Bachelor of Arts in English
Program Overview
The Bachelor of Arts in English emphasizes the writing, reading, critical thinking and communication skills that are essential to academic and career success. The major provides students with a sound background in the liberal arts, as well as focused training in the interpretation of literature.
The program of study includes core courses in American and British literature as well as critical reading and theory. The major is also flexible enough to allow students to pursue individual interests in literary study, technical and professional writing, creative writing or language. The flexibility is an advantage to students who certify as English majors relatively late in their academic careers and to those who are also candidates for teacher licensure.
Competencies Upon Completion
Graduates of this program will be able to:
- Demonstrate specialized knowledge/skills in three area of study: historical; writing and language; and genre studies, cultural studies and literary theory.
- Demonstrate knowledge of research tools and methods in the field of English studies.
- Demonstrate reading skills that emphasize careful analytical and critical thought.
- Demonstrate the ability to produce literary and non-literary texts with attention to academic conventions regarding format, documentation, style, etc.
- Demonstrate the ability to read and understand a variety of critical theories and apply these to the study of literature.
- Demonstrate the ability to write, with a special emphasis on interpretive and evaluative writing about texts in a variety of critical formats.
- Demonstrate the ability to complete a long written project with the application of appropriate critical approaches, the mastery of basic literary research methods and the awareness of rhetorical context and discourse functions.