The English Minor

Requirements:

  1. In order to complete the English minor, students will take five upper-division, four unit courses in the English Department for a letter grade (note: Creative Writing English courses, including any English 141 or 143 courses, do not count for the English minor). 
    • With approval, students may substitute one upper-division course from outside the department for one of the five classes: this class might come from other departments on campus, other four-year institutions, or an Education Abroad program. You can find the petition below. The other four must be English Department classes.
  2. Once 3/5 of the courses are completed with a letter grade, students will email the filled out L&S Minor petition form to an English major advisor at english_advising@berkeley.edu to have the minor added.
  • The deadline to declare a minor is anytime prior to the first day of classes of the student’s EGT (Expected Graduation Term). For reference, here is the L&S Minor policy.

Several conditions and restrictions apply:

  • Creative Writing courses do not count toward the English minor. Creative Writing courses include English 141, any English 143 series course, English 145, and any other course designated as such. Students interested in Creative Writing should consider the Creative Writing Minor.
  • Only one upper-division UCB Summer Session course can count  toward the English minor.
  • Students cannot use the combined 4 units ( Engl 198 DeCal, BC or Engl 199 Independent Study) towards the English minor.
  • To move forward with an extra-departmental course substitution, students must submit a Petition for Courses Outside the English Department. Students will need to provide a course syllabus and a compelling intellectual rationale, one that explains how the student’s work for the English minor will be enriched through the inclusion of the particular outside course the student wishes to include. There is no pre-approved list of courses.
  • In exceptional situations, students may discuss the possibility of one additional substitution with the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) (english_dus@berkeley.edu) and then supply a substantial written intellectual rationale for their request.
  • For Education Abroad Programs:  The DUS determines credit toward the minor for coursework completed through an Education Abroad Program on a case-by-case basis. Students must provide documentation (e.g., course descriptions, syllabi, completed exams, papers, and other written work) to demonstrate that the education abroad course is comparable in coverage, rigor, and substance to a UCB upper-division course in the petition linked above. 
    • Only 1 summer EAP course can count towards the minor.
  • L&S overlap policies:
    • If you are an L&S student pursuing the English minor, only one approved class may overlap between the major and minor.
    • If you have multiple majors or multiple minors, you are still only allowed to overlap one course total between minors and majors. 

    • Overlap of upper division courses is not allowed between L&S minors. 

    • If you are an L&S student pursuing a minor in another school or college with overlap policies that differ from L&S, the stricter of the two minor policies applies to the minor program.
  • A minimum overall GPA of 2.0 in upper-division courses is required for the minor.
  • Work for the minor must be completed by the last day of the term you intend to graduate.
  • English majors may not complete a minor in the English Department