In keeping with our mission as an English faculty and our vision for our students' literary education, we offer our majors a curriculum with a philosophical focus on intellectual discovery. Our intentions are both to foster student engagement in creating coherent programs and to ensure a structured preparation for the Senior Project.
The major for the Classes of 2012 and 2013: The Department has revised the major to include a new Gateway course, a new senior project methods course, a new sequencing of certain courses, and new foundational surveys. The new major omits the Declaration of Concentration (for all English majors), formerly part of the Junior Review, although students still take upper-level literature courses for the greater part of the major. The Department has also instituted minimum performance standards for introductory literature and creative writing classes. See the current College Catalog for a complete description of the new major and its requirements. The new major is also available as an option for members of the Classes of 2010 and 2011. Contact your advisor if you are considering that option.
The major for the Classes of 2010-2011: Those who have already completed the Declaration of Concentration will complete the courses they proposed as the centerpiece of their major. Please see the Concentration in Literature and Concentrations in Creative Writing pages (at the left) for specific requirements. Please note that the required survey courses English 230 and 240 will be offered in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, but will not be offered regularly from then on. Please consult the online course schedule for offerings. Each student will meet at the Junior Review with the student’s advisor and another department faculty member of the student’s choosing. These faculty members will review the student’s writing, and help the student to plan a program ensuring that the student will have taken the necessary "Approaches" course in critical methodologies (described below) prior to writing a Senior Project ( or "thesis").
Students can keep a record of their progress in completing requirements and electives for the major on the Major Worksheet. To download the Major Worksheet, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download a free copy of the software.
Each term the department will offer at least one "Approaches" course, a seminar-sized course highlighting critical methodology and/or literary theory as it is used to read and write about literary texts. Students will write a properly documented critical analysis of at least ten pages using both primary and secondary sources. Both an "Approaches" course and Writing Level IV are prerequisites for the Senior Project.
Three-Year Degree Option:
For students majoring in English, Hartwick’s Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree Program is a unique opportunity to earn a degree in three years. For more information visit the Program Web site at www.hartwick.edu/threeyearbachelors.xml.
