The Major Course of Study

The English major at Wesleyan consists of ten full-credit courses at the 200-level or higher, or the equivalent if half-credit courses are counted. All but three of these credits, and all courses taken to meet the literary history, literatures of difference, and theory requirements, must be taken at Wesleyan or in the Department’s Sussex Program. 

Ø  10 course credits numbered 201 or above are the minimum number required to complete the major. These cannot include a two-term Honors thesis.

Ø  14 course credits number 201 or above are the maximum number of credits that can be counted toward the major. The 13th and 14th credits can include a two-term Honors thesis.

Ø  16 course credits numbered 201 or above can be taken if they include a two-term Honors thesis.

§  Required Courses For All Majors
Each of the following requirements must be fulfilled by taking a full-credit course designated by the Department as meeting the requirement.  Single courses designated as fulfilling more than one requirement may be used to fulfill more than one requirement.  Courses fulfilling requirements must be taken for a letter grade.

§  English 201, in the frosh or sophomore year. Click here for more 201 information.
A grade of B- or higher is required for admission to the major.  Students currently enrolled in 201 will be admitted provisionally, pending receipt of their final grade in the course.  Students who have not taken and are not taking 201 will ordinarily not be admitted.

§  Literary History I
 

§  Literary History II
 

§  Literatures of Difference

 

§  Theory

 

§  Field of Concentration
In the spring of the sophomore year, students choose a concentration to focus their coursework in the major.  Each of the concentrations is comprised of four courses and offers a pathway through the major, from introductory to intermediate and advanced courses, and provides students with both breadth and depth of knowledge in the field as well as expertise in reading, analysis, and writing in various formats.  

  • American Literature
    This concentration focuses on the history of the literature written in the United States and colonial America and is particularly concerned with the relation between literary expression and nationality. Like other subfields of English, the study of American literature at Wesleyan makes use of textual analysis and the study of literary forms, but it places special emphasis on the connections among literature and cultural and political history. Among other subjects, our courses focus on the role of literature in the formation and critique of American nationality and on its participation in transnational contexts that may challenge national identity. In addition, the concentration stresses the value of seeing distinct works, authors, or movements in the larger context of the history of literary expression in the U.S. The concentration requires four courses, including either English 203 or English 204 and at least one 300-level course. Normally, students will take 203 or 204 in the frosh, sophomore or junior year. At least one of the four courses must focus on literature written before the Civil War, and at least one must focus on the significance of race and ethnicity.

  • British Literature
    The British Literature concentration treats British culture and society through the lens of literature from its beginnings to the present day.  Many of the courses in the concentration deal with specific historical periods and themes; others focus on individual writers or genres, topics in cultural studies, methods, and literary and cultural theories germane to the study of British literature. Students are required to take at least two 200-level courses and at least one 300-level course. Students are encouraged to take, ordinarily in the frosh, sophomore, or junior year, one of the introductory courses in British literature: ENGL 206, Late Renaissance to Enlightenment; ENGL 208, Enlightenment to Modernism; ENGL 238, Renaissance Literature, or ENGL293 Intro to Medieval Literature. The fourth course can be either a 200 or 300 level course

  • Race and Ethnicity
    This concentration is organized around courses devoted to studying the representation of race and ethnicity.  The Race and Ethnicity concentration is topical and also encompasses courses that cover national literatures (American, British), literary traditions within nations (African American, U.S. Ethnic), and transnational and postcolonial literatures.  In addition, some courses within the concentration are devoted to particular genres, focused on specific historical periods, and concerned with literary and cultural theories. The concentration requires students to take at least two 200-level courses, which might include a survey such as ENGL 240. Introduction to African American Literature; ENGL230, Intro to Asian American Literature; ENGL 319, Crossing the Color LIne: Racial passing in American Literature; ENGL 275, Postcolonial Literature; and ENGL 279, Introduction to Latina/o Literature and Culture, as well as one 300-level course, which might be a junior or senior seminar or a special topics course such as ENGL 331, Topics in African American Literature: Charles Chesnutt and Pauline Hopkins, or a theory course. The fourth course can be either a 200 or 300 level course

  • Theory and Literary Forms
    The Theory and Literary Forms concentration includes two overlapping groups of courses.  The first group consists of courses that take literary theory as their subject matter, treating theory as a central topic within literary studies.  The second group includes courses that examine particular literary forms, usually poetry, drama, nonfiction, or fiction.  Additionally, most creative writing courses fall under this heading.  Students may organize their course of study by concentrating on literary theory; particular literary forms, examined through theoretical, critical, and creative writing courses; the history of a particular form over time; or the idea of genre and/or form itself.  Students are expected to take at least two 200-level courses and at least one 300-level course. The fourth course can be either a 200 or 300 level course.

  • Creative Writing Concentration

          The Creative Writing Concentration is a competitive program within the English major that is geared toward students who wish to pursue an intensive specialization in creative writing in the context of advanced literary study. The Creative Writing Concentration supports a rigorous study of contemporary writing practices and their roots, influences, and precursors. Students learn that writing is a practice that involves an ongoing negotiation of the tensions between creativity and discipline, experimentation and structure, critical analysis and textual production.

    In addition to meeting the core requirements for the English major, students must  complete four courses within the concentration: 1) a Techniques course or an Intermediate Workshop; 2) an Intermediate or Advanced Workshop; 3) an Intermediate or Advanced Workshop; 4) a Special Topics course or other genre-focused course. (An Advanced Workshop may be repeated for credit.) The Intermediate and Advanced Workshops and some Special Topics courses are enrolled by permission of instructor through an application process explained on the course pages in WesMaps.

    Students who intend to concentrate in Creative Writing must complete an Intermediate or Advanced Workshop with a grade of B+ or higher. They should also be aware that they are not guaranteed a place in Creative Writing permission of instructor (POI) courses and that admission to the concentration is not guaranteed. A student cannot enroll in more than one Intermediate or Advanced Workshop offered in the same term.

     As students pursue the Creative Writing Concentration, they should keep alternative concentrations in mind. Students who have not been able to successfully complete the four courses required for this concentration—or have not fulfilled the grade requirement in an Intermediate or Advanced Workshop—will find that nearly all the courses they have taken will contribute to the Theory and Literary Forms Concentration. Please note that students are free to pursue any of the other concentrations.

§  Elective Courses
Elective courses chosen from the Department’s offerings at the 200 level and higher should be selected to develop, define, or supplement the student’s program of study in the major, or specifically to add to a concentration.  Electives may supplement literary texts with historical, cultural, or theoretical contexts, or complement a field of study by comparing or contrasting it with related schools of literature, philosophy, and so on.  Electives are thus an opportunity to extend the focus within the major in directions that may not be immediately obvious but will enrich the student’s understanding of literature.

A related course from another department may be counted toward the major.  Prior approval from the student’s major advisor is ordinarily requir

Other Course Information

§  Creative Writing Courses 
Three Creative Writing courses numbered 200 and above may be counted toward the major. (Prior to the 2009-2010 academic year these course were numbered at the 100-level and will therefore count as 200-level courses.)

§  ENGL 491 and 492: Ford Seminars and Teaching Apprentice Tutorials.  When they designate Ford Seminars for writing tutors, these courses may be counted for the major only if the actual tutoring is associated with an upper-level English course that the tutor has not taken. When they designate Teaching Apprentice tutorials associated with English courses, they may be counted whether or not the teaching apprentice has taken the course.

§  Student forum classes do not count toward the major.

§  Honors thesis credits do not count toward the 10 credit minimum required for the major.

§  Individual and group tutorials may not be used to fulfill the literary history, literatures of difference, and theory requirements.  Individual tutorial projects usually taken in the Senior year are not for Honors. They may be counted toward the concentration.

§  AP Credit.  Students who scored 4 or 5 on the AP in English Literature or English Composition or both, or 5, 6, or 7 on the English A1 or AS IB exam, will automatically receive a total of one credit.  The same credit is awarded for taking one exam as for taking more than one.  This credit counts toward graduation but not toward General Education expectations or the English major.

§  Oversubscription:
University rules state that no more than 14 course credits (or 16.00 with a two-term Honors thesis) in any single department may be counted toward the 32 credits required for graduation. Cross-listed courses count toward the oversubscription limit regardless of which department listing a student chooses at the time of registration. Students who wish to take more than the maximum allowed number of English courses (14 numbered 201 or above, 16 with a two-term Honors thesis) must be aware that these courses cannot count toward the 32 credits required for the B.A. The maximum of 16.00 credits for purposes of oversubscription can be comprised of department credits, University of Sussex-English Department Exchange Program credits, and, with departmental approval, transfer credits prematriculant, study abroad, and/or transfer credits.