Department of English

• The Major
• The Minor
• Declaring a Major or a Minor
  

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The Major

REQUIREMENTS
The ENGLISH MAJOR requires a minimum of one of the following combinations:

1. HUMW 011 + 2 Gateways + 7 electives
2. HUMW 009 + 2 Gateways + 7 electives
3. Lib Arts Sem + 1 Gateway + 7 electives
4. 3 hrs/credit AP + 2 Gateways + 7 electives
5. any approved combination of Transfer courses + 2 Gateways + electives equaling 10 courses
   

The Liberal Arts Seminar as currently taught counts as HUMW 011 and ENGL 041; therefore, a student who has taken the Seminar should take as their Gateway ENGL 042 or ENGL 043.

GATEWAYS

The English Department offers four Gateway courses. They are designed to help students with their skills in critical writing and close reading.

• ENGL 040 Gateway: Medieval and/or Renaissance Literatures and Cultures
• ENGL 041 Gateway: Eighteenth and/or Nineteenth Century Literatures and Cultures
• ENGL 042 Gateway: Modern and/or Post-Modern Literatures and Cultures
• ENGL 043 Gateway: Introduction to Critical Methods

All students -- majors, minors, and non-majors -- are required to take at least ONE Gateway as a prerequisite to taking any further English courses.

English majors are required to take one Gateway from ENGL 040 /041 and one Gateway from ENGL 042/ 043, preferably as early in their academic year as possible. They are encouraged to take both Gateway courses in the English department but are allowed to fulfill one of their Gateway requirements by taking a course offered by another humanities department or program listed as a Gateway equivalent. Majors who have taken a Gateway equivalent are strongly encouraged to enroll in their second Gateway, which MUST be taken in the English department, before moving on to upper-division course, and certainly as early as possible in their career. A major may take no more than two Gateways.

English minors are required to take only one Gateway course. Although all students--majors, minors, and non-majors--are required to take at least one Gateway as a prerequisite to taking any further English course, non-majors and minors are NOT required to take more than one Gateway and may take a Gateway equivalent in another department as their prerequisite.

ELECTIVES

In addition to two Gateway courses, majors are required to take seven electives (courses numbered 100-499). Of those seven electives, three elective courses are required for the English major: one from Field 1, one from Field 2, and one from either Field 3 or Field 4:

Field 1: Medieval and/or Renaissance Literatures & Cultures (courses numbered 100-149)

Field 2: Eighteenth and/or Nineteenth Century Literatures & Cultures (150-199)

Field 3: Modern and/or Postmodern Literatures & Cultures (200-299)

Field 4: Critical, Scholarly, and Creative Practices (300-499)

SEMINARS

Each semester, the English Department offers several seminars among its electives. These courses have a limited enrollment and give students the opportunity to do advanced work in a small, stimulating setting. All seminars will require a lengthy writing assignment as their culminating experience. English majors are encouraged to enroll in a seminar in their junior or senior year. Students who are interested in applying to do a Senior Honors Thesis are especially encouraged to take one or more of these seminars in their junior year.

AREAS OF INTEREST

After completing their Gateway courses, English majors are encouraged to consider, in consultation with their faculty adviser, the following areas during their junior and senior years. The department has already attempted to introduce students to such areas within its Gateway courses. By choosing electives from different areas, students will be able to experience further the wide diversity of texts, topics, and methodological approaches that characterize the field of English studies today. By choosing courses from a single area, students will be able to concentrate their field of study in an area of special interest to them.

Suggested areas of interest:

1. British & American Literary Periods and Authors
2. Postcolonial, Ethnic, and Critical Race Studies
3. Genre Studies
4. Creative Writing
5. Studies in Gender & Sexuality
6. Cultural, Media, & Performance Studies
   

AP CREDIT

AP credit will be given towards ENGL 011, not towards Gateways or major/minor electives. At this time, a score of "4" yields three credits and will count as ENGL 011; a score of "5" yields six credits. Three credits are awarded as the equivalent of ENGL 011, and three additional credits will count as one College (not English) elective. Students in the College wishing to take further English courses and receiving either 3 or 6 credits of AP English should proceed directly to a Gateway course for their first course in English at GU. Students who have AP credit and choose to take ENGL-011 will receive credit for it toward the Humanities and Writing I requirement, but they will also have to forfeit their AP credit. If students have questions, they should see their dean.

CREDIT FOR COURSES FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Except for extraordinary reasons and upon petition to the Director of Undergraduate Studies in English by the individual student, electives offered by other Georgetown departments will not count as electives towards the English Major. Students who believe that they can make that extraordinary case should see the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

TRANSFER CREDIT FROM OTHER UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES

Typically, Gateways must be taken in the English Department. In extraordinary cases, transfer credits for Gateway equivalents will be adjudicated by the Director of Undergraduate Studies individually for each major or minor. All other transfer credits for the major will also determined through the DUS's office.

No more than four courses counting toward the major will receive transfer credit from other institutions and/or study abroad.
 

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The Minor

An English minor will require a minimum of six courses: ENGL-011 or its equivalent; one Gateway; and four electives. At least four courses of these six must be taken within the English department.

English minors are required to take only one Gateway course. Although all students–majors, minors, and non-majors–are required to take at least one Gateway as a prerequisite to taking any further English course, non-majors and minors are NOT required to take more than one Gateway and may take a Gateway equivalent in another department as their prerequisite.

Advanced Placement credit can count towards some or all of the General Education Requirement. For details, see our A.P. Credit page.

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Declaring a Major/Minor

Students wishing to declare a major should obtain a "Declaration of Major" form from the Dean's Office and take it to the English Department's advising office, 414 New North (for times the advising office is open, see Advising). After students have been assigned advisers from the advising office, they should take the form to the adviser, who, in addition to advising them academically, will sign the "Declaration of Major" form. Students should return the signed form to the Dean's Office.

Students declaring a minor in English should have their forms signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.