English Major (BA)

The standard English major requires 10 courses:

• 3 introductory inquiries 
• 1 gateway course
• 5 advanced inquiries 
• 1 capstone course 

There are three other English major options, the concentrations in creative writing, professional writing and rhetoric, and literary and cultural analysis. Each English major with a concentration requires 12 courses. The department offers three corresponding minors in English, creative writing, and professional writing and rhetoric.

Students interested in an English major are encouraged to take introductory courses (ENG 1200 - Introduction to English Studies, ENG 1800 - Introduction to Professional Writing and Rhetoric, ENG 1900 - Introduction to Literature and Criticism, WRIT 1500 - Introduction to Creative Writing) in their first year and to declare a major as sophomores.

In conjunction with declaring an English major, students must take a “gateway” course in critical methods and contemporary theory, ENG 3020 - Literary and Cultural Theory. As juniors and seniors, students take the five 3000-level inquiry courses, with at least one in each core disciplinary area. Students will begin defining their course plan in 3020 and in coordination with their major advisor.

A senior seminar is the capstone course in which students study a topic in depth and develop independent research and creative projects, while also reflecting on their professional skills defined and tested across the arc of their coursework. ENG 3020 and the senior seminar must be taken at Hamline. ENG 3020 must be taken at least one semester before the senior seminar and is strongly recommended before taking 3000-level literature courses numbered above 3020.