English Major
Students must also complete the Undergraduate Registration Requirement and the degree requirements of their home school.
Department Courses (13 units)
Double-counting note: Weinberg College prohibits double-counting a department course toward some other major or minor, except where this is explicitly permitted in this catalog. Weinberg College does allow double-counting a department course toward a general bachelor's degree requirement (i.e. degree requirements other than majors or minors). Other programs or schools may have their own restrictions that supersede this, so check the relevant parts of this catalog for possible limits.
Foundational Courses
- 2 200-level Historical Breadth courses
- 1 emphasizing works written before 1830
- 1 emphasizing works written after 1830
Skills Courses
- 2 required seminars
- ENGLISH 300-0 Seminar in Reading and Interpretation
- ENGLISH 397-0 Research Seminar for Literature Majors
9 Additional Literature Courses
- 7 300-level literature courses1 which fulfill the following criteria:
- At least 3 courses emphasizing works written before 1830
- At least 3 courses emphasizing works written after 1830
- At least 1 course focusing on Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment2
- At least 1 course focusing on Postcolonial & Comparative Literatures2
- At least 1 course focusing on Race & Ethnicity2
- 2 English Department literature electives at the 200- or 300-level
- 1
1 300-level literature course from another department or program may be substituted for an English Department course, subject to approval by the director of undergraduate studies for English.
- 2
The Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment, Postcolonial & Comparative, and Race & Ethnicity requirements must be satisfied with three separate classes. When a class potentially satisfies two of these three, a student may choose to count it towards one or the other, as best fits their course of study. One class may satisfy one of these three categories and also be counted as pre- or post-1830 as appropriate. Criteria associated with a course can vary with different class offerings; check quarterly English course listings.
Students who matriculated Spring 2022 or earlier can choose to opt into the current requirements listed here or can choose to follow requirements as outlined in a Catalog edition corresponding to their prior quarters of enrollment. The Office of the Registrar maintains an archive of Catalog editions.
English Literature Courses
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ENGLISH 200-0 | Literary Histories |
| ENGLISH 211-0 | Introduction to Poetry |
| ENGLISH 212-0 | Introduction to Drama |
| ENGLISH 213-0 | Introduction to Fiction |
| ENGLISH 214-0 | Introduction to Film and Its Literatures |
| ENGLISH 215-0 | Topics in Literature, Film, and Media |
| ENGLISH 220-0 | The Bible as Literature |
| ENGLISH 234-0 | Introduction to Shakespeare |
| ENGLISH 240-0 | Introduction to British Literature: Beginnings to Romanticism |
| ENGLISH 250-0 | Introduction to British Literature: Romanticism to the Present |
| ENGLISH 265-0 | Introduction to Postcolonial Literature |
| ENGLISH 266-0 | Introduction to African American Literature |
| ENGLISH 267-0 | Topics in African American Literature |
| ENGLISH 270-0 | Introduction to American Literature: Beginnings to Civil War |
| ENGLISH 271-0 | Introduction to American Literature: Civil War to Modernism |
| ENGLISH 273-0 | Introduction to 20th-Century American Literature |
| ENGLISH 274-0 | Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Literatures |
| ENGLISH 275-0 | Introduction to Asian American Literature |
| ENGLISH 276-0 | Topics in Asian American Literature |
| ENGLISH 277-0 | Introduction to Latinx Literature |
| ENGLISH 280-0 | Topics in Multiethnic Literature |
| ENGLISH 281-0 | Topics in Postcolonial & Comparative Literatures |
| ENGLISH 283-0 | Introduction to Literature and the Environment |
| ENGLISH 284-0 | Topics in Literature and the Environment |
| ENGLISH 285-0 | Topics in Literature and Culture |
| ENGLISH 287-0 | Topics in Global Literatures |
| ENGLISH 288-0 | Topics in Literature and Ethics |
| ENGLISH 300-0 | Seminar in Reading and Interpretation |
| ENGLISH 302-0 | History of the English Language |
| ENGLISH 310-0 | Studies in Literary Genres |
| ENGLISH 311-0 | Studies in Poetry |
| ENGLISH 312-0 | Studies in Drama |
| ENGLISH 313-0 | Studies in Fiction |
| ENGLISH 322-0 | Medieval Drama |
| ENGLISH 323-1 | Medieval Poetry |
| ENGLISH 324-0 | Studies in Medieval Literature |
| ENGLISH 331-0 | Renaissance Poetry |
| ENGLISH 332-0 | Renaissance Drama |
| ENGLISH 338-0 | Studies in Renaissance Literature |
| ENGLISH 339-0 | Studies in Shakespeare |
| ENGLISH 340-0 | Studies in 18th-Century Literature |
| ENGLISH 344-0 | 18th-Century Fiction |
| ENGLISH 351-0 | Romantic Poetry |
| ENGLISH 353-0 | Studies in Romantic Literature |
| ENGLISH 357-0 | 19th-Century British Fiction |
| ENGLISH 359-0 | Studies in 19th-Century Literature |
| ENGLISH 361-0 | 20th and 21st Century Poetry |
| ENGLISH 363-0 | 20th and 21st Century Fiction |
| ENGLISH 365-0 | Studies in Postcolonial Literature |
| ENGLISH 366-0 | Studies in African American Literature |
| ENGLISH 368-0 | Studies in 20th- and 21st-Century Literature |
| ENGLISH 369-0 | Studies in African Literature |
| ENGLISH 371-0 | American Novel |
| ENGLISH 372-0 | American Poetry |
| ENGLISH 374-0 | Studies in Native American and Indigenous Literatures |
| ENGLISH 375-0 | Studies in Asian American Literature |
| ENGLISH 377-0 | Topics in Latinx Literature |
| ENGLISH 378-0 | Studies in American Literature |
| ENGLISH 380-0 | Studies in Multiethnic American Literature |
| ENGLISH 381-0 | Literature & Medicine |
| ENGLISH 382-0 | Literature and Law |
| ENGLISH 383-0 | Studies in Theory & Criticism |
| ENGLISH 384-0 | Studies in Literature and the Environment |
| ENGLISH 385-0 | Studies in Literature and Culture |
| ENGLISH 386-0 | Studies in Literature and Film |
| ENGLISH 388-0 | Studies in Literature and Ethics |
| ENGLISH 389-0 | Studies in Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment |
| ENGLISH 397-0 | Research Seminar for Literature Majors |
| ENGLISH 399-0 | Independent Study |
Honors in Literature
To prepare to apply to the honors program, all literature majors take ENGLISH 397-0 Research Seminar for Literature Majors, which provides an opportunity to complete a 15-page research paper. Literature majors with strong academic records may then apply during spring of junior year for admission to the 2-quarter senior thesis sequence (ENGLISH 398-1 & ENGLISH 398-2), which meets the following fall and winter quarters (ENGLISH 398-1 & ENGLISH 398-2 do not count toward the English major). Accepted students are expected to produce a senior thesis of about 40 pages. Students whose theses and grades meet department criteria are recommended to the College for graduation with honors. For more information, including funding opportunities, visit the department website and see Honors in the Major.