Academic Catalog

Courses

GLE requirement: The English department requires that students take one course from a category of courses designated "Global Lilteratures in English, 1850-Present" (GLE). GLE courses are offered at both Level II and III and may be taken at any time during the major. Courses in this category are global in scope (that is, not confined to, although they may include, literature written in Great Britain and the USA). GLE courses emphasize the multicultural, transnational, and post-colonial nature of much literature written in English.

Examples of recently offered GLE courses include the following: "Fiction Down Under," "Literature of the Vietnam War/American War," "Studies in Prose: Nineteenth to Twenty-first Century Novels." Since this attribute is attached to different courses in different semesters, a list of courses meeting the requirement will be posted on the department web site each year.

 

Portfolio admission to Advanced Writing Courses

Admission to English 372 (Advanced Fiction Course) is based on a portfolio of creative work. A faculty committee determines which students will be admitted to the course. The deadline for submitting this portfolio for Semester I 2008 courses will be Monday, March 31 by 4:00 p.m. You will be notified of your admission by April 7, in time to register for Phase II registration. The course will be listed as "Closed"; accepted students will have to add it during the Drop/Add period beginning April 16.

Advanced Creative Writing Portfolio Submission Guidelines

1. The portfolio should contain work in one genre.  If you are applying to more than one creative writing course—say, Advanced Fiction and Advanced Poetry—you should submit two separate portfolios.

2. The portfolio should include a representative sample of your work:  10-20 pages of fiction (including a complete story of at least 8 pages) or 5-10 pages of creative nonfiction (including at least one complete essay) or 5 poems (not 5 pages).  Please use 12 pt type and double space.

3. On the cover of the portfolio please specify the course you prefer, your name, e-mail address, phone number, what 200-level creative writing courses you have taken or are currently taking, and any other creative writing courses you have taken at St. Olaf or at another college or university.  To help ensure anonymity, your name must not appear anywhere else on your submission.

4. The deadline for portfolio submission is set each semester so that students are informed of their acceptance or non-acceptance in time to register. The date will be announced on the department web site.

5. Late portfolios will not be accepted and portfolios will not be returned.