English Major (approved November 2008)
11/17/08
Requirements: ten courses, to include:
Level I: 185: introduction to major
Level II: 3 courses: one from Cross-Cultural, one from Literary History, and one from either Cross-Disciplinary or Genre.
Among all courses taken at level II (category-specific and elective), one must be in literature before 1800; one must be in literature after 1800.
Level III: 2 courses
Level II Categories:
CROSS-CULTURAL
Cross-cultural courses treat literature as a human expression that embraces both commonality and differences within and across cultures. They may focus on global literatures in English and/or multicultural literatures within a single nation. Such courses also employ critical approaches designed to address cross-cultural literary issues.
Explanation of Cross-Cultural Category
In order to satisfy the expectations of the cross-cultural category, a course must focus on one or more of the following: Anglophone literature (English-language literature from Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia, and other locations outside of North America, Britain, Ireland, and Australia); ethnic American literature; or the English-lanugage literature of one or more minority communities in Britain, Canada, or another nation. The study of works in translation--for example, a course in Ibsen in English translation or a Turkish literature course taken abroad--while excellent experiences, do not fit the English major's category of cross-cultural study.
Guidelines:
1. Courses focus on global literatures in English and/or multicultural literatures within a single nation.
2. Courses employ critical approaches specifically designed to address cross-cultural literary issues.
English 200 Topics in Cross-cultural Literature (submitted)
English 205 American Racial and Multicultural Literatures (formerly 245)
English 209 Colonialism and the Novel
English 210 Post-colonial Literatures (formerly 247)
English 212 Literature of the Eastern Caribbean (Abroad) (formerly 270)
English 214 Canadian Literature (formerly 249)
English 215 Fiction Down Under
LITERARY HISTORY
Courses satisfying the Literary History requirement are designed to trace the process of literary change, examining the development of literary styles, conventions, and forms. They may focus on one national literary tradition or examine literature from two or more nations. While not limited to traditional "period" surveys, these courses present an approach to literature that emphasizes chronological breadth and generic variety.
Guidelines:
1. Courses address a span of approximately 100 years, though some may stretch across several centuries.
2. Courses include significant attention to at least two of the following three genres: prose, poetry, or drama.
English 220 Topics in Literary History (submitted)
English 221 Literatures in English to 1650
English 222 Literatures in English 1650 to 1850
English 228 Modern/Postmodern Literature (formerly taught under 283)
English 232 The Long 19th Century (American)
ELECTIVES
English 241 King Arthur Through the Ages (formerly English 227)
English 244 Literature of the Vietnam/American war Formerly 239)
English 246 Women’s Literature (formerly English 286)
English 248 Utopias (formerly English 272)
English 250 Linguistics (formerly English 274)
English 224 Modern Irish Literature (Abroad)
English 253 Authors in English (formerly English 290)
English 255 Backgrounds to Literatures
English 256 Shakespeare and His Contemporaries (formerly English 280)
English 258 Folklore (formerly English 203)
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY
Cross-disciplinary courses approach a topic, author, genre, or period from at least one disciplinary perspective in addition to that of literary study. These courses teach students to recognize disciplinary perspectives as distinct ways of knowing, and to compare and combine such perspectives in literary analysis.
Guidelines:
1. Courses draw a significant portion of course materials from a discipline other than literary study.
2. Courses enable students to combine disciplinary perspectives.
3. Courses teach students to recognize a disciplinary perspective as arising from a particular set of questions or ways of knowing
English 260 Topics in Cross-disciplinary perspectives (submitted)
ID 258 Theatre in London (Abroad)
English 262 Topics in Literature and History (formerly English 238)
English 263 Ethics in Narrative (formerly English 263)
English 264 Gender and Literature
English 265 Performing Arts in New York City (Off campus) (formerly English 284)
English 271 Monsters: Myths and Movies (formerly English 226)
English 275 Literature and Film
English 276 Literature and the Environment
GENRE
Genre refers to a group of works united primarily by a specific form or shared formal elements rather than by theme, topic, historical period, or country. The genre studied may be broad, such as narrative fiction, or narrow, such as the elegy. Genre courses address form through writing, the study of literature, or both, and require students to think critically and creatively about the formal qualities of literature.
Guidelines:
1. Courses focus on genre. Appropriate genres include creative nonfiction, the short-short, the novel, drama, poetry, autobiography, the epic, and the screenplay.
2. Courses primarily address the craft and analysis of literary form.
English 242 Children’s and Young Adult Literature (formerly English 233)
English 280 Topics in Genre (submitted)
English 281 Studies in Poetry
English 282 Studies in Drama
English 283 Studies in Fiction
English 285 Studies in Nonfiction (formerly part of English 283)
English 287 19th-21st Century Novel (formerly taught under English 283)
English 288 Reading and Writing the Personal Essay (formerly English 200)
English 289 Journalistic Writing (formerly English 255)
English 291 Science Writing (formerly English 254)
English 292 Creative Writing: Poetry (formerly English 257)
English 293 Creative Writing: Fiction (formerly English 257)
(English 294 Internship)
English 295 Creative Writing: Nonfiction (formerly English 251)
(English 298 Independent Study)
