School of Liberal Arts and Education
English Department

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“We Connect you to a Larger World”

Department Mission and Core Goals
The Department of English is a community of teachers, scholars and writers whose primary mission is to offer students an outstanding liberal arts education and the values of intellectual rigor and critical inquiry in an increasingly globalized and highly technological information-based society.   Students may pursue a baccalaureate degree in English and an associate degree in liberal arts with a concentration in English.  The department offers courses for the English major, composition and literature courses in the general education curriculum, ESL courses, and composition and critical literacy courses in the developmental education curriculum.  English majors may concentrate in cross-cultural literature, creative writing or professional writing.  By undergoing a course of study in one of these concentrations, students gain academic and cultural experiences that provide them with in-depth studies in literature and writing, enhance their intellectual, social and aesthetic awareness of their environment and develop their awareness of personal and civic responsibilities to the college, university, community and society in general.  At the end of the program, students will be able to gain employment in diverse fields such as teaching, publishing, professional writing and public relations and will also be prepared to undertake graduate studies in a range of professions including law, business, and medicine.  In pursuit of its mission, the department is also committed to supporting faculty research, publication and professional development. 

 The English Program

The English department offers a core of required courses in composition and literature, a baccalaureate degree in English (BA) with a concentration in either cross-cultural literature, creative writing or professional writing and  an associate of arts degree in Liberal Arts with  a concentration in English or the Humanities and.  Students pursuing a BA degree in English also participate in an internship that provides them with opportunities to work with professionals in their respective areas of concentrations and write a thesis that reflects their knowledge of the discipline as it relates to their major.  Those students who wish to pursue a minor in English may choose to participate in either a 12 credit writing or literature concentration.

 The English BA Program

The baccalaureate degree program in English combines a solid liberal arts background in the Humanities with the specialized skills needed to meet the growing demand for highly competent, high performing, and broadly educated individuals in an increasingly diverse society and workplace.  Students are required to take 12 required courses in literature, 12 elective courses in literature, a course in literary theory, an intermediate composition course and a 12 credit concentration of courses in creative writing, professional writing or cross-cultural literature.  Students must also complete an internship and write a thesis based on their concentration.

The distribution of literature courses is as follows. All English BA students must take at least one course in each of the sequences of American Literature I & II, African American Literature I & II, British Literature I & II and Caribbean Literature I & II, for a total of four courses. When the program first started, Caribbean Literature was a single course and not required; students had to take four courses from American Literature I and II, African American Literature I and II and British Literature I and II, thereby completing a sequence in one of these areas.  However, because many of our students have a Caribbean heritage, the Department wanted to ensure that it met the mission of ensuring that more students acquired an appreciation of their own culture.  Thus students now need to take only one course in the other three sequences and also choose Caribbean Literature I or II, thereby eliminating the requirement of completing a sequence.  The Department maintained that in choosing amongst these four “core” areas, students would inevitably read literature from a range of periods.  Literature electives include Literature of the Global City, Popular Fiction, Modernist Literature, Shakespeare and Special Topics in Literature.  They may also fulfill this requirement with “core” literature courses.

In addition to the required four 300-level literature courses and literature electives, all English BA students take Applied Literary Theory (ENGL365) usually towards the end of their program.  They also take Internship (ENGL 420), which introduces them to professional opportunities for English majors, and the Senior Thesis (ENGL422) which may expand upon a literary topic in which they have developed an interest or provide them with an opportunity to develop a manuscript in creative or professional writing.

Cross-Cultural Literature Concentration

Professional Writing Concentration

Creative Writing Concentration

College Composition Courses

Core Literature Courses

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