Undergraduate Program
Minors
Overview
Minors permit students to use elective hours to satisfy a personal interest, to strengthen a degree in another discipline, or to enhance career opportunities by providing additional practice in writing and textual analysis.
The Department of English offers minors in English and American literature. Each minor consists of eighteen hours of study (six courses) from the introductory to the senior level, including historical surveys, major author courses, and courses in special topics. Courses taken for credit/no credit will not count toward the hours required for the minor. These minors are open to all students except those majoring in English.
In addition, the Department is home to interdisciplinary minors, open to all students, in Film Studies and Linguistics.
Film Studies is an interdepartmental minor including courses that treat film as a major art form or that use film as a specific and unique analytical device in the study of literature, history, the arts, or national cultures. Linguistics is an interdepartmental minor concerned with the systematic explanation of facts about language. Linguists examine data from languages and observe the linguistic behavior of speakers in attempting to formulate the principles which govern people’s knowledge and use of their language.
To initiate study in a minor, students must register with the appropriate administrator: for a minor in literature, with the Chief Departmental Advisor or for minors in film or linguistics, with the Director of Film Studies or the Director of Linguistics. The receptionist in 356 Bachelor Hall can direct students to the appropriate office.