2020-2021 Catalog

Major Requirements

A major requires a minimum of eleven courses (44 units). A maximum of two courses taken at the 200-level can be applied to the Group 1-4 requirement.

COURSEWORK

Historical Surveys

ENGL 287Literary Experiments from Chaucer to Milton

4 units

ENGL 288Modern British Literary Traditions

4 units

ENGL 289The American Experience in Literature

4 units

Students may substitute the corresponding first-year survey course (ENGL 189) for its 200-level counterpart (ENGL 289), but may not receive major credit for both (e.g. ENGL 189 and ENGL 289).

Seminars

ENGL 290Introduction to Literary Methods

4 units

ENGL 390Junior Seminar in English

4 units

ENGL 490Senior Seminar: Comprehensive Project

4 units

Group 1 - Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Students must select one course numbered:

ENGL 210 – 229

Or

ENGL 310 – 329

Group 2 - 18th and 19th Century Literature

Students must select one course numbered:

ENGL 230 – 249

Or

ENGL 330 – 349

Group 3 - 20th and 21st Century Literature

Students must select one course numbered:

ENGL 250 – 269

Or

ENGL 350 – 369

Group 4 - Emergent Literature

Students must select one course that focuses on literature previously excluded from the canon:

ENGL 142Joyful Noise! On Black Literature and Musicality

4 units

ENGL 241The "Deviant"

4 units

ENGL 274Women Writers

4 units

ENGL 341Race, Law, and Literature

4 units

ENGL 345American Literature Before 1900

4 units

ENGL 34719th Century Novel and Bollywood Cinema

4 units

NOTE: "Emergent Literature" courses will typically fall under the Group II or III categories. However, they cannot count for both a period requirement (such as Group II or III) and the Emergent Literature requirement.

Electives

ENGL One additional ENGL course

Students considering graduate work in literature are strongly encouraged to take additional English courses beyond the minimum of eleven in order to broaden and deepen their knowledge of literary history and their practice of literary interpretation. They should also take ENGL 370. Most graduate programs require proficiency in at least one foreign language.

Concentration in Creative Writing

Students majoring in English may elect to take additional courses in order to complete a concentration in Creative Writing, a special track that provides a strong background in both literary history and creative writing skills. Students choosing this concentration will take a total of 13 courses.

Historical Surveys

ENGL 287Literary Experiments from Chaucer to Milton

4 units

ENGL 288Modern British Literary Traditions

4 units

ENGL 289The American Experience in Literature

4 units

Students may substitute the corresponding first-year survey course (ENGL 189) for its 200-level counterpart (ENGL 289), but may not receive major credit for both (e.g. ENGL 189 and ENGL 289).

Seminars

Students must complete the courses listed below:

ENGL 290Introduction to Literary Methods

4 units

ENGL 390Junior Seminar in English

4 units

ENGL 490Senior Seminar: Comprehensive Project

4 units

Three Upper Division Electives

Choose from categories noted above as Groups I, II, III and IV (only one of these may be a 200-level course).

Creative Writing Electives

Students must complete four creative writing electives. At least two of these must be from the English department. Other departments and programs that have offered writing courses include French, Media Arts and Culture, Theater, and Writing and Rhetoric. Students interested in pursuing concentration in creative writing must work out a careful program in consultation with their adviser and the department chair.