This course examines American literature written since the 1980s, introducing students to important writers, as well as key genres, movements, and intellectual trends, of the period. The class will situate literature within various social, political, cultural, and historical contexts to better understand literary imagination of the contemporary world. Credit for this course can be applied to the certificate in Liberal Studies and not toward the B.A., M.A., Ph.D., or M.F.A. in English.