Major Requirements: From January 2024
OVERVIEW OF MAJOR
By majoring in English, students devote themselves to studying human expression: how people of different times and cultures have understood the world and used the English language to explore, question, and change it. English majors will develop their abilities to read and interpret works of literature; to understand the interplay of words, meaning, culture, and society; and to express themselves effectively in speech and in writing. Graduates with English degrees pursue exciting careers in publishing, marketing, education, law, banking, high tech, and many other fields. To declare a major in English, students should contact the department chair.
LEARNING GOALS
The English Department’s learning goals can be found HERE.
REQUIREMENTS
All English majors complete 12 credits of coursework as follows. A course will count toward the major if the grade earned is a C- or higher. At least two courses in the major must be designated as focusing on Underrepresented Voices & Social Justice (UVSJ).
A two-course foundation, comprising a Seminar in Literary Studies and an additional 100-level course. Seminars numbered ENGL 160 through 169 engage students with literary texts from multiple genres (including poetry and drama) from multiple periods of literary history. They equip students with a range of skills in literary studies: close reading, argument, and persuasive writing. The department strongly recommends that students take their Seminar in Literary Studies before enrolling in upper-level English courses. (This course fulfills the Writing Emphasis Part 2 requirement for English majors.)
The additional 100-level course may include Introduction to Creative Writing (ENGL 170); a course taught collaboratively by the entire English Department faculty (ENGL 101); surveys of British, American, and Black diasporic literature; and film studies, among others. A second-semester Humanities Gateway or InterArts course may count toward this requirement, if taught by English Faculty.
Four core courses in literature, two emphasizing foundational periods of literary traditions in English (generally, texts written before 1800) and two emphasizing the literatures of later periods, including film. At least two of these four courses must be at the 300 level or higher.
A five-course concentration, enabling students to deepen and advance their work within the discipline of English. Three of the five courses must be 300-level or higher.
Students in the literature concentration take three literature courses, one of which must focus on literature before 1800, and one of which must be designated “critical reflection.” Students planning on writing a senior thesis are strongly encouraged to take their “critical reflection” course before the end of junior year.
Students in the creative writing concentration take three creative-writing courses—ENGL 170 (or a creative-writing elective if 170 has already been taken); a 300-level workshop in a single genre; and any additional creative-writing course, which may include hybrid literature/creative-writing courses and “crafts” courses, as well as workshops.
Both concentrations require two further electives; or, in the case of thesis writers, one elective and one colloquium (see below).
A senior capstone: either a senior seminar or a two-semester senior thesis. Students seeking consideration for departmental honors must complete a thesis. Senior seminars are ordinarily restricted to senior English majors, but non-seniors may petition individual instructors for admission. A thesis is a year-long project consisting of a research-based analytical study of a topic in literary and/or film studies; or, for students who complete the concentration in creative writing, a creative project in a genre of their choice. During fall semester of the senior year, literature thesis-writers will take ENGL 498, Senior Thesis Part 1/Senior Colloquium, and creative writing thesis-writers will take ENGL 491, Creative Writing Thesis Part 1/Colloquium. All thesis writers enroll in ENGL 499, Senior Thesis Part 2, during the spring of their senior year.
The English minor consists of six courses. A course will count toward the minor if the grade earned is a C- or higher. At least one course in the minor must be designated as focusing on Underrepresented Voices & Social Justice. To declare a minor in English, students should contact the department chair.
Seminar in Literary Studies. Seminars numbered ENGL 160 through 169 engage students with literary texts from multiple genres (including poetry and drama) from multiple periods of literary history. They equip students with a range of skills in literary studies: close reading, argument, and persuasive writing. The department strongly recommends that students take their Seminar in Literary Studies before enrolling in upper-level English courses.
Two core courses in literature: one emphasizing foundational periods of literary traditions in English (generally, texts written before 1800) and one emphasizing the literatures of later periods, including film. At least one of these two courses must be at the 300 level or higher.
A three-course concentration, enabling students to deepen and advance their work within the discipline of English. The literature concentration consists of three courses (in addition to those in the two-course core) on literature or film, of which two must be at the 300 level or above. The creative writing concentration consists of three creative-writing courses, of which two must be workshops.
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES:
Study away: The English Department encourages its students to take the opportunity to study away, both in countries in which English is the primary language and elsewhere. Students interested in studying abroad or elsewhere in the United States should discuss questions of transferring credits, fulfilling requirements, and other related matters with the department’s study-away adviser (typically the department chair). The English Department accepts up to two courses for a semester away, up to three courses for a year away, toward the major. For the minor, the English department accepts up to one course taken away.
Students who have begun the English major while at Trinity may count no more than three courses originating outside the department towards fulfillment of the major. This restriction does not apply to cross-referenced courses.
Research Methods: The Trinity English Department offers several research-intensive courses each semester, and majors have the opportunity to pursue intensive personal research through independent studies, senior theses, or in the context of their senior seminars.
Honors: In order to earn honors in the major, a student must write a two-semester senior thesis and attain a minimum GPA of A- (3.667) in all English courses taken with Trinity English Department faculty that count toward major requirements.
Experiential Certificates: Experiential Certificates complement the core liberal arts experience with an integrated set of courses and immersive experiences that prepare students for their next steps after Trinity.
The English Department offers a Certificate in Multimedia Communications. Credit 1 may be fulfilled with a 300-level creative-writing course (ENGL 333, 334, 335, or 336, or THDN 305 or 393) OR an upper-level course that considers the history of media by emphasizing the production, circulation, and/or reception of written or filmic texts (ENGL 305, 310, 329, 340, 343, 347, 354, 358, 381, 409, 427 or an equivalent course approved by the department chair). Credits 2 and 3 may be fulfilled with an internship in publishing, journalism, the arts, communications, marketing, public relations, social media, or related areas.
With the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing & Rhetoric, the English Department also offers a Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. The certificate entails two academic credits—a writing-intensive or workshop-based course in ENGL or RHET (160, 170, or a 200 level RHET course) and a course about the history or theory of literacy and pedagogy (RHET 302, ENGL 318, RHET 406/ENGL 806). The third co-curricular credit may be earned as a Teaching Assistant for an ENGL or RHET course or as a First-Year Mentor for an ENGL or RHET faculty member.
Graduate studies: Students interested in post-graduate study in English are encouraged to talk with any English faculty member, especially the faculty’s graduate-study adviser. The English department has funds available to subsidize application fees for English majors seeking admission to PhD and MFA programs.
