Revising the English Major January 30 & 31, 2013

Revising the English Major

January 30 & 31, 2013

A Little History….O The “old” major (last year, 2006–07)

O A traditional, historically grounded majorO Requirements:

O 11 coursesO ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course]

O Historical distribution [5 courses]

O Two pre-1700 coursesO Two courses, 1700–1900O One course, 1900–present

O Three “free” electives (at least two, 100–199) [3 courses]

O Senior seminar (ENGL 170) [1 course]

O Senior exercise: second senior seminar or senior thesis [1 course]

A Lot Less History….O The “new” major (last year, 2010–11)

O An open, student-directed majorO Requirements:

O 11 coursesO ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course]

O An eight-course “path,” selected and proposed by the student

O Ex.: “Poetry and Poetics”; “High & Low Genres”; “Remaking Myths”; “Writing the World”

O Senior seminar (ENGL 170) [1 course]

O Senior exercise: second senior seminar or senior thesis [1 course]

Technical DifficultiesO The new major was a creative idea; in practice, it was

… sort of a nightmareO A late-declaring major might have 6, 7, 8 English

courses already on her transcript. Did they really fall on a thought-out “path”?

O A good (early) plan required very good information about upcoming course offerings … but life happens (study abroad; faculty leaves; etc.)

O Different faculty members had differing notions of just how broad or narrow a path could/should be.O I used to tell my advisees: “A path is not a plot [of

ground].”O 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?

The “New” Major, v. 2.0 (2011–13)

O Think, the “new” major—with no “path,” no map.

O Requirements:O 11 courses

O ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation” [1 course]

O Eight “free” electives (“free” means free) [8 courses]

O Senior exercise: Senior seminar + senior thesis, or two senior seminars [2 courses]

Philosophical Difficulties

O In the words of one English department faculty member: “We’ve abdicated our responsibility to our students.”

O If we have one obligation to our majors, it’s not uniformity of experience, but diversity.O And diversity has more than one dimension:

it’s not just historicalO There are, ultimately, a handful of

experiences that we want our graduating seniors to have, questions we want them to have wrestled with.

The New, “New” Major (anticipated, Fall 2013)

O Twelve courses (up from eleven)O Seven categories of experience

O I. Methods of Literary StudyO II. Historical Breadth RequirementO III. Genre RequirementO IV. Single-Author StudyO V. Interpretive “Lenses”O VI. Senior SeminarO VII. Senior ExerciseO VIII. Electives

I. Methods of Literary Study

O Two courses:O ENGL 67, “Literary Interpretation”

O Prerequisite for ENGL 170 & ENGL 191O One course designated “theory-

intensive” (Th)O Pre- or co-requisite for ENGL 191

A Word about Designations

O 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.

O Most courses will carry multiple designations; one course can be used to satisfy, at most, two requirements.

O Example: ENGL 161, “James Joyce” (Sa, H5, Pr)O Sa=Single-author; H5=Historical period 5;

Pr=Prose

II. Historical Breadth Requirement

O Courses in four of the following five periods:O Medieval (H1)O Renaissance/Early Modern (H2)O 18th Century (H3)O 19th Century (H4)O 20th-21st Century (H5)

III. Genre RequirementO One course focused on the study of

poetry (Po)O One course focused on the study of

prose (Pr)

IV. Single-Author StudyO One course focusing on the study of

an individual author (Sa)

V. Interpretive “Lenses”

O Courses in two of the following three areas:O Race & Class (RC)O Gender & Sexuality (GS)O Diaspora & Geopolitics (DG)

VI. Senior SeminarO ENGL 170O Unchanged from the current

requirement

VII. Senior ExerciseO Seminar Option:

O A second ENGL 170O ENGL 190, “Senior Exercise/Seminar Option”O Unchanged from current major

O Thesis Option:O ENGL [195], “Literary Interpretation:

Advanced Methods” New courseO ENGL 191, “Senior Thesis” (2 semesters, 1

credit)

VIII. ElectivesO Seminar Option: 0–5

O Thesis Option: 0–4

Sample Program of Study

O ENGL 67, 1 creditO ENGL 126, “California Poetry” (Po; H5), 1 creditO ENGL 140, “Literature of Incarceration” (RC), 1 creditO ENGL 134, “Women Medieval Authors” (GS, H1), 1 creditO ENGL 145, “Gothic Tradition” (H3, Pr), 1 creditO ENGL 141, “Shakespearean Drama” (H2, Sa), 1 creditO ENGL 170L, “Genre Theory” (Th), 1 credit

O Seminar Option Thesis OptionO ENGL 170I, “Tragedy & Phil.,” 1 credit ENGL [195], “Lit. Interp.: Adv.,”

1 cr.O ENGL 190, “Senior Ex./Seminar,” n.c. ENGL 191, “Senior

Ex./Thesis,” 1 cr.O Free electives, 4 credits Free electives, 3 credits