Programs

BA in English

Our interdisciplinary BA English program allows you to curate the emphasis of your studies by choosing a combination of literature, language, and creative writing classes.

The variety of English courses that may be taken as Liberal Arts and Science (LAS) electives is a core contributor to a well-rounded undergraduate education.

What Will I Learn?

Teaching and research in our program cover the entire history of literature in English from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day, along with language, literature in translation, and creative writing studies. The language and writing tracks are structured to have more functional and experiential emphases – to offer you an enhanced and a better focused education. 

More recent growth areas in the department – reflected in new course offerings, faculty research, and award-winning student capstone projects – include literary and cultural theory, life writing, postcolonial and world literature, gender and sexuality, corpus linguistics, narrative medicine, English studies of the Arabic novel and discourse and power. We also offer full-fledged undergraduate courses in narrative medicine and the Arabic novel in translation. 

Your career

You can go for careers in professional writing, media, television, international organizations, the arts, publishing, business, translation, consulting, information technology, journalism, and public relations. 

Upon graduation, you can pursue a teaching career (if you also get the Teaching Diploma), or opt for graduate studies in a wide variety of fields related to literature, language, creative writing and the humanities and social sciences.

Related Diplomas

Regardless of your chosen emphasis, if you are enrolled in this program you can obtain a Teaching Diploma by taking six designated Education courses (18 credits), including EDU418 Practice Teaching.

Research

Faculty research strengths lie in the sheer variety of outputs, from representations of aging in the Arabic novel, queer readings of home in the diaspora, language and the law, media and politics, Victorian studies, Renaissance criticisms, and ethnographic life writing research.

Curriculum

The BA in English requires 92 credits.

The program:

A senior research thesis is a core requirement for graduation. If you specialize in professional creative writing, you will complete an internship during your final year.

Major Core Requirements (24 credits)

Number Course Cr
ENG213 Introduction to Language 3
ENG216 Introduction to Literature 3
ENG303 Literary Linguistics 3
ENG366 Creative Writing 3
ENG372 Comparative and World Literature 3
ENG381 Corpus Linguistics 3
ENG354 Theories of Literature and Culture 3
ENG499 Senior Study 3

Other Major Requirements (24 credits)

You can choose one of the 6 options below: 

Literature

Number Course Cr
ENG323 Renaissance Drama 3
ENG324 Medieval Literature 3
ENG325 Renaissance Poetry 3
ENG326 Restoration and Neoclassical Literature 3
ENG328 Early Novel 3
ENG336 Romantic & Victorian Poetry 3
ENG339 Nineteenth-century British Novel 3
ENG342 Modernism and Beyond 3
ENG345 Twentieth-century British Novel 3
ENG346 Contemporary Culture 3
ENG348 Post-colonial Anglophone Literature 3
ENG351 Early American Literature 3
ENG352 Twentieth-Century American Novel 3
ENG479 Topics in Literature and Culture 3
ENG376 Gender in Literature 3
ENG487 Topics in Drama & Theatre* 3

*ENG487 can be taken more than once for extra credits if the topics differ. 

Language

Number Course Cr
ENG282 Language and the Media 3
ENG283 Language and Gender 3
ENG308 Semantics and Pragmatics 3
ENG380 Language and the Law 3
ENG281 Language & Change: Past, Present, & Future 3
ENG480 Discourse and Power 3

Writing

Number Course Cr
ENG301        Food and Travel Writing                3         
ENG331 Poetry Writing 3
ENG332 Life Writing 3
ENG333 Fiction Writing 3
ENG334 Illness Writing 3
ENG335 Playwriting 3

Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements (34 credits): divided into Liberal Arts Core Curriculum (13 credits) and Liberal Arts Electives (21 credits)

Free Electives (10 credits)