Core Courses (9 credit hours)

English majors in all three concentrations must take three courses focusing on the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and debate.

  • ENGL 200: Introduction to the Study of Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 301: Introduction to Critical Theory
  • ENGL 350: Writing about Literature, Text, and Culture

Historical Surveys (6 credit hours)

English students must take two of the following three surveys covering the study of literary form and history across time and space—the sooner after taking ENGL 200, the better.

  • ENGL 209: Early British Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 255: Early American Literature and Culture
  • ENGL 259: Early African American Literature and Culture

Period Courses (15 credit hours)

In addition to the broad sweep of the historical surveys, English students are required to take five courses providing in-depth encounters with the texts of a given era. These five courses must be spread across British, American, and Anglophone literary history:

Pre-1800 Literature & Culture (2 courses from 2 different periods)

Courses marked with a * may or may not count for Pre-1800 Literature & Culture depending on their topics for a given semester.

Medieval (to 1550)

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 202: Medieval Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 216: Legends of King Arthur 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Medieval if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 407: Introduction to Old English* 
  • ENGL 411: Chaucer 
  • ENGL 412: Topics in Medieval British and Irish Literature 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 

Early Modern (1550-1660 excluding Shakespeare)

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 204: Renaissance Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Early Modern if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 416: Topics in British Drama to 1660 
  • ENGL 421: Renaissance Poetry & Prose 
  • ENGL 423: Milton 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 

Shakespeare 

  • ENGL 117: Shakespeare on Film
  • ENGL 218: Intro to Shakespeare
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Shakespeare if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 418: Shakespeare
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture*

Eighteenth Century (1660-1800)

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 206: Enlightenment Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Eighteenth Century if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 427: Eighteenth-Century Literature 
  • ENGL 428: British Drama, 1660-1800 
  • ENGL 429: Eighteenth-Century Fiction 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Lit and Culture* 

Nineteenth-Century Literature & Culture (1 course)

Courses marked with a * may or may not count for Nineteenth-Century Literature & Culture depending on their topics for a given semester.

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 207: Romantic Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 208: Victorian Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 250: Nineteenth-Century American Fiction 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Nineteenth-Century Literature & Culture if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 431: Topics in British Romantic Literature 
  • ENGL 435: Nineteenth-Century British Fiction 
  • ENGL 449: American Romanticism 
  • ENGL 450: Becoming Modern: American Literature, 1865-1914 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 462: Topics in Modern Fiction*

Twentieth-Century Literature & Culture (1 course)

Courses marked with a * may or may not count for Twentieth-Century Literature & Culture depending on their topics for a given semester.

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 211: Introduction to Modern African Literature 
  • ENGL 213: Modernist Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 241: Modern Poetry 
  • ENGL 251: The Twentieth-Century American Novel 
  • ENGL 253: Topics in Literature and New Media* 
  • ENGL 260: Modern African American Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 270: American Film Genres* 
  • ENGL 272: Minority Images in Amer Film 
  • ENGL 273: American Cinema, 1950-2000 
  • ENGL 280: Women Writers* 
  • ENGL 281: Women in the Literary Imagination* 
  • ENGL 325: Topics in LGBT Literature and Film* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 359: Literary Responses to the Holocaust 
  • ENGL 373: Special Topics in Film Studies* 
  • ENGL 374: World Cinema in English* 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 441: Innovation and Conflict in British and Irish Modernism 
  • ENGL 451: American Literature in the Age of Modernism 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 459: Topics in American Indian Literature* 
  • ENGL 460: Literature of American Minorities* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 462: Topics in Modern Fiction* 
  • ENGL 470: Modern African Fiction

Contemporary Literature & Culture (1 course)

Courses marked with a * may or may not count for Contemporary Literature & Culture depending on their topics for a given semester.

  • ENGL 199: Undergraduate Open Seminar* 
  • ENGL 242: Contemporary Poetry 
  • ENGL 253: Topics in Lit and New Media* 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Lit and Culture* 
  • ENGL 265: Introduction to American Indian Literature 
  • ENGL 270: American Film Genres* 
  • ENGL 276: Asian Film Genres 
  • ENGL 280: Women Writers* 
  • ENGL 281: Women in the Literary Imagination* 
  • ENGL 285: Postcolonial Literature in English 
  • ENGL 286: Asian American Literature 
  • ENGL 325: Topics in LGBT Literature and Film* 
  • ENGL 350: Writing About Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Contemporary Literature & Culture if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement) 
  • ENGL 373: Special Topics in Film Studies* 
  • ENGL 374: World Cinema in English* 
  • ENGL 380: Topics in Writing Studies* 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 442: Contemporary British and Irish Literature 
  • ENGL 452: The Postwar Era and Contemporary American Literature 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 458: Latina/o Performance 
  • ENGL 459: Topics in American Indian Literature* 
  • ENGL 460: Literature of American Minorities* 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 462: Topics in Modern Fiction*

Electives (9 credit hours)

English students are free to explore whatever aspect of English studies interests them as part of their elective coursework. The three courses satisfying this requirement must be either controlled by the English Department or cross-listed with BTW, CW, or ENGL.

Difference & Diaspora

To deepen their understanding of the historical and contemporary disparities in society and culture, all English majors must make sure that one of the classes they take to fulfill their requirements is a Difference & Diaspora course—a course focusing on race, ethnicity, indigeneity, postcoloniality, or sexuality.

Difference & Diaspora Course List

Courses marked with a * may or may not count for Difference & Diaspora depending on their topics for a given semester.

  • ENGL 112: Literature of Global Culture 
  • ENGL 150: Black Literature in America 
  • ENGL 211: Introduction to African Literature 
  • ENGL 222: Jewish American and US Minority Literatures in Dialogue 
  • ENGL 223: Jewish Storytelling 
  • ENGL 224: Latina/o Popular Culture 
  • ENGL 225: Introduction to Latina/o Literature 
  • ENGL 253: Topics in Literature and New Media* 
  • ENGL 259: Early African American Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 260: Modern African American Literature and Culture 
  • ENGL 261: Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 265: Intro to American Indian Literature 
  • ENGL 272: Minority Images in American Film 
  • ENGL 275: American Indians & Film 
  • ENGL 276: Asian Film Genres 
  • ENGL 280: Women Writers* 
  • ENGL 281: Women in the Literary Imagination* 
  • ENGL 284: Modern Jewish Literature 
  • ENGL 285: Postcolonial Literature in English 
  • ENGL 286: Asian American Literature 
  • ENGL 325 Topics in LGBT Literature and Film 
  • ENGL 330: Slavery and Identity 
  • ENGL 350: Writing about Literature, Text, and Culture (can only count for Difference & Diaspora if the course topic is appropriate and the course is not also being used to satisfy the Core Courses requirement)
  • ENGL 373: Special Topics in Film Studies* 
  • ENGL 374: World Cinema in English 
  • ENGL 380: Topics in Writing Studies* 
  • ENGL 396: English Honors Seminar* 
  • ENGL 412: Topics in Medieval British and Irish Literature* 
  • ENGL 416: Topics in British Drama to 1660* 
  • ENGL 435: Nineteenth-Century British Fiction* 
  • ENGL 452: The Postwar Era and Contemporary American Literature* 
  • ENGL 455: Major Authors* 
  • ENGL 458: Latina/o Performance 
  • ENGL 459: Topics in American Indian Literature 
  • ENGL 460: Literature of American Minorities 
  • ENGL 461: Advanced Topics in Literature and Culture* 
  • ENGL 470: Modern African Fiction 
  • ENGL 475: Literature and Other Disciplines*