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Undergraduate Program

On this page: The English Major
• Course Categories
• Checklist
See also: Minors, Courses (current schedule & descriptions), Undergraduate FAQs, and the Senior Honors Guide.
Undergraduate Departmental Representatives 2008-09: Gabi Wertman and Yael Zbolon

The English Major

Nine semester courses are required, including the following:
  1. One semester course in literary methods (ENG 11a).
  2. Three courses dealing primarily with literature in English written before 1850. All courses ending in a 2, 3, or 4 fulfill this requirement, as will some courses ending in a 5 or 6. If you are in doubt, check with the professor or the Undergraduate Advising Head. (See breakdown of Pre-1850 Courses below).
  3. One course in world literature taught in the English language. For the purposes of this requirement, world literature includes literature written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Irish, Canadian, Australian, Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). Courses in foundational texts (e.g., HUM 10a or ENG 10a) or comparative literature (if taught in the English language) also fulfill this requirement. (See breakdown of World Literature Courses below).
  4. Four electives, which may include any course offered by faculty in the department, with the following exception: no more than one Creative Writing workshop may be counted as an elective.
  5. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling requirements for the major in English and American literature.
  6. A maximum of three courses taken outside the Brandeis English and American literature department maybe counted towards the Brandeis English major. This includes courses taken while studying abroad and cross-listed courses. (Transfer students should see special notes section in Bulletin for information on transfer section.)
  7. Advanced Placement credits do not count toward the major.


    Consideration for graduation with honors in English requires a GPA of 3.50 or higher in courses counting toward the major, and satisfactory completion of a Seniors Honors Essay (one-semester ENG 99a or 99b), which counts as a 10th course. In rare cases, students may elect instead to complete the Senior Honors Thesis (two-semesters ENG 99d). To write an Honors Essay or Thesis, students must arrange to be advised by a faculty member in the department who has agreed to direct the essay or thesis. The undergraduate advising head can assist students in finding appropriate directors. Departmental honors are awarded on the basis of excellence in all courses taken in the department, including the senior essay or thesis, as determined by the department faculty.
    See Departmental Senior Honors guide.
    Students in the creative writing major who complete ENG 96d will be considered to have completed a Senior Honors Thesis.

    A student majoring in literature may double-major or minor in creative writing.

Course Categories for the Major

Pre-1850 Courses   Pre-1850 Courses
ENG 3A Renaissance ENG 125A Romanticism I
ENG 4A Restorartion & 18-C ENG 125B Romanticism II
ENG 23A 17-C Performance ENG 128A Alternative Worlds
ENG 33A Shakespeare ENG 132B Chaucer
ENG 43A Chaucer to Milton ENG 133A Advanced Shakespeare
ENG 45A Pain of Progress ENG 134A Woman of Letters
ENG 53A Renaissance Romance
ENG 63A Renaissance Poetry ENG 135B Romanticism
ENG 64B From Libertinism to Sensibility ENG 143A Elizabeth & Jacobean Drama
ENG 103A Donne ENG 144B Body as Text
ENG 104A Hume, Johnson & Rousseau ENG 145B Jane Austen: Gender, Art & History
ENG 108A Literature & Heresy ENG 152B Arthurian Literature
ENG 114B Gender & Rise of Novel ENG 164B Restoration & 18-C Drama
ENG 116B 18C & 19C Afro-Amer Lit ENG 173A Spenser & Milton
The following courses also usually fulfill the pre-1850 requirement, however students must check with the instructor and the undergraduate advising head for final approval: ENG 6A, American Literature; ENG105A, Women of Letters 19-C; and ENG 105B, 19-C Novel. See also: Course Descriptions.
World Literature Courses   World Literature Courses
ENG 10A Canonical Precursors ENG 127B Migrating Bodies, Migrating Texts
ENG 147B South African Literature
ENG 77B Lit of Global English ENG 197B Within the Veil
ENG 111B Post-Colonial Theory HUM 10A Western Canon
ENG 127A Novel in India AAAS 133B Literature of the Carribbean

 

Checklist for the English major

A ENG 11a ______
B Three Pre-1850
  1 ________________________
  2 ________________________
  3 ________________________
C World Literature ______
D Four Electives
  1 ________________________
  2 ________________________
  3 ________________________
  4 ________________________

this page updated May 28, 2008