The following outlines the requirements for the different majors in English.

Students majoring in English may choose the Literature Track or the Creative Writing Track.

Literature Track

Students who choose the Literature Track will take a total of 11 classes in the ENGL department (transfer credits from other institutions must be approved), as follows:

  • ENGL 103 or CMLT 101
  • ENGL 205
  • Eight Electives:
    • At least TWO of which must be courses carrying the REC (Race, Empire, and Colonialism) tag. Courses fulfilling the REC requirement engage students in the study of black diasporic and African American, Asian diasporic and Asian American, Latinx, indigenous and Native American, and postcolonial literatures. 
    • At least TWO of which must be courses carrying the Pre-1800 tag. Courses fulfilling the Pre-1800 requirement include courses in Medieval, Early Modern, and 18th-century literature. Only one Pre-1800 course may be a course on Shakespeare. 
    • ONE of which may be a Creative Writing workshop
  • One Advanced Seminar (all 400-level ENGL courses are Advanced Seminars)
  • Optional Senior Thesis (required for students seeking to graduate with Honors, and strongly recommended for those students interested in graduate work in English or related fields)
  • Please note: All students must complete 11 courses for the major, whether or not they choose to write a senior thesis. Students who do not write a senior thesis should choose an additional elective. If a particular class satisfies two requirements (e.g., Junior Seminar and pre-1800), the student will need to take an extra elective to ensure a total number of 11 courses. 

These requirements are intended to offer students broad and historically grounded training in the discipline as well as a range of different pathways through the major. Students should confer closely with their advisers concerning their choices of electives.

Requirements for the Joint Major

A joint major in English with a Literature focus requires a minimum of eight ENGL courses, including three required courses: 1) ENGL 0103 or CMLT 0101; 2) ENGL 0205; 3) a joint thesis or other project that integrates both parts of the joint major. In addition, students will choose at least five electives from the available offerings, making sure that these courses satisfy the following requirements (one elective may be a CRWR course):

  • One ENGL course bearing the REC tag (see major requirements for description)
  • One ENGL course bearing the Pre-1800 tag (see major requirements for description)
  • Advanced Seminar (400-level ENGL course)

Requirements for the Minor

Students minoring in English with a Literature focus will take a minimum of six courses, including 1) ENGL 0103 or CMLT 010; 2) ENGL 205; 3) one ENGL elective bearing the REC tag; 4) one ENGL elective bearing the Pre-1800 tag; 5) one 400-level Advanced Seminar; and 6) one additional elective, which may be a CRWR course. A single course may fulfill more than one distribution requirement. See Major Requirements, above, for more description of these course requirements.

Creative Writing Track

Students who choose the Creative Writing Track will take a total of 11 classes, as follows:

  • ENGL 103 or CMLT101
  • ENGL 205
  • Three CRWR Writing Workshops, at least ONE of which must be at the 300 level
  • Five Electives:
    • at least ONE of which must be a course carrying the REC (Race, Empire, and Colonialism) tag. Courses fulfilling the REC requirement engage students in the study of black diasporic and African American, Asian diasporic and Asian American, Latinx, indigenous and Native American, and postcolonial literatures. Courses focusing on literature in the Black Studies Department (BLST) can, with the approval of your advisor, count toward ENGL major requirements as REC courses or electives. ENGL majors are strongly encouraged to include at least one BLST course among their major requirements.
    • at least ONE of which must be a course carrying the Pre-1800 tag. Courses fulfilling the Pre-1800 requirement include courses in Medieval, Early Modern, and 18th-century literature.
  • Advanced Seminar (all 400-level ENGL courses are Advanced Seminars)
  • Optional Senior Thesis (required for students seeking to graduate with Honors, and strongly recommended for those students interested in pursuing graduate work in writing-intensive fields)
  • Please note: All students must complete 11 courses for the major, whether or not they choose to write a senior thesis. Students who do not write a senior thesis should choose an additional elective. If a particular class satisfies two requirements (e.g., Junior Seminar and pre-1800), the student will need to take an extra elective to ensure a total number of 11 courses. 

Requirements for the Joint Major

A joint major in English with a Creative Writing focus requires a minimum of nine courses, including 1) ENGL or CMLT101; 2) ENGL 205; 3) a 100-level CRWR course; 4) two 300-level CRWR courses; 5) an ENGL course bearing the REC tag; 6) an ENGL course bearing the Pre-1800 tag; 7) a 400-level ENGL Advanced Seminar; and 8) a Senior Thesis or Independent Project that integrates both parts of the joint major. See Major Requirements, above, for more description of these course requirements.

 *Students wishing to undertake a joint major in ENGL (either track) and Theatre should be advised that senior work will normally consist of two full-credit classes, ENGL 0708 and THEA 0708. We strongly recommend that these classes be taken in the same semester, with the understanding that a central goal of the joint major is the thorough integration of both aspects of the joint major. A single-credit, single-semester joint project remains an option for those who wish to pursue a joint thesis that does not include a practical component such as acting or directing.

*Students wishing to undertake a joint major (either track) in ENGL and Film and Media Culture (FMMC) should follow the joint major requirements listed above.  Such students may also wish to take FMMC electives such as FMMC 0257 – Storytelling in Film and Media and FMMC 0279 – Film and Literature. Students on the Creative Track wishing to write a screenplay for their joint thesis must take specifically FMMC/CRWR 0106 – Writing for the Screen and FMMC/CRWR 0341 – Writing for the Screen II—prior to beginning the thesis. 

*Students writing a joint thesis (either track) with HIST or HARC should register for HIST 0700 and 0711 or HARC 0710 and 0711.

Requirements for the Minor

Students minoring in English with a Creative Writing focus will take a minimum of six courses, including 1) ENGL 103 or CMLT101; 2) ENGL 205; 3) one CRWR 100-level course; 4) one CRWR 300-level course; 5) one 400-level Advanced Seminar; and 6) one additional elective, which may be ENGL or CRWR. See Major Requirements, above, for more description of these course requirements.

Senior Program

The ENGL senior program consists of an optional creative or critical Honors Thesis of 30-35 pages in length (ENGL 0700, CRWR 0701). Students may write a thesis in either the fall or the spring semester of their senior year, and may, with the permission of their thesis advisor, attach an independent study semester (ENGL 500 or CRWR 560 in Fall, Winter, or Spring) to their thesis semester (Fall, Spring only) to provide more research time for broader topics or projects. 

CRWR 0701 requires the prior completion of three CRWR workshops, at least one of which must be 300-level, and a grade of at least B+ in the 0300-level course before undertaking a thesis. 

All students will participate in an oral defense of their work with the advisor and additional readers (ideally two) of the project. Students completing a joint thesis should include the advisers from both departments and one additional reader. Additional readers may be other ENGL/CRWR faculty, faculty outside the department, or interested scholars or writers from outside the college. Students are encouraged to complete their 400-level [junior seminar] requirement before embarking on their senior work. Students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA in ENGL courses to be eligible to write a Senior Thesis.

To be eligible for departmental honors, students must complete a senior thesis. 

Individual faculty members also have the opportunity to hire a student research assistant to assist them in their scholarly work. Collaborative research and writing projects sometimes grow from these arrangements.

Honors

Departmental honors will be awarded to those students who achieve a departmental GPA of 3.85 and who complete an Senior Thesis (ENGL 0700 or CRWR 0701) in the fall or spring of the senior year. Completing a Thesis does not guarantee a student will receive honors. (See the ENGL website for more information on the Honors Thesis guidelines.) In determining the numerical average of course grades, all courses designated ENGL or CRWR will be counted, as will all other courses that fulfill requirements for the major (including those taken abroad or at other institutions). Joint majors are eligible to receive honors.  In determining joint honors, all courses that fulfill requirements for both majors will be counted.