Skip to the main content of this page.

miami university
Department of English
rotating images of books

Contact Us

356 Bachelor Hall
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
tel:513.529.5221
fax: 513.529.1392
english@miamioh.edu

This page last updated on
March 5, 2013

Undergraduate Program

Majors

Literature

Note: The requirements listed directly below are for students enrolling in the Literature major in Fall 2009 or later; requirements for those who enrolled in the program prior to Fall 2009 can be found further down on this page.

Literature majors complete 42 hours, beginning with two introductory courses and a course in literary and cultural studies. After this introduction, majors complete 33 hours of advanced courses: nine literature courses, chosen according to the distribution requirements outlined below and including two senior seminars; a course in literary, cultural, or other theory; and a capstone.

For descriptions of courses not listed in the Miami Bulletin, click on Courses on the navigation tab at the top of this page.

ENG 111-112 or equivalent are the prerequisites for all advanced literature courses taken by non-majors (including minors in literature). ENG 298 and two 100-level literature courses are the prerequisites for all literature courses taken by majors who entered the program in August 1999 or after.

For information about the combined B.A. / M.A. in Literature program, please visit our Graduate Program section.

Major Requirements

(42 semester hours)

PREREQUISITE INTRODUCTORY COURSE

This one:*

* Completed first semester of sophomore year at Miami or first semester after declaring the literature major, whichever is later.

SENIOR CAPSTONE IN ENGLISH

(counts for credit only after you have earned 96 credit hours)

One of these:

AN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT COURSE IN LITERARY, CULTURAL, or OTHER THEORY

One of these:

NINE LITERATURE COURSES, including:

No more than two 100-level courses:

At LEAST two of these [NOTE: ENG 440, 450, 480, and 490 may be repeated once for credit when topic changes. Capstones DO NOT COUNT toward this requirement].

DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS

Choose literature courses above to also meet the following group requirements. ENG 440, 450, and 490 MAY count when the topic/time period is appropriate.

1. Two courses in Literature before 1700 (of which no more than one on Shakespeare):

2. Two courses in Literature 1700-1860 (more than one national tradition, i.e., both courses cannot focus on the same national tradition, e.g., British)

British Literature

American Literature

3. Two courses in Literature after 1860 (more than one national tradition, i.e., both courses cannot focus on the same national tradition, e.g., British)

British Literature

American Literature

Other Anglophone Traditions

4. One course in minority, ethnic, or women’s literature

5. One course in literary genre

Optional

An elective course, offered in the English Department, may be taken for credit toward major hours but not toward any core or distribution requirements. Courses that cannot count toward major hours include ENG 108, 109, 111, 112, 113. The purpose of this elective is to allow students to take a course in another English program (e.g., creative writing, linguistics, technical and scientific communication), if desired.

For students enrolled in the major prior to Fall 2009

Literature majors enrolled in the program prior to Fall 2009 complete 39 hours, beginning with two introductory courses and a course in literary and cultural studies. After this introduction, majors complete 30 hours of advanced courses: eight literature courses, chosen according to the distribution requirements outlined below and including two senior seminars; a course in literary, cultural, or other theory; and a capstone.

For descriptions of courses not listed in the Miami Bulletin, click on Courses on the navigation tab at the top of this page.

ENG 111-112 or equivalent are the prerequisites for all advanced literature courses taken by non-majors (including minors in literature). ENG 298 and two 100-level literature courses are the prerequisites for all literature courses taken by majors who entered the program in August 1999 or after.

Course requirements:

(39 semester hours)

Prerequisite literature courses. Two of these:

Prerequisite introductory course. This one:*

* Completed first semester of sophomore year at Miami or first semester after declaring the literature major, whichever is later.

Eight literature courses, including:

No more than three of these:

And no more than six of these:

And at least two of these:

Literary, cultural, or other theory.

One of these:

Senior Capstone.

This one:

Distribution Requirements

Choose literature courses above to also meet the following group requirements. A course may count in more than one requirement (e.g., ENG 337 meets American, ethnic/minority/women’s, and 1660-1900 requirements).

British literature.

Five of these:

American literature.

Three of these:

Ethnic, minority, or women’s literature.

One of these:

Literature before 1660.

Two of these:

Literature between 1660 and 1900.

Three of these:

Literature from 1900 to the present.

One of these: