Requirements
Requirements for students in the class of 2012 or earlier
(Students in the class of 2013 or later see below.)
English majors must take a minimum total of ten English courses (30 credit hours) in addition to the one literature course required by the College of Arts and Letters.
Required courses are:
One "Introduction to Literary Studies" course (English 30101). The Intro course is open to all English majors. It is the prerequisite for Elective courses, but not for Literary History courses. The Intro course cannot be repeated for credit.
Three literary-historical surveys. Literary History courses are open to all English majors, and have no prerequisites. They may be taken in any order, though it is beneficial to take them chronologically. The Literary History requirements are:
- A 301XX course designated "Literary History A." LH-A courses focus on literature from the origins of the English language through the late seventeenth century. Taking "British Literary Traditions I" is one way of fulfilling this requirement.
- 301XX course designated "Literary History B." LH-B courses focus on literature from the United States and the Americas from the colonial period up to 1865. Taking "American Literary Traditions I" is one way of fulfilling this requirement.
- A 301XX course designated "Literary History C." LH-C courses focus on literature up to the late twentieth or even early twenty-first centuries. Ways of fulfilling this requirement include "American Literary Traditions II" and "British Literary Traditions II."
Five elective courses in English at the 30XXX or 40XXX level. Electives are open to English Majors who have taken the Intro course. If you take a fourth 301XX Literary History course, it can be counted as one of these Electives.
One 43XXX Research Seminar, to be taken in the Senior year. With permission from both the instructor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies, a student may fulfill this requirement by taking a graduate-level course.
Requirements for students
in the
class of 2013
or later