Chair and Professor: J. Ruud (PhD), 450-3674
Professors: P. Anderson (PhD), J. Fowler (PhD), R. Frontain (PhD), J. Glenn (PhD), M. Lee (PhD), H. Rogers (PhD), M. Schaefer (PhD), C. Shumaker (PhD), W. Stengel (PhD)
Associate Professors: R. Gaughan (PhD), M. Marotte (PhD)
Assistant Professors: B. Chen (PhD), D. Coleman (PhD), S. Fritz (PhD), E. Harper (PhD), L. Leavell (PhD), P. Reynolds (PhD)

[1] Purposes

The fourfold objective of the Department of English is (1) to improve the abilities of students in understanding, writing, and speaking the English language; (2) to increase students’ pleasure in and knowledge of literature as an art form; (3) to enable our students to find meaning in large amounts of information and to give them the skills of synthesis to evaluate, interpret, and use this information to solve problems; and (4) to endow students of literature and language with the ability to work with sympathetic imagination with people from backgrounds and cultures different from their own–that is, to give the English major an understanding of globalization and its implications for the world of work in the twenty-first century.

Courses in literature are varied in such a fashion that general overall views of world literature, British literature, and American literature are presented in addition to period courses, “figure” courses, and genre courses which allow greater in-depth study. Increasingly, our world literature classes and our introduction to fiction, drama, and poetry are taking a global perspective which demonstrates to students the nature of and relationships among cultures across national boundaries. By understanding literary expression as a product of social, historical, and artistic processes, our students see parallels and connections among citizens and artists in societies around the globe.

English majors will have had a strong foundation, both in studies in the English language and in several areas of literature, even though they may have a variety of choices within given categories. Traditionally the English major may qualify to enter graduate school in English or to teach on the secondary level. Increasingly, however, our students pursue careers in foreign service, law, technical communication, advertising, public relations, business management, sales, and higher education/administration.

A number or courses, particularly those on the sophomore level, are specifically designed as general education courses and are intended primarily to acquaint students who major in other fields with such literature as will broaden understanding of the human experience and the potential of their role in an increasingly more interconnected 21st-century world.

[2] The Undergraduate Scholars Program in English

As early as the sophomore year, and no later than the first semester of the junior year, an English major may be invited to participate in the undergraduate scholars program in English. To graduate with honors the following conditions must be met:

1. Consent of the chair of the Department of English.
2. Maintenance of a minimum overall 3.25 grade point average and a 3.50 grade point average in the major.
3. Successful completion of ENGL 4300, the examination for which will be oral and conducted by three members of the English faculty.
4. An acceptable essay based upon reading done in ENGL 4300 and submitted in the senior year to the professor who directed the reading program.

[3] Baccalaureate Degrees

[3.1] Bachelor of Arts

The degree of Bachelor of Arts, with a major in English, requires successful completion of at least 120 hours, including (1) the UCA Core: complete 38 hours to meet lower-division UCA Core requirements (see the UCA Core requirements) and complete upper-division UCA Core requirements using designation major, minor, or elective courses; (2) degree requirements; (3) major requirements; and (4) a minor.

[3.1.1] Major in English (37 hours)

Thirty-seven hours of English of which at least 21 must be upper-division. Required courses are as follows:

ENGL 2312 American Literature I
ENGL 2313 American Literature II
ENGL 2316 English Literature I
ENGL 2317 English Literature II
ENGL 2318 English Literature III
ENGL 3105 Research Methods Workshop
ENGL 4335 Senior Seminar [ UCA Core: Z ]

In addition, students must take a genre course, a period course, an author course, and 6 hours of upper-division English electives, from the following lists of courses:

Courses Fulfilling the Period Requirement
ENGL 4301 The Renaissance
ENGL 4305 Medieval English Literature
ENGL 4311 The Neo-Classical Period
ENGL 4312 American Provincial Literature [ UCA Core: D ]
ENGL 4313 American Romanticism & Realism [ UCA Core: D ]
ENGL 4320 The Romantic Period
ENGL 4321 The Victorian Period
ENGL 4342 The Seventeenth Century
ENGL 4354 Modernism [ UCA Core: D ]
ENGL 4355 Postmodernism [ UCA Core: D ]

Courses Fulfilling the Author Requirement
ENGL 4330 Shakespeare I
ENGL 4331 Shakespeare II
ENGL 4340 Chaucer
ENGL 4341 Milton

Courses Fulfilling the Genre Requirement
ENGL 4314 American Fiction since 1900 [ UCA Core: I, D ]
ENGL 4315 Twentieth-Century American Poetry [ UCA Core: I, D ]
ENGL 4335 Senior Seminar (depending on topic) [ UCA Core: Z ]
ENGL 4343 Tudor-Stuart Drama [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4345 Twentieth-Century English Drama [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4346 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4347 Twentieth-Century American Drama [ UCA Core: I, D ]
ENGL 4371 American Novel to 1900 [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4372 English Novel: Eighteenth Century [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4373 English Novel: Nineteenth Century [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4374 English Novel: Twentieth Century [ UCA Core: I ]
ENGL 4375 English Poetry: Twentieth Century [ UCA Core: I ]

Courses Fulfilling the Language Requirement
ENGL 3312 Modern Grammars [ UCA Core C ]
ENGL 3335 Language and Grammar Studies (Satisfies language requirement only for those seeking teaching licensure) [ UCA Core C ]
ENGL 4360 History and Structure of the English Language [ UCA Core C ]

Electives may be chosen from this list or from any of the above courses

ENGL 3315 Gender and Language [ UCA Core C, D ]
ENGL 3325 Advanced Readings in World Literature [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 3375 Internship in English
ENGL 4300 Readings for Honors Degree
ENGL 4304 Advanced Readings in English and American Literature
ENGL 4361 Literature for Adolescents [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4362 Southern Literature and Folklore [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4364 Special Topics in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
ENGL 4366 Literary Theory and Criticism
ENGL 4370 Women’s Literature [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4380 African and African American Literature [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4381Major African/African American Writers [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4382 Race in American Literature [ UCA Core D ]
ENGL 4385/4685 Travel Seminar in Literature [ UCA Core D ]

With the approval of their advisor and the department chair, candidates may present one of the following as an upper-division elective:

WRTG 3320 Forms of Scriptwriting
WRTG 3325 Forms of Poetry
WRTG 3330 Forms of Creative Nonfiction
WRTG 3335 Forms of Fiction

Designated English major courses are used to satisfy the upper-division UCA Core requirements in Diversity, Critical Inquiry, Responsible Living, and Effective Communication. Students will take English 4335, Senior Seminar, as the required UCA Core capstone.

[3.1.2] Minor in English (25 hours)

Twenty-five hours of English of which at least 12 must be upper-division. Required: ENGL 2312, 2313, 2316, 2317, 2318, 3105; one upper-division language course; two upper-division English electives (6 hours – see list above). Designated English minor courses are used to satisfy the upper-division UCA Core requirements in Diversity, Critical Inquiry, Responsible Living, and Effective Communication.

* Note: With the approval of their advisor and the department chair, BA candidates or English minors may present one of the following courses as an upper-division elective: WRTG 3320 (Forms of Scriptwriting), WRTG 3325 (Forms of Poetry), WRTG 3330 (Forms of Creative Nonfiction), WRTG 3335 (Forms of Fiction). No more than one language course may be presented for degree credit in addition to the one used to fulfill the Language Course requirement.

[3.2] Bachelor of Arts with Licensure

Thirty-seven hours of English of which at least 21 must be upper division. Required: ENGL 2312, 2313, 2316, 2317, 2318, 3105, 4335, 4360, 4361, a genre course, a period course, an author course, and a second upper-division language course (ENGL 3312 or 3335). (See list of appropriate courses above).

Licensure candidates must also take ENGL 1355 (Film and Literature) and ENGL 2305 or ENGL 2306 (World Literature I or II) as part of their fulfillment of UCA Core requirements. Like all BA students, they are required to take the Foreign Language requirement (FREN 2310, SPAN 2310, GERM 2310, CHIN 2310 or JAPN 2310).

BA students seeking licensure in English must apply to the Office of Candidate Services and meet established criteria for admission to the teacher education program. Once admitted, students must take the following courses (use these links for courses in EDUC and MSIT):

ENGL 4350 English Education Internship I
ENGL 4358 Methods of Teaching English and Composition
ENGL 4680 English Education Internship II
ENGL 4681 English Education Internship II
MSIT 3310 Learning and Development
MSIT 4305 Classroom Management
EDUC 3309 Families, Schools, and Community Partners
EDUC 3321 Introductory Strategies for Students with Diverse Learning Needs: Middle/Secondary

[4] Master’s Degree

See Graduate Bulletin.

[5] Courses in English (ENGL)

Follow this link for ENGL course descriptions: course link.