Sep 25, 2024

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

English, Literary Studies Concentration, B.A.

English
615-898-2595
Ron Kates, program coordinator
Ron.Kates@mtsu.edu

A major in English with a concentration in Literary Studies consists of 36 hours of which no more than six (6) may be lower-division hours.

English major core: Majors will take the following: ENGL 3000 , ENGL 3010 , ENGL 3020 , and ENGL 3030 ; and ENGL 3570 , ENGL 4520 , ENGL 4530 , ENGL 4605 , or ENGL 4670 (approved topics); and ENGL 4999 .
When taught by an English faculty member, WGST, AAS, JHS, and certain interdisciplinary Honors seminars (UH 3500 ) may be substituted with approval of advisor. No non-departmental lower division courses will be accepted.
A maximum of six (6) hours of lower-division literature coursework (not counting the True Blue Core requirements) may be taken toward the major. These hours will be appropriately assigned by the student’s departmental advisor. No more than 3 hours (one course) may be taken to satisfy the core course requirement.
Majors are expected to consult a member of the English faculty each semester regarding the selection and arrangement of courses.
Recommended minors for English majors include a foreign language minor, Communication Studies, Film Studies, History, Linguistic Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Theatre, Writing, Southern Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies, but students may choose any minor.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

English, Literary Studies, B.A., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (TBC)	41 hours
Major Requirements	36 hours*
Major Core	(15 hours)
Literacy Studies Concentration Courses	(9 hours)
English Elective Courses	(12 hours)
Foreign Language	6 hours
Minor	15-18 hours
Electives	19-22 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements for the True Blue Core curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill True Blue Core requirements, the number of elective hours may increase.

True Blue Core (41 hours)

True Blue Core (TBC) requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in the Foundational Skills areas of Written Communication (WC), Information Literacy (Info Lit), Non-Written Communication (NWC), and Quantitative Literacy (Quant Lit). Knowledge Domains include Human Society and Social Relationships (HSSR), Scientific Literacy (Sci Lit), Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE), and History and Civic Learning (HCL), which include Discovery and Explorations categories. Students must choose at least one course from each Discovery category.

The following courses required by the program meet True Blue Core requirements:

ENGL 1010 (WC)
ENGL 1020 (Info Lit)
ENGL 2020 or ENGL 2030 (CCE)
3 credit hours from foreign language 1010, 1020, 2010, or 2020 (NWC)

Major Requirements (36 hours)

English Elective Courses (12 hours)

Four ENGL 3000/4000 courses chosen in consultation with departmental advisor, two of which must be 4000-level literature classes

Foreign Language Requirement (6 hours)

Students must successfully complete 2010 and 2020 or any courses numbered above the 2000 level in a single foreign language.

Minor (15-18 hours)

Electives (19-22 hours)

Curriculum: English, Literary Studies

All students pursuing a major in English must complete the True Blue Core requirements and the requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree. Students may not begin upper-division English studies until they have completed ENGL 1010 , ENGL 1020 , ENGL 2020 , and ENGL 2030 . Typically, students will begin upper-division English studies in the second semester of their sophomore year with ENGL 3000 and one other English course. Students in the Literary Studies Concentration should plan on taking ENGL 4410 during the first or second semester of their junior year.

The Academic Maps provide examples of a recommended plan of studies for students who wish to complete their academic requirements within a four-year period. However, there is no single way to complete the program. The department is generally flexible about the order in which courses are taken so long as prerequisites are met. Each English major has an assigned academic advisor. Consulting with this advisor regularly will help the student to individualize the program to his or her own needs and interests.

Freshman

ENGL 1010 - Expository Writing 3 credit hours (WC)
ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing 3 credit hours (Info Lit)
Non-Written Communication 3 credit hours
Scientific Literacy 4 credit hours
Foreign Language (2000-level) 6 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 6 credit hours
Quantitative Literacy 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 31 Hours

Sophomore

ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (CCE) OR
ENGL 2030 - The Experience of Literature 3 credit hours (CCE)
ENGL 3000 - Introduction to Literary Studies 3 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 6 credit hours
Scientific Literacy 4 credit hours
Foreign language or electives 6 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Minor course or elective 3 credit hours
Choose one:
ENGL 3570 - Introduction to Linguistics 3 credit hours
ENGL 4520 - The Structure of English 3 credit hours
ENGL 4530 - History of the English Language 3 credit hours
ENGL 4605 - Advanced Composition 3 credit hours
ENGL 4670 - Special Topics in Writing 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 31 Hours

Junior

Choose two courses (6 hours):
ENGL 3010 - British Literature I: Beginnings to 1700 3 credit hours
ENGL 3020 - British Literature II: 1700-1918 3 credit hours
ENGL 3030 - American Literature: Colonial Era to the Present 3 credit hours
Choose one:
ENGL 3135 - Introduction to Shakespeare 3 credit hours
ENGL 4110 - Chaucer: Canterbury Tales 3 credit hours
ENGL 4130 - Shakespeare: The Sixteenth-Century Plays 3 credit hours
ENGL 4140 - Shakespeare: The Seventeenth-Century Plays 3 credit hours
ENGL 4180 - Milton 3 credit hours
ENGL 4230 - Selected British Writers after the Restoration 3 credit hours
ENGL 4320 - Selected American Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 4900 - Selected Topics in Literature and Language 3 credit hours
Choose one:
ENGL 3400 - European Literature to 1400 3 credit hours
ENGL 3420 - European Literature: 1400-1800 3 credit hours
ENGL 3430 - Modern European Literature 3 credit hours
ENGL 3440 - The Bible as Literature 3 credit hours
ENGL 3450 - Studies in Narrative 3 credit hours
ENGL 3735 - Black Women as Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 4435 - Global English Literatures 3 credit hours
ENGL 4470 - Modern Drama 3 credit hours
ENGL 4780 - Topics in War and Culture 3 credit hours
ENGL 4785 - Law and Literature 3 credit hours
ENGL 3000/4000 level courses 6 credit hours
Minor or elective courses 12 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Senior

ENGL 4999 - Senior Portfolio 0 credit hours
Choose remaining course:
ENGL 3010 - British Literature I: Beginnings to 1700 3 credit hours OR
ENGL 3020 - British Literature II: 1700-1918 3 credit hours OR
ENGL 3030 - American Literature: Colonial Era to the Present 3 credit hours
ENGL 4410 - Literary Criticism 3 credit hours OR
ENGL 4425 - Backgrounds of Modern Literature 3 credit hours
ENGL 3000/4000-level courses 6 credit hours*
Minor or elective courses 9 credit hours
Electives 7 credit hours

English, Literary Studies Concentration, B.A.

Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (41 hours)

Major Requirements (36 hours)

English Core (15 hours)

One from the following:

Literary Studies Concentration (9 hours)

One course from the following:

One course from the following:

English Elective Courses (12 hours)

Foreign Language Requirement (6 hours)

Minor (15-18 hours)

Electives (19-22 hours)

Curriculum: English, Literary Studies

Freshman

Subtotal: 31 Hours

Sophomore

Subtotal: 31 Hours

Junior

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Senior

Subtotal: 28 Hours