Requirements

Major requirements

The English major requires a minimum of 10 courses (30 credit hours). In taking these courses, students must complete the following requirements:

Literature Class Sitting In A Circle With Professor Essaka Joshua

Gateway Course: Introduction to Literary Studies

1 course (3 credits)

This course provides beginning English majors with experience in the analysis, interpretation, and appreciation of literary works of different kinds and eras. Texts assigned will vary from one section to another. Works studied will introduce students to the practice of critical argument and will develop techniques for analysis of criticism as well as literature.

Cultures courses

2 courses (6 credits)

Cultures courses explore perspectives on cultural difference. These subject areas may include global Anglophone literature, literature translated into English, and the creative and critical work of historically marginalized and understudied groups. Courses may focus on borders, migration and diasporas, colonialism, counter-cultural movements, civil rights, race, gender, religious minorities, sexual orientation, disability, citizenship, community, and class and socio-economic status, among other topics.

At least one course must have a race, ethnicity, or indigeneity (REI) designation

Methods, Forms, and Genres course

1 course (3 credits)

Students will receive a grounding in one or more genres, critical methodologies, and/or analytical frameworks for the study of literature. Methods courses will include, for example, courses in creative writing, literary theory, digital humanities, performance studies, and disability studies, and courses using genre as an analytical framework (e.g. a course on prose, a course on poetry, a course on drama).

Histories of Literature courses

3 courses, 2 of which must be focused on pre-1800 periods (9 credits)

Histories of Literature courses explore literatures in English from earlier periods, or have an emphasis on how historical forces give shape and texture to literary texts, or how literature changes history. This category includes courses that focus on one specific literary period, or on particular authors, and courses with a transhistorical thematic focus, such as adaptation, literary legacies, and the afterlives of authors or texts.

Three additional English courses

The three elective courses can be any course within the Department of English.

If you have questions about the requirements, contact:

Laura Betz
Director of Undergraduate Studies
lbetz@nd.edu

Creative Writing Concentration

Creative Writing Students Buying Used Books At Irish Street Fair

In creative writing, we make stories. We study stories. We craft language into poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. We do a lot more, of course — like exploring the intersection of psychology and history and culture, thinking about the politics of style, and paying close attention to the astonishing world around us — but whether you’re crafting sonnets or science fiction, the real heart of what we do is magic: building worlds out of words. Through literary study and craft-based workshops, our writers work to master skills like narrative construction, rhythm, worldbuilding, imagery, metaphor, and characterization, while also closely reading literatures from around the world. 

Biology, economics, business, advertising, politics, particle physics, theology, engineering — nearly every aspect of human life happens in language. But there’s only one discipline on this campus that studies the art and craft of shaping language into reality: creative writing.

Requirements

Creative writing courses

4 courses, 12 credits

These courses may include:

  • *Introduction to Poetry Writing;
  • *Introduction to Fiction Writing;
  • Poetry Writing;
  • Fiction Writing;
  • Creative Nonfiction;
  • Advanced Fiction Writing;
  • Advanced Poetry Writing;
  • Special Topics in Creative Writing.
  • Other creative writing courses may also count towards the concentration; please consult with the Creative Writing Director to confirm that the course you wish to take counts for the concentration.

        * Only one 20xxx-level ("Intro to") course can count toward the Concentration.

Gateway Course: Introduction to Literary Studies

1 course (3 credits)

This course provides beginning English majors with experience in the analysis, interpretation, and appreciation of literary works of different kinds and eras. Texts assigned will vary from one section to another. Works studied will introduce students to the practice of critical argument and will develop techniques for analysis of criticism as well as literature.

Cultures courses

2 courses (6 credits)

Cultures courses explore perspectives on cultural difference. These subject areas may include global Anglophone literature, literature translated into English, and the creative and critical work of historically marginalized and understudied groups. Courses may focus on borders, migration and diasporas, colonialism, counter-cultural movements, civil rights, race, gender, religious minorities, sexual orientation, disability, citizenship, community, and class and socio-economic status, among other topics.

At least one course must have a race, ethnicity, or indigeneity (REI) designation

Histories of Literature courses

2 courses, 1 of which must be focused on a pre-1800 period (6 credits)

Histories of Literature courses explore literatures in English from earlier periods, or have an emphasis on how historical forces give shape and texture to literary texts, or how literature changes history. This category includes courses that focus on one specific literary period, or on particular authors, and courses with a transhistorical thematic focus, such as adaptation, literary legacies, and the afterlives of authors or texts.

One additional English course

The additional elective course can be any course within the Department of English.

Ready? Apply for the creative writing concentration.

Interested in writing a creative writing thesis? Consider the creative writing honors concentration.

Honors Requirements

Students Meeting With Directors Of The Abbey Theatre At Kylemore

English Honors Concentration

In the English honors concentration, select majors create programs tailored to their own particular interests and needs. A faculty mentor guides each of these students through this intensive experience. The principal feature of the honors program is a year-long research process culminating in the completion of an honors thesis.

If you have questions about the honors program contact the director of undergraduate studies.

Admission

Invitation to Apply

By the end of fall of their junior year, students are invited to apply after being identified in one of two ways:

  • 3.78 or above GPA in three or more English classes. At least two of the classes must be at the 30xxx level or above.
  • Faculty nomination with a minimum GPA of 3.6
Statement of Purpose

Invited students declare their interest in the honors concentration by completing a statement of purpose, a 250–300 word statement describing what the student hopes to focus on during his or her time in the honors concentration. Deadline for applications: February 28, 2023.

Requirements

Students take a minimum of 11 English courses at the 30xxx-level or above, which include the following:

  1. All of the course requirements for the major.
  2. One optional advanced course, related to the thesis, from another department (requires the approval of the director of the honors concentration).
  3. During the junior year, the student identifies an area of interest and selects an advisor.
  4. In the fall of the senior year the student takes ENGL 53001: Honors Colloquium, in which they conduct research, write a proposal, and begin writing the thesis.
  5. In the spring of the senior year, the student enrolls in English 52998: Honors Thesis and completes the thesis.

Thesis

Fall: Honors Colloquium

In the fall semester, students enroll in the Honors Colloquium (ENGL 53001) and complete a series of assignments through which they begin the process of writing the thesis. Students work primarily with the instructor of the colloquium but consult with their individual thesis advisors about developing a specific research topic, research resources specific to the area of their thesis, and the writing of the thesis itself. Students complete the following:

  • Research bibliography of primary and secondary sources
  • Sample notes from sources
  • Thesis proposal
  • Annotated bibliography
  • Review of the critical literature
  • Report on historical, philosophical, aesthetic or other related contexts
  • Thesis outline
  • Draft section of thesis
  • Oral report on the thesis project
Spring: Honors Thesis

In the spring semester, students register for Honors Thesis (ENGL 52999) and work intensively with their thesis director, who assigns the final grade for the completed thesis. All theses should employ MLA style. The thesis should include the following:

  • Title page 
  • Table of contents
  • Abstract (250–350 words)
  • An essay of 6,000–9,000 words including notes but not the works cited. Ordinarily, the thesis essay addresses a literary topic or question, situates its analysis in relation to the existing criticism, and formulates an independently conceived argument about this topic or question. The model is the scholarly article.
  • Works cited
Deadlines
  • Complete draft of essay to advisor. Friday, April 21, 2023.
  • Complete and final version in polished form (MLA formatting) with bibliography due both to the advisor and the department (email to undergraduate studies coordinator, Lisa Holderman). Abstract of 200–250 words due as well. Wednesday, May 3, 2023.*
  • English honors concentration thesis presentations:  Friday, May 5, 2023, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. *Note: Informal lunch reception follows immediately.

 *For a student to graduate with honors, the essay must receive the advisor’s approval, be at least 20 pages in length, and earn a grade of B or higher.

Creative Writing Honors Concentration

Creative writing honors concentrators complete all the requirements of the English major and the creative writing concentration and write a creative thesis their senior year under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The creative thesis may take the form of stories, a novella, a poetry collection, an essay collection, or a hybrid project of your own devising as approved by the director of creative writing.

Interested students should apply in the spring of their junior year.

Admission

Please include with your application a 250-word project proposal, a list of creative writing courses taken, and a list of preferred faculty advisors. Please note: we cannot ensure first choice of faculty advisors. Deadline for applications: February 28, 2023.

Apply here.

Requirements

Students who wish to join the creative writing honors concentration and write a creative thesis must:

  • Have an English department GPA of 3.78 or above (3.6 at the discretion of the director of creative writing) and have completed 3 English courses, 2 at the 30xxx or above level
  • Complete all the requirements for the English major.
  • Complete all the requirements in the concentration in creative writing.
  • Write and submit a creative thesis according to the deadlines below under the supervision of a faculty advisor.
  • Meet all thesis requirements and deadlines.
Requirements FAQs
  • Creative writing honors concentrators are required to take a Creative Writing Honors Colloquium in the fall of their senior year. Honors Colloquium may be counted towards the student's four required creative writing courses. 
  • Creative writing honors concentrators may count one 20xxx-level creative writing course towards the honors concentration.

Thesis

Students accepted into the creative writing honors concentration will be assigned a faculty advisor. They will meet with their advisor and write their theses throughout their senior year. The thesis will consist of an abstract, a 10–15 page critical essay, and a creative project. The project must entail 40 pages of prose or 20 pages of poetry or the equivalent under the discretion of the director of creative writing.

Deadlines
  • Complete draft due to advisor. Friday, April 21, 2023. Advisor can adjust at their discretion.
  • Complete and final version due to the department Wednesday, May 3, 2022 (email to undergraduate studies coordinator Lisa Holderman).
  • English Creative Writing honors concentration thesis presentations:  Friday, May 5, 2023, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. *Note: Informal lunch reception follows immediately.