Program Overview

English, B.A.

The English Major provides a flexible program. Students who major in English participate in increasingly intensified study of language and literature that includes English, American, and foreign literature in translation. Upon graduation, English majors are well qualified to enter nearly all fields that do not require previous technical and professional training.

Although the English major is an excellent preparation for a variety of careers, many students will seek licensure to teach, and others will choose to enter graduate school. English has long been recognized as a desirable major for prelaw and premedical studies. It is also beneficial for students who enter such fields as journalism, editing, communications, diplomacy, advertising, and personnel work.

Overall Requirements

• 120 credit hours, to include at least 36 credits at or above the 300 course level.
• Minimum of 33 credits of English at the 200-level or above is required. 18 credits must be taken at the 300-level or above, excluding ENG 327.
• No requirement for the major may be met by a grade lower than C-.

Degree Program Requirements

The program requires the following courses:

Major Requirements

In this 33 credit hour major, students take 12 credits (4 courses) from the 4 categories below. The remaining 21 credits leave room for students to pursue elective courses in a range of topics in literature, rhetoric, and creative writing. Courses must be taken at the 200-level or above. 18 credits must be taken at the 300-level or above, excluding ENG 327.

• Big Questions: 3 credits
  • These courses explore how the study of literature and rhetoric addresses significant philosophical, historical, and social issues. Each course will have its own question that will vary depending on the instructor.
  • Select one of the following:
    • ENG 270: Big Questions in the Humanities and Fine Arts
    • ENG 271: Big Questions in Health and Wellness
    • ENG 272: Big Questions in Diversity and Equity
    • ENG 273: Big Questions in Global Engagement and Intercultural Learning
• Historical Depth and Context: 3 credits
  • These courses emphasize how authors, rhetors, and texts participate in the historical dynamics of their time. Classes may focus on earlier writers and writings, longer spans of time, or an in-depth analysis of a particular historical moment.
  • Select one of the following:
    • ENG 315: Postcolonial Literatures
    • ENG 335: Dante in English
    • ENG 336: Introduction to Chaucer
    • ENG 337: English Literature to 1500
    • ENG 339: Shakespeare: Early Plays and Sonnets
    • ENG 340: Shakespeare: Later Plays
    • ENG 342: The Seventeenth Century
    • ENG 343: Topics in Pre-1800 Literature
    • ENG 344: The Romantic Period
    • ENG 345: The Victorian Period
    • ENG 346: British Literature from Victorian to Modern
    • ENG 351: The American Novel through World War I
    • ENG 360: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
    • ENG 371: Literary Study of the Bible
    • ENG 372: Early American Literature
    • ENG 373: American Romanticism
    • ENG 377: American Realism and Naturalism
    • ENG 381: English Drama to 1800
• Marginalized and Minoritized Writers: 3 credits
  • These courses focus on writers and rhetors from groups that have been marginalized, historically and in the present.
  • Select one of the following:
    • ENG 316: Studies in Human Rights and Literature
    • ENG 331: Women in Literature
    • ENG 332: English Women Writers before 1800
    • ENG 374: Early African American Writers
    • ENG 375: Topics in Native American and Indigenous Studies
    • ENG 376: African American Writers after the 1920s
    • ENG 379: American Women's Writing
    • ENG 383: Topics in Queer and Trans Studies
    • ENG 431: Feminist Theory / Women Writers
• Theories and Methods: 3 credits
  • In these courses, students develop facility with critical tools for analysis, inquiry, interpretation, and research that they can use to approach many different types of texts.
  • Select one of the following:
    • ENG 301: Topics in Theory and Method
    • ENG 303: Literary Theory
    • ENG 304: History and Theory of Rhetoric
    • ENG 305: Contemporary Rhetoric
    • ENG 306: Digital Rhetoric
• English Elective Requirements: 21 credits
  • Select 21 additional credits of ENG electives.
  • Courses must be taken at the 200-level or above. 18 credits must be taken at the 300-level or above, excluding ENG 327.

Electives

Select electives sufficient to complete the 120 credit hours required for the degree.

Disciplinary Honors in English

Requirements

• A minimum of 12 credit hours as defined below.
• UNC Greensboro cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better or, for transfer students, cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better from all prior institutions.
• Required: 3 credits
  • HSS 490: Senior Honors Project
• Select 9 credits of Honors course work, at least 6 of which must be in English. Honors course work may consist of any combination of the courses listed below:
  • ENG 493: Honors Work
  • Contract Honors courses in English at the 300 level or above
  • Any other Honors course outside of the English department

Recognition

Students who complete the program will be recognized at a banquet held at the end of the spring semester. The designation "Completed Disciplinary Honors in English" and the title of the Senior Honors Project will be printed on the student's official transcript.

Accelerated B.A. to M.A.

The Accelerated BA to MA in English requires 30-36 credit hours and is designed for those planning to pursue a doctorate; to teach in community colleges, technical institutes, or some undergraduate colleges; and to work in non-academic settings. Three plans of study beyond the core requirements are offered:

1. Thesis Plan
2. Teaching Composition Plan
3. Careers in the Humanities Plan

Application and Admission

Qualified UNC Greensboro undergraduate students may apply for admission to the Accelerated Master's Program (AMP) in English. A cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5 based on at least 30 credits earned at UNC Greensboro is required. Applicants must have completed at least 60 credits and may not apply for admission to the AMP before the first semester of the junior year.

English has the following additional requirements for AMP applicants:

• At least 15 credits of undergraduate English courses at the 200 level or above, with an earned 3.5 GPA in these courses.
• Standard application requirements for the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree program, excluding GRE scores (i.e., undergraduate transcript(s), three letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, writing sample, and resume or cv).

Courses

Up to, but not more than, 12 credits of graduate courses may be double-counted. For a course to apply toward both degrees, the student must earn a grade of B (3.0) or better in the course and fulfill graduate-level requirements.

The M.A. degree requires 30 credit hours of graduate-level course work. If the maximum of 12 credits is double-counted toward both the undergraduate and graduate degrees, the student must complete a minimum of 18 credits of further graduate-level course work to complete the M.A. degree. No more than 9 credits at the 500 level may be counted toward the M.A. degree.

The following courses have been identified as those that may be counted toward the B.A. and M.A. degrees:

• ENG 549: The Critical Canon and Contemporary Issues (3 credits)
• ENG 601: English Studies: Content, Methods, and Bibliography (3 credits)
• ENG 642: Topics in Pre-1800 Literature (3 credits)
• ENG 664: Topics in Post-1800 Literature (3 credits)