English majors and minors are encouraged to download the English Major Worksheet, a useful tool for tracking your progress toward your English degree.
Minimum of 13 courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course
Nine courses at the 300/400 level, including one Approaches course, distributed as follows:
Two foundational courses in literary antecedents:
Two courses in literature before 1800, selected from:
Two additional courses in literature at the 300 level.
Three 400-level courses:
Three elective literature courses, at least two at or above the 200-level.
In the major in literature, one creative writing course is allowed, but expository writing and public speaking courses are not, with the exceptions that student teachers and students with an Emphasis in Writing may substitute English 210, Advanced College Writing, for one literature elective.
Minimum of 14 courses
Thirteen courses, distributed in the same fashion as those for the major, except that the electives must be distributed as follows:
One 400-level workshop, either 411 Fiction Workshop or 412 Poetry Workshop.
Minimum of 17 courses, distributed as follows:
Thirteen courses, distributed in the same fashion as those for the major, with 210 Advanced College Writing or 310 Creative Writing Non-Fiction in place of one literature elective at that level.
Four additional courses in writing, at least two at the 300/400 level, selected from the following. Three semester hours of 300 Teaching Assistant in Composition may be counted toward the emphasis:
Minimum of six courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course
One 300-level course in Literature before 1800:
From list under major in Literature, to which may be added 329.
One 300-level course in Literature after 1800, selected from:
322, 323, 326, 350, 360, 365, 367, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375, 380, 382, 384, 385, and 386
Also ENGL 350, 367, 368, and 470 in literature after 1800
Three additional Literature courses to be selected in consultation with student’s advisor
Minimum of six courses, distributed as follows:
Five courses in Writing:
210 Advanced College Writing OR 310 Creative Writing: Non-Fiction
Four additional courses in writing, at least two at the 300/400 level, selected from the list under the major with an emphasis in writing
One Literature course above the 100 level
Junior Review in the English major is a formal review of the courses you have taken to date and a conversation about your academic plans for senior year and your educational and career plans after graduation. Required prior to pre-registration in the spring of your Junior year, the review brings you, your advisor, and another full-time member of the department together to ensure that you are on track to meet all degree requirements, to agree upon your proposed course of study for your senior year, and to discuss possible senior project topics. To prepare for the review, download the Junior Review Form, fill it out, and submit copies to your advisor and a consultant advisor of your choosing before the date that the three of you have set for the review.
You can find the proposal form for projects in literature here and that for projects in creative writing here.
As a senior English major, working in consultation with a faculty member in the department, you will produce a written senior project. It will be either a long paper exploring a particular author or subject or a manuscript of creative writing. As a rule, senior projects are written during the January term of senior year, though reading and research begin at an earlier date.
In the spring of your junior year, you will work with a faculty advisor to broadly define the project. Over the summer, you will read intensively in the subject area and begin to develop more specific ideas.
In the fall of your senior year, you will work with the advisor to develop a more focused and specific proposal. This proposal is then reviewed by a departmental committee and in some cases revised and clarified. You will then write the senior project under the direct guidance of the advisor, preferably during January term.
Finally, you will participate in a conference on the paper with the advisor and another department faculty member, known as the second reader. The grade for the project is assigned by the advisor in consultation with the second reader.
