Undergraduate Major
As an English major at Notre Dame you’ll spend time in small classes reading, analyzing, and discussing fascinating literature. You’ll read canonical and lesser-known literary works, study issues of literacy and rhetoric, investigate the symbolic systems that shape cultural meaning, and craft original poetry and prose.
English majors choose careers in any field that values the ability to read, write, and analyze with intelligence and subtlety.
English majors enjoy the atmosphere of small classes and immediate contact with faculty. Faculty advisors assist them in determining their course of study. All majors take "Introduction to Literary Studies" and three literary history courses that provide an overview of literary traditions from the Middle Ages to the present. In the capstone research seminar, students design and produce an original research project.
Electives include courses in the several periods of British, Irish, and American literature from their origins to the present, in certain aspects of classical and European literature, and in other literatures written in English. They also include courses in the genres of literature, in major authors, in literacy and rhetoric, in literary theory and the history of criticism, and in expository and creative writing. All courses taught in the department, not just those designated as writing courses, contain significant writing components.
The English Department offers all of its majors a wide array of events throughout the year, including poetry readings and scholarly lectures. A new honors concentration challenges select students to take a graduate course and complete a thesis.
English majors choose careers in any field that values the ability to read, write, and analyze with intelligence and subtlety. Some go on to graduate study in literature leading to careers in academia; others choose professions such as law, education, medicine, publishing, business, social work, professional writing, library science, journalism, and public relations.