English Major: BA Degree Requirements

Students must receive a grade of C or higher in all courses being counted toward major requirements.

English Majors Who Declared Fall 2024 or Later: View the new Degree Requirements

A student must take at least two 300-level English courses.

English Major minimum requirement

1. A total of 42 ENG credits, beyond the Liberal Arts Core, with these exceptions:
   • ENG 202 Introduction to English Studies substitutes for Liberal Arts Core Tier 1 Literature and Thought.
   • Any ENG course in the Creative Expressions and Cultural Perspectives categories of Tier 2 may be counted for both the Liberal Arts Core and the English major.
   • Credits for ENG 100 or ENG 100P College Writing cannot be used as part of the 42 credits required for the English major.
2. Required Gateway Courses: 9 credits
   • ENG 202 Introduction to English Studies
   • and two of the following writing-intensive courses (as specified in concentration requirements):
     
     • ENG 203 Introduction to Writing Literary Criticism
     • ENG 204 Introduction to Writing Studies
     • ENG 205 Introduction to Creative Writing
3. Concentration: 15-18 credits
   • English Major Concentrations Requirements and Advisement Audit Forms:
     1. General English Studies Concentration 
     2. Creative Writing Concentration
     3. Cultural Studies Concentration
     4. English for Early Childhood or Elementary Education Concentration
     5. English for Secondary Education Concentration
     6. Literary Studies Concentration
     7. Rhetoric and Composition Concentration
     8. Student-Designed Concentration
   • Beginning in Spring 2019, students who do not choose another concentration are automatically enrolled in the General English Studies concentration.
   • Students may pursue multiple concentrations by fulfilling the requirements of each (up to 6 credits may be counted for more than one concentration).
   • Detailed advisement audit forms for each concentration in the English major are also available from your faculty advisor, the English department office and website.

Electives: 9-15 credits

Students are encouraged to use their electives to explore courses in concentrations other than the one they have chosen. They are encouraged to study with as many faculty members as possible.

Capstone: 3-6 credits

For their capstone experience, students should examine a topic related in some way to their declared concentration. English majors have three options for the capstone requirement, all of which satisfy the third level University Writing requirement and the Liberal Arts Core Tier 3 Independent Inquiry requirement:

• ENG 461/462 Capstone Seminars (6 credits), a two-semester sequence and the most common path to completion of the capstone requirement
  OR
• ENG 499 Directed Research (3-6 credits), an independent project under the supervision of a faculty mentor, with approval of the department chair.
  
  Complete proposals (written in collaboration with the faculty mentor) must be submitted to the department chair at least two weeks before senior registration for the semester in which the project will begin. Proposals will be vetted by the department’s Program and Curriculum Committee before approval by the chair. ENG 499 should be taken for a total of 6 credits over two semesters; rare exceptions to this rule may be granted under extenuating circumstances.
  OR
• HON 380/488 Directed Honors Research and Thesis (6 credits), for English majors completing a University Honors thesis with an English professor, with approval of the department chair

Exit Portfolio

English majors must complete a non-graded exit portfolio in order to graduate. Details of the exit portfolio requirement are available in the department office and website. The department chair will report completion of the exit portfolio to the Registrar. Portfolios are due no later than the last day of final exams if students expect to graduate at the end of the semester.