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COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
    Department and Program Requirements


DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH (EN)

Professor Sara D. Davis, Chairperson
Office: 103 Morgan Hall

Requirements for the major. The major in English requires 36 hours of EN courses, distributed as follows:

3 hours in EN 400 (Senior Seminar) or EN 499 (Honors Seminar)

Requirements for the minor in English. The minor in English requires 21 hours including EN 225 and EN 226 or EN 227 (or honors equivalents). Twelve hours must be in courses numbered above 299, and three of those hours must be in courses numbered above 399. A minimum of 6 hours at the 300 or 400 level must be earned on this campus.

Requirements for the minor in creative writing. The creative writing minor requires 15 hours, including 3 hours of EN 200, 3-9 hours of fiction writing (EN 301 or EN 401), and 3-9 hours of poetry writing (EN 303 or EN 403). At least 3 of the 15 hours in the minor must be at the 400 level. All creative writing courses numbered above 299 may be repeated for credit.

Honors in English. Any student with a superior aptitude for and a special interest in literature may apply for admission to the honors program in English. The program includes special classes for EN 225 (EN 235), EN 226 (EN 236), and EN 227 (EN 237), and eligibility for the Senior Honors Seminar in Literature (EN 499). English majors who maintain a grade point average of 3.5 in English and 3.3 overall upon successfully completing the program and the honors seminar will be eligible for graduation with "honors in English." The honors seminar (EN 499) is designed in consultation with interested students. Student initiative is encouraged. Each student is free to recommend the topic, the material, and the director that best suit his or her academic interests. Seminars have covered a variety of topics and works. The topic of a recent seminar was "The Idea of the West"; it included works by Homer, Virgil, Swift, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Charles Johnson.

Sigma Tau Delta. Sigma Tau Delta, a national English honor society, aims to promote a mastery of written expression, to encourage worthwhile reading, and to foster a spirit of fellowship among its members. Eligible for membership are students who have at least a 3.33 GPA for 12 hours of English and a 3.0 GPA overall and who are English or English/education majors, or English or creative writing minors. The society, along with the department, annually makes an award to the English major with the highest overall GPA.

'
A Suggested Sequence of Courses for the English Major
 
FRESHMAN YEAR
First Semester             Second Semester
Course Hours Course Hours
EN 101 3 EN 102 3
MATH3 3 History1 3
Natural science 4 Natural science 4
Foreign language 3-4 Fine arts1 3
Humanities1 3 Foreign language 3-4
------ ------
16-17 16-18
 
SOPHOMORE YEAR
First Semester             Second Semester
Course Hours Course Hours
EN 225 3 EN 300 3
EN 226 or EN 227 3 300-level English: Area I 3
Minor 3 Minor 3
Foreign language 3 Foreign language 3
Social and behavioral sciences1 3 Social and behavioral sciences1 3
------ ------
15 15
 
JUNIOR YEAR2
First Semester             Second Semester
Course Hours Course Hours
Minor 3 Minor 3
Minor or elective 3 Minor or elective 3
300-level English: Area 2 3 English theory, writing, or linguistics course above 299 3
300-level English 3 English elective 3
History or social and behavioral sciences1 3 Elective 3
Elective 3
------ ------
18 15
 
SENIOR YEAR2
First Semester             Second Semester
Course Hours Course Hours
English elective 3 EN 400 or EN 499 3
English elective above 399 6 English elective above 399 3
Electives 6 Minor 3
Minor 3 Electives 6
------ ------
18 15
 
Total: At least 128

1A maximum of 6 hours in any one department may be applied to the humanities, literature, and fine arts (HU, L, FA) and history and social and behavioral sciences (HI, SB) requirements.

2Six hours in courses designated W must be included in the junior or senior year. A minimum of 33 hours in 300- and 400-level courses must be completed, including 12 hours in the major and 6 hours in the minor.

3MATH course number is determined by placement. MATH 110 or higher is required.

Graduate programs. The department offers programs leading to the master of arts, master of arts in teaching English as a second language, master of fine arts, and doctor of philosophy degrees, and to a certificate in rhetoric and composition. The general requirements for these degrees are stated in the University of Alabama graduate catalog.

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