Requirements for the English Major

Basic Requirements

• English majors must complete a minimum of ten upper-division English courses (3000 level or above).
• Eight of these ten must be at the 4000 level.
• Seven of the ten major courses must be taken in residence.
• English majors must show competency in a foreign language through the fourth semester.
• Students must achieve at least a "C" in all major courses.

Course Distribution Requirements

• 2 classes from Group 1, English and American Literature before 1800 (Each course must come from a different area of British and American Literature )
• 1 class from Group 2, British and Postcolonial Literature after 1800
• 1 class from Group 3, American Literature
• 1 class from Group 4, Language, Criticism, and Culture
• 5 Major Electives, chosen from any major group. No more than two electives may be at the 3000 level.

Areas of Emphasis

If you wish to concentrate your studies within the English Major in a particular Area of Emphasis, click here for more information.

Courses by Area

Group I: British and American Lit before 1800

 

1A. EARLY LITERATURE OF THE BRITISH ISLES

4060/6060: Old English

4210/6210: Old English Literature

4220/6220: Beowulf

4222: Topics in Early Literature of the British Isles*

4295/6295: Topics in Celtic Studies*

4296: Literature of Medieval Wales 

1B. MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

4197: Middle Welsh

4225/6225: The Age of Cathedrals: Literary Culture in the High Middle Ages

4230: Medieval Literature

4230W: Medieval Literature, writing intensive

4240/6240: Chaucer

4240W: Chaucer, writing intensive

4270: Medieval Romance

4290: Topics in Medieval Literature*

1C. EARLY MODERN BRITISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

4300/6300: Elizabethan Poetry

4300W: Elizabethan Poetry, writing intensive

4320/6320: Shakespeare I: Selected Works

4320E/6320E: Shakespeare I: Texts and Contexts, an online learning course

4320W: Shakespeare I: Selected Works, writing intensive

4330: Shakespeare II: Special Topics**

4330W: Shakespeare II: Special Topics, writing intensive**

4330/4330W: Shakespeare II: Special Topics is repeatable for 6 credit hours, but may only be counted once towards the English and American Literature before 1800 requirement.

4330E: Shakespeare II: Special Topics, an online learning course*

4331 and 4331L: Shakespeare on Film. Students must sign up for 4331L along with 4331.

4332: Shakespeare and Media

4223E: Shakespeare and Media Online

4332W: Shakespeare and Media, writing intensive

4340/6340: Renaissance Drama

4350/6350: Seventeenth-Century Poetry

4360: Renaissance Prose

4370: Milton

4390: Topics in Renaissance Literature*

4390W: Topics in Renaissance Literature, writing intensive*

1D. RESTORATION AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

4400/6400: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English Drama

4420/6420: Early Eighteenth-Century Prose and Poetry

4430: The Eighteenth-Century English Novel

4440/6440: The Age of Johnson

4450: The Global Eighteenth Century

4460: Women in the Eighteenth Century

4460E: Women in the Eighteenth Century Online

4480/6480: Scottish Literature of the Eighteenth Century

4490: Topics in Eighteenth-Century Literature*

4491 and 4491L: The Eighteenth Century on Film. Students must sign up for 4491L along with 4491.

4700: People of Paradox: American Colonial Voices

Group II: British and Postcolonial Literature After 1800

 

4500: Romantic Literature

4501: Romantic Circles

4505: Jane Austen

4510: Nineteenth-Century British Prose

4520: Nineteenth-Century British Novel

4520W: Nineteenth-Century British Novel, writing intensive

4525W: Charles Dickens, writing intensive

4530: Victorian Literature

4540: Victorian Poetry

4590: Topics in Nineteenth-Century British Literature*

4650: Modern Drama

4660: Twentieth-Century British Poetry

4670: Twentieth-Century British Novel

4675: Twenty-First Century British Fiction

4680: Modern Irish Literature

4685: Postcolonial Literature

4690: Topics in Twentieth-Century British Literature* 

4695: Topics in Postcolonial Literature*

4695S: Topics in Postcolonial Literature, service learning*

4698: James Joyce 

Group III: American Literature

 

4620: African American Poetry

4630: African American Fiction

4642/6642-4642L/6642L: Films about the American South. Students must sign up for the lab along with 4642/6642.

4710: Emancipated Imagination: American Renaissance

4712: Edgar Allan Poe

4720: American Realism and Naturalism

4721: Mark Twain

4723: Herman Melville

4730: American Novel to 1900

4740: Southern Literature

4750: American Modernism

4760: Contemporary American Literature

4770: Twentieth-Century American Poetry

4780: Twentieth-Century American Novel

4790: Topics in American Literature*

4791: American Autobiography

4795: William Faulkner

4860: Multicultural Topics in American Literature *

4874: Literature and the Civil War

4880: Topics in African American Literature*

4882W: Black Film Matters: Studies in African American Film

4883W: From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop: Essential Voices in Modern Black Music

4880E: Topics in African American Literature, an online learning course*

4884W: Contemporary African-American Writing, writing intensive

Group IV: Language, Criticism, and Culture

 

4005/6005: History of the English Language

4010/6010: American English

4040: Language Use in African American Community

4050/6050: Structure of African American English

4060/6060: Old English

4100/6100: Lexicography

4110/6110: English Grammar

4170/6170: Second Language Acquisition

4180/6180: ESL Error Analysis

4190: Topics in English Language*

4195/6195: Celtic Languages

4295/6295: Topics in Celtic Studies* 

4640: Film as Literature

4800W: Advanced Creative Writing, writing intensive

You may receive up to 12 hours of credit for English 4800, however, only 6 hours can be used toward satisfying English major distribution requirements. The other 6 credit hours will appear in your general electives.

4810: Literary Magazine Editing and Publishing

4820: Literary Theory

4821: Poetics

4822: Texts, Sex, and Gender

4825: Topics in Literary Theory*

4826: Style: Language, Genre, Cognition

4830W: Advanced Studies in Writing, writing intensive. Repeatable once for credit.

4831W:  Advanced Studies in Writing: The Critical Essay, writing intensive

4832W: Writing for the World Wide Web, writing intensive

4833W: Composition Theory and Pedagogy, writing intensive

4835: Environmental Literature

4836W/6836W: Writing About Health and Medicine, writing intensive

4837W/6837W: Digital Storytelling, writing intensive

4850W: Rhetoric, Literature, and Textuality, writing intensive

4864: History and Theory of the Novel

4865: Studies in the Novel Before 1900

4866: Studies in the Novel After 1900

4870: Folklore Studies. Repeatable once for credit.

4876: Fantasy Literature

4885: Introduction to Humanities Computing

4886: Text and Corpus Analysis

4888: Humanities Computing I: Knowledge Representation

4889: Humanities Computing II: Applied Design

4890: Topics in Criticism and Culture*

4892/6892: Literature in the Archives

4895: Topics in Literature and Arts*

4896: Comics and Graphic Narratives

4897: Science Fiction

4898: Comics Theory and Practice

4995: Senior Seminar

LING(AFAM)(ENGL) 4050/6050: Structure of African American English 

3000-Level Courses

 

3010: Introduction to Folklore

3030: Introduction to English Language

3050: Introduction to Poetry

3050H: Introduction to Poetry, permission from the Honors program is required for registration

3055: Poetry and Popular Song

3100: Introduction to British Culture

3150: Generative Syntax

3230: Development of African American Literature

3300: Women in Literature

3330: Literature and Human Rights

3400: Literature and Evolution

3410: Literature and Media

3420: Literature and the Mind

3430: Literature and Childhood

3440: Literature and Philosophy

3450: Literature and War

3500: Jane Austen’s World

3530: Introduction to Victorian Studies

3590W: Technical and Professional Communication, writing intensive

3600W: Advanced Composition, writing intensive

3610: Introduction to Fiction

3610H: Introduction to Fiction, permission from the Honors program is required for registration

3650: Introduction to Drama

3650H: Introduction to Drama, permission from the Honors program is required for registration

3800W: Introduction to Creative Writing, writing intensive

3800H: Introduction to Creative Writing, permission from the Honors program is required for registration

3801: Intermediate Creative Writing. You must have had 3800W to take this course.

3820W: Critical Approaches to Literature, writing intensive

3850S: Writing and Community, service learning

3860W: Science Writing for General Audiences, writing intensive

3880S: The Modern Civil Rights Movement in Literature and Culture, service learning

3892S: Literature in the Library, service learning

The following English courses do not satisfy the Group IV requirement. They can only be taken as general electives.

4831: Eportfolio Workshop

4834/4834E: Electronic Writing Portfolio Workshop, an online learning course

4840: Internship in Literary Media

4841: Internship in Teaching and Pedagogy

4842: Internship in Professional and Technical Communications 

4843: Internship in Libraries and Museums 

*Topics courses are repeatable once for credit.