English Undergraduate Major (BA, HBA)
An English degree is about more than the book. English majors learn to see complex problems in their full richness and don’t take the first answer, or the simplest answer, as truth. In our courses, all kinds of texts – from medieval poems to postmodern novels, adapted screenplays to literary criticism itself – appear as windows into the cultures and conditions in which they were produced. English majors develop habits of mind attuned to the reasons why people do what they do and write what they write. Our graduates are engaged, empathetic people pursuing a creative, critical, and useful degree.
The English major includes an array of subjects ranging in literary history to film and visual culture, creative and nonfiction writing, rhetoric and literacy, and the digital humanities. We focus on the big picture and the details: close reading skills and critical analysis, how literacy and language change over time, and how social and historical movements are represented in texts. Reading, writing, active listening, discussing, presenting, and debating are foundational activities in our classrooms. Your first courses will prepare you to understand major historic, cultural, and literary time periods, including surveys of World, U.S., and British literatures and a wide range of elective courses. Upper-division classes call upon you to dig deep into specific authors, historical moments, themes, theories, and writing styles.
Major Code: 890
- Write effective arguments about a variety of literary and cultural texts.
- Use information literacy and new technologies to plan and conduct research appropriate to initial and advanced study in English.
- Recognize and interpret a wide variety of texts and genres (may include visual, material, inter-cultural texts), using a range of theoretical and interpretive strategies, including close reading.
- Demonstrate the role of context(s) in production, reception, and transmission of literary and cultural texts (across periods, histories, geographical/national spaces, and cultural differences).
Undergraduate English majors must attain proficiency in a foreign language, as certified by the School of Language, Culture, and Society, equivalent to that assumed at the end of a second-year language sequence (211/212/213).
A grade of C– or better is required for all courses used to complete major requirements.
Courses taken to satisfy major requirements may not be taken with an S/U grade.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Division | ||
| ENG 200 | LIBRARY SKILLS FOR LITERARY STUDY | 1 |
| From one of the following sequences, 8 credits: | 8 | |
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: BEGINNINGS TO 1660 | ||
| *LITERATURE OF THE WORLD: EUROPE | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: COLONIAL TO 1900 | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: 1900 TO PRESENT | ||
| From the following, 12 additional credits (at least 4 credits pre-1800): | 12 | |
| *SHAKESPEARE | ||
| *SHAKESPEARE | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: BEGINNINGS TO 1660 | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: RESTORATION TO ROMANTIC ERA | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: VICTORIAN ERA TO 20TH CENTURY | ||
| *LITERATURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: CLASSICAL-RENAISSANCE | ||
| *LITERATURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: 18TH CENTURY TO PRESENT | ||
| *LITERATURES OF THE WORLD: ASIA | ||
| *LITERATURES OF THE WORLD: AFRICA | ||
| *LITERATURES OF THE WORLD: MESO/SOUTH AMERICA, CARIBBEAN | ||
| *LITERATURES OF THE WORLD: MIDDLE EAST | ||
| *LITERATURE OF THE WORLD: EUROPE | ||
| *AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: COLONIAL TO 1900 | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: 1900 TO PRESENT | ||
| *LITERATURE OF AMERICAN MINORITIES | ||
| Upper Division | ||
| ENG 345 | INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY | 4 |
| Pre-1800 Literature (Select a minimum of 2 courses, 8 credits)1 | 8 | |
| STUDIES IN BRITISH THEATER AND SOCIETY | ||
ENG 417 | ||
| STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE | ||
| STUDIES IN CHAUCER | ||
| STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN LITERATURE | ||
| STUDIES IN THE LONG EIGHTEENTH CENTURY | ||
| STUDIES IN SHAKESPEARE | ||
| HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE | ||
| Post-1800 Literature (Select a minimum of 2 courses, 8 credits)1 | 8 | |
| *THE AMERICAN NOVEL: BEGINNINGS TO CHOPIN | ||
| *THE AMERICAN NOVEL: MODERNIST PERIOD | ||
| *THE AMERICAN NOVEL: POST-WORLD WAR II | ||
| *STUDIES IN PAGE, STAGE, AND SCREEN | ||
| *STUDIES IN WORD, OBJECT, AND IMAGE | ||
| *STUDIES IN GLOBALISM, TEXT, AND EVENT | ||
| *NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE | ||
| *AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS | ||
| *MODERN SHORT STORY | ||
| THE ENGLISH NOVEL: VICTORIAN PERIOD | ||
ENG 419 | ||
| STUDIES IN ROMANTICISM | ||
| STUDIES IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE | ||
| STUDIES IN MODERNISM | ||
| STUDIES IN MODERN IRISH LITERATURE | ||
| STUDIES IN SHORT FICTION | ||
| ^STUDIES IN POETRY | ||
| STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT | ||
| ^STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE | ||
| ^STUDIES IN FILM | ||
| Electives (12 credits upper-division ENG or WR) | 12 | |
| WIC Course (3) | 3 | |
| Total credits required for graduation | 180 | |
| 1 | See advisor for additional pre- and post-1800 courses. |
| * | Baccalaureate Core Course (BCC) |
| ^ | Writing Intensive Course (WIC) |
Major Code: 890
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| ALS 199 | SPECIAL TOPICS (U-Engage) | 2 |
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: BEGINNINGS TO 1660 | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: RESTORATION TO ROMANTIC ERA | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: VICTORIAN ERA TO 20TH CENTURY | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: COLONIAL TO 1900 | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: 1900 TO PRESENT | ||
| Language 111 | 4 | |
| PAC Course | 1-2 | |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| *ENGLISH COMPOSITION | ||
| *PUBLIC SPEAKING | ||
| *ARGUMENT AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE | ||
| Credits | 14-15 | |
| Winter | ||
| ENG 200 | LIBRARY SKILLS FOR LITERARY STUDY | 1 |
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: BEGINNINGS TO 1660 | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: RESTORATION TO ROMANTIC ERA | ||
| *SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: VICTORIAN ERA TO 20TH CENTURY | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: COLONIAL TO 1900 | ||
| *SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: 1900 TO PRESENT | ||
| Language 112 | 4 | |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| *ENGLISH COMPOSITION | ||
| *PUBLIC SPEAKING | ||
| *ARGUMENT AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE | ||
| Bacc Core Course-Wstern Culture | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| Survey of Literature Elective | 4 | |
| Language 113 | 4 | |
| MTH Course | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Difference, Power, and Discrimination | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| Survey of Literature Elective | 4 | |
| Language 211 | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Cultural Diversity | 3 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Physical Science with Attached Lab | 3 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Winter | ||
| Survey of Literature Elective | 4 | |
| Language 212 | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Social Processes and Institutions | 3 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Biological Science with Attached Lab | 3 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Spring | ||
| HHS 231 | *LIFETIME FITNESS FOR HEALTH | 2 |
| Language 213 | 4 | |
| WR II | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Difference, Power, and Discrimination | 3 | |
| Bacc Core Course-Literature and the Arts | 4 | |
| Credits | 17 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| ENG 345 | INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY | 4 |
| Bacc Core Course-Social Sciences | 3 | |
| Pre-1800 Upper-Division Literature | 4 | |
| Third Lab Science | 4 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Winter | ||
| Post-1800 Upper-Division Literature | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course—Non-Western Culture | 3 | |
| CLA Core Course—Fine Arts | 3 | |
| CLA Core Course, Additional | 3 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| Bacc Core Course—Science, Technology and Society | 3 | |
| CLA Core Course—Humanities | 3 | |
| Post-1800 Upper-Division Literature | 4 | |
| Pre-1800 Upper-Division Literature | 4 | |
| PAC | 1-2 | |
| Credits | 15-16 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| ENG or WR Upper-Division Elective | 4 | |
| Bacc Core Course—Contemporary Global Issues | 3 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 17 | |
| Winter | ||
| ENG or WR Upper-Division Elective | 4 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Spring | ||
| ENG or WR Upper-Division Elective | 4 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| General Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Total Credits | 181-183 | |
| * | Baccalaureate Core Course (BCC) |
| ^ | Writing Intensive Course (WIC) |