Guide to the Literature Major
See below for information on declaring the English Major.
Requirements for the Major
The English Literature Major consists of two 200-level “Historical Breadth” courses, English 300, English 397, and 9 additional literature courses.
A worksheet to help you keep track of your progress through the English major is available here.
“Historical Breadth” courses are introductory courses that give you the foundation for the major, providing you with a span of at least 200 years of literature from a particular tradition, genre, or theme. These courses think about the history of various literatures and narratives of continuity and change over time. You’ll take one Historical Breadth course that focuses on literature written before 1830 and another that focuses on literature written after 1830. These introductory courses that fulfill the “Historical Breadth” requirement are clearly marked in English Course Listings.
English 300, to be taken early in your time as an English major, is a seminar that teaches fundamental skills of literary interpretation important to all literature courses and exposes students to new ways of thinking about literary texts. There are no prerequisites for English 300. English 300 may only be taken once, and it does not count toward the additional 9 courses required for the major. Taking English 300 early will help you achieve the best results and most learning in other 300-level courses.
English 397, taken later in your career as a major, is the capstone Research Seminar. It teaches you how to define a viable research topic, identify and evaluate sources, and craft an extended argument. These are crucial cognitive skills that are also highly sought-after by employers and graduate- and professional-school programs. You should register for English 397 after successfully completing 4-6 300-level literature courses, normally during the junior or senior year. Students who wish to pursue honors in English must have completed or be enrolled in the Research Seminar when they apply to the Honors Program in Spring Quarter of the junior year. (English 397 cannot be taken simultaneously with the English 398-1,2: Honors Seminar, which honors students take during Fall and Winter of the senior year.)
The 9 additional literature courses offer students wide latitude in defining their own paths through the major. This is your chance to take classes on subjects you feel passionate about, to study topics you’ve discovered in your “Historical Breadth” courses, and also to venture into the unknown. In order to ensure a range of cultural and historical competency, the 9 additional literature courses must fulfill the following requirements:
- Two 200- or 300-level literature courses (to be taken in the English Department);
- Seven 300-level courses:
- At least 3 courses on literature written before 1830
- At least 3 courses on literature written after 1830
- At least 1 course focusing on Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment
- At least 1 course focusing on Postcolonial & Comparative Literatures
- At least 1 course focusing on Race & Ethnicity
- Optionally, one 300-level literature course may be taken in another department or program, subject to approval by the DUS.
The Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment, Postcolonial & Comparative, and Race & Ethnicity requirements must be satisfied with three separate courses. These courses can also be counted as pre- and post-1830 courses as appropriate. When a course potentially satisfies two requirements, a student may choose to count it toward one or the other, as best fits their course of study. For example, a student can choose to count a course on Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers as satisfying either the Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment requirement or the Race & Ethnicity requirement.
Please be sure to download a copy of the form-fillable English major worksheet here. The worksheet tracks your progress through the English major, and you should bring an updated copy with you to your advising appointments.
Students who matriculated prior to Fall 2022 should use this form to track their progress through the previous iteration of the major unless they choose to opt in to the current major.
What are the Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality, and Embodiment, and Post-colonial and Comparative literatures requirements?
“Race & Ethnicity” courses focus on texts that highlight race and ethnicity as lived experiences and constructed categories, alongside scholarly formations that treat these ideas. “Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment” courses focus on texts that examine cultural norms related to gender, sexuality, and dis/ability and engage relevant scholarly literatures. “Postcolonial and Comparative Literatures” courses focus on texts that invite various forms of postcolonial, decolonial, transnational, and/or comparative literary analysis. Beyond showcasing writers across a wide range of identity categories and cultural locations, courses taught in these groupings will assign or substantially engage with secondary literature that enriches students’ awareness of the scholarly traditions and methods that have developed most self-consciously around questions of racial, gendered, national, and other forms of difference.
Courses that fulfill the pre- and post-1830; Gender, Sexuality & Embodiment; Postcolonial & Comparative Literatures; and Race & Ethnicity requirements are clearly identified in English Course Listings.
Declaring an English Literature Major
Declaring the major consists of submitting your declaration and making an advising appointment to discuss your interests and plans. Download the Weinberg major declaration form, fill it out, and e-mail it to Jeffrey Masten, the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). He will sign your form and forward it to the WCAS Office of Undergraduate Studies. Then make an initial advising appointment on Prof. Masten’s faculty webpage. (Refer to Weinberg's Major and Minor Information page for full details on policies and procedures.)
Petitioning To Graduate
The process of petitioning to graduate with an English Literature major takes place via the Frevvo portal administered by the Registrar. Please be sure to attach your major worksheet to your petition in Frevvo. (Your petition will be sent back without it.) As part of the petition process, the Director of Undergraduate Studies reviews the degree progress report in CAESAR to verify that all requirements can be completed by graduation. (For the pre-2022 version of the English requirements, the relevant worksheet appears here.) Be sure to include and mark on your worksheet any future courses you plan to take to fulfill the major or minor.
Pre-registration
All majors are eligible to pre-register for up to two English literature courses per quarter. Note, however, that students may only pre-register for a total of two courses across all majors and minors. See the Registrar’s website for the pre-registration schedule.