English Language and Literature

English Language & Literature courses
Related Courses That Count toward the Major (PDF from print YCPS)

Director of undergraduate studies: Stefanie Markovits [F], John Rogers [Sp]; associate director of undergraduate studies: Caleb Smith; registrar: Erica Sayers, erica.sayers@yale.edu; assistant registrar: Jennifer Sholtis, jennifer.sholtis@yale.edu; 107 LC, 432-2224

FACULTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Professors   Elizabeth Alexander, Harold Bloom, Leslie Brisman, David Bromwich, Jill Campbell, Janice Carlisle, Joe Cleary (Visiting), Michael Denning, Wai Chee Dimock, Anne Fadiman (Adjunct), Roberta Frank, Paul Fry, Louise Glück (Adjunct), Jacqueline Goldsby, Langdon Hammer, Margaret Homans, Amy Hungerford, David Scott Kastan, Traugott Lawler (Emeritus), Pericles Lewis, Lawrence Manley, Donald Margulies (Adjunct), Stefanie Markovits, J. D. McClatchy (Adjunct), Barry McCrea, Alastair Minnis, Annabel Patterson (Emeritus), Linda Peterson, Caryl Phillips, David Quint, Claude Rawson, Joseph Roach, Marc Robinson, John Rogers, Caleb Smith, Robert Stepto, Katie Trumpener, Michael Warner, Ruth Yeazell

Associate Professors   Murray Biggs (Adjunct), Jessica Brantley

Assistant Professors   GerShun Avilez, Ian Cornelius, Paul Grimstad, Wendy Lee, Justin Neuman, Catherine Nicholson, Shital Pravinchandra, Anthony Reed, Sam See, Brian Walsh, R. John Williams

Senior Lecturers   James Berger, John Crowley, Michael Cunningham, Fred Strebeigh, Cynthia Zarin

Lecturers   Edward Ball, Emily Barton, Steven Brill, Natalia Cecire, Richard Deming, Andrew Ehrgood, George Fayen, Michael Gibbons, Joseph Gordon, Karin Gosselink, Alfred Guy, Briallen Hopper, Mary Kate Hurley, Rosemary Jones, Colleen Kinder, Penelope Laurans, John Loge, Stephen Longmire, Allyson McCabe, Mark Oppenheimer, Paula Resch, Timothy Robinson, Pamela Schirmeister, Mark Schoofs, Kim Shirkhani, Joel Silverman, Margaret Spillane, Michele Stepto, Barbara Stuart, Arvind Thomas, Ryan Wepler, Leslie Woodard, Carl Zimmer

Courses offered by the Department of English are designed to develop students' understanding of important works of English, American, and world literatures in English; to provide historical perspectives from which to read and analyze these works; and to deepen students' insight into their own experience. Courses also aim to develop students' abilities to express their ideas orally and in writing.

Introductory courses   Courses numbered from 001 to 130 are introductory. Students planning to elect an introductory course in English should refer to the departmental Web site for information about preregistration.

Prerequisite   It is valuable for students majoring in English to have both a detailed understanding of major poets who have written in English and some acquaintance with the classics of European and American literature. The prerequisite for the major is ENGL 125, 126. It is strongly recommended that prospective English majors take at least ENGL 125 or 126 by the end of the sophomore year. If a student takes both ENGL 125 and 126, then any two terms of ENGL 114, 115, 120, 121, 127–130, or DRST 001, 002 in the Directed Studies program, or THST 110, 111 may count toward the twelve remaining term courses required for the major. If ENGL 125 and 126 are not taken, two terms of ENGL 114, 115, 127–130, or DRST 001, 002 may count as the prerequisite so long as the student also takes, as part of the major, four advanced courses that deal substantially and intensively with poets included in ENGL 125 and 126. Two of these courses should substitute for two of the four units in ENGL 125 (Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Donne), and two should substitute for two of the four units in ENGL 126 (Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, and Eliot or another modern anglophone poet). Courses that deal with more than one poet are acceptable for this purpose. Such courses may also count toward the requirement of three term courses in English literature before 1800 and one term course in English literature before 1900.

Regardless of how the prerequisite is fulfilled, the total number of term courses toward the major may not be fewer than fourteen, of which no more than four may be introductory (numbered 130 or below).

Advanced courses   Courses numbered 150 and above are open to upperclassmen; the faculty recommends that students both within and outside the major prepare for such work with two terms of introductory English. Seminars are intended primarily for junior and senior English majors; sophomores and nonmajors may be admitted where openings are available. Students are strongly encouraged to consult the director of undergraduate studies, the departmental representative in their residential college, and their departmental adviser for advice about their course choices.

When choosing courses, students should bear in mind that the English department's lecture courses and seminars play different roles in the curriculum. Lecture courses cover major periods, genres, and figures of English and American literature. They serve as general surveys of their subjects, and are typically offered every year or every other year. Seminars, by contrast, offer more specialized or intensive treatment of their topics, or engage topics not addressed in the lecture courses (for example, topics that span periods and genres). While seminars are often offered more than once, students should not expect the same seminars to be offered from one year to the next. Sophomores and juniors are encouraged to enroll in lecture courses in order to gain broad perspectives in preparation for more specialized study.

The major   Each student, in consultation with a departmental faculty adviser, bears the responsibility for designing a coherent program, which must include the following elements.

Each student must take: (1) three term courses in literature written in English before 1800, one term course in literature written in English before 1900, and one term course in American literature, all representing a variety of periods and figures. Courses satisfying this requirement are indicated by the phrase "Pre-1800," "Pre-1900," or "Amer" in the course listings. Pre-1800 courses can, by definition, satisfy the pre-1900 requirement. Courses in American literature in the pre-1800 or pre-1900 periods can satisfy both one of the period requirements and the American requirement; (2) at least one seminar in both the junior and the senior years. The nature of senior seminars (400-level literature seminars) is discussed below.

Certain residential college seminars, with permission of the director of undergraduate studies, may be substituted for a departmental seminar; courses in creative writing may not. Courses taken Credit/D/Fail may be counted toward the major.

A student whose program meets these requirements may count toward the major two upper-level literature courses in other departments, whether in English translation or in another language; alternatively, the student may count one such literature course and, with the permission of an adviser, one other upper-level course in any subject that is relevant to the student's major in English. Such courses may not be counted toward the pre-1800 or the pre-1900 requirement. Two courses in creative writing may be counted toward the major. A student may petition the director of undergraduate studies for permission to include a third writing course.

In exceptional cases, a student whose interests and aims are well defined may, in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies, work out a program of study departing from the usual requirements of the major. Such a program must, however, meet the stated general criteria of range and coherence. For interdepartmental programs that include courses covering English literature, see the Literature Major, Directed Studies, American Studies, African American Studies, Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, Theater Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Students considering graduate work in English should be aware that a reading knowledge of certain classical and modern European languages is ordinarily required for admission to graduate study, and that a course orienting them to critical theory can be especially helpful preparation for graduate study.

Senior requirement    Students must complete a two-course senior requirement consisting of one of the following combinations: (1) a senior seminar and a senior essay; (2) two senior seminars; (3) a senior seminar or senior essay, and a junior seminar in which the student, with the permission of the instructor, fulfills the senior requirement; (4) a two-term senior essay, with permission of the director of undergraduate studies; (5) a senior seminar or senior essay followed by the senior project in the writing concentration. Students who wish to complete the senior requirement by the end of the fall term of the senior year may begin it in the spring of the junior year.

Senior seminar   Senior seminars are open to interested juniors as well, but one must be taken in the senior year to fulfill the senior requirement. These courses are usually numbered 400–449. The final essays written for senior seminars should provide an appropriate culmination to the student's work in the major and in Yale College. Such essays should rest on substantial independent work and should be approximately twenty double-spaced pages in length. In researching and writing the essay, the student should consult regularly with the seminar instructor, and may consult with other faculty members as well. Seniors, with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies and the instructor, may arrange to take a junior seminar for one term of the senior requirement. At the start of term the student must arrange with the instructor to do any additional work necessary to make the course an appropriate capstone experience.

The senior essay   The senior essay is an independent literary-critical project on a topic of the student's own design, which is undertaken in regular consultation with a faculty adviser. It should ordinarily be written on a topic in an area on which the student has focused in previous studies. It may be written during one or two terms; single-term essays may be converted to yearlong essays through application to the director of undergraduate studies. See the course descriptions of ENGL 490 and 491 for procedures. Students fulfilling the senior requirement through a two-term senior essay or through a senior essay followed by the senior writing concentration project must take a seminar during their senior year, but it need not be a 400-level seminar.

Writing courses   Besides introductory courses that concentrate on the writing of expository prose (ENGL 114, 115, 120, 121), the English department offers several creative writing courses (ENGL 245, 246, and 450–475). These courses are open to all students on the basis of the instructor's judgment of their work. Instructions for the submission of writing samples for admission to creative writing seminars and workshops are available in 107 LC and on the English department Web site. Students may in some cases arrange a tutorial in writing (ENGL 470), normally after having taken intermediate and advanced writing courses. All students interested in creative writing courses should also consult the current listing of residential college seminars.

The writing concentration   The writing concentration is a special course of study open to students in the English major with demonstrated interest and achievement in writing. Admission is competitive. Interested English majors normally apply for admission to the concentration during the second term of their junior year. Application can also be made during the first term of the senior year. Every student admitted to the concentration must complete at least eleven literature courses as well as the other requirements of the major. Students admitted to the writing concentration may count up to four creative writing courses toward completion of the B.A. degree in English; the four courses must include at least two courses in one genre and at least one course in another genre; at least three must be at the 400 level; only one of the four courses may be from ENGL 134, 135, 245, or 246. Residential college seminars are not acceptable for credit toward the writing concentration, except by permission of the director of undergraduate studies. As one of the four writing courses, each student must complete ENGL 489, The Writing Concentration Senior Project, a tutorial in which students produce a single sustained piece of writing or a portfolio of shorter works. The writing concentration senior project may be offered in partial fulfillment of the senior requirement.

Seniors applying for the spring of 2013 must do so by noon on November 9, 2012. Juniors applying to the writing concentration for the fall of 2013 must do so by noon on April 5, 2013. Students are admitted selectively on the overall strength of their performance in the major and on the quality of their writing samples.

Advising   A student planning a program of study in English should consult as early as possible with the appropriate residential college departmental representative:

Schedules for all majors must be discussed with, and approved by, a faculty adviser from the English department, the director of undergraduate studies, or the associate director of undergraduate studies. Only then may they be submitted to the residential college dean's office. During the sixth term, each student completes a statement outlining progress in the major, in consultation with the student's adviser.

Applications and prospectuses for ENGL 490 and 491 and writing samples for admission to writing courses are received in the office of the English major in 107 LC or on line as directed on the English department Web site. Prospectuses and applications for senior essays should be submitted during the designated sign-up period in the term before enrollment is intended. Students will receive e-mail notification of acceptances; students with any questions about admission should come to the office of the director of undergraduate studies, 107 LC.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR

Prerequisite   ENGL 125, 126 or, with 4 addtl courses in major English poets, 2 terms selected from DRST 001 or 002 or ENGL 114, 115, 127, 129, or 130

Number of courses   14 term courses (incl prereq and senior req)

Distribution of courses   3 courses in lit in English before 1800, 1 course in lit in English before 1900, and 1 course in American lit, all representing a variety of figures and periods; 2 sems, 1 in junior, 1 in senior year; no more than 4 intro-level courses (ENGL 001–130)

Substitution permitted   2 upper-level lit courses in other depts or, with permission, 1 upper-level lit course and 1 addtl upper-level course in other depts may count toward the major; 2 creative writing courses (ENGL 134, 135, 245, 246, 450–475) may count toward the major; college sem designated by DUS for sem

Senior requirement   1 senior sem (ENGL 400–449) and senior essay (ENGL 490); or 2 sems in senior year, 1 of which is a senior sem, the other certified for senior req; or, with DUS permission, two-term senior essay; or 1 senior sem or senior essay and writing concentration senior project (ENGL 489)