Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

English, B.A.

Minimum number of credits required to graduate:  124

Minimum cumulative GPA required to graduate:  2.0

Minimum number of credits to complete the major:  38

 

School: School of Arts and Sciences

Department: Humanities

Learn more about the program

 

This bachelor’s degree program requires a minimum of 124 credits. As part of that minimum, satisfying the requirements for the major in English includes completing a minimum of either 38 or 40 credits (depending on the internship course chosen) as outlined below. The new English Program invites students to customize a major consisting of three options while working within the ten-course major scaffold. Option 1: Students may follow a traditional program that concentrates on literature, literary history, and culture. Option 2: Students may adopt a program that concentrates on Creative Writing. Option 3: Students may work with an English faculty advisor to craft a program that concentrates on a particular theme or topic of their own creation. Concentrations are defined as three focused elective courses.

Major GPA. The GPA for the English major is calculated by taking the average of all ENG courses (except ENG 1050 Introduction to College Writing ).

Teacher of English. In addition to the requirements for the major, English-Education Co-majors must also complete the required teacher preparation curriculum outlined under the Program for Teacher Preparation in the Education Department. Students planning to enter the teaching program need to bear in mind that the last semester of their senior year will be taken up by their off-campus practicum. All requirements for the major, including cognates, must be fulfilled by the end of the first semester of the senior year. Accordingly, English-Education Co-majors should take ENG 2050 Introduction to Literary Studies  by the end of their sophomore year. English-Education Co-majors must take specific English courses to fulfill major requirements and should consult current guidelines. Satisfying the requirements for the major in English with an Education Co-Major includes completing a minimum of 38 credits in the major.

Major Requirements

To complete the English major, students complete three required core courses (10 to 12 credits), four required elective courses in specific areas (16 credits), and three additional electives (12 credits, depending on the internship course chosen) in an area of concentration. 

Note regarding the existing and new structures of the English major: Students admitted to the College prior to the Fall 2023 semester will have the option of completing the existing structure of the English major or transitioning to the new structure, which is outlined below. First-year students entering the program in Fall 2023 and forward will follow the new structure. The existing structure of the English major will close out in September of 2026.

Core Courses

Complete the following two required courses (eight credits):

Required British Literature Elective

Complete the British Literature elective requirement by choosing one course (four credits) from the following:

Required American Literature Elective

Complete the American Literature elective requirement by choosing one course (four credits) from the following:

Required Creative Writing Elective

Complete the Creative Writing elective requirement by choosing one course (four credits) from the following:

Required Multiethnic/ Diverse Literatures Elective

Complete the Multiethnic/ Diverse Literatures elective requirement by choosing one course (four credits) from the following:

Concentrations

Students complete an additional three elective courses (12 credits) to fulfill a concentration that they customize with the assistance of an English faculty advisor, or they select from pre-bundled concentrations. Note: Electives used to complete the required elective courses cannot be used to also count toward the concentration electives.

Creative Writing Concentration

This option best suits English majors interested in specializing in creative writing. English majors will be able to take introductory and advanced workshops in areas such as poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. In addition to preparing students for M.F.A. graduate programs, training in creative writing will hone skills valuable across all writing contexts in graduate and career paths.  English faculty advisors will assist students at aligning three creative writing courses, not including Introduction to Literary Studies, Creative Writing, or the Senior Seminar, to support the creative writing concentration.

Choose three courses (12 credits) from the following to fulfill the Creative Writing concentration:

Literature Concentration

This option best suits general English majors, those who plan to pursue a high school teaching career, or those who plan to pursue an advanced degree in English after graduation. This career path privileges a broad, general knowledge of our discipline, familiarity with literary historical periods, experience studying major writers, and conversance with shifting national identities and values. English faculty advisors will help students choose three elective courses, not including Introduction to Literary Studies, Creative Writing, or the Senior Seminar, that help develop a fuller knowledge of literary history.

Students who do not choose courses that specifically complete one of the other concentrations will earn the Literature concentration by completing any three ENG courses listed in the concentration sections or two ENG courses and one course from the Additional Non-English Concentration Elective Options section.

Self-Designed Concentration

This option best suits English majors who have a deep interest in one or more specific topics within the fields of literature and/or creative writing and would like to focus their English elective classes on that topic. English majors who plan to attend graduate school, for instance, might elect to create a concentration that focuses on a historical period (e.g. literary modernism or British romanticism) that they will specialize in while pursuing their advanced degree. Future teachers at the K-12 level might elect to design a teaching-specific concentration that focuses on literary breadth and the development of classroom teaching skills. English majors who plan to pursue a career as a creative writer might decide to create a concentration on fiction, both writing it and studying its canonical exemplars. English faculty advisors will assist students at aligning the three elective courses, not including Introduction to Literary Studies, Creative Writing, or the Senior Seminar, that comprise their self-designed concentration. 

Students can bundle three ENG elective courses or two ENG elective courses and one course from the list in the Additional Concentration Elective Options section below in order to customize a Self-Designed concentration (with the assistance of an English faculty advisor), or they can choose from one pre-bundled concentrations below:

Diversity in Literature Self-Designed Concentration

Choose three courses (12 credits) from the following to fulfill the Diversity in Literature Self-Designed concentration:

Teaching English Self-Designed Concentration

Choose three courses (12 credits) from the following to fulfill the Teaching English Self-Designed concentration:

Additional English Concentration Elective Options

Students may choose from the following additional English elective courses to complete a self-designed concentration:

Additional Non-English Concentration Elective Options

Students may choose one of the following courses from outside of the English program to count as one of the three concentration electives.