revising the english major january 30 & 31, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
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Revising the English Major
January 30 & 31, 2013
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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]
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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]
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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?
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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]
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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III. Genre RequirementO One course focused on the study of
poetry (Po)O One course focused on the study of
prose (Pr)
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IV. Single-Author StudyO One course focusing on the study of
an individual author (Sa)
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V. Interpretive “Lenses”
O Courses in two of the following three areas:O Race & Class (RC)O Gender & Sexuality (GS)O Diaspora & Geopolitics (DG)
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VI. Senior SeminarO ENGL 170O Unchanged from the current
requirement
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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)
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VIII. ElectivesO Seminar Option: 0–5
O Thesis Option: 0–4
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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