The courses offered by the department focus on the formal, aesthetic, social, cultural, and historical aspects of literature and literary production and reception. Students are encouraged to approach literature from a variety of perspectives, e.g. exploring how it represents personal and collective identity, how it dramatizes the tensions between democratic ideals and social and political practice, and how it figures the place of the United States in the world. Courses are designed to acquaint students with some of the major trends in literary history, to expose them to a variety of representational modes and forms, to offer opportunities to employ various strategies of textual analysis, and to acquaint students with some of the key concepts of literary theory.

Upcoming Course Offerings

Winter Semester 2026/27

 Bachelor Program

• American Renaissance Reconsidered (Stefanie Müller)
• Self-Help Literature (James Dorson)
• Embodied Landscapes in Early American Literature (Phillip James Grider)
• Understanding North America a Literature/Culture (Lea Espinoza Garrido/ Martin Lüthe)
• BA Colloquium Literature/Culture (Lea Espinoza Garrido)

Starting in the winter term 2026/2027, the revised Bachelor’s degree programs in North American Studies (mono BA) and Applied North American Studies (combi BA) will enter into force. The previous Bachelor’s degree study regulations remain valid for students enrolled prior to the 2026/27 winter semester and will be phased out. In the new BA programs, the UNA modules will be offered in a revised format. Please note that, starting in the winter semester, the courses “Understanding North America” (A/B/C) will be offered exclusively in the new Bachelor’s program and will therefore not be linked to the UNA modules of the old BA program. If you still need to complete the UNA A or UNA B (old) module, please contact the Dean of Academic Affairs, David Bosold, to discuss credit transfer arrangements. All other modules can be completed in the existing Bachelor’s degree programs though some may have to be re-assigned internally (particularly due to limited course offerings in advanced modules).

 

Master Program

• American Renaissance Reconsidered (Stefanie Müller)

• Literary Theory and Methods (James Dorson)
• Writing Poverty (James Dorson)
• Reading Moby Dick at 175 (Stefanie Müller / Alexander Starre)

 

GSNAS

• Literary Theory and Methods (James Dorson)

For more information on upcoming course offerings in the Literature Department, please click here. To access the course catalog, please go to this section.