Note: Students seeking to major both in English and Creative Writing are advised to declare the “English Major with Emphasis in Writing,” which blends essential coursework in the two majors and requires two separate senior theses (one in literary analysis, one in creative writing).
English majors and minors are encouraged to download program worksheets, useful tools for tracking your progress toward your English degree.
Updated worksheets, coming soon.
English Major Worksheet
Creative Writing Major
Worksheet
English or Creative Writing Minor Worksheet
Minimum of 14 courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course (3 cr)
Four Foundational Surveys (12 cr)
Prerequisite: 190 at C or above
Three 300/400-level literature courses, as indicated (9 – 10 cr)
Author:
Culture:
Genre:
One praxis/practicum course, from among the following (3 – 4 cr)
*Majors may, in consultation with their faculty advisor, substitute a course—including a non-ENGL-department course—that is demonstrably a “praxis/practicum” course, i.e., and applied-knowledge course.
Three 400-level courses
Two 200/300-level electives, one of which may be ENGL-213 or ENGL-310 (6 – 7 cr)
With the exception of ENGL 489 (Senior Project Methods), only courses bearing 3 or more semester hours of credit satisfy major requirements.
Any one 300/400-level course can fulfill only one of the open 300/400-level course requirements (i.e., an “Author emphasis” course cannot also fulfill a “Genre emphasis” course requirement; a “Culture emphasis” course cannot also fulfull an “Author emphasis” course requirement, etc).
Degree audits must show that ENGL majors completed three 300/400-level each taught by a unique ENGL faculty member.
Minimum of 14 courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course
Six literature courses at the 200/300 level, including one Approaches course, distributed as follows:
Three foundational courses in literary antecedents:
Two 300-level courses, in two of the three given categories (i.e., “author,” “culture,” &c)
1 elective literature course, 200-level or above
200- and 300-level literature courses must be taken with at least two different literature faculty
Four creative writing workshop courses, as follows:
Three 400-level courses:
Minimum of 19 courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course (3 cr):
Four foundational surveys (12 cr):
Prerequisite: 190 at C or above
Three 300/400 level literature courses, as indicated (9 – 10 cr):
Author:
Culture:
Genre:
One praxis/practicum course, from among the following (3 – 4 cr)
*Majors may, in consultation with their faculty advisor, substitute a course—including a non-ENGL-department course—that is demonstrably a “praxis/practicum” course, i.e., and applied-knowledge course.
Three 400-level courses
One 200/300-level elective (3 cr)
With the exception of ENGL 489 (Senior Project Methods), only courses bearing 3 or more semester hours of credit satisfy major requirements.
Any one 300/400-level course can fulfill only one of the open 300/400-level course requirements (i.e., an “Author emphasis” course cannot also fulfill a “Genre emphasis” course requirement; a “Culture emphasis” course cannot also fulfull an “Author emphasis” course requirement, &c).
Degree audits must show that ENGL majors completed three 300/400-level each taught by a unique ENGL faculty member.
Emphasis in Writing
One gateway course (3 cr):
Two 300-level Writing Workshops (7 – 8 cr)
Prerequisite: 213
Three 400-level courses (9 cr):
One elective from the following (3 – 4 cr):
Minimum of six courses, distributed as follows:
One gateway course
Two of four foundational surveys (12 cr) (of the English minor’s choosing):
Three additional literature courses, one of which may be at the 200-level or above, to be selected in consultation with student’s advisor
All three of the additional literature courses must be distinct from those used to satisfy the Creative Writing major.
Minimum of six courses, distributed as follows:
Five courses in Writing:
Two foundational writing courses:
Two 300- or 400-level Writing Workshops:
One or two elective courses totaling at least 3 credits:
One Literature course, either ENGL 190 or at the ENGL 200-level or above
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.
In the spring of your junior year, you will begin developing your proposal for your Senior Project.
Literature Project Proposal Form
Creative Writing Proposal Form
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.
