Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

Literature Senior Capstone (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 4800-01

Course: ENGL 4800-01
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: ENGL
CRN: 12177

Course Description

Designed for seniors in the English Literature major only, this course emphasizes developing research proposals, abstract writing, research methodologies, and the writing of an annotated bibliography culminating in a capstone essay of original scholarly research. Students will also compile a portfolio that includes the capstone essay, a selection of prior essays and a reflective cover letter.

Required Texts

No textbooks are required for this class; however, in order to complete the course requirements you will rely on primary literary works from previous semesters, library and online resources, and online style guides.

Learning Outcomes

Your success in this course will be based on the mastery of the following literature learning outcomes, which align with SUU’s ELOs. These outcomes, introduced in your prerequisite coursework, will be reinforced through instruction and practice, and you will be assessed via interrelated assignments and projects.

  1. Knowledge of Human Cultures: Students demonstrate the ability to identify, describe, and compare the features of a variety of genres across different historical periods and cultures.
  2. Communication: Students demonstrate the ability to articulate interpretations and critical positions through presentations and academic essays.
  3. Information Literacy: Students demonstrate the ability to conduct scholarly research.
  4. Inquiry and Analysis: Students demonstrate the ability to apply a range of literary theories and/or critical perspectives through close reading and analysis.


Course Requirements

Special Course Requirement:
All students will attend the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University on March 26-28, where you will present an essay. Funding will be provided by the English Department. Please clear your work schedules now so that you have no conflicts! If you send me a list of all of your instructors for the semester, I will email them and get you excused from classes on those days.

Required Assignments:
Essay Abstract (10%)
A 200-250-word abstract of your essay for submission to the National Undergraduate Literature Conference and to SUU’s Festival of Excellence.

Annotated Bibliography (10%)
A bibliography of primary texts (non-annotated) and at least 8 secondary sources (annotated), formatted in proper MLA works cited page style. The annotation will consist of 75-100 words summarizing the content of each secondary source. (10%)

Capstone Essay Draft (15%) 
A draft of your expanded essay, which will be between 9-12 pages. 

Conference Essay Draft (10%) 
A draft of the essay you will present at both NULC and SUU’s Festival of Excellence.

Presentations (10%) 
An in-class presentation, assigned in preparation for the two conference presentations you will give (at the NULC and SUU’s Festival of Excellence).

Final Portfolio (25%)
A portfolio that includes the final essay from your 2400 class, the final Capstone essay from this class, a collection of 3-4 essays from 3000-level literature classes, and a reflective cover letter. These materials will be scrubbed of any identifiers (i.e., your name), and will be submitted anonymously for review in order for the Literature faculty to assess our program.

Participation (20%) 
Includes both attendance (10%) and daily engagement in class, including the feedback you give other students in peer review situations (10%).

Grading Scale:
A= 90-100%; B+=87-89%; B=80-86%; C+= 77-79%; C=70-76%; D+= 67-69%  D= 60-66%; F= 59% or lower

Course Outline

Disclaimer: Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor. In the event that there are changes to the syllabus, I will notify you both in-person and electronically.

Course Schedule:

Week 1

W 1/7
Course Intro
Selecting your paper
How to write an abstract

F 1/9
Due: Draft of abstract (bring copy to class for peer review)
Peer review/discuss abstracts

Week 2

M 1/12
Due: Final Abstract – turn in on Canvas and submit to both NULC and Festival of Excellence
Festival of Excellence Submission: https://www.suu.edu/excellence/
Discuss NULC trip logistics

W 1/14
Expanding your essay 
Read: Ch 2 from The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (PDF on Canvas)

F 1/16
Due: Bring copy of existing paper to class
Peer reviewing existing papers

Week 3

M 1/19 – No class, MLK Day

W 1/21
Expanding your research & Annotated Bibliographies


F 1/23
Required Conference #1

Week 4

M 1/26
Required Conference #1

W 1/28
Due: draft of Annotated Bibliography
Discuss and review bibliographies in class

F 1/30
Out-of-class work day – optional conferences


Week 5

M 2/2
Due: current draft Capstone Essay
Peer reviews of Capstone Essays

W 2/4
Out-of-class work day – optional conferences

F 2/6
Out-of-class work day – optional conferences

Week 6

M 2/9
Due: Annotated Bibliography
Due: Revised draft of long essay (I’ll read and give feedback, but not “grade”)
Condensing your paper to conference paper

W 2/11
Out-of-class work day

F 2/13
Out-of-class work day

Week 7

M 2/16 – No Class – President’s Day

W 2/18
Required Conference #2

F 2/20
Required Conference #2

Week 8
M 2/23
Read: Ch 20 from from The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (PDF on Canvas)
Conference paper/presentation workshop

W 2/25

Out-of-class work day

F 2/27

Due: draft of your conference paper


Peer reviews of conference papers 


Week 9

M 3/2
Required Conference #3

W 3/4

Required Conference #3

F 3/6

Required Conference #3

Week 10 - Spring Break – No class

Week 11

M 3/16
In class: Practicing presentations

W 3/18
In class: Practicing presentations

F 3/20
In class: Practicing presentations

Week 12

M 3/23
In class: Practicing presentations

W 3/25
In class: Practicing presentations

F 3/27 – No class: National Undergraduate Literature Conference

Week 13

M 3/30
Discuss Literature Portfolio and Cover Letter assignment

W 4/1
Revisiting and peer reviewing your long essays
Read: Ch 11 and Ch 17 from from The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (PDF on Canvas)

F 4/3
Prepping final portfolio
Reflective essays

Week 14

M 4/6
Final peer review of essays

W 4/8
Required Conference #4

F 4/10
Required Conference #4

Week 15

M 4/13
Out-of-class work day

W 4/15
Out-of-class work day

F 4/17
Last day of class
Due: Reflective Essay 

Final Exam Week 
Wednesday, April 22
Due: Final Portfolio

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

You will turn in most of your major assignments online. It is your responsibility to make sure that your submission goes through, which means going back after you have uploaded your assignment to double check that it is there. Computer problems are not a valid excuse for late or missing work. If you are having trouble uploading an assignment from your home computer, go to the library and upload it from there. Plan ahead.
 
Essays and projects that are turned in late will be deducted 10% for each 24-hour-period after the stated deadline. Late close readings will not be accepted. In-class work cannot be made-up.
 
Extensions are negotiable. If you anticipate needing more time for an assignment, you must get in touch with me at least two days before the assignment is due. Together we will arrive at a later due date. I will hold you to that new due date and deduct points if you miss it. Do not email me the day before something is due to ask for an extension; I will refuse. Plan ahead. I reserve the right to refuse extensions.

Attendance Policy

Because this is a workshop class, attendance is important to your overall grade—especially as I’ve given you many “days off” to write on your own time. As we will meet 20 class periods (including the two “Conference” days), each class period will be worth 5 points, and, as the total percentage allotted for attendance is 10%, missing more than 6 classes will give you a failing grade for this portion of the class. As always, documented excuses (via the Dean of Student’s Office, the ADA Office, or owing to travel on behalf of the University) will be excused. 

You are responsible for the material covered and assignments due during any missed classes. Class sessions will not be recorded, so you will need to consult with a classmate to get notes when you are absent.

The only excused absences are official university activities, religious holidays, military service, and medical emergencies. If you are absent for excused absences, you must notify me by email 24 hours prior to your absence for your absence to be excused. In the case of medical emergencies, notify me as soon as you are able to and provide necessary documentation.


Special Course Requirement

All students will attend the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University on March 26-28, where you will present an essay. Funding will be provided by the English Department—you will be responsible for food costs. Please clear your work schedules now so that you have no conflicts! If you send me a list of all of your instructors for the semester, I will email them and get you excused from classes on those days.

Generative AI Policies

AI Usage Philosophy:
Instead of treating AI tools with simple “yes, you can use this” or “no, you can’t” rules, this course focuses on helping you learn how to use them thoughtfully and responsibly. Think of using AI tools like a restaurant menu: there are many options, but not every option is right for every situation. For each assignment, you’ll choose the AI tools and uses that best support your learning and meet the goals of the task. My role as the instructor is to help you understand the options, suggest what might be most helpful for each task, and support you in making thoughtful, responsible choices.

AI usage in this class typically falls into the following categories:
  • Recommended = Best ways to use AI for this assignment; strongly encouraged.
  • Use sparingly = Okay in small, limited ways; don’t let AI take over the work.
  • Strongly discouraged = Technically possible, but likely to weaken your learning and/or your grade because it undermines the assignment’s goals.

Three Principles: Generative AI (artificial intelligence that can produce content) is now widely available to produce text, images, and other media. I encourage the use of such AI resources to inform you about the field, to understand the contributions that AI can make, and to help your learning. However, keep the following three principles in mind: (1) an AI cannot pass this course; (2) AI contributions must be attributed and true; (3) the use of AI resources must be open and documented.

To pass this course: AI generated submissions cannot achieve a passing grade. This is necessary to ensure that you are competent to surpass generative AI in the future – whether in academia, research, the workplace, or other domains of society.

Openness: I encourage you to use AI tools to explore the field, play with knowledge, and help you study. But you need to be open about this, and document your use.

General writing: In principle you may submit material that contains AI-generated content, or is based on or derived from it, as long as this use is properly documented. This includes, for example, drafting an outline, preparing individual sections, combining elements and removing redundant parts, and compiling and annotating references. Your documentation must make the process transparent – the submission itself must meet standards of attribution and validation. 

Referencing and validating: You are taking full responsibility for AI-generated materials as if you had produced them yourself: ideas must be attributed and facts must be true.

AI and Factual Accuracy: AI is prone to writing factually incorrect statements, inventing fake quotes from real sources, and inventing entirely fake sources. It is your responsibility to double-check that any AI-assisted work you submit is free from these errors. Work containing obvious factual errors or fictitious quotes or sources will be marked as incomplete. If the problematic work is a major essay, you will be allowed to rewrite and resubmit it within the deadlines stipulated on the syllabus. If the problematic work is in any other type of assignment, you will not be allowed to rewrite or resubmit it. Submitting more than one assignment with these types of errors will result in you failing the class.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.