English (BA in English)
The Program in English
The Department of English creates distinctive opportunities for developing your writing and communications skills, increasing your sensitivity to language, amplifying your aesthetic and intellectual enjoyment of literature, and understanding the cultural values reflected in literature.
As an English major or minor, you will engage with the variety and richness of literary forms and genres — poetry, drama, prose, fiction and nonfiction — and explore a range of historical periods and critical approaches. By considering the aesthetic, rhetorical, historical, philosophical, cultural and ideological dimensions of everything from the canonical works of British and American literature to experimental literary works and literary voices from around the world, you will discover the power of English language and literature and, with our creative writing classes, perhaps make some of your own.
English serves students who desire a rich intellectual and aesthetic experience in advance of professional study in fields such as law, medicine, and business; students who are seeking to teach; students who are preparing for graduate study in English; and students who choose English simply because they enjoy the disciplined study of literature and language. To satisfy diverse student interests and needs, the department provides a comprehensive major and minor that also afford students substantial freedom in choice of courses. During the senior year a student who qualifies may pursue Honors in Literature or Creative Writing. English majors pursuing a teaching certification should see the School of Education catalog section.
The English department supports a lively series of events throughout the year, ranging from visiting writers to eminent lecturers and from developmental workshops to just-for-fun gatherings. And besides their English courses, our faculty also offer an array of courses that contribute to interdisciplinary majors and minors including Africana Studies; American Studies; Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies; Creative Writing; Film and Media Studies; Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies; Linguistics; Medieval & Renaissance Studies; and Native Studies. Many such courses, as well as select literature courses in Modern Languages and Classical Studies, can be counted as English major or minor electives.
Required Credit Hours: 36
(at least 24 of which must be in courses numbered 300 and above)
Declaring the Major
Major courses are chosen in consultation with a departmental advisor on the basis of the student’s preparation, background, career expectations, and educational interests. The department encourages students to design a program of study that exposes them to a range of historical periods and critical approaches to literature. See the “undergraduate program” section of the department’s website for more information and guidance.
Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Methods | ||
| ENGL 250 | Interpreting Literature | 3 |
| Research Seminar | ||
| ENGL 475 | Seminar in English | 4 |
| Distribution | ||
| At least four courses numbered 300 or above that, in combination, satisfy the following requirements. A single course can be used to satisfy no more than two distribution requirements at once. | ||
| British Literature before 1700: | ||
| Select one of the following, or from courses with the ‘BLB’ attribute: | 3 | |
| Epic and Romance | ||
| Old English | ||
| Beowulf | ||
| Topics in Old English Literature | ||
| Medieval Literature | ||
| Early Modern British Literature | ||
| Renaissance and Restoration | ||
| English Renaissance Drama | ||
| Topics in British Literature Before 1700 | ||
| Studies in Chaucer | ||
| Studies in Shakespeare | ||
| Studies in Milton | ||
The following are also options when the topic covers British Literature before 1700: | ||
| Topics in Literature and Other Arts | ||
| Topics in Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality | ||
| Study of a Single Author or Auteur | ||
| Special Topics in English | ||
| British Literature between 1700 and 1900: | ||
| Select one of the following, or from courses with the ‘BLT’ attribute: | 3 | |
| Enlightenment & Sensibility | ||
| The Rise of the Novel | ||
| Romanticism and Revolution | ||
| English Novel, 1832-1900 | ||
| Topics in British Literature Between 1700 and 1900 | ||
| Jane Austen | ||
The following are also options when the topic covers British Literature between 1700 and 1900: | ||
| Topics in Literature and Other Arts | ||
| Topics in Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality | ||
| Study of a Single Author or Auteur | ||
| Special Topics in English | ||
| American Literature before 1920: | ||
| Select one the following, or from courses with the ‘ALB’ attribute: | 3 | |
| Early American Literatures | ||
| Literatures of American Nationalism and the Crisis of Slavery | ||
| Literatures of Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Incorporation | ||
| Early Black American Literature | ||
| Topics in American Literature Before 1920 | ||
The following are also options when the topic covers American Literature before 1920: | ||
| Topics in American Literature | ||
| Topics in Literature and Other Arts | ||
| Topics in Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality | ||
| Study of a Single Author or Auteur | ||
| Special Topics in English | ||
| Literature since 1900: | ||
| Select one course in literature since 1900 selected from the following, or from courses with the ‘LS’ attribute: 1 | 3 | |
| Modern British and Irish Literature | ||
| Modern Fiction | ||
| Modern Poetry to 1930 | ||
| Modern Poetry, 1930-1960 | ||
| Modern Poetry after 1960 | ||
| Modern Drama | ||
| American Modernism to the 1960s | ||
| Modern African-American Literature | ||
| Global Postmodernism | ||
| Studies in Contemporary Literature | ||
| Topics in Literature Since 1900 | ||
ENGL 419B | ||
The following are also options when the topic covers Literature since 1900: | ||
| Topics in Literary Theory | ||
| Topics in Literature and Other Arts | ||
| Topics in Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality | ||
| Study of a Single Author or Auteur | ||
| Special Topics in English | ||
| Constructions of Race and Ethnicity: | ||
| Select one courses focusing on constructions of race selected from the following, or from courses with the ‘CR’ attribute: 2 | 3 | |
| Early Black American Literature | ||
| Modern African-American Literature | ||
| Afr-Amer Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Post-Coloniality | ||
The following are also options when topic covers Constructions of Race and Ethnicity: | ||
| Topics in American Literature | ||
| Topics in Literature and Other Arts | ||
| Topics in Women Writers | ||
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality | ||
| Study of a Single Author or Auteur | ||
| Special Topics in English | ||
- 1
Courses that address American literature, literature of the British Isles and Commonwealth, world literature, or critical theory in the 20th or 21st centuries can be counted toward this requirement.
- 2
Courses in literature and expressive culture by people of color and those that take race as a central conceptual category for critical examination can be counted toward this requirement. Courses in English-language linguistics that address language variation associated with race can also be counted toward this requirement.
Major Computing Requirement
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 475 | Seminar in English | 4 |
Major Writing Requirement
The great majority of courses offered in English are writing-intensive. Students officially satisfy the Major Writing Requirement by successfully completing ENGL 475 Seminar in English.
Additional Information
English majors can count a maximum of nine credit hours in creative writing (CRWR), expository writing (WRIT), and/or linguistics (LING) courses that carry the ENGL subject attribute as electives for the major.
Students may count one approved literature course taken in any of the Modern Languages or Classical Studies, either in another language or in translation, as an elective toward the major. Approved courses are listed on the “undergraduate program” section of the English Department’s website.
Students may seek approval for elective credit for courses not on the lists of eligible English linguistics, Modern Languages, and Classical Studies courses by petitioning the English Department Chair.