Program Description
The English major provides a balanced program of introductory and advanced work in British, American and Anglophone postcolonial literature, English language and linguistics, and writing. The program offers students the chance to engage in a major humanistic discipline, the study of literature, which is challenging and enriching in itself. The English major also provides sound professional training for those interested in middle school, high school or college teaching; the teaching of English as a second language; business or technical writing; or graduate work; and the program is an excellent background for students entering professional schools or planning business careers.
The concentration in English with an emphasis on TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) provides a combination of advanced work in applied linguistics with training in current methods of language teaching.
Students intending to become English language arts teachers in grades 7-12 should choose the English Language Arts concentration, which allows students to earn a bachelor of arts degree and teaching license at the undergraduate level. Students who have a passion for teaching middle and high schoolers the language arts of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing will find this program both challenging and rewarding. With its extensive coursework in the teaching of English, graduates find themselves eager to teach standards in creative and engaging ways to influence their students and the world through the transformative power of critical literacy.
English Honors Program:
The honors program in English is designed to encourage and recognize superior academic accomplishments by English undergraduates. With the approval of the chair of the English department and the departmental honors advisor, students who meet the eligibility standards may enter the English honors program before the beginning of their senior year. Students may be admitted to the program on the recommendation of any member of the English department faculty, or students may petition to enter the program. Under the direction of a faculty tutor, students in the honors program will complete an honors project that culminates in their writing an honors thesis or project report. For further information on eligibility and enrollment, students should consult the departmental honors advisor.
Admissions Requirements
Program Learning Objectives
Students enrolled in the English program will learn to:
- Be skilled and adaptable writers in a variety of genres who can develop a thesis, sustain a coherent argument, use secondary sources, and employ appropriate disciplinary terminology.
- Be critical readers of a wide range of texts who can interpret contemporary and non-contemporary readings, and understand context, nuance, and appropriate disciplinary terminology.
Program Learning Outcomes
As a result of their learning experience, graduates of the English program can:
- Write effectively in a variety of genres.
- Develop a thesis, sustain a coherent argument, use secondary sources, and employ the appropriate disciplinary terminology.
- Read critically across a wide range of texts.
- Interpret contemporary and non-contemporary readings.
- Understand context, nuance, and the appropriate disciplinary terminology.
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