English, BA

Major

Requirements

As part of your degree, you must fulfill the CUNY Pathways general education requirements, which consist of the Common Core (Required and Flexible) and the Medgar Evers College Option. These courses provide the essential quantitative, scientific, and socio-cultural literacy that complements your technical training.

Here are the courses you must complete for your degree.

Required Core Courses

1. Core English & Writing Skills
   The courses provide the foundation for your communication and analytical abilities:
   • ENGL 208 – Applied Linguistics, ENGL 210 – Intermediate Composition, ENGL 211 – Introduction To Literary Studies, ENGL 365 – Applied Literary Theory
2. Capstone & Professional Experience
   These courses wrap up your degree and prepare you for your career:
   • ENGL 420 – English Internship I, ENGL 422 – Senior Thesis
3. Required Literature Exploration (Choose One from Each Pair)
   To ensure a broad literary background, you must take one course from each of these sequences:
   • ENGL 315 – British Literature I: 8th – 18th Centuries OR ENGL 316 – British Literature II: 19th-21st Centuries
   • ENGL 319 – African-American Literature I: 1619-1932 OR ENGL 320 – African-American Literature II: 1932 to the present
   • ENGL 322 – American Literature I: Beginnings to the Emancipation Proclamation OR ENGL 323 – American Literature II: Reconstruction to the Present
   • ENGL 325 – Caribbean Cosmopolitanism OR ENGL 327 – Caribbean Literature II: 1970 to the present
4. Specific Literature Requirement
   You must take this course as part of your global literature focus:
   • ENGL 326: African Literature
5. General Education & Other Requirements
   The courses cover essential skills and knowledge out of your major:
   • Foreign Language I: FREN 201 – Intermediate French I OR SPAN 201 – Intermediate Spanish I
   • Foreign Language II: FREN 202 – Intermediate French II OR SPAN 202 – Intermediate Spanish II
   • First-Year Seminar: FS 101 & 102 – Freshman Seminar I
   • History: HIST 101 – World Civilizations I
   • Library Skills: LIB 100 – Lib & Resch Methods
   • Philosophy: PHIL 101 – Introduction to Logic
6. Complete any 300-level English Elective from the Cross-Cultural, Creative Writing or Professional Writing Concentrations

Major Elective

• Earn at least 12 English elective credits
• Choose any HUM, ENGL, ART, MUS course not already taken or PHIL 201 or PSYC 101, SSC, SOC. (3 cr)

Concentration Options

• Cross-Cultural Literature
  Complete at least 4 of the following courses:
  • ENGL 319, ENGL 320, ENGL 325, ENGL 327, ENGL 328, ENGL 330, ENGL 331, ENGL 334, ENGL 360, ENGL 363, ENGL 364, ENGL 366, ENGL 371, ENGL 372
• Creative Writing
  Complete at least 4 of the following courses:
  • ENGL 301, ENGL 302, ENGL 303, ENGL 304, ENGL 305, ENGL 306, ENGL 307, ENGL 260, ENGL 362
• Professional Writing
  Complete at least 4 of the following Courses:
  • ENGL 362, ENGL 310, ENGL 311, ENGL 312, ENGL 313

Degree Map

Think of this map as your personal GPS for college. It shows you the perfect sequence of courses to take, semester by semester, ensuring you hit all your requirements in the right order. This plan is designed to make sure you take any prerequisite courses (the classes you must pass before you can take a more advanced one) at the right time.

4-Year Degree Map

Admission into BA Program

Admission to the English BA program is open to all students. English majors must earn a minimum grade of C in all English courses. The AA degrees in English and African Diaspora Literature offer seamless transfer into the BA. In addition, the English Department has a formal articulation agreement with Kingsborough’s Journalism Program and the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Writing and Literature Program.