English

The English major offers a rich variety of courses for students interested in literature, creative writing, and language and society. Among the interdisciplinary offerings are courses in film, linguistics, and global studies.

Students may prepare for the study of literature on the graduate level. Concentrated work in English will be of great value to students preparing for such business and professional careers as editing, publishing, science and technical writing, advertising, public relations, and communications. The literature courses are designed to help students sharpen their reading and writing skills, gain new insights into human nature and cultural diversity, and achieve increased flexibility in their own approach to life.

Students preparing for graduate study in literature should have some knowledge of the range of English, American, and non-Western literature and should be acquainted with such major figures as Chaucer and Shakespeare. Because most graduate schools have foreign language requirements and candidates must sometimes demonstrate competence in several languages, prospective graduate students are urged to undertake their study of foreign languages as early as possible.

Students in English are encouraged to broaden their base of knowledge in as many fields as possible, many of which will resonate with interdisciplinary approaches in their English courses. Courses in comparative literature, foreign languages, communication studies, history, art, music, religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and education are especially recommended.

Program Learning Goals

Upon completion of a major in English, students will be able to:

1. Read closely works in the major literary genres (narrative, poetry, drama, essay) and comprehend individual works' themes, formal organization, and stylistic features.

2. Write cogent essays developing a persuasive interpretation of a literary work and arguing for that interpretation through commentary on the text; formal, thematic, or stylistic analysis; and contextualization in terms of literary, cultural, political, or intellectual history.

3. Comprehend the broad historical outlines of British, American, and global literatures in English, including concepts of periodization (like Medieval, Elizabethan, Restoration, Romantic, American Renaissance, Modernism) and some major events corresponding to those periods.

4. Find critical works on specific texts or topics through library and internet research and make salient comparisons between competing interpretations and contrasting critical approaches.

5. Make connections between literary studies and related fields of inquiry such as aesthetics, cultural studies, film, gender, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and queer theory.