC31117 Fiction Writing, section 2	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3118 Advanced Poetry Writing I	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3121 Public Speaking, section 1 (for Barnard first-years)	Daniela Kempf	Limited enrollment. This section is for Barnard first-year students only; join the waitlist to be let into the course.
ENGL BC3121 Public Speaking, section 2	Daniela Kempf	Limited enrollment. This section is for all undergraduates with preference to juniors and seniors; attend the first day of class to receive instructor permission. Permission will NOT be granted in advance.
ENGL BC3134 Creative Non-Fiction, section 1: Your Story	Liana Finck	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENGL BC3134 Creative Non-Fiction, section 2: Real Life	Instructor TBD	Requires a writing sample to apply.
ENTH BC3136 Shakespeare in Performance	Patricia Denison
ENTH BC3139 ENTH BC3139 Modern American Drama and Performance	Patricia Denison
ENRE BC3145 Jews in Christian Narrative	Wendy Schor-Haim
ENGL BC3155 The Canterbury Tales	Eugene Petracca
ENGL BC3160, section 1 The English Colloquium (Enlightenment)	Achsah Guibbory	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3160, section 2 The English Colloquium (Enlightenment)	Ross Hamilton	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3160, section 3 The English Colloquium (Enlightenment)	Jayne Hildebrand	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3160, section 4 The English Colloquium (Enlightenment)	Andrew Lynn	Open only to junior and senior Barnard English majors. New junior Barnard transfer students who are not yet able to declare an English major will be able to register during their first registration week.
ENGL BC3161 Medieval Love Literature	Eugene Petracca
ENGL BC3164 Shakespeare II	Peter Platt
ENGL BC3166 17th Century Poetry	Achsah Guibbory
ENGL BC3180 American Literature, 1800-1870	Victor Zarour Zarzar
ENGL BC3189 Postmodernism	Kristi Cassaro
ENGL BC3193, section 1 Critical Writing	Kristi Cassaro	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3193, section 2 Critical Writing	Monica Cohen	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3193, section 3 Critical Writing	Instructor TBD	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3193, section 4 Critical Writing	Eugene Petracca	Open only to Barnard students, priority to English majors.
ENGL BC3215 Victorian Science and Science Fiction	Jayne Hildebrand
ENFL BC3275 Nonhuman Intelligence	Meg McLagan
ENGL BC3281 Illegal Is Not a Noun: Disrupting Narratives of the Immigrant Experience	Maria Hinojosa
ENGL BC3418 Desire and Metamorphosis	Jennifer Boylan
ENGL BC3644 Depression	Daphne Merkin
ENRE BC3810 Literary Approaches to the Bible	Peggy Ellsberg
ENGL BC3992 Senior Project in Creative Writing	Elif Batuman	Open only to senior Barnard English majors with a Creative Writing concentration.
ENGL BC3993 Senior Seminar: Family in Film and Literature	Maura Spiegel	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3998, section 1 Senior Seminar: Histories of the Body	Ross Hamilton	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3998, section 2 Senior Seminar: TBD	Atefeh Akbari	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.
ENGL BC3998, section 3 Senior Seminar: TBD	Ken Chen	Open only to Barnard senior English majors.