English Minor

Are you interested in reading and thinking about literature and culture? You might enjoy the English minor. Our minor offers the flexibility to specialize in any area of Anglophone literature that interests you, while ensuring that you have the basic background knowledge in the field necessary to support your interests.

Students who declared prior to the 2020-21 academic year may fulfill the requirements of this version of the minor or the old one, as they prefer.

Course Requirements

In order to graduate with a minor in English, students must complete the following program for a total of 25 units:

One historical survey course for 5 units

Fulfill this requirement using any variant of ENGLISH 10, 11, or 12.

One methodology course for 5 units

Fulfill this requirement with either ENGLISH 160 or ENGLISH 161.

A total of 25 units, including the core classes above.

You may count any English department classes towards this unit total, with the limitation that you may only count 1 IntroSem and 1 Creative Writing workshop.

Minor Notes

Declaring

Students must declare the Minor no later than two quarters prior to their intended quarter of degree conferral, e.g., Autumn declaration for Spring conferral. To declare, follow the instructions in Axess for declaring a minor. Completed declaration forms are transmitted electronically to the department for approval; the student receives an on-line copy. Once the application had been approved, students will be e-mailed a notice of confirmation.

Course Equiavlency and Transfer Credit

All students may petition the Director of Undergraduate Studies to count one with substantial Anglophone literary content from another department or BOSP; such petitions are not guaranteed. Transfer students only may apply up to two literature courses taken at approved universities toward the English minor electives.

Units

One credit/no credit course may be applied to the Minor. Courses counted towards the requirements for the Minor may not be applied to the student’s Major requirements.

Advising

The Director of Undergraduate Studies is available to answer general queries that cannot be answered by the Peer Advisors or the Student Services Officer.

Creative Writing

Information on the Creative Writing minor can be found on the Creative Writing website.

Some Sample Plans

There are many pathways through the minor; however, the department encourages you to take the required courses that will best prepare you to take further electives in the same area. So, if you’re interested mostly in novels, fulfill your methodology requirement by taking Narrative & Narrative Theory; if you’re interested in earlier historical periods, fulfill the period survey requirement using one of our English 10 options.

You are not required to select an area of focus or specialization; if you wish to range widely across the curriculum, do so! But we wanted to give you some examples of course plans that might fulfill the diverse interests students bring to the department. Here are some sample minor course pathways; please note that the courses marked * are electives, and will not be offered every year; they’re just a sample of the many courses we have.

 

For someone interested in early modern culture and history…

Core English 10A: Introduction to English I: Mapping Monsters, 650-1650

English 160: Poetry and Poetics

Electives English 79N: The Renaissance: Culture as Conflict (IntroSem, 3 units)*

English 163D: Shakespeare: The Ethical Challenge (3 units)*

English 184H: Text Technologies: A History*

English 208: Literature of Disease*

 

For someone interested in African-American literature…

Core English 12A: Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature

English 161: Narrative and Narrative Theory

Electives English 152G: Harlem Renaissance*

English 159A: Literature that Changed the World*

English 262C: African American Literature and the Retreat of Jim Crow*

 

For someone interested in the novel…

Core English 12C: Introduction to English III: Modern Literature

English 161: Narrative and Narrative Theory

Electives English 113: Great Victorian Novels*

English 145G: American Fiction Since 1945*

English 237: Before Novels*


For a comprehensive listing of the English Minor requirements, please visit Explore Degrees.