2012-2013 Undergraduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]
English
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Professors Barstow (emerita), Blackwell, Chiarenza (emeritus), Grant (emeritus), Hale (emerita), Logan (Chair), Rockas (emeritus), Ross, Stacy (emeritus), Stull, Tonkin
Associate Professors Grossberg, Sinche, Smith (emeritus), Stevenson (emerita), Stores, Striff
Assistant Professors Senk, Walling
Note: Students wishing to major in film or cinema studies should consult the Department of Cinema . Students wishing to major in professional and technical writing should consult the Department of Rhetoric and Professional Writing . Course descriptions for the first-year writing program, Rhetoric and Writing I and II, are located under the Department of Rhetoric and Professional Writing .
The English major invites students to explore traditions and innovations in literary study. Students majoring in English learn to read literature from a variety of critical perspectives and acquire understanding of literary genres and historical periods. English majors concentrating in creative writing learn to write in the various forms of creative and expository writing and become familiar with different critical perspectives on writing. Majors in English are encouraged to integrate their studies with interdisciplinary courses sponsored by cross-disciplinary programs, such as African American Studies and Gender Studies.
A degree in English aims to instill an informed understanding of literature, a critical awareness of the interactions between literature and culture, and a mastery of the expressive and interpretive skills necessary for success in any career.
Courses are conducted in small-group seminars designed to encourage vigorous and productive discussion in which all participants become active learners. Majors who distinguish themselves in course work are encouraged to participate in the Honors program. These majors may also participate in the seminar of the Humanities Center, where an invited group of qualified students, selected from all of the University’s colleges, collaborate with a small group of faculty to examine an important world issue for an academic year. Past topics have included Caribbean Cultures, The Computer as a Technology of Knowledge and Pleasure, Friendship, and Globalization.
The English department encourages all students, not just majors in English, to revise their writing extensively, in private consultation with the department faculty. For extra help, students can visit the Center for Reading and Writing, located nearby and staffed by experienced reading and writing specialists as well as tutors, many of whom are senior-rank English majors serving as interns. The department supports an internship program in which majors (and minors) can earn credit for work as writers on and editors of campus publications, as well as for comparable work in companies and organizations in the Hartford region. The department celebrates excellence in writing at an annual Spring Writing Awards ceremony, in which the winners in a campuswide competition in several writing categories receive cash awards of up to $1,000 each.
To meet the goals of the program, majors take a required seminar in their sophomore year that is focused on research methods and critical approaches to literary texts. Majors also complete a capstone course in their senior year—to be designated each year in the schedule of classes—designed to review theoretical issues currently being raised in the discipline about reading and writing and, in doing so, perfect analytical skills cumulatively acquired in course work in the major. For majors concentrating in literature, a portfolio of interpretive criticism revised from prior course work will be required; for majors concentrating in creative writing, a portfolio of creative writing revised from prior course work will be required. Each portfolio will also include new material, written and revised during the course. The capstone experience is especially useful for majors who plan to pursue employment where the submission of a writing portfolio is a distinct advantage or to prepare for the Graduate Record Examination, ordinarily required for application to a graduate or professional school.
Students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in English (or related disciplines) should know that proficiency in a foreign language is required not only for advanced study beyond the master’s degree but also as a prerequisite for admission to most graduate schools.
Each student should plan a program of study in consultation with an English department advisor.
Writing Requirement
In elective courses above the first-year level, writing and literature courses in the Department of English have minimum writing requirements of 3,000 words, including examinations and essays in and out of class. Writing courses often require more than 5,000 words. ProgramsUndergraduate MajorMinorCourses
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