The total major requirement is eleven semester courses. A grade not lower than C is required in all courses toward the major. Students must complete CAS EN 220, CAS HU 221, CAS EN 322, and CAS EN 323 (usually taken consecutively). With the aid of their advisors, they should design a coherent major of at least seven additional English courses at the advanced level (numbered 300 or above), including one from each of the following groups:

Group 1. American Literature before 1900: CAS EN 471, 479, 533, 534, 545, 571, 587, or courses specified as equivalent in any year.

Group 2. Concepts and Methods of Literary Study: Any literature course listed from CAS EN 404, EN 406 through EN 490, or from EN 493 through EN 498.

Group 3. Literature before 1800: Authors, periods, and movements previous to or overlapping 1800.

Note: Students may not satisfy the requirement for multiple groups with a single, overlapping course.

Upon approval of their advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies, students may elect to substitute one upper-level literature course from Romance Studies, Modern Languages & Comparative Literature, Classical Studies, or the Editorial Institute, for one of their seven upper-division course requirements outside of the two categories specified above.

Languages

Majors planning on graduate study in English should continue work in foreign languages beyond the level required by the College. French, German, and Latin are the languages most commonly required for the PhD degree in English.

The department offers a minor program of six courses in English language and literature. These six courses include (1) CAS EN 220; (2) the sequence CAS EN 322, 323; and (3) three elective courses numbered CAS EN 300 or higher. Note: For English minors, CAS HU 221 is not a prerequisite for CAS EN 322. Courses must be completed with a grade of C or higher for credit. A student desiring a minor program in English must consult the department to determine which faculty member will serve as his or her advisor.

For program listing and course descriptions, please see Arts & Sciences Writing Program.