Major & Minor Requirements & Timeline

The English major consists of three core courses (ENGL 207, ENGL 208, ENGL 209) plus a minimum of three additional courses in a concentration.

CORE COURSES

All English majors, regardless of concentration, are required to take three core courses. Through the core sequence, students will become familiar with a wide variety of primary texts, a sense of literary history, and methodologies of contemporary literary practice in the discipline.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of literary theory and methods, e.g. how and what literature practitioners “do” with literary and cultural texts. In order to continue in the program, students must earn a grade of ‘C’ or above in the three core courses.

CONCENTRATIONS

Within the major, there are six concentrations:

• Literatures in English,
• Creative Writing,
• Film, Media, Performance, and Pop Culture,
• Professional Writing and Publishing,
• Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Multiethnic English Studies,
• Rhetoric, Public Engagement, and Language Studies.

Concentrations require a minimum of three courses (some concentrations require specific courses) to build content expertise and the sequence creates an opportunity for students to interact with faculty who specialize in their chosen areas of study. Students may declare up to three concentrations.

To discuss the details and coursework within specific concentrations and create a plan of study, please visit the course catalog or schedule an appointment with your English advisor. You can also review the overview of the English major for a list of faculty within these concentrations.

ELECTIVES

Students must complete a minimum of 27 hours toward the major. If the student is pursuing only one concentration in the major, then additional coursework may be required to reach this minimum. No more than 3 hours of elective coursework can be at the 100 level. Students completing multiple concentrations should reach the 27-hour minimum, in which case no additional electives are needed.

There is a variety of  English departmental offerings, cross-listed with other departments (such as Latin American and Latino Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, African American Studies, etc.), and pre-approved courses taught in other departments that may be advantageous to English majors (such as Philosophy, Russian, Polish, Classics, etc.)

Students sometimes opt to take more courses within their chosen concentration to fill their electives, while others use the electives as designated space to branch out and sample other concentrations.

For a breakdown of these elective options and restrictions, please visit the course catalog or schedule an appointment with your English advisor.

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Over the course of the program, all English majors must complete one course in U.S. Social and Cultural Diversity. Students should consult the General Education section of the catalog to determine if any of the courses on this list are approved for General Education. This content distribution requirement may be completed via a student’s concentration or elective coursework within the major. One course may fulfill more than one distribution requirement. To review specific course requirements and your progress in the major, make sure to schedule regular semester visits with your academic advisor and also review the course catalog.

The Teaching of English major consists of:

• 3 core courses
• 3 English electives
• 4 required methods courses
• 4 collateral courses
• additional requirements for the teaching license.

Please note that before pursuing certain courses in this sequence, a student must be an accepted teaching candidate in the program. For questions about candidacy, please contact the Teaching of English Advisor.

CORE COURSES

All Teaching of English majors are required to take three core courses. Through the core sequence, students will become familiar with a wide variety of primary texts, a sense of literary history, and a methodology of contemporary literary practice in the discipline.

ELECTIVES

Three electives are the space within the major where students can pursue their own interests, such as fiction writing or American literature. They are also valuable courses for strengthening content knowledge to become a more effective classroom teacher– for example, courses like Young Adult Literature and Shakespeare can support this goal.

METHODS COURSES

The program requires four teaching methods courses which feature extensive field instruction in schools and opportunities to engage in practice with actual students and not just theory.

• ENGL 480: Introduction to the Teaching of English in Middle and Secondary Schools
• ENGL 486: The Teaching of Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools
• ENGL 487: The Teaching of Reading and Literature in Middle and Secondary Schools
• ENGL 488: Methods of Teaching English in Middle and Secondary Schools

COLLATERAL COURSES (STUDENT TEACHING)

The concluding semester requires a full-time commitment to student teaching, English 498/499, accomplished over the course of the university semester timeline, within a school placement. Each student is assigned to both a university field instructor and a school-based mentor teacher, and the students also meet each week as a group in a seminar class session at the university.

TEACHING LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS

Since a student in this major is not only completing a bachelor’s degree in the subject, but is also being licensed to teach in the state of Illinois, the student must complete state-mandated courses in required content areas. Currently, courses include:

• ED 200: Education Policy Foundations
• ED 210: Principles of Learning and Instruction across the Lifespan
• ED 425: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in the Urban Secondary Classroom
• SPED 410: Exceptional Learners