Welcome to the Undergraduate Programs in English
Students who began a program in English before Fall 2012 should consult the Q2S Information page.
The English Major
The English Major (BA5231) is built around a common Core that provides a strong foundation in critical reading and writing, an introduction to the literary tradition, and a focused capstone seminar. Students shape their curriculum around their own interests and goals by choosing from four Concentrations:
- • Literary History critically engages traditions, practices, and forms of literature in English as they developed over time. Through their understanding of historical difference and cultural change, students prepare themselves for social, political, and philosophical questions and challenges.
- • Creative Writing explores the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from the inside out. Students learn literary conventions, techniques, and strategies through their own practice, workshop critique, and careful study of published work.
- • Cultures, Rhetoric, and Theory investigates cultural and linguistic difference through the study of texts and their contexts. Using multiple theoretical lenses on a wide variety of material, students will explore topics such as race and class; nation and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; and colonialism, postcolonialism, and transnationalism.
- • Prelaw prepares students for law school with the same English coursework as the Literary History concentration—a deep analysis of the Anglo-American traditions of writing that produced American law and legal thought. However, students expand their awareness of the relation between law and culture by taking additional courses (Click here for a List of Prelaw Electives). in complementary disciplines.
In addition to coursework requirements in the English Department, all English majors need to fulfill the liberal arts education requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences. Intended as a complement to individual majors, the College program asks students to broaden their knowledge, global experience, and critical thinking skills by taking a foreign language and through coursework in the intellectual domains of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences.
Sample Program Templates
- Literary History
- Creative Writing
- Cultures, Rhetoric, and Theory
- English Degree Planning Chart (blank for your classes)
- Tutorial Major
The English Minor
The minor in English (OR5231) is designed to provide a foundation in critical reading but also a maximum of flexibility so that you can choose which branches of English studies to focus on. It requires a minimum of 21 hours, consisting of the following:
- • ENG 2010, Critical Analysis of Fiction and Nonfiction Prose
- • ENG 2020, Critical Analysis of Poetry and Drama
- • Five additional English courses at the 3000- or 4000-level, excluding J courses.
Coursework may include classes in literary history, creative writing, critical theory, rhetoric, the history of the language, or a combination of any or all of these.
To see current Undergraduate Course Offerings, please visit Ohio University's Course Offerings
For a complete listing of Undergraduate Courses offered, visit the English Major Catalog Entry