The English Proseminar is a course in advanced reading, researching, and writing. It is designed to introduce you to the fundamental skills of graduate study and to begin the training and study that will eventually take you to your Master’s Comprehensive Exam and your degree. Students in my section should expect that by the end of the term you will have gained increased proficiency and further experience with:
The skills listed above take a lifetime to perfect, and I don’t expect that by the end of the term you will feel that you have achieved mastery of these areas. I still work daily at sharpening my own skills. As Chaucer wrote, “The life so short, the craft so long to learn.”
But in this class it is my goal to establish the baseline expectations that we as faculty have for our graduate students. It is also my goal that you leave this class with the tools necessary to excel in your career—as a graduate student, teacher, and wherever else your passions lead you.