Scheduling and Enrolling for Summer 2021 and Fall 2021

Dear English Majors and Minors,

It has been a confusing and difficult year at FAU and throughout the world. Included in the confusion have been dramatic shifts in the delivery of our courses and the shifting of the modalities of course delivery. As time passes in 2021-22, we believe we will be getting close to “back to normal,” or to a “new normal” at any rate. We expect this to happen, more or less, by Fall 2021, though there may be some obstacles along the way. Below are some general guidelines and “things you should know” about Summer 2021 English courses and Fall 2021 English courses.

Summer 2021

In deference to the continuing pandemic and out of an abundance of caution, most Summer 2021 English courses will be held remotely/online in one capacity or another. This is especially true of upper-division and graduate classes and classes taught in “Summer 2”—the first 6 weeks of Summer. The exceptions are lower-division and IFP courses taught in “Summer 3”—the second 6 weeks of summer, many of which will be taught face-to-face in anticipation that most, if not all, students and faculty who wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be by that point.

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Fall 2021

FAU anticipates that life in Florida will be more or less “back to normal” by the beginning of the Fall semester, as it is anticipated that all who wish to be vaccinated by late August will have been. Because of this, most English classes, upper and/or lower-divison, will be face-to-face in the Fall. There will, however, be a variety of online options, both lower and upper division, for those students who prefer to learn in this modality. We will be offering more online sections than we did in pre-COVID days, but not nearly as many as we did during the worst periods of the COVID pandemic, Spring 20 through Summer 21.

Face-to-face classes in Fall 2021 will, for the most part, NOT have an online option, with only a few exceptions. As in days of yore, if a student enrolls in a face-to-face class, the expectation is that they will come to campus, attend regularly, and interact with their professor and classmates.

EXCEPTIONS

The face-to-face English classes running on the Davie campus will all have a remote option. That is, while the professor and some students will be in a classroom on the Davie campus, students will be able to attend the class remotely (and/or receive recordings of lectures) in lieu of coming to campus. The choice will be each individual student’s. In this way, Boca students can attend Davie classes.

The list of the Davie courses that will be “in-person” but with a remote option for Fall 21 are:

AML 4321	Major American Writers – 20th Century (Adams)
ENG 3822	Introduction to Literary Studies (Adams)
LIT 3184	Irish Literature (Adams)
ENL 3425	Greek and Roman Classics (Leeds)
ENL 4333	Shakespeare (Stockard)

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HOWEVER

The above plan is based on anticipated events and the premise that the worst of the COVID pandemic is over. As we have all learned over the past year, situations are fluid and plans can change rapidly. Obviously, if the pandemic continues unabated, or the vaccination campaign does not achieve everything that is expected, it remains possible that FAU (and other institutions) will go back to alternative online modalities to meet that challenge. Please pay attention to your email, the FAU English website, FAU English’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, or other FAU modes of information delivery. The above plan represents what we plan to do based on current information. If things change, we will, of course, change as well.

Sincerely,

Eric L. Berlatsky
Acting Chair
Department of English