Section Info: ENGL-382QM-01

Course Title: Advanced Topics in English: 'The Queer Early Modern'
Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Description: This course combines Renaissance literary texts with various related secondary readings that will enable students to better understand the way that sexuality -- both normative and nonnormative -- was portrayed and interpreted in early modern literature. As we progress through the course, we will discuss what defines queer history and histories of sexuality, how the history of sexuality in the past informs the present, and, ultimately, the ways in which we can use early modern literature to better understand ourselves today. Course texts will include Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, John Lyly's Galatea, Shakespeare's sonnets, and the poetry of Aemilia Lanyer, Aphra Behn, and Katherine Philips.
Distribution(s): I - Humanities , TP - Topics Course
Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate     Credits:4.00    

Faculty         Phone         Email address        
Caitlin Mahaffy             cmahaffy@mtholyoke.edu  

Meeting Dates         Method         Meeting days         Meeting times         Building name         Room     Frequency    
01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026   Seminar   Monday and Wednesday   11:30AM - 12:45PM   TBA   TBA   Weekly

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Requisite Courses        
None                    

Comments        
Additional Comments        
Meets the English department's legacy pre-1700 requirement.  
Course Tags        
PRI0001             Used to identify primary sides of crosslisted courses for Workday conversion  

Cross-listed Sections        
ENGL-382QM-01 The Queer Early Modern  
GNDST-333QM-01 The Queer Early Modern  

Course Availability
Section status: Waitlisted     Capacity: 18     Enrollment: 19     Available: 0     Waitlist: 11
Please note: The "Available" count will equal 0 in a Waitlisted course where spaces in the course have recently opened and students have not yet been moved into them from the waitlist.

BOOK INFORMATION

Book List         Required         Publisher Full Price        
Title: The Convent of Pleasure
Author: Cavendish, Margaret
Copyright: 2016
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780692654620
Publisher: 		Required   14.99  
Title: The Roaring Girl
Author: Dekker and Middleton,
Copyright: 2009
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780713668131
Publisher: Methuen Drama 		Required   13.95  
Title: Edward II
Author: Marlowe, Christopher
Copyright: 2014
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9781472520524
Publisher: Methuen Drama 		Required   13.95  
Title: Galatea
Author: Lyly, John
Copyright: 2012
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780719088056
Publisher: Manchester University Press 		Required   8.96  
Title: Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems
Author: Shakespeare,
Copyright: 2006
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780743273282
Publisher: 		Recommended   12.82  
Title: As You Like It
Author: Shakespeare,
Copyright: 2019
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9781982109400
Publisher: 		Required   9.59  
Title: Lieutenant Nun: The True Story of a Cross-Dressing, Transatlantic Adventure
Author: de Erauso, Catalina
Copyright: 1997
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780807070734
Publisher: Beacon Press 		Required   15.74  
Title: Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz (Selected Works)
Author: de la Cruz, Sor Juana
Copyright: 2015
Edition:
Volume:
ISBN: 9780393351880
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company 		Required   14.95  

Additional Book Comments        
This is the complete book list for this class.  
Instructor's comments about the book list: Additional readings will be available on Moodle.