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Faculty |
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Professors Balakian, Brice, Cerasano, Coyle, Davies, Harsh, L. Johnson, Maurer, Staley (Chair) |
The Department of English and Creative WritingÌýoffers courses in two programs of study: 1) literature in English and 2) literature in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. Students may pursue majors and minors in both these areas. We welcome non-concentrators in all of our courses. Students who major in English develop abilities to read carefully, to use language effectively, and to enhance their critical and analytical skills as speakers and writers. They gain insight into the cultural, historical, political, and social contexts in which literature is produced. Our English concentration is organized broadly along the sub-fields of British, American and Postcolonial Studies. Its courses offer ways of thinking about the many different perspectives on class, community, gender, identity, power, race, and sexuality. Majors will encounter a number of literary forms and achieve both depth and breadth in their studies. Students work closely with their advisors to create a path that introduces them to the beauty, diversity, and complexity of literature in English.
All English and Creative Writing Department courses emphasize student participation, intellectual initiative, and writing.
Our courses are connected to and overlap with courses in Africana and Latin American Studies, Environmental Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Women's Studies.
Our English majors go on to many types of careers: in arts and entertainment, business, communications, computer science, consulting, education, film, finance, journalism, law, library science, marketing, medicine, museum studies, philanthropy, politics, publicity, and publishing. Many students major or minor in English while also pursuing studies in other departments such as Computer Science, Economics, a foreign language, History, Neuro-Science, Psychology, or Political Science.
Courses
The English Department offers four types of courses.
100-level courses 100-level courses are designed to introduce first- and second-year students to close reading and writing. They are English courses that offer new perspectives upon cultural, political, scientific, environmental, or social concerns. These courses are roundtables, discussion-based, and with close attention to critical writing. They count towards the English major and are open to all students, whether they intend to major in English or not.
200-level courses 200-level courses are open to all first- and second-year students and offer an introduction to the development of fields of study, critical engagement with tradition, canon formation, and critical methodologies and theories important for reading and writing. They are discussion-based with close attention to writing.
300-level courses 300-level courses in English are open to all second-, third-, and fourth-year students, majors and non-majors alike. There are no prerequisites. These courses focus upon special topics, authors, periods, or genres. They help students further develop theoretical awareness and critical speaking and writing skills.
400-level courses 400-level courses are open to all third- and fourth-year students and are seminars on special topics or writers. There are no prerequisites. They offer opportunities for independent intellectual exploration and critical writing. For majors, they can serve as gateways to an Honors thesis.
Awards
The Allen Prizes in English Composition — established in memory of Hattie Boyd Allen — two prizes in English composition.
The Jonathan H. Kistler Memorial Curricular Innovation Fund in English — established to support and nurture new curricular and pedagogical ideas within the English department.
The Lasher Prize — established as an award to a member of the junior class in recognition of outstanding talent.
The Lasher Prize for Distinction in English Composition —awarded for distinction in the various types of writing.
The Scott Saunders Prize for Excellence in Literature — established in memory of Scott Saunders '89, and awarded annually to a senior major in English who participated in the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø London English Study Group, in recognition of work done in London that is distinguished in its own right or which contributed to the completion of a distinguished project.
Advanced Placement
The department does not award Advanced Placement credit.
Transfer Credit
Students intending to take a course in English literature at another institution must consult with the department's transfer-credit adviser before enrolling. Transfer credit for an English course will be granted only after the course, which must resemble a 300-level course, is approved. Upon return to campus, the student sends the transfer-credit adviser the course syllabus and all written work. No more than two courses (in the case of a minor, one course) may be transferred for major credit. Students may not use a transferred course to fulfill the 400-level seminar requirement of the major. Students may not transfer creative writing courses.
Honors and High Honors in English
The privilege to work toward honors is granted at the discretion of the faculty. Seniors with an average of 3.5 in ENGL courses are eligible to apply to pursue an honors project. Interested students should begin discussing their projects with potential directors in their junior year.
Candidates in literary criticism must enroll in ENGL 489, a 0.25-credit course offered in the fall semester. In consultation with a member of the faculty, the student selects a topic and submits a formal prospectus, which must be approved by two faculty supervisors, the director of the honors program, and the department as a whole. The deadline for submission of the prospectus normally falls in October, while the deadline for an annotated bibliography normally falls in December.
Candidates in creative writing must enroll inÌýENGL 477Ìý-ÌýAdvanced Workshop Ìýin the fall of their senior year and must submit a formal prospectus. They should also speak with a creative writing professor(s) in the spring of their junior year. Permission to pursue a creative writing honors the next spring will be granted on the basis of the quality of work inÌýENGL 477.
Students pursuing an honors project are enrolled inÌýENGL 490Ìý-ÌýSpecial Studies for Honors Candidates Ìýduring the spring term of their senior year.ÌýENGL 490Ìýmust be taken in addition to the required 400-level seminar and in addition to the minimum number of courses required for the major. Students must successfully complete the honors seminar and submit a final version of the thesis on a date specified by the department. If the thesis is provisionally approved by the faculty supervisors and the director of the honors program, the student then discusses the project at an oral presentation scheduled during finals week.
A student who completes a project judged worthy of honors by the department and maintains at least a 3.5 average in all ENGL courses, includingÌýENGL 490, is awarded a degree in English with honors. Students with an outstanding overall record in the major who complete a superior thesis and oral presentation may be awarded high honors. If a student withdraws from the program, or if the thesis is not approved for honors,ÌýENGL 490Ìýis converted toÌýENGL 491Ìý-ÌýIndependent Study , and a grade is assigned by the faculty member who supervises the completion of the work.
Students with further questions should contact the director of honors in the Department of English and Creative Writing.
Preparation for Graduate Study
Students interested in graduate study should consult with their advisers and the department chair early in their programs to be advised about preparation for advanced work. The department also designates special advisers to meet with students interested in graduate work, and informational meetings are held to help juniors and seniors plan their applications for fellowships and graduate admission.
Teacher Certification
The Department of Educational Studies offers a teacher education program for majors in English who are interested in pursuing a career in elementary or secondary school teaching. Please refer toÌýEducational Studies.
MAT Degree in English
The Master of Arts in Teaching with a major in English is awarded by ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø in the program. See Graduate Program.
Study Groups
London
Each year, and often twice a year, a group of juniors and seniors spends a term in London studying British literature and theater under the direction of a member of the English department. Preference normally is given to majors or prospective majors who have completed at least three courses toward the requirements for the major. ENGL 290Ìý-ÌýLondon English Study Group Preparation Ìýis a 0.25-credit course limited to participants in the London English Study Group in a subsequent term. The course prepares students for the English coursework to be undertaken in London. For further information, see Off-Campus Study.
Santa Fe
Students interested in American literature are encouraged to consider participation in the Santa Fe Study Group. When directed by a member of the English department, the program features courses in contemporary Native American literature and contemporary methods of criticism across the arts as well as providing opportunities for students to continue work in creative writing. The study group also involves service learning work at one of the pueblos near Santa Fe.
Jamaica
Students interested in Caribbean literature and Black Atlantic literature are encouraged to consider participation in the Jamaica study group. When directed by a member of the English department, the program features courses in contemporary Caribbean literature and criticism as well as Jamaican culture.
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Majors and Minors
Major
Minor
Courses
- ENGL 150Ìý-ÌýDangerous Selfies: Division, Disorder, and Psychic Disruption in Early Modern England
- ENGL 151Ìý-ÌýLiterature of Survival: Genocide, Trauma, and Memory
- ENGL 152Ìý-ÌýPlant, Animal, Mineral: American Literature and Extractive Industry
- ENGL 153Ìý-ÌýOut of Control - Pre-Modern Psychology
- ENGL 154Ìý-ÌýLiterary Journalism: True Crime Writing
- ENGL 155Ìý-ÌýPoetry: Form and Context
- ENGL 156Ìý-ÌýEmpire and Its Afterlives: Caribbean Literature and Society
- ENGL 200Ìý-ÌýBritish Literary Traditions
- ENGL 201Ìý-ÌýAmerican Texts and Contexts
- ENGL 202Ìý-ÌýJustice and Power in Postcolonial Literature
- ENGL 203Ìý-ÌýArthurian Tradition
- ENGL 204Ìý-ÌýNative American Writers
- ENGL 207Ìý-ÌýNew Immigrant Voices
- ENGL 208Ìý-ÌýSex and the Global City
- ENGL 217Ìý-ÌýIntroductory Workshop in Creative Writing
- ENGL 219Ìý-ÌýAmerican Literature and the Environment
- ENGL 220Ìý-ÌýThe Booker Prize: Examining a Prize, Examining an Empire
- ENGL 240Ìý-ÌýLatinx Literature
- ENGL 266Ìý-ÌýIntroduction to Theater History: Rituals & Revolutions
- ENGL 267Ìý-ÌýIntroduction to Theater History: Manifestos & New Medias
- ENGL 290Ìý-ÌýLondon English Study Group Preparation
- ENGL 291Ìý-ÌýIndependent Study
- ENGL 301Ìý-ÌýHistory of the English Language
- ENGL 302Ìý-ÌýThe Literature of the Early Middle Ages
- ENGL 303Ìý-ÌýMedieval Merchants, Knights, and Pilgrims
- ENGL 305Ìý-ÌýThe Female Protagonist
- ENGL 306Ìý-ÌýAntebellum American Literature
- ENGL 307Ìý-ÌýThe American Novel
- ENGL 309Ìý-ÌýFiction
- ENGL 312Ìý-ÌýRace, Place, and the US South
- ENGL 313Ìý-ÌýThe Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
- ENGL 314Ìý-ÌýFoundations of African American Literature
- ENGL 316Ìý-ÌýBanned Books
- ENGL 321Ìý-ÌýShakespeare
- ENGL 322Ìý-ÌýShakespeare
- ENGL 323Ìý-ÌýPeriods in British Literature (London Study group)
- ENGL 324Ìý-ÌýPeriods in British Literature (London Study group)
- ENGL 325Ìý-ÌýMilton
- ENGL 326Ìý-ÌýShakespeare's Contemporaries
- ENGL 329Ìý-ÌýInventing Ireland
- ENGL 331Ìý-ÌýModern British Literature (London Study Group)
- ENGL 332Ìý-ÌýLondon Theater (London Study Group)
- ENGL 333Ìý-ÌýAfrican/Diaspora Women's Narrative
- ENGL 334Ìý-ÌýAfrican American Literature
- ENGL 337Ìý-ÌýAfrican Literature
- ENGL 339Ìý-ÌýModernist Poetry
- ENGL 340Ìý-ÌýCritical Theory: Language, Semiotics, and Form
- ENGL 344Ìý-ÌýAfrican American Literature II
- ENGL 345Ìý-ÌýVictorian Fiction
- ENGL 349Ìý-ÌýGlobal Theater
- ENGL 360Ìý-ÌýLiving Writers
- ENGL 361Ìý-ÌýChaucer's Canterbury Tales
- ENGL 363Ìý-ÌýContemporary Fiction
- ENGL 364Ìý-ÌýAmericans Abroad: Travel Writing from 1800-present (London Study Group)
- ENGL 365Ìý-ÌýFugitive Mobilities: Migration and Environmental Imagination in 20th-Century America
- ENGL 368Ìý-ÌýAfter Genocide: Memory and Representation
- ENGL 369Ìý-ÌýQueer Literature
- ENGL 370Ìý-ÌýProphecy and Doubt: Romantic and Victorian British Poetry
- ENGL 371Ìý-ÌýSouth Asian Diasporas
- ENGL 374Ìý-ÌýCreative Nonfiction Workshop
- ENGL 376Ìý-ÌýPlaywriting II
- ENGL 377Ìý-ÌýFiction Writing Workshop
- ENGL 378Ìý-ÌýPoetry Writing Workshop
- ENGL 381EÌý-ÌýHigh-Altitude Writing (Extended Study)
- ENGL 385Ìý-ÌýDrama, Fiction, and Poetry of Tudor England
- ENGL 386Ìý-ÌýPoetry, Prose, and Drama in the Century of the English Revolutions, 1600-1700
- ENGL 391Ìý-ÌýIndependent Study
- ENGL 402Ìý-ÌýMedieval Celtic Literature
- ENGL 403Ìý-ÌýRace before Race: the Literature of the Early Modern Transatlantic
- ENGL 405Ìý-ÌýThe Brontës
- ENGL 408Ìý-ÌýLiterature of Medieval Women
- ENGL 418Ìý-ÌýStudies in American Literature
- ENGL 420Ìý-ÌýEmerson and Thoreau
- ENGL 422Ìý-ÌýConfession and Rebellion: American Literature in the 1950s
- ENGL 431Ìý-ÌýEthnographic Fictions: Travel Writing, Bearing Witness, and Human Rights
- ENGL 441Ìý-ÌýJames Joyce
- ENGL 444Ìý-ÌýModern Wisdom Literature
- ENGL 445Ìý-ÌýLife-Writing: The Renaissance
- ENGL 461Ìý-ÌýStudies in the Renaissance
- ENGL 471Ìý-ÌýMajor American Novelists
- ENGL 472Ìý-ÌýFaulkner
- ENGL 477Ìý-ÌýAdvanced Workshop
- ENGL 489Ìý-ÌýPreparation for Honors in English Literature
- ENGL 490Ìý-ÌýSpecial Studies for Honors Candidates
- ENGL 491Ìý-ÌýIndependent Study
- ENGL 492Ìý-ÌýEnglish Department Fellowship