Through an exciting array of courses in literary and cultural studies, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, and linguistics, English majors and minors develop skills, perspectives, and knowledge for a lifetime. The English curriculum at 探花视频 prepares undergraduates for many career paths in a wide range of fields. English is an ideal choice for students who wish to gain broadly applicable, transferable skills in writing, textual analysis, and critical thinking, while cultivating a deeper understanding of the ways in which literature and language work. Students who wish to study English may choose from three concentrations and four minors and may also participate in the Honors in Humanities Program and the Accelerated Degree (BA/MA) Program. Descriptions of these programs can be found below. For more information or to declare your major, contact Dr. Steve Hartman Keiser, Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Degree Offered: B.A. in English (Language Arts Concentration)
Designed for Education majors seeking Department of Public Instruction certification. Take literature, language, and writing courses in addition to courses in the College of Education.
A wide range of courses are offered in British, American, and Anglophone literature and culture, as well as in professional writing, rhetoric and composition, and linguistics.
Language Arts Concentration Requirements (33 credit hours):
Degree Offered: B.A. in English (Literature Concentration)
Designed for students who wish to study British, American, and other Anglophone literature and culture. Study great literature to cultivate your critical imagination, your cultural knowledge, and your own writing. Encounter a rich variety of voices across history and discover your own creative voice in this enduring conversation. Courses address a wide range of periods, authors, genres, and themes. In addition to classes on literature and culture, students may take two classes in creative writing, professional writing, or rhetoric and composition, one of which may be the Writing Internship class.
Literature Concentration Requirements (30 credit hours)
Degree Offered: B.A. in English (Writing-Intensive English Concentration)
Writing is key to who we are and all we do. Study how your writing works and how you work as a writer. Take courses in creative writing, workplace writing, and public writing as well as literature. You will graduate ready to write for the rest of your life.
A wide variety of courses are offered in all areas of writing, including literature, composition, creative writing, professional and technical writing, and journalistic writing and magazine editing. You'll also have opportunities to be a peer tutor in the Ott Memorial Writing Center and to complete internships with local arts groups, schools, businesses, or nonprofit organizations.
Writing-Intensive Concentration Requirements (36 credit hours)
Designed for students who wish to study British, American, and other Anglophone literature and culture. Study great literature to cultivate your critical imagination, your cultural knowledge, and your own writing. Encounter a rich variety of voices across history and discover your own creative voice in this enduring conversation. Courses address a wide range of periods, authors, genres, and themes. In addition to courses focusing on literature and culture, students may take one class in creative writing, professional writing, or rhetoric and composition.
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Writing is key to who we are and all we do. Study how your writing works and how you work as a writer. Take courses in creative writing, workplace writing, and public writing as well as literature. The Writing-Intensive English minor emphasizes deep understanding of purpose, genre, medium, and audience through academic study of the writing process. Writing students become self-aware, flexible, and empowered communicators as they explore creative, research and communication contexts that serve their personal and professional goals. You will graduate ready to write for the rest of your life.
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探花视频鈥檚 creative writing minor will allow you to hone your fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and multimodal storytelling skills in community with other creative practitioners. It will augment any area of study, from history to health sciences, as it deepens your capacity for observation, empathy, and imaginative problem-solving.
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Checklists of Major Requirements
Side-by-side Comparison of English Concentrations and Student Learning Outcomes
Disciplinary Honors in English Program
The Disciplinary Honors in English Program provides students an opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor to design and complete a two-semester thesis during their senior year. Students apply to the program in their third to last term (typically the spring of their junior year). During that term or before, all applicants must take an upper-division 鈥済ateway鈥� course in English that prepares them to write a thesis and enables them to develop a relationship with a mentor who will advise the project. Each semester, the English Department compiles and publicizes a list of courses that provide sufficient grounding in a field for an Honors project and that are taught by faculty who are able to advise at least one student in the two subsequent terms.
Prior to or during the senior year, students take a second upper-division course either in English or another department that provides additional grounding for the project. At the end of the second term of the Honors Senior Thesis, students present their projects in a public forum. The specific form of the presentation may vary based on the nature of the project but must be approved by the Honors English Director.
Once admitted to the program, students become members of the University Honors Program and can apply for Honors research funds and study abroad scholarships. Upon completion of the program, students receive a notation of Honors English on their transcripts. The Honors Thesis satisfies the Capstone requirement for Literature and Writing-Intensive English majors.
The Honors Thesis can take a number of forms. Students may write literary or cultural criticism, may undertake research in rhetoric and composition or linguistics, or may pursue creative or community-engaged projects. The projects not only make excellent writing samples for graduate school but also enable students to develop crucial research and writing skills that prepare them for a wide range of careers.
For a list of recent Honors English Theses, see our Undergraduate Research page. For more information about the program, please contact the Director of Honors English, .
Meet our Majors! (Check out these videos by current students.)
Why Major in English?
Find out more about the essential writing, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and interpersonal skills that our majors gain. Learn, too, about career opportunities and placements for English majors!
Beyond the Classroom
The English Department offers many opportunities for enrichment, service, mentoring, and community beyond the classroom, including writing internships, study abroad, faculty and alumni mentoring, Sigma Tau Delta (the English honor society), the 探花视频 Literary Review, (the intercollegiate Milwaukee chapter of the National Council of Teachers of English) for future educators, an active alumni/ae group (FAME), and an ongoing program of social and cultural events, many of which are organized by our Undergraduate English Advisory Board.
Accelerated Degree Program (BA/MA Program)
The Accelerated Degree Program (ADP) in English is designed to allow students to earn a BA degree and an MA degree in English in five years rather than the six years normally required to earn both degrees.鈥疷ndergraduates participating in this program are granted early admission to the Graduate School and are allowed to take up to 12 credit hours of graduate-level courses during their senior year; these graduate courses can also count towards senior year major requirements.
