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Liberal Arts Major

Literature Emphasis

School of Arts and Sciences

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Curriculum

  • Liberal Arts Core
  • 39-44 Units
  • ART 311: Art History I
  • 3

This is a survey course of Western art from the Prehistoric Period through the Renaissance, employing illustrated lectures, independent research, museum visits, and discussion. This class is offered alternate years in the spring semester.

OR

  • ART 312: Art History II
  • 3

This course is a survey of Western art from the Renaissance up to the 20th century employing illustrated lectures, independent research, museum visits and discussion. This class is offered alternate years in the spring semester.

  • CENG 201: World Literature to the Renaissance
  • 3

This course will focus on critical thinking and research-based writing through comparative and interdisciplinary analysis. Alongside lectures and class discussion, the study of representative great works of Western and non-Western literature from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance will emphasize the literary, cultural, and religious significance of these texts. Co-requisite: CHST 201; permission from Academic Advising is needed to take CENG 201 as an unlinked course.

  • COM 324: Intercultural Communication
  • 3

Social and cultural variables in speech communication processes and strategies for resolving communication problems in intercultural settings with an emphasis on variables such as perception, roles, language codes, and nonverbal communication will be examined in this course.

  • HST 410: Mythology
  • 3

The reception of classical antiquity depends on both the stories the ancients told themselves, as well as their interpretation and reinscription in subsequent times and places. This course traces the debt moderns owe to the earliest recorded stories that shaped civilizations, both to appreciate the stories in their own historical context as well as consider the responses (both those that identify with antiquity and those that assume its alienation) of succeeding eras, culminating in critical consideration of contemporary cultural evocation of the classical tradition. Prerequisite: CHST 201 or CHST 202 or HST 201.

  • HUM 495: Senior Project (1-3 units)
  • 1

In this capstone course students will meet with an instructor once per week in order to formulate, research, and discuss an appropriate topic for their written project. Topics must be interdisciplinary, combining their emphasis within the major with another discipline within the major. Prerequisite: Liberal Arts major and senior standing.

  • MUS 352: Music of World Cultures -OR- MUS 482: Music Cultures: Musical Expression in Christianity
  • 3

MUS 352: Music of World Cultures - This course will introduce students to the study of music as a universal cultural phenomenon and the discipline of ethnomusicology with exposure to the musical and social aspects of folk, traditional, and art music of regions from Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Experience in music is encouraged but not required.

OR

MUS 482: Music Cultures: Musical Expression in Christianity - This course will survey of the role, development, and function of music in the Christian church from its roots in the Old Testament to the present day, with attention given to biblical, theological, social, and cultural considerations. Offered alternate years.

  • REL 321: World Religions
  • 3

This survey course of the world's major non-Christian religions will include motifs, belief patterns, ritual and worship, ethics, social patterns, origin and development, and sacred writings.

  • THR 251: Introduction to Theatre
  • 3

This course will provide an overview of the various conventions, forms, styles, and genres of the theatre, including principles of play analysis and exploration of theatre criticism from dramaturgical, literary, and cultural perspectives through the thematic discussions of representative plays. There may be an additional charge for required field trips.

  • Literature Emphasis 
  • 18 Units
  • ENG 341: American Literature I
  • 3

This course will survey American literature from its beginning to 1850 including journals, diaries, sermons, and pamphlets with an emphasis on the writings of Irving, Hawthorne, Poe, and Melville. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202.

  • ENG 342: American Literature II
  • 3

This course will survey American literature from 1850 to 1945 emphasizing the literary movements of Realism, Naturalism, and the roots of modern American literature. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202.

OR

  • ENG 362: English Literature II
  • 3

This course will survey British literature from the late 18th through the 19th century considering the Romantic and Victorian approaches to life through the study and critical discussion of such writers as Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Mary Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. and Robert Browning. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202.

  • ENG 361: English Literature I
  • 3

This course will survey representative English prose, poetry, and drama from the Anglo-Saxon period to 1800 and look at the readings from such writers as the Beowulf, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Swift, Pope, and Johnson. Students will also become acquainted with the literary heritage of the English-speaking world. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202.

  • ENG 441: Major American Writers
  • 3

Extensive reading and in-depth study of one or more significant American authors with special attention to their themes, literary techniques, and traditions will be the focus of this course. Prerequisites: Prerequisite: (ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202) and (ENG 271 or ENG 341 or ENG 342). Offered alternate years.

OR

  • ENG 461: Major English Writers
  • 3

This course will include extensive reading and in-depth study of significant longer works by several English authors with special attention to their themes and literary techniques. Prerequisites: (ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202) and (ENG 271 or ENG 361 or ENG 362). Offered alternate years.

  • ENG 466: Shakespeare
  • 3

Critical reading and analysis of selected examples of Shakespeare's histories, comedies, and tragedies will be the focus of this course. Prerequisite: (ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202) and ENG 271.

  • Choose one of the following courses:
  • ENG 380: Women's Literature
  • 3

An intensive study of literature written by women, this course will emphasize representations of gender in different cultural and aesthetic contexts and explore the unique contributions and genres particular to women's writing. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202. Offered alternate years.

  • ENG 382: Postcolonial Literature
  • 3

This course will provide an in-depth study of postcolonial theory and literature from South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean with readings and discussions focusing on postcolonial theory, common themes, literary technique, the role of religion, and the question of personal and national identity. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202. Offered alternate years.

  • ENG 385: Modern and Contemporary Novel
  • 3

This advanced survey course that will look at the development of literary modernism as represented in major European and American novels including such novelists as Proust, Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner, and Ellison. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202. Offered alternate years.

  • ENG 387: Modern and Contemporary Drama
  • 3

In this course students will read, critically analyze, discuss, and evaluate selected plays from 1890 through the 21st century, including such dramatists as Ibsen, O'Neill, Pirandello, Lorca, Miller, Williams, and Albee. Attending a performance may be required. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202. Offered alternate years.

  • ENG 391: Children's Literature
  • 3

As a survey of the history of children's literature, this course will examine a wide variety of children's books and related media and strategies for use in the preschool and elementary classroom. Prerequisite: ENG 201 or CENG 201 or CENG 202.

Current students, please note: The requirements listed here may not reflect the most current courses for this major and may not be the requirements for the catalog year you are following to complete your major. Please refer to the Academic Catalog for official requirements you must meet to qualify for a degree.

Note: Students taking the Literature emphasis in the Liberal Arts major may not minor in English.

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