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Dr. Leonard Gougeon

Distinguished Professor, Emeritus

 

B.A., St. Mary's University Halifax
M.A., Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst

 

 

 

 

Len Gougeon, Distinguished Professor of American Literature, is the author of Virtue's Hero: Emerson, Antislavery, and Reform, Emerson & Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero, and Emerson's Truth, Emerson's Wisdom: Transcendental Advice for Everyday Life. He is the coeditor (with Joel Myerson) of Emerson's Antislavery Writings. In 2008 he received the Emerson Society's Distinguished Achievement Award. He has published numerous scholarly articles on major figures of the American antebellum period in such journals as The New England Quarterly, American Literature, Walkt Whitman Quarterly Review, Studies in the American Renaissance, Modern Language Studies and others. His essays appear in a number of collections including The Oxford Handbook to Transcendentalism, Emerson Bicentennial Essays, The Cambridge Companion to Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau at 200: Essays and Reassessments, A Political Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in Context, Teaching Emerson, and others. He is a past-President of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society. Currently, he is working on a study of the cultural conflict that erupted between New England and Old England as a result of the Civil War.

Dr. Gougeon's essay, "Culture and Conflict: Thoreau, Great Britain, and the Civil War," published in a collection celebrating Henry David Thoreau's 200th birthday. The volume, Thoreau at Two-Hundred: Essays and Reassessments, eds. Kevin Van Anglen and Kristen Case (Cambridge: Cambride University Press, 2016), can be reviewed at https://www.amazon.com/Thoreau-at-200-Essays-Reassessments/dp/1107094291/ref=sr_1_1

 

Dr. Gougeon taught the following courses:

ENLT 120 Intro. to Fiction

3 cr. (CL)

An exploration of the nature of prose fiction, its elements and techniques. The emphasis is critical rather than historical. The range of works and the specific selections may vary with the individual instructor.

ENLT 125 Classic American Stories

3 cr. (CL)

This course will examine representative examples of the American short story from the 19th century to the present. Emphasis will be placed on the significance of individual works, but some consideration will be given to the evolving American milieu. Readings will include Hawthorne, Poe, Crane, Malamud, and Oates.

ENLT 212 Masters of Darkness

3 cr. (CL, W)

This course will survey a significant sampling of the short works of three of America's most famous "dark Romantic" writers: Melville, Hawthorne, and Poe. Consideration will be given to the historical milieu and the authors' responses to the problems and promises of the American experience.

ENLT 230 American Romanticism

3 cr. (CL, Area A-1)

This course will deal with representative short works of America's six major Romantic authors: Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe.

ENLT 243 American Literature to 1865

3 cr. (Area A-1)

An in-depth study of a select group of major American authors from the Colonial Period to the Civil War. Included are Bradford, Franklin, Irving, and Poe. Consideration given to the historical and cultural milieu and development of major American themes and attitudes. (Offered Fall Semester Only)

ENLT 245 American Literature, 1865 to the Present

3 cr. (Area A-2)

Study of a select group of major American authors from the Civil War to the present. Included are Twain, Crane, Fitzgerald and Vonnegut. The historical and cultural milieu and the development of major American themes and attitudes are reviewed. (Offered Spring Semester Only)

ENLT 265J The American Literary Experience

3 cr. (Prerequisites: ENLT 140 or the equivalent; any ENLT course between 120 & 179 inclusive)

A survey of prose landmarks in the evolution of a unique American literary consciousness from the eighteenth century to the present. Discussions will focus on the American Enlightenment, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Each literary movement will be considered in relation to its social, historical, & cultural contexts.

ENLT 350 Major Works: American Romantics

3 cr. (Area A-1)

Cooper's the Prairie, Emerson's Nature, Thoreau's Walden, Melville's Moby Dick, and others. Evaluation of the works in their historical context and the development of the American Romantic movement, 1820-1865.

ENLT 353 Major Works: American Realists

3 cr. (Area A-2)

Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Howell's The Rise of Silas Lapham, James's The American, Crane's, The Red Badge of Courage, Dreiser's Sister Carrie and others. Works are evaluated in their historical milieu and the development of American Realism, 1865-1900.

ENLT 490-491 Senior Seminar

3 cr.

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's development of a seminar paper. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment limited to 15 students per section.

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