English Major

Major Requirements

Students majoring in English complete at least nine courses, including:

Survey Courses

Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of ENSU in the course offerings.

• at least two survey courses. Survey courses encompass a broad range of material, allowing students to appreciate how writers influence one another and observe (and perhaps reconsider) canonicity, that is, how some writers have come to be considered more significant than others. Survey courses are normally completed at the 200 level. Survey courses include: ENGL 200 ENGL 201 ENGL 202 

Literature Electives From Three Historical Periods

Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of ENMR, EN89, or EN90 in the course offerings.

• at least one literature course at the intermediate (300) level from each of three historical periods:

  • medieval/early modern (to 1700)

  • the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (1701-1900) 

  • the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (1901 to now)

Three Electives

Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of ENEL in the course offerings.

• three electives at any level, only one of which may be at the 100 level

English Seminar

Courses fulfilling this requirement have an attribute of ENSE in the course offerings.

• at least one seminar in literature, that is, a course at the 400-level in which students engage in advanced reading, discussion, and writing about a specific literary topic

GPA Requirement

Passing grades are required in a minimum of nine departmental courses, with a major GPA of 2.00 averaged over all courses taken in the department.

Honors and High Honors

Students interested in pursuing honors can find the additional requirements on the English and Creative Writing department page.

English and Creative Writing Department

For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, etc., please visit the English and Creative Writing Department catalog page.