English and Theatre Department
Contact Us:
- Susan Méndez, Ph.D., Chair
- English & Theatre
- McDade Center for Literary & Performing Arts
- Scranton, PA 18510
- The University of Scranton
- Phone: 570-941-4317
- susan.mendez@scranton.edu
Dr. Rebecca S. Beal
Member of the Mu Omicron Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, The English Honor Society
Ph.D., Comparative Literature, The University of Texas at Austin
MA, Comparative Literature, The University of Chicago
AB, English and French, Westmont College
Dr. Rebecca S. Beal specializes in medieval literature, and has published on Dante, Chaucer, and the Alliterative Morte Arthure . Her most recent essay, " What Chaucer Did to an Orazion in the Filostrato: Calkas's Speech as Deliberative Oratory, " appeared in the April 2010 issue of Chaucer Review . Dr. Beal has benefited from participation in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar ("The Medieval Book"), an NEH Institute ("Arthurian Institute"), and is the recipient of an NEH fellowship to study Dante's iconography. Dr. Beal helped initiate the University of Scranton ' Divine Comedy . She has also taught courses for the Forum on Arthurian legend and Virgil's Aeneid . She was a co-moderator of Mu Omicron, the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society . Under her leadership, the chapter has won several national awards and fellowships.
Dr. Beal is a member of the Dante Society of America , the Modern Language Association , and the New Chaucer Society .
Dr. Beal taught the following courses:
ENLT 121 Intro. to Poetry
An exploration of the nature of poetry, its value, aims, and techniques. The emphasis will be critical rather than historical. The range of poems and the specific selections may vary with the individual instructor.
ENLT 127 Myth of the Hero
Mythic materials are examined to discover the underlying heroic archetypal patterns. Then modern literature is examined in the light of the same mythic patterns.
ENLT 234 Camelot Legend
3 cr (Area B-1, CL, W)
This course will examine the development of Arthurian legend-tales of knights and ladies associated with the court of King Arthur from its early origins in Celtic and Latin medieval literature, through medieval romances and histories, culminating in Malory's Morte D' Arthur.
ENLT 235 Literature in the Age of Chaucer
3 cr. (Area B-1, CL,W)
This course will explore 14th-century non-dramatic vernacular literature. In addition to Chaucer, authors studied may include Langland, Kempe, and the Pearl Poet.
ENLT 240 British Literature: Medieval and Renaissance
A detailed study of representative works and authors from the Anglo-Saxons to the 17th century. Though the emphasis will be on an intensive study of major works in their literry and cultural context, consideration will be given to minor writers as well
ENLT 340 Late medieval Drama
3 cr. (Area B-1)
A survey of 14th- and 15th-century drama, including the Corpus Christi cycle, morality plays such as Everyman, Mankind and Castle of Perseverance, and The Saint's play. This course may be counted toward the Theatre major, minor or track.
ENLT 366 Dante's Divine Comedy
3 cr.
A canto-by-canto study, in translation, of Dante's dream vision of hell, purgatory, and heaven. Consideration will be given to the cultural milieu and to medieval art and thought as these affect the allegorical meaning and structure of the poem.
ENLT 423J Classics of Western Literature
This SJLA course examines epic and lyric poetry from classical Roman poetry through medieval, early modern and modern literature. The approach is both literary (i.e., studying plot, character, style, genre) and thematic (i.e., addressing traditions concerning the individual, family and society). The emphasis is inductive, within cultural and theoretical contexts.
ENLT 443 Chaucer
3 cr. (Theory Intensive)
A study of Chaucer's poetry in the context of medieval culture. Readings and assignments will concentrate on The Canterbury Tales, but will also cover the other major poems, such as the Book of the Duchess and the Parliament of Birds.
ENLT 490-491Senior Seminar
3 cr. (W)
The topics of these writing-intensive seminars vary from semester to semester. Based largely on student writing, presentations, and discussion, this capstone course is required in the major and culminates in the student'sdevelopment of a seminar paper. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment limited to 15 students per section.
WRTG 107 Composition
3 cr. (FYW)
Students develop techniques for making effective contributions in writing to intellectual discussions, academically and in other cultural settings. Students are tasked with forming the strong foundation in critical reading, thinking, writing, researching, and reflecting neccessary for expressing ideas in a variety of rhetorical situations.