About the English Major and Minor

A rich variety of courses allows students to engage with all periods and genres of literature in English, as well as modern forms such as film and contemporary digital media. The department stresses critical thinking, incisive written and oral analysis, and a sense of initiative and responsibility for the enterprise of interpretation. With their advisors, English majors design a program of study that deepens their understanding of diverse genres, textual traditions, and periods. We encourage students to explore the history of cultural production and reception and also to question the presuppositions of literary study. The major culminates in an independently written essay, developed during a senior research seminar in the fall semester and individually mentored by a faculty member in the spring.

Students enter the major by exploring a varied body of reading experiences in several 200 level courses. After taking at least two departmental courses at the 200 level, students enroll in the core course in the major, English 250: Methods of Literary Study; this is followed by five other courses, at least 3 of them at the 300 level. In their senior year, students take the lead in choosing their own intellectual paths. Seniors spend the fall semester working closely with faculty advisors in English 398: they explore a research topic by reading widely in both primary and secondary texts, pursuing leads in the library, and brainstorming different directions they might take in their upcoming long essay. In the spring semester, each student enrolls in an independent study, English 399, and works one-on-one with a faculty mentor in drafting and revising a 30-40 page essay.

See Guide to the senior essay.

As students construct their major course of study, they should seek to include courses that provide
• Historical depth (a sense of the construction of traditions)
• Formal breadth (experience with more than one genre and more than one medium: poetry, prose fiction, drama, letters, film, epic, non-fiction, essays, documentary, etc.)
• Cultural range (experience with the Englishes of more than one geographical location and more than one cultural tradition, and of the exchanges and transactions between them; a course from another language or literary tradition can be valuable here)
• Different critical and theoretical frameworks (the opportunity to experiment with several models of interpretation and the debates that animate them).

To help in planning the major see the Four Categories Worksheet.

Summary of the English Major

Summary of the English Minor

• 250 Methods of Literary Interpretation
• 5 English electives (at least one at the 300-level).

Minor in Film Studies

There is no limit to the number of courses in film studies that may count toward the English Major, except for a student majoring in English who is also seeking to declare a minor in Film Studies. In that case two (and only two) of the courses that comprise the (6 course) Film Studies Minor may also count towards the (11 course) English major. The minimum number of courses required to complete an English Major and a minor in Film Studies will thus be 15 courses.

Concentration in Creative Writing

Students Going Abroad

Students should complete both English 250 and one 300-level course before leaving for a semester or year abroad.

English Majors and the Education Certification Program

English majors planning on completing an education certification in their senior year should file a work plan with the chairs of the Education and English Departments no later than December 1 of their junior year. English majors on this path will follow an accelerated writing schedule in their senior year.

Extended research

Some students seek a longer horizon and a chance to dig deeper into their research interests. Rising juniors and seniors may apply for fellowship support from the Hanna Holborn Gray program, to pursue original research projects over the summer or through the year. The projects may be stand-alone or may lead into a senior essay. In either case, students work closely with faculty advisors in the same field to define the goals, methods, and potential outcomes of their research. Where there is a good fit between a Fellow's expertise and the courses taught by her advisor, she may join her advisor in the classroom as an apprentice teacher.

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