ENGL 4230

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 15, 2026 7:07PM EDT

ENGL 4230
Literature and Constitutionalism

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Literary texts and written constitutions do not appear to have much in common. Yet there is a long tradition that has seen poetic and imaginative invention as crucial to social and political organization, from the mythic figures of Orpheus and Amphion whose verses could tame beasts and build cities, to the role of theater in Athenian democracy, to the epic poems that voice the authority of states and societies. As Percy Shelley wrote in A Defense of Poetry, poets are “the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” In this course, we will study works that expressly present themselves as making or constituting the polity to better understand how literature patterns out popular sovereignty and limited authority.


Distribution Requirements (ALC-AS)

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: ENGL 6230

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7716 ENGL 4230   SEM 101

  •  
    • MW
    • Jan 25 - May 11, 2027

    • Kalas, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7717 ENGL 4230   IND 601

  •  
    • Jan 25 - May 11, 2027

    • Kalas, R

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies