English B.A.
Program description
In English, students study literature and language, including their development over time and contemporary significance. Courses for both majors and non-majors offer a wide range of approaches and topics. Some courses focus on single authors, genres, or historical periods; others emphasize social contexts of literature, investigate representations of race or gender, or explore literary perceptions of the environment. Still, others cover film, creative writing, and contemporary popular literature.
English offers a Creative Writing Sub-plan for English majors and a Creative Writing Minor for non-majors. The Creative Writing program includes introductory classes in the techniques of poetry and prose writing, advanced classes in genres such as fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, and a variety of topics courses.
The curriculum introduces students to the main literary genres and important historical periods and movements in English; to representative works of British, American, and Anglophone literature; and to methods of critical interpretation. The major is designed to meet the needs of students with various goals, including those seeking a foundation for work in fields related to English (e.g., education, communications, editing and publishing, law, theater); those who want a humanistic base in reading, thinking, and writing for a liberal arts education; and those who intend to pursue graduate study in the field. Students engage in critical reading, oral and written analysis of texts, formal argumentation, and research.
English classes tend to be small and conversational. Students collaborate with one another by discussing subtle and complex texts while discovering their own interpretive voices by writing clear and persuasive essays.
Program Student Learning Outcomes
Students will:
1. Be able to analyze both primary and secondary texts.
2. Be able to write a coherent argument, both with and without secondary sources.
3. Develop writing skills and processes in order to achieve specific writing goals.
4. Demonstrate basic knowledge of critical approaches and practices of literary study.
5. Demonstrate basic knowledge of literary history.
English offers a Creative Writing Sub-plan for English majors and a Creative Writing Minor for non-majors. The Creative Writing program includes introductory classes in the techniques of poetry and prose writing, advanced classes in genres such as fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, and a variety of topics courses.
The curriculum introduces students to the main literary genres and important historical periods and movements in English; to representative works of British, American, and Anglophone literature; and to methods of critical interpretation. The major is designed to meet the needs of students with various goals, including those seeking a foundation for work in fields related to English (e.g., education, communications, editing and publishing, law, theater); those who want a humanistic base in reading, thinking, and writing for a liberal arts education; and those who intend to pursue graduate study in the field. Students engage in critical reading, oral and written analysis of texts, formal argumentation, and research.
English classes tend to be small and conversational. Students collaborate with one another by discussing subtle and complex texts while discovering their own interpretive voices by writing clear and persuasive essays.
Program Student Learning Outcomes
Students will:
1. Be able to analyze both primary and secondary texts.
2. Be able to write a coherent argument, both with and without secondary sources.
3. Develop writing skills and processes in order to achieve specific writing goals.
4. Demonstrate basic knowledge of critical approaches and practices of literary study.
5. Demonstrate basic knowledge of literary history.