English, BA

The English major is designed to empower students to shape the future through skilled reading and writing practices. Our major is a unique blend of literary studies, writing and rhetoric, creative writing, and digital humanities, making it a true English major for our times.

In the dynamic exchange of our discussion-based seminars, students’ voices and perspectives are central. We put you at the center of critical issues that resonate between the past and the present—unpacking crucial concepts such as identity, voice, expression, and opinion—and testing out the myriad ways that individual lives and social concerns are defined, developed, and transformed through language.

Core learning opportunities include:

• Mastering an inclusive and dynamic vision of literary history relevant to our own time
• Analyzing rhetoric, looking at writing and other media as a way of pursuing communicative means in various social and cultural contexts
• Studying the practices of teaching and assessing writing, including the social structure and meaning of English-language learning
• Using cutting-edge methods of data analysis to analyze texts and make archives available to new audiences
• Practicing writing in many forms, from the scholarly to the creative

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• Concentrations and course offerings may vary by campus and/or by program modality.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for the course availability each term at your campus or within your program modality. 
• Certain options within the program may be required at certain campuses or for certain program modalities.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for requirements at your campus or for your program modality. 

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Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA degree language requirements, for a total of 12 semester hours of language study or demonstrated equivalent proficiency, as described in Additional Requirements for BA students. Successful demonstration of proficiency does not reduce total minimum semester hours of study required to earn the BA degree.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

English Major Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Foundation Courses
ENGL 1000	English at Northeastern	1
ENGL 1160	Introduction to Rhetoric	4
or ENGL 1410	Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 1400	Introduction to Literary Studies	4
ENGL 1700	Global Literatures 1	4
or ENGL 1701	Global Literatures 2
Literary Periods
Pre-1850
Complete two of the following:		8
ENGL 1502	American Literature to 1865
ENGL 1600	Introduction to Shakespeare
ENGL 2296	Early African-American Literature
or AFCS 2296	Early African-American Literature
ENGL 2330	The American Renaissance
ENGL 3101	Early Literatures
ENGL 3120	17th- and 18th-Century Literatures
ENGL 3160	Topics in 17th- and 18th-Century British Literatures
ENGL 3619	Emerson and Thoreau
ENGL 3678	Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
or JWSS 3678	Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
ENGL 4010	Topics in Shakespeare
Post-1850
Complete one of the following:		4
ENGL 2301	The Graphic Novel
or ARTE 2301	The Graphic Novel
ENGL 2420	Contemporary Poetry
ENGL 2430	Contemporary Fiction
ENGL 2450	Postcolonial Literature
ENGL 2451	Postcolonial Women Writers
ENGL 2455	American Women Writers
ENGL 2470	Asian-American Literature
ENGL 2600	Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 3161	20th- and 21st-Century Literatures
ENGL 3685	Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
or JWSS 3685	Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
ENGL 3730	20th- and 21st-Century Major Figure
Theories and Methods
Complete one of the following:		4
ENGL 1140	Grammar: The Architecture of English
ENGL 1160	Introduction to Rhetoric
ENGL 1410	Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 1450	Reading and Writing in the Digital Age
ENGL 2520	Science Fiction
ENGL 2620	What Is Nature?
ENGL 2690	Boston in Literature
ENGL 2695	Travel and Place-Based Writing
ENGL 2850	Writing for Social Media: Theory and Practice
ENGL 3070	Literary Genres
ENGL 3325	Rhetoric of Law
ENGL 3340	Technologies of Text
ENGL 3381	The Practice and Theory of Teaching Writing
ENGL 3400	Opening the Archive
ENGL 3404	African American Rhetorical Traditions
or AFCS 3404	African American Rhetorical Traditions
ENGL 3487	Film and Text (Abroad)
ENGL 3700	Narrative Medicine
ENGL 4100	Topics in Literary Criticism
LING 1150	Introduction to Language and Linguistics
LING 2350	Linguistic Analysis
LING 3450	Syntax
LING 3452	Semantics
LING 3454	History of English
LING 3456	Language and Gender
LING 3458	Topics in Linguistics
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
ENGW 3311	Advanced Writing for Prelaw	4
Writing
Complete two of the following:		8
ENGL 2695	Travel and Place-Based Writing
ENGL 2700	Creative Writing
ENGL 2710	Style and Editing
ENGL 2730	Digital Writing
ENGL 2740	Writing and Community Engagement
ENGL 2760	Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 2770	Writing to Heal
ENGL 2780	Visual Writing
ENGL 3375	Writing Boston
ENGL 3376	Creative Nonfiction
ENGL 3377	Poetry Workshop
ENGL 3378	Fiction Workshop
ENGL 3380	Writing Seminar
ENGL 3384	The Writer’s Marketplace
Major Seminar
ENGL 3710	Major Seminar	4
Capstone
ENGL 4710	Capstone Seminar	4
Diversity
Complete one of the following, which can also count toward another requirement in the major:		4
ENGL 2296	Early African-American Literature
or AFCS 2296	Early African-American Literature
ENGL 2455	American Women Writers
or AFCS 2455	American Women Writers
or WMNS 2455	American Women Writers
ENGL 2460	Multiethnic Literatures of the U.S.
ENGL 2470	Asian-American Literature
ENGL 2760	Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 3404	African American Rhetorical Traditions
or AFCS 3404	African American Rhetorical Traditions
ENGL 3678	Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
or JWSS 3678	Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
or WMNS 3678	Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
ENGL 3685	Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
or JWSS 3685	Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
ENGL 3900	Gender and Black World Literatures
or AFCS 3900	Gender and Black World Literatures
or WMNS 3900	Gender and Black World Literatures
Electives
Complete any two ENGL courses, except for First-Year Writing and Advanced Writing in the Disciplines, that have not already been used to fulfill another requirement. The following may also be used as electives:		8
LING 1150	Introduction to Language and Linguistics
LING 2350	Linguistic Analysis
LING 3450	Syntax
LING 3452	Semantics
LING 3454	History of English
LING 3456	Language and Gender
LING 3458	Topics in Linguistics

Experiential Learning Requirement

Complete one course in experiential learning from the list below or any Dialogues of Civilization experience. (Other study-abroad programs may not be used.) This course can also count toward another requirement in the major.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Experiential Learning Coursework
ENGL 2690	Boston in Literature
or AFCS 2690	Boston in Literature
ENGL 2740	Writing and Community Engagement
ENGL 3340	Technologies of Text
ENGL 3375	Writing Boston
ENGL 3381	The Practice and Theory of Teaching Writing
ENGL 3400	Opening the Archive
Dialogues of Civilization
Complete one Dialogues of Civilization experience including, but not limited to, those offered by the department (other study-abroad programs may not be used):
ENGL 2600	Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 2620	What Is Nature?
ENGL 3487	Film and Text (Abroad)

English Major Credit Requirement

Complete 61 semester hours in the major.

Experiential Liberal Arts

All students in this College of Social Sciences and Humanities program are required to complete the Experiential Liberal Arts Requirement.

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required

Sample Plan of Study

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGL 1000	1	EESH 2000	1	Literary period elective	2	Elective	4
ENGL 1400	4	ENGL 1160 or 1410	4	Elective	4	Elective	4
ENGW 1111	4	ENGL 1700 or 1701	4
Foreign language core course	4	Foreign language core course	4
Elective	4	Elective	4
	17		17		6		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGL 3710	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Writing and experiential education elective	4
Literary period elective	4					Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
Elective	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Advanced Writing in the Disciplines	4
Literary period elective	4					Elective	4
Writing and experiential learning elective	4
English elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
English elective	4	Capstone	4
Literary period elective	4	Elective	4
Theories and methods elective	4	Elective	4
Elective	4	Elective	4
	16		16
Total Hours: 128