English

• FACULTY
• LEARNING AIMS
• MAJOR IN ENGLISH
• MINOR IN ENGLISH
• COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

FACULTY

Chair: Mark Osteen, Professor

Professors: Carol N. Abromaitis; David C. Dougherty (emeritus); Juniper Lee Ellis; Charles B. Hands (emeritus); Robert S. Miola; Mark Osteen; Thomas E. Scheye

Associate Professors: Jean Lee Cole; Bryan L. Crockett; Kathleen Forni; Paul Lukacs; Gayla McGlamery; Nicholas A. Miller; James J. Miracky, S.J.; Brian Norman

Assistant Professors: Melissa Girard; Giuseppina Iacono Lobo; Timothy D. Michael

Affiliate Faculty: Sondra Guttman; Louis Hinkel, Jr.; Karen M. Kettnich; Julius S. Lobo

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The chief goal of the English Department is literacy, which means more than just the ability to read and write. It means being fully at home with language, being able to enter into critical dialogue with the writers we read, and being able to use our native language to organize and present our own thoughts and feelings.

Courses in the English Department introduce students to a variety of the most excitingly literate men and women of the past and present. These courses aim to train the student to read accurately and imaginatively, to think critically, to write clearly and forcefully, and to enjoy the potential for creative play afforded by our rich and complex language. They cultivate the habits of critical inquiry, serious reflection, aesthetic appreciation, and considered response. Critical writing is a key component of practically every English course.

LEARNING AIMS

In addition to the goals for the core program, all of which apply to the major program, the English Department sets the following as goals for its majors:

• Students will develop a basic knowledge of literary history, including an understanding of how authors write with an awareness of those who have written before them and how works of literature affect and reflect the cultural environments in which they are written.
• Students will recognize that texts can be approached in multiple ways.
• Students will learn to write about literature with precision, depth, and clarity, especially by structuring cogent and persuasive written arguments using the skills necessary to both primary textual analysis and academic literary research.
• Students will develop a lifelong habit of reading literature for the pleasure of intellectual and emotional engagement by cultivating their understanding of the ways diverse works speak to us personally and directly.

MAJOR IN ENGLISH

In addition to the University core requirement in English, majors take a minimum of 10 upper-division classes. One of these must be English Literary History Before 1800 (EN300), which students are urged to take early in their careers as majors. Four of the remaining courses must be chosen from courses covering primarily literature written before 1800 (EN300-359), and five from courses covering primarily English, American, and postcolonial literature written after 1800 (EN340-399). Two of the required minimum of 10 upper-division classes must be seminars.

An honors option, involving a seminar and a thesis, is available to qualified seniors. Students are invited to enroll in the seminar at the close of their junior year. The Senior Honors Seminar (EN409) counts as an upper-level seminar in the major. Each year the chair determines, on the basis of course material, whether EN409 counts as a pre- or post-1800 course. Whether the Senior Honors Thesis (EN410) may count as one of the 10 required upper-division courses is subject to the approval of the chair.

Students choosing an interdisciplinary major take a minimum of five upper-division English classes while at the same time fulfilling the interdisciplinary requirements of a second department. Two of the five required English classes must cover primarily literature written before 1800, and two must cover primarily literature written after 1800. One of the five required courses must be a seminar.

Bachelor of Arts

Requirements for a major and an example of a typical program of courses are as follows:

Freshman Year

Fall Term

Spring Term

Sophomore Year

Fall Term

Spring Term

Junior Year

Fall Term

Spring Term

Senior Year

Fall Term

Spring Term

1. All students must take EN101 before taking a 200-level core course.
2. EN101 and one EN200-level core course are the prerequisites for all EN300- and 400-level courses.
3. Students must complete the diversity requirement through a designated diversity core, major, or elective course (see Diversity Requirement under Curriculum and Policies).

MINOR IN ENGLISH

• Understanding Literature (EN101)
• One EN200-level core course
• Five upper-division English courses; normally two are in preromantic literature and two are in postromantic literature