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Revising the English Major

Revising the English Major. January 30 & 31, 2013. A Little History…. The “old” major (last year, 2006–07) A traditional, historically grounded major Requirements: 11 courses ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course] Historical distribution [5 courses] Two pre-1700 courses

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Revising the English Major

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  1. Revising the English Major January 30 & 31, 2013

  2. A Little History…. • The “old” major (last year, 2006–07) • A traditional, historically grounded major • Requirements: • 11 courses • ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course] • Historical distribution [5 courses] • Two pre-1700 courses • Two courses, 1700–1900 • One course, 1900–present • Three “free” electives (at least two, 100–199) [3 courses] • Senior seminar (ENGL 170) [1 course] • Senior exercise: second senior seminar or senior thesis [1 course]

  3. A Lot Less History…. • The “new” major (last year, 2010–11) • An open, student-directed major • Requirements: • 11 courses • ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course] • An eight-course “path,” selected and proposed by the student • Ex.: “Poetry and Poetics”; “High & Low Genres”; “Remaking Myths”; “Writing the World” • Senior seminar (ENGL 170) [1 course] • Senior exercise: second senior seminar or senior thesis [1 course]

  4. Technical Difficulties • The new major was a creative idea; in practice, it was … sort of a nightmare • A late-declaring major might have 6, 7, 8 English courses already on her transcript. Did they really fall on a thought-out “path”? • A good (early) plan required very good information about upcoming course offerings … but life happens (study abroad; faculty leaves; etc.) • Different faculty members had differing notions of just how broad or narrow a path could/should be. • I used to tell my advisees: “A path is not a plot [of ground].” • Are we comfortable graduating an “English major” who has never studied literature before the twentieth century, or after the Glorious Revolution, or has never studied poetry?

  5. The “New” Major, v. 2.0 (2011–13) • Think, the “new” major—with no “path,” no map. • Requirements: • 11 courses • ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course] • Eight “free” electives (“free” means free) [8 courses] • Senior exercise: Senior seminar + senior thesis, or two senior seminars [2 courses]

  6. Philosophical Difficulties • In the words of one English department faculty member: “We’ve abdicated our responsibility to our students.” • If we have one obligation to our majors, it’s not uniformity of experience, but diversity. • And diversity has more than one dimension: it’s not just historical • There are, ultimately, a handful of experiences that we want our graduating seniors to have, questions we want them to have wrestled with.

  7. The New, “New” Major (anticipated, Fall 2013) • Twelve courses (up from eleven) • Seven categories of experience • I. Methods of Literary Study • II. Historical Breadth Requirement • III. Genre Requirement • IV. Single-Author Study • V. Interpretive “Lenses” • VI. Senior Seminar • VII. Senior Exercise • VIII. Electives

  8. I. Methods of Literary Study • Two courses: • ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” • Prerequisite for ENGL 170 & ENGL 191 • One course designated “theory-intensive” (Th) • Pre- or co-requisite for ENGL 191

  9. A Word about Designations • Starting in Fall 2013, each course in the English listing in the catalog will carry a designation(s) indicating which requirement(s) it can satisfy. • Most courses will carry multiple designations; one course can be used to satisfy, at most, two requirements. • Example: ENGL 161, “James Joyce” (Sa, H5, Pr) • Sa=Single-author; H5=Historical period 5; Pr=Prose

  10. II. Historical Breadth Requirement • Courses in four of the following five periods: • Medieval (H1) • Renaissance/Early Modern (H2) • 18th Century (H3) • 19th Century (H4) • 20th-21st Century (H5)

  11. III. Genre Requirement • One course focused on the study of poetry (Po) • One course focused on the study of prose (Pr)

  12. IV. Single-Author Study • One course focusing on the study of an individual author (Sa)

  13. V. Interpretive “Lenses” • Courses in two of the following three areas: • Race & Class (RC) • Gender & Sexuality (GS) • Diaspora & Geopolitics (DG)

  14. VI. Senior Seminar • ENGL 170 • Unchanged from the current requirement

  15. VII. Senior Exercise • Seminar Option: • A second ENGL 170 • ENGL 190, “Senior Exercise/Seminar Option” • Unchanged from current major • Thesis Option: • ENGL [195], “Literary Interpretation: Advanced Methods” New course • ENGL 191, “Senior Thesis” (2 semesters, 1 credit)

  16. VIII. Electives • Seminar Option: 0–5 • Thesis Option: 0–4

  17. Sample Program of Study • ENGL 67, 1 credit • ENGL 126, “California Poetry” (Po; H5), 1 credit • ENGL 140, “Literature of Incarceration” (RC), 1 credit • ENGL 134, “Women Medieval Authors” (GS, H1), 1 credit • ENGL 145, “Gothic Tradition” (H3, Pr), 1 credit • ENGL 141, “Shakespearean Drama” (H2, Sa), 1 credit • ENGL 170L, “Genre Theory” (Th), 1 credit • Seminar OptionThesis Option • ENGL 170I, “Tragedy & Phil.,” 1 credit ENGL [195], “Lit. Interp.: Adv.,” 1 cr. • ENGL 190, “Senior Ex./Seminar,” n.c. ENGL 191, “Senior Ex./Thesis,” 1 cr. • Free electives, 4 credits Free electives, 3 credits

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