English, B.A.

Students considering graduate study in literature should include Shakespeare and History of the English Language among their elective courses. They should take additional upper-level courses so that their majors will total at least 44 credits and should participate in the departmental honors program. They should elect ENGL 480 - Introduction to Literary Theory and ENGL 495 - Advanced Studies among their courses for the major and courses in history and in ancient and modern philosophy as cognate courses.

Students considering careers in writing and editing should take ENGL 213 - Expository Writing II and ENGL 360 - Modern English Grammar and should consider doing at least one internship, either with a local employer or non-profit agency or as part of an off-campus program. They should consult the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career or Professor Cole, the department coordinator for internships, early in their college careers to begin plans for including an internship in their academic programs.

A minimum of nine courses, distributed as follows:

ENGL 248 - Introduction to Literary Studies Credits: 4 Students are encouraged to take this foundational course as early in their studies as possible and certainly before they enroll in 300-level courses.
ENGL 231 - Literature of the Western World I Credits: 4
or
ENGL 233 - Ancient Global Literature Credits: 4 IDS 171 , IDS 173 or IDS 175 may be substituted for ENGL 231 or ENGL 233 .
Four credits in writing courses numbered above 113. ENGL 253 - Intro to Creative Writing is recommended. ENGL 360 - Modern English Grammar or ENGL 375 - Language, Literature, and Social/Cultural Difference may be substituted.
Six four-credit literature courses, numbered 270 and higher. At least three of these courses must be numbered 300 or higher and at least one of the three must be at the 400 level (ENGL 480 - Introduction to Literary Theory or ENGL 495 - Advanced Studies ).

*In addition, these six courses must fulfill the following distribution requirements:

At least two of the 4-9 courses is to be in literature pre-1800 (if predominantly British, such as ENGL 270 - British Literature I , ENGL 373 - Literary Forms and Reformulations or a designated 37x or ENGL 495 course) or pre-1850 (if predominantly American, such as ENGL 280 - American Literature I or a designated 37x or ENGL 495 course). ENGL 375 - Language, Literature, and Social/Cultural Difference may count toward this requirement but cannot be counted toward #3 as well
At least one of the 4-9 courses is to be in British literature (ENGL 270 - British Literature I , ENGL 271 - British Literature II , ENGL 373 - Literary Forms and Reformulations or a designated 37x or 495 course)
At least one of the 4-9 courses is to be in American literature (ENGL 280 - American Literature I , ENGL 281 - American Literature II or a designated 37x or ENGL 495 course)
At least one of the 4-9 courses is to be in American ethnic literature (ENGL 282 - Survey of American Ethnic Literature or a designated 37x or 495 course)
ENGL 359 - Internship In English may be substituted for one of the 4-9 courses, but whenever possible it should be taken as a 10th course