The Major before Fall 2003

For students declaring the major Fall 1999 through Spring 2003.

Declaration Of Major

To declare a major in English, the student must:

  • have completed at least 30 units
  • have completed the L &S Reading and Composition requirement
  • have taken these 2 major requirements: 45A or 45B, and one of the following: Shakespeare; 45A, 45B or 45C.

The Major Program

The English Major consists of no fewer than 12 courses, of which at least 7 must be upper division courses.

I. Of these 12, the following 4 courses are required of all majors and must be taken for a letter grade: English 45A, 45B, 45C, Shakespeare

II. Of the remaining 8 courses,

A. At least 3 (upper division) must fall within one of the Areas of Concentration outlined below. (Students may propose individual areas of concentration for approval by faculty advisers.) Each of the three courses for the concentration must be taken for a letter grade.

Except for Area 1, which includes five concentrations, each numeral designates a single concentration. The English Department's Announcement of Classes, published every semester, lists upper division course-offerings by area of concentration. Please note that most courses, including English 100 and 150, satisfy more than one area.

With the approval of a major adviser, one (upper division) course from another department may be included in your area of concentration. For appropriate courses outside English, consult the listings for History, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, Rhetoric, Linguistics, History of Art, Ethnic Studies, Women's Studies, the foreign language departments, etc.

  1. An Historical Period.

    Literature written in English during a particular era in history. In the five areas specified below, national boundaries are subordinated to historical periods and trends; for example, courses in both 19th c. English and 19th c. American literature will fulfill requirements for area 1D. (Please note that English 107, "The English Bible as Literature," may be counted in any of these 5 areas.)

    Each of these historical periods constitutes one area of concentration:

    • 1A. Medieval (Literature in English through 1485)

      Standard course offerings in area 1A include English 105, 107, 110A, 110B, 111, 112.

    • 1B. Early Modern (Renaissance through Milton)

      An upper division Shakespeare course may be included in area 1B AND will also satisfy the Shakespeare requirement. Standard course offerings in area 1B include English 107, 114A, 114B, 115A, 115B, 116, 117A, 117B, 117J, 117S, 118.

    • 1C. Enlightenment (Late 17th c. through early 19th c.)

      Standard course offerings in area 1C include English 107, 118, 119, 120, 121, 125A, 130A.

    • 1D. Nineteenth Century (Early 19th c. through early Modern)

      Standard course offerings in area 1D include English 107, 121, 122, 125B, 130B, 130C.

    • 1E. Twentieth Century (Early Modern through Contemporary)

      Standard course offerings in area 1E include English 107, 125D, 126, 127, 130D, 134, and frequently English 135, 138, 139.

  2. Anglophone and Multicultural Studies.

    African American, Asian American, Native American, and Chicano literatures, as well as (post-)colonial or "world" literatures written in English. Standard course offerings in area 2 include English 133, 135, 138, 139, Celtic Studies 139. Also check listings in Ethnic Studies and African American Studies.

  3. Genre Studies.

    Literary genres, e.g. narrative, poetry, drama. Many different kinds of courses may fulfill requirements in area 3. For example, in poetry, both 180L (The Lyric) and English 121 (Romantic Period) would be appropriate, as would a course in the theory of genre. Standard course offerings in area 3 include: for poetry, English 180L, 121, 127, 131; for narrative, English 180N, 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 132; for drama, English 114A, 114B, 117A, 117B, 117J, 117S, 128. Note: With the approval of a major adviser, students may designate other genres: satire, epic, autobiography, etc.

  4. Sexual Identities/Gender Studies.

    Literature as a cultural site on which gender identity and the discourse of sexuality is produced. Standard course offerings in area 4 include English 152, 171. Also check listings in Women's Studies, Comparative Literature, Film, etc.

  5. Literary Theory.

    Theoretical models of literary interpretation. Standard course offerings in area 5 include English 161, 162, 177. Also check listings in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, etc.

  6. Folklore, Popular Culture, and Cultural Theory.

    Folk cultures, popular culture (including film) and cultural studies generally in relation to literary study. Standard course offerings in area 6 include English 136, 173, 176, 178. Also check listings in Film, History, Rhetoric, Comparative Literature, Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, African American Studies, etc.

  7. Linguistics/The English Language.

    Structure and history of the English language. Standard course offerings include English 101, 102, 105. Also check listings for Linguistics, Anthropology.

B. Two courses, a Junior Seminar (English 100) and a Senior Seminar (English 150), are required. With few exceptions, these courses will fall within at least one area of concentration, and therefore may help satisfy both the Area of Concentration requirement AND the seminar requirements (i.e., a 150 on Richard Wright would satisfy the senior seminar requirement AND count for one course under area of concentration 2).

English 100. Junior Seminar: critical and methodological problems in the study of literature. Topics vary according to instructor. The Junior Seminar must be taken for a letter grade.

English 150. Senior Seminar: intensive study of a special topic, major author, or critical problem. Topics vary according to instructor. The Senior Seminar must be taken for a letter grade.

C. One upper-division course must be taken in an historical period before 1800. Standard course offerings that would meet this requirement include English 105, 110, 111, 112, 114A, 114B, 115A, 115B, 118, 119, 120, 125A, 130A. This requirement may not be fulfilled by English 100, 107 or 150 or any Shakespeare Course. This course must be taken for a letter grade.

D. With the approval of a major adviser, students may count up to two upper division courses in departments other than English toward the 12 required for the major. One of these may be included in the area of concentration.

E. Every English major must meet with a faculty adviser no later than the beginning of the semester following declaration to choose an area of concentration and to plan his/her course of study. (Students may propose an individually-designed area of concentration at this time.) The student may change his/her area later, with the approval of a major adviser.

Additional Notes

Honors Course.

English H195A-B, Fall-Spring sequence only. Admission requires a 3.65 GPA in the major (averaging only UC grades in courses for the English major) and a 3.51 overall UC GPA. Students enrolled in H195A-B may have the English 150 requirement waived.

Grades required for graduation.

To graduate with an A.B. degree in English, a student must achieve at least a 2.0 or C average in (a) all work undertaken at the University of California (all campuses), (b) all courses required for the English major, and (c) all upper division courses in the English major.

Summer Session Courses.

Only one Summer Session course may be counted toward the major.

Pass/Not Pass.

Two of the 12 required courses for the major may be taken P/NP (including 98, 99, 198, 199), but not 45A/45B/45C (or their upper division equivalents), Shakespeare, 100, 150, the Pre-1800 course, or any of the three courses included in the student's area of concentration. These courses must be taken for a letter grade. The P/NP option in English is subject to the regulations set forth in the L&S Announcement.

Supervised Independent Study (English 99, 198, 199).

A student may offer a total of four (4) units of independent study as one of the 12 courses required for the major. The four units need not be taken in a single course. Applications are available in the English Department Office (322 Wheeler). Independent study courses are subject to the regulations set forth in the L&S Announcement.

Course Equivalents for 45A, 45B, &45C.

The 45A-B-C requirement may be satisfied by substituting for each course two appropriate upper division courses, one from column A and one from column B below. (Advisers may approve alternates when appropriate.)

Course Equivalents for 45A, 45B, &45C
English 45A: Literature in English through Milton
A B
English 111
English 112
English 114A 		English 114B
English 115A
English 118
English 130A
English 45B: Lit. in English from the late 17th through the mid-19th century
A B
English 119
English 120
English 125A 		English 121
English 130B
English 45C: Lit. in English from the mid-19th through the 20th century
A B
English 122
English 125B
English 130C 		English 126
English 130D

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Last modified: January 25, 2005