B.A. in English with Literature Concentration

The professors help students develop a greater understanding of the power of language and thought, the rich diversity of literary traditions and the cultural contexts of literary production. Students will mature as readers, thinkers and writers, be able to engage in analysis and discussion and write with acuity and critical self-awareness. The literature concentration provides a comprehensive background in American and British fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Its curriculum fosters the critical skills English majors need to succeed in their studies, featuring discussion seminars and lectures; these courses emphasize the traditions, movements and influences that have inspired and challenged writers throughout history, as well as the cultural context essential to understanding that history. The Learning Outcomes are: acquire a basic understanding of the literary, historical, social, or cultural influences that inform literary works articulate in writing and discussion responses to literary texts, regardless of the language of the texts or instruction develop a basic critical ability to identify, interpret, and evaluate ideas and formal features of an integrated body of literary texts develop a sensitivity to the plurality of meanings within a literary text