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Requirements

Requirements for the English Major (Bachelor of Arts) (40 semester hours)

Core courses (8 semester hours)

  • ENGL 101W Reading Literature and Culture (4)
  • ENGL 213W Finding the Story: Research Methods in Literature and Creative Writing (4)

One course in literature outside the modern Anglophone tradition (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 341 Shakespeare (4)
  • ENGL 345 Chaucer (4)
  • ENGL 347 Medieval Literature (4)
  • ENGL 348 Early Modern English Poetry (4)
  • ENGL 353 The Early Novel (4)
  • ENGL 359 Early Modern Drama (4)
  • ENGL 453 Advanced Studies in Lit 1300-1800 (4)
  • CLAS 244W The Greek and Roman Stage (4)
  • CLAS 247 Women in Roman Literature and Life (4)
  • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
  • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
  • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
  • GERM 241 German Cinema & Visual Culture (4)
  • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
  • HIST 375 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (4)
  • JAPN 314W Japanese Literature in Translation (4)
  • JAPN 340 The Japanese Cinema (4)
  • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
  • RUSS 242W Great Short Stories from Russia (4)
  • RUSS 245W From Russia with Love: Family and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (4)
  • RUSS 250W Tolstoy's War and Peace (4)
  • RUSS 320W The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel (4)
  • RUSS 325 Topics in Russian Literature (4)
  • SPAN 260 Hispanic Literature in Translation (4)
  • SPAN 380 Latin American Cinema (4)
  • THTR 217W Performance Historiography (4)
  • Or other approved course (4)

One course in American Ethnic or Post-Colonial Literature (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 326 Literature of Diaspora (4)
  • ENGL 337 African-American Literature I (4)
  • ENGL 338 African-American Literature II (4)
  • ENGL 381 Latinx Literature and Culture (4)
  • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
  • FREN 285W Gender and Sexuality in African Literature and Cinema (4)
  • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
  • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
  • SPAN 380 Latin American Cinema (4)
  • Or other approved course (4)

Four additional courses (16 semester hours)

  • Two additional electives at the 300 or 400 level ENGL literature courses (8)
  • Two additional approved electives (8):
    • ENGL 102W Creative Writing Fundamentals (4)
    • ENGL 300-level literature class (4)
    • ENGL 400-level literature class (4)
    • ENGL 300-level creative writing class (4)
    • CLAS 244W The Greek and Roman Stage (4)
    • CLAS 247 Women in Roman Literature and Life (4)
    • CLAS 252 Poetics of Magic, Magic of Poetry (4)
    • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
    • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
    • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
    • GERM 241 German Cinema & Visual Culture (4)
    • HIST 306 History through Biography (4)
    • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
    • HIST 375 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (4)
    • JAPN 314W Japanese Literature in Translation (4)
    • JAPN 340 The Japanese Cinema (4)
    • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
    • REL 323 The Bible and American Culture (4)
    • REL 335W Race, Class, and Gender in the Life and Letters of Paul (4)
    • RUSS 242W Great Short Stories from Russia (4)
    • RUSS 245W From Russia with Love: Family and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (4)
    • RUSS 250W Tolstoy's War and Peace (4)
    • RUSS 320W The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel (4)
    • RUSS 325 Topics in Russian Literature (4)
    • SPAN 260 Hispanic Literature in Translation (4)
    • SPAN 380 Latin American Cinema (4)
    • THTR 217W Performance Historiography (4)
    • THTR 219 Theatre Literature and History: 1850-present (4)
    • THTR 318W Theatre and Culture (4)
    • Or other approved course (4)
Only one course in fulfillment of the English major may be from a department other than English

Senior Experience (8 semester hours)

  • Two 400W-level ENGL literature classes (8)

The advisor and the student will develop together a major program that ensures the study of a wide variety of literary texts and varied interpretive strategies. Individual research is encouraged through Reading and Conference (ENGL 390) and students can also apply internship credit toward the major through ENGL 394.

Most students on the literature track complete the Senior Experience by designing and developing substantive, individualized projects in a sequence of two 400-level seminar-style courses. Students with excellent academic records in their English studies can design an advanced Independent Study project (ENGL 490) to fulfill one 400-level Senior Experience credit.

English majors are encouraged to take courses from a variety of related fields. Courses in theatre, music, religion, classical studies, philosophy, art history, history, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish can be applied to the English major.

Department Honors for Literature and Creative Writing are awarded by faculty nomination and a faculty vote to recognize the most outstanding graduating students each year.

Requirements for the Creative Writing Concentration for the English Major (40 semester hours)

Core courses (12 semester hours)

  • ENGL 101W Reading Literature and Culture (4)
  • ENGL 102W Creative Writing Fundamentals (4)
  • ENGL 213W Finding the Story: Research Methods in Literature and Creative Writing (4)

One course in literature outside the modern Anglophone tradition (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 341 Shakespeare (4)
  • ENGL 345 Chaucer (4)
  • ENGL 347 Medieval Literature (4)
  • ENGL 348 Early Modern English Poetry (4)
  • ENGL 353 The Early Novel (4)
  • ENGL 359 Early Modern Drama (4)
  • ENGL 453 Advanced Studies in Lit 1300-1800 (4)
  • CLAS 244W The Greek and Roman Stage (4)
  • CLAS 247 Women in Roman Literature and Life (4)
  • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
  • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
  • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
  • GERM 241 German Cinema & Visual Culture (4)
  • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
  • HIST 375 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (4)
  • JAPN 314W Japanese Literature in Translation (4)
  • JAPN 340 The Japanese Cinema (4)
  • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
  • RUSS 242W Great Short Stories from Russia (4)
  • RUSS 245W From Russia with Love: Family and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (4)
  • RUSS 250W Tolstoy's War and Peace (4)
  • RUSS 320W The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel (4)
  • RUSS 325 Topics in Russian Literature (4)
  • SPAN 260 Hispanic Literature in Translation (4)
  • SPAN 380 Latin American Cinema (4)
  • THTR 217W Performance Historiography (4)
  • Or other approved course (4)

One course in American Ethnic or Post-Colonial Literature (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 326 Literature of Diaspora (4)
  • ENGL 337 African-American Literature I: Slave Narrative & Early African-American Literary Tradition (4)
  • ENGL 338 African-American Literature II: Modern African-American Literature (4)
  • ENGL 381 Latinx Literature and Culture (4)
  • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
  • FREN 285W Gender and Sexuality in African Literature and Cinema (4)
  • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
  • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
  • SPAN 380 Latin America Cinema (4)
  • Or other approved course (4)

Two English 300-level Creative Writing Classes (8 semester hours)

Two additional courses (8 semester hours)

At least two electives must be approved literature classes (8)

  • ENGL 300-level literature class (4)
  • ENGL 400-level literature class (4)
  • CLAS 244W The Greek and Roman Stage (4)
  • CLAS 247 Women in Roman Literature and Life (4)
  • CLAS 252 Poetics of Magic, Magic of Poetry (4)
  • FREN 275 African Cinema (4)
  • FREN 341 Oral Tradition and Performance in African Literature (4)
  • GCS 250W Narratives of Migration: From Islamic Spain to the US/Mexico Border (4)
  • GERM 241 German Cinema & Visual Culture (4)
  • HIST 306 History through Biography (4)
  • HIST 374 Love and Reason in the Middle Ages: European Intellectual History 400-1500 (4)
  • HIST 375 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (4)
  • JAPN 314W Japanese Literature in Translation (4)
  • JAPN 340 The Japanese Cinema (4)
  • REL 225 Forgotten Scriptures: Apocryphal Literature and the Origins of Christianity (4)
  • REL 323 The Bible and American Culture (4)
  • REL 335W Race, Class, and Gender in the Life and Letters of Paul (4)
  • RUSS 242W Great Short Stories from Russia (4)
  • RUSS 245W From Russia with Love: Family and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (4)
  • RUSS 250W Tolstoy's War and Peace (4)
  • RUSS 320W The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel (4)
  • RUSS 325 Topics in Russian Literature (4)
  • SPAN 260 Hispanic Literature in Translation (4)
  • SPAN 380 Latin American Cinema (4)
  • THTR 217W Performance Historiography (4)
  • THTR 219 Theatre Literature and History: 1850-present (4)
  • THTR 318W Theatre and Culture (4)
  • Or other approved course (4)

Only one course in fulfillment of the English major may be from a department other than English

Senior Experience (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 498W Senior Seminar in Creative Writing (4)

Requirements for the English Minor (20 semester hours)

The minor program in English consists of twenty semester hours--one required course and the options listed below--selected in consultation with an English Department advisor from the following:

Require course (4 semester hours)

  • ENGL 101W Reading Literature and Culture (4)

Four additional courses (16 semester hours)

  • ENGL 102W Creative Writing Fundamentals (4) and/or
  •  Three to Four electives chosen in consultation with your English Department advisor (12-16)

Only one course in fulfillment of the English minor may be from a department other than English

Willamette University

English