Areas of Emphasis Overview

What are the Areas of Emphasis, and how do they work?

An Area of Emphasis is a group of four or more related courses within a major or coherent field of study. Our current Areas of Emphasis are: Advanced Studies in English, American Literature, Creative Writing, Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies, Literature and Media, Literatures of Empire, Medieval Literature, Multicultural American Literature, Poetics, Professional Writing, and Studies in the Novel.

We advise you to use the areas as suggestions for concentration in a particular genre or field of English Studies. Do you really love Medieval Literature or Creative Writing? By declaring an Area of Emphasis within your English Major, you can now map out the best way to satisfy all your Major Requirements while still focusing closely on the fields you find most interesting. 

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Advanced Studies in English

This concentration prepares you for continuing your Studies at the Graduate and Professional levels, whether in Law, Business, Medical school or other programs. The track helps specifically with preparation for the GRE subject test in English, emphasizing literary theory, advanced writing, and historical coverage. Contact: Dr. Richard Menke 

• ENGL 4820: Literary Theory
• A third Pre-1800 class
• A second Theory or Genre class
• An Advanced Writing Class from the following list: ENGL 4830W: Advanced Studies in Writing or ENGL 4831W: Advanced Studies in Writing (The Critical Essay) or ENGL 4832W: Writing for the World Wide Web or ENGL 4995W: Senior Seminar

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American Literature

Extensive study of American literature from its colonial origins to the present, including writers of all races, religions, and nationalities. Contact: Dr. Cody Marrs

• One course in American or Multicultural Literature from the following list: ENGL 4620: African American Poetry or ENGL 4630: African American Fiction or ENGL 4642/6642-4642L/6642L: Films About the American South or ENGL 4700: People of Paradox: American Colonial Voices or ENGL 4710: Emancipated Imagination: American Renaissance or ENGL 4712: Poe or ENGL 4720: American Realism and Naturalism or ENGL 4721: Twain or ENGL 4723: Melville or ENGL 4730: American Novel to 1900 or ENGL 4740: Southern Literature or ENGL 4750: American Modernism or ENGL 4760: Contemporary American Literature or ENGL 4770: 20th-Century American Poetry or ENGL 4780: 20th-Century American Novel or  ENGL 4790: Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4791: American Autobiography or ENGL 4795: Faulkner or ENGL 4860: Multicultural Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4874: Literature and the Civil War or ENGL 4880: Topics in African American Literature or ENGL 4882W: Black Film Matters or 4883W: From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop or ENGL 4884: Contemporary African-American Writing
• Four more American classes from the following list: ENGL 4642/6642-4642L/6642L: Films About the American South or ENGL 4700: People of Paradox: American Colonial Voices or ENGL 4710: Emancipated Imagination: American Renaissance or ENGL 4712: Poe or  ENGL 4720: American Realism and Naturalism or ENGL 4721: Twain or ENGL 4723: Melville or ENGL 4730: American Novel to 1900 or ENGL 4740: Southern Literature or ENGL 4750: American Modernism or ENGL 4760: Contemporary American Literature or ENGL 4770: 20th-Century American Poetry or ENGL 4780: 20th-Century American Novel or ENGL 4790: Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4791: American Autobiography or ENGL 4795: Faulkner or ENGL 4860: Multicultural Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4874: Literature and the Civil War or ENGL 4880: Topics in African-American Literature or ENGL 4882W: Black Film Matters or ENGL 4883W: From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop or ENGL 4884: Contemporary African-American Writing

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Creative Writing

Intense focus on Creative Writing classes as well as the study  of classic and contemporary examples of creative literature. Contact: Professor Aruni Kashyap

• ENGL 3800W: Introduction to Creative Writing
• Two of the following: ENGL 4800W, ENGL 4801W, ENGL 4802W, ENGL 4803W, ENGL 4804W
• One Contemporary Literature or Genre class from the following list: ENGL 4660: 20th-Century British Poetry or  ENGL 4670: 20th-Century British Novel or ENGL 4675: Twenty-First Century British Fiction or ENGL 4680: Modern Irish Literature or ENGL 4690: Topics in 20th-Century British Literature or ENGL 4760: Contemporary American Literature or ENGL 4770: 20th-Century American Poetry or ENGL 4780: 20th-Century American Novel or ENGL 4790: Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4821: Poetics or ENGL 4860: Multicultural Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4864: History and Theory of the Novel or ENGL 4865: Topics in the Novel before 1900 or ENGL 4866: Topics in the Novel after 1900 or ENGL (AFAM) 4884: Contemporary African-American Writing

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Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies

This Area of Emphasis will bring out your latent English nerd. If you love all things Renaissance -- history or the languages or even the fashions -- this cross-departmental concentration provides the ultimate foundation in Renaissance (or Early Modern) Studies. Contact: Dr. Sujata Iyengar 

• Four Renaissance classes, including either one Medieval class and one class from outside the department with a bearing on Renaissance Studies or two classes from outside the department with a bearing on Renaissance Studies

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Literature and Media

This Area of Emphasis allows students to concentrate on media studies, media theory, book history, and literature. Contact: Professor Rodrigo Martina Paula 

• Any four classes from the following list: ENGL 3325: Literature and Adaptation or ENGL 3370: Literature and Artificial Intelligence or ENGL 3410: Literature and Media or ENGL 3570: Games and Culture or  ENGL 3892: Literature in the Library or  ENGL 4332: Shakespeare and Media or ENGL 4650: Film as Literature or ENGL 4642: Films about the American South or  ENGL 4815: The History and Future of the Book or  ENGL 4820: Literary Theory or ENGL/AFAM 4882W: Black Film Matters or ENGL 4892: Literature in the Archives or ENGL 4895: Topics in Literature and Other Arts or ENGL 4896: Comics and Graphic Narratives

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Literatures of Empire

This Area of Emphasis allows students to concentrate their studies on the literature and history of the British empire, and on the postcolonial literatures that respond to that history. Contact: Professor Casie LeGette

• Choose four courses from the following list: ENGL 3007: Spy Fiction or ENGL/HIST 3100: Introduction to British and Irish Culture or ENGL/AFAM 3480: Literature and the Black Atlantic or ENGL 4450: The Global 18th Century or ENGL/AFAM 4470: Eighteenth Century Literature and the Black Atlantic or ENGL 4500: Romantic Literature or ENGL 4530: Victorian Literature or ENGL 4550: Britain, Empire, and the Global Nineteenth Century or ENGL 4670: The Twentieth-Century British and Irish Novel or ENGL 4680: Modern Irish Literature or ENGL 4685: Postcolonial Literature or ENGL 4695: Topics in Postcolonial Literature or ENGL 4698: James Joyce

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Medieval Literature

Focuses on early literatures and languages from the British Isles, including work in Old English and Middle Welsh. Contact: Dr. Jonathan Evans.

• ENGL(LING) 4060:  Old English
• Three more Old or Medieval English Literature Classes from the following list: ENGL 4197: Middle Welsh or ENGL 4210: Old English Literature or ENGL 4220: Beowulf or ENGL 4225: Age of Cathedrals: Literary Culture in the High Middle Ages or ENGL 4230: Medieval Literature or ENGL 4240: Chaucer or ENGL 4270: Medieval Romance or ENGL 4290: Topics in Medieval Literature or ENGL 4296: Literature of Medieval Wales

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Multicultural American Literature

Combines work in a variety of disciplines and examines the literary and artistic productions of peoples historically under-represented in English curricula. Contact: Dr. Carmen Comeaux

• ENGL 2400: Multicultural Literature in America or ENGL 3230: Development of African American Literature
• Choose three of the following courses, reflecting at least two ethnic groups, from the following list:ENGL 3880S: The Modern Civil Rights Movement in Literature and Culture or ENGL 4620: African American Poetry or ENGL 4630: African American Fiction or ENGL 4685: Postcolonial Literature or ENGL 4695: Topics in Postcolonial Literature or ENGL 4860: Multicultural Topics in American Literature or ENGL 4880: Topics in African American Literature or ENGL 4882W: Black Film Matters or ENGL 4883W: From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop or ENGL 4884: Topics in African American Literature
• One more class, this one from outside the English department. After consultation with your faculty mentor, choose one class with a Multicultural or Postcolonial focus in HIST, CMLT, RELI, Education, WMST, or POLS.

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Poetics

Poetry in theory and in practice from its ancient roots to the present day. Contact: Dr. Susan Rosenbaum

• ENGL 4821: Poetics or ENGL 4823: 20th-Century Poetics or ENGL 4824: Special Topics in Poetics
• One class in poetry before 1800 from the following list: ENGL 4060: Old English or ENGL 4210: Old English Literature or ENGL 4220: Beowulf or ENGL 4230/4230W: Medieval Literature or ENGL 4240/4240W: Chaucer or ENGL 4270: Medieval Romance or ENGL 4296: Literature of Medieval Wales or ENGL 4300/4300W: Elizabethan Poetry or ENGL 4320/4320W: Shakespeare I or  ENGL 4330/4330W/4330E/4330S: Shakespeare II or ENGL 4340: Renaissance Drama or  ENGL 4350: 17th-Century Poetry or ENGL 4370: Milton or a topics course with a focus on poetry before 1800
• One class in poetry after 1800 from the following list: ENGL 4500: Romantic Literature or ENGL 4501: Romantic Circles (when appropriate) or  ENGL 4540: Victorian Poetry or ENGL/AFAM 4620: African American Poetry or ENGL 4660: 20th-Century British Poetry or ENGL 4770: 20th-Century American Poetry or a topics course with a focus on poetry after 1800
• One additional English class centered on poetry or poetics. For instance, a class from the lists above or ENGL 3050: Intro to Poetry or ENGL 4800W: Advanced Creative Writing with a specified poetry or poetics focus or any ENGL topics class with a poetry or poetics focus

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Professional Writing

This Area of Emphasis allows students to concentrate their studies on professional writing, editing, and digital writing. Contact: Professor Christine Lasek-White

• Choose four courses from the following list: ENGL 3540: Introduction to Publishing or ENGL 3560W: Writing Games or ENGL 3580W: Writing, Rhetoric, and Artificial Intelligence or ENGL 3590: Technical and Professional Communication or ENGL 3600W: Advanced Composition or ENGL 3700W: Introduction to Writing in the Disciplines or ENGL 3850S: Writing and Community or ENGL 3851S: Writing for Social Justice or ENGL 3860W: Science Writing for General Audiences or ENGL 4001: Careers for English Majors or ENGL 4805: Editing and Publishing or ENGL/LING 4826: Style or ENGL 4832: Writing for the World Wide Web or ENGL 4833: Composition Theory and Pedagogy or ENGL 4836: Writing About Health and Medicine or ENGL 4837: Digital Storytelling or ENGL 4840: Internship in Literary Media or ENGL 4841: Internship in Teaching and Pedagogy or ENGL 4842: Internship in Professional and Technical Communication or ENGL 4912S: Writing Center Theory and Practice or FCID 4100: Humanities Internships

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Studies in the Novel

This Area of Emphasis examines what makes "the novel" unique within English Studies, studying examples of the novel from the inception of the genre through contemporary explorations of what the medium can do. Contact: Dr. Richard Menke

• ENGL 4864: History and Theory of the Novel (offered every Fall)
• One Class in the Novel Before 1900: ENGL 4430: 18th-Century English Novel or ENGL 4520: 19th-Century British Novel or ENGL 4730: American Novel to 1900 or ENGL 4505: Jane Austen or ENGL 4525W: Dickens or ENGL 4721: Mark Twain or ENGL 4723: Melville or ENGL 4865: Topics in the Novel before 1900
• One Class in the Novel After 1900: ENGL 4670: 20th-Century British Novel or ENGL 4675: 21st-Century British Fiction or ENGL 4685: Postcolonial Literature or ENGL 4690: Topics in Twentieth-century British Literature or ENGL 4698: James Joyce or ENGL 4760: Contemporary American Literature or ENGL 4780: 20th-Century American Novel or ENGL 4795: William Faulkner or ENGL 4866: Topics in the Novel after 1900
• One additional English class in the Novel, includes all of the above plus any of the following: ENGL 4630: African American Fiction or ENGL 4640 Film as Literature (when appropriate per topic) or  ENGL 4720: American Realism and Naturalism or ENGL 4876 Fantasy Literature)

Areas of Emphasis are primarily intended as a student's self-advisement tools, ways of planning and tracking progress of study within the English Major as a whole. As such, please note that because of budgetary and staffing constraints, we cannot guarantee that students who have declared an area of emphasis will be able to complete it in any given year. Any student wishing to pursue an Area of Emphasis should see either the Undergraduate Coordinator or Administrative Coordinator for advisement at the start of the third year of study.

Please note the following: courses outside the English major may have lower division prerequisites. Check the University Bulletin to find out what prerequisites you may need in order to enroll in courses outside of the English Major.

Also note: while many Graduate Level Courses are accepted for various Areas of Emphasis, only 3 Graduate Level Courses in total may be applied toward an Undergraduate Degree at the University of Georgia.

For all Areas of Emphasis, if students feel that a course they have taken for the English Major should apply towards an Area of Emphasis, they may petition the Undergraduate Committee and appropriate area faculty for the course's inclusion within their Area of Emphasis work.