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Department of English

Pre-2023 Requirements

This information is intended for students who started their major or minor in the English department before Fall 2023. The English major, Narrative Studies major, and English minor were all updated in Fall 2023. Students who started one of these programs before Fall 2023 may follow the old requirements (outlined below) or choose to follow the updated requirements.

Students who started their major or minor Fall 2023 or later must follow the new requirements.

English (BA) Requirements

The English major requires 10 courses (40 units), with at least 7 courses (28 units) being upper-division (300-level or above).

Literature Track

  • Complete the following three courses (in any order). At least two must be completed before you take any upper-division (300-level and above) courses for the major.

    • ENGL-261g “English Literature to 1800”
    • ENGL-262g “English Literature since 1800”
    • ENGL-263g “American Literature”

  • Choose two courses focusing on literature written before 1800.

    • ENGL-341 “Women in English Literature before 1800”
    • ENGL-420 “English Literature of the Middle Ages (1100–1500)”
    • ENGL-421 “English Literature of the 16th Century”
    • ENGL-422 “English Literature of the 17th Century”
    • ENGL-423 “English Literature of the 18th Century (1660–1780)”
    • ENGL-430 “Shakespeare”
    • ENGL-461 “English Drama to 1800”
    • ENGL-465 “The English Novel to 1800”

  • Choose one course focusing on 19th-century literature.

    • ENGL-424 “English Literature of the Romantic Age (1780–1832)”
    • ENGL-425 “English Literature of the Victorian Age (1832–1890)”
    • ENGL-440 “American Literature to 1865”
    • ENGL-466 “The 19th Century English Novel”

  • Choose one course focusing on American literature.

    • ENGL-350g “Literature of California”
    • ENGL-351 “Periods and Genres in American Literature”
    • ENGL-441 “American Literature, 1865 to 1920”
    • ENGL-442 “American Literature, 1920 to the Present”
    • ENGL-445 “The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives”
    • ENGL-446 “Contemporary African American Literature”
    • ENGL-447 “African-American Narrative”
    • ENGL-448 “Chicano and Latino Literature”
    • ENGL-449 “Asian American Literature”

  • Choose two upper-division (300-level or above) English (ENGL) electives based on your interests.

  • Complete this course during the fall or spring of your senior year. Most or all of your major requirements must be completed before enrolling in ENGL-491.

    • ENGL-491 “Senior Seminar in Literary Studies”
English Literature (Pre-2023) Requirements Worksheet

Creative Writing Track

  • Complete the following three courses (in any order). At least two must be completed before you take any upper-division (300-level and above) courses for the major.

    • ENGL-261g “English Literature to 1800”
    • ENGL-262g “English Literature since 1800”
    • ENGL-263g “American Literature”

  • Complete two introductory creative writing workshops, with one in poetry and one in prose.

    Poetry

    • ENGL-304 “Introduction to Poetry Writing”

    Prose

    • ENGL-303 “Introduction to Fiction Writing”
    • ENGL-305 “Introduction to Creative Nonfiction”

  • Choose one 400-level creative writing workshop based on your interests.

    • ENGL-403 “Creative Nonfiction Writing”
    • ENGL-405 “Fiction Writing”
    • ENGL-406 “Poetry Writing”
    • ENGL-407 “Advanced Fiction Writing”
    • ENGL-408 “Advanced Poetry Writing”

  • Choose one course focusing on literature written before 1900.

    • ENGL-341 “Women in English Literature before 1800”
    • ENGL-420 “English Literature of the Middle Ages (1100–1500)”
    • ENGL-421 “English Literature of the 16th Century”
    • ENGL-422 “English Literature of the 17th Century”
    • ENGL-423 “English Literature of the 18th Century (1660–1780)”
    • ENGL-424 “English Literature of the Romantic Age (1780–1832)”
    • ENGL-425 “English Literature of the Victorian Age (1832–1890)”
    • ENGL-430 “Shakespeare”
    • ENGL-440 “American Literature to 1865”
    • ENGL-461 “English Drama to 1800”
    • ENGL-465 “The English Novel to 1800”
    • ENGL-466 “The 19th Century English Novel”

  • Choose one course focusing on literature written after 1900.

    • ENGL-360 “Modern Poetry”
    • ENGL-361g “Contemporary Prose”
    • ENGL-362g “Contemporary Poetry”
    • ENGL-363g “Contemporary Drama”
    • ENGL-364 “The Modern Novel”
    • ENGL-426 “Modern English Literature (1890–1945)”
    • ENGL-441 “American Literature, 1865 to 1920”
    • ENGL-442 “American Literature, 1920 to the Present”
    • ENGL-445 “The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives”
    • ENGL-446 “Contemporary African American Literature”
    • ENGL-447 “African-American Narrative”
    • ENGL-448 “Chicano and Latino Literature”
    • ENGL-449 “Asian American Literature”
    • ENGL-462 “British and American Drama 1800–1950”

  • Choose one upper-division (300-level or above) English (ENGL) elective based on your interests.

  • Complete this course during the fall or spring of your senior year. Most or all of your major requirements must be completed before enrolling in ENGL-491.

    • ENGL-491 “Senior Seminar in Literary Studies”
Creative Writing (Pre-2023) Requirements Worksheet

Narrative Studies (BA) Requirements

The Narrative Studies major requires 9 courses (36 units), with at least 6 courses (24 units) upper-division (300-level or above), and maximum 3 courses (12 units) outside Dornsife.

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • COLT-101gp “Masterpieces and Masterminds: Literature and Thought”
    • COLT-373 “Literature and Film”
    • CTCS-190g “Introduction to Cinema”
    • CTCS-191 “Introduction to Television and Video”
    • CTIN-190 “Introduction to Interactive Entertainment”
    • ENGL-261g “English Literature to 1800”
    • ENGL-262g “English Literature since 1800”
    • ENGL-263g “American Literature”
    • ENGL-280g “Introduction to Narrative Medicine”
    • ENGL-371g “Literary Genres and Film”
    • ENGL-381 “Narrative Forms in Literature and Film”
    • THTR-125 “Text Studies for Production”
    • THTR-403 “The Performing Arts”

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • CTWR-412 “Introduction to Screenwriting” (2 units) and CTWR-415a “Advanced Writing” (2 units)
    • ENGL-105x “Creative Writing for Non-Majors”
    • ENGL-302 “Writing Narrative”
    • ENGL-303 “Introduction to Fiction Writing”
    • ENGL-305 “Introduction to Creative Nonfiction”
    • ENGL-402 “Narrative Composition”
    • ENGL-404 “The Writer in the Community”
    • THTR-365 “Playwriting I”
    • THTR-366 “Playwriting II”

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • AMST-200g “Introduction to American Studies and Ethnicity”
    • AMST-274w “Exploring Ethnicity through Film”
    • AMST-285g “African American Popular Culture”
    • AMST-325gw “The Middle East in Hollywood”
    • AMST-333 “Religion in the Borderlands”
    • AMST-385 “African American Culture and Society”
    • AMST-448 “Chicano and Latino Literature”
    • ANTH-263g “Exploring Culture through Film”
    • ANTH-333g “Forms of Folklore”
    • COLT-250g “Cultures of Latin America”
    • COLT-365 “Literature and Popular Culture”
    • CTCS-192g “Race, Class, and Gender in American Film”
    • CTCS-392 “History of American Cinema to 1960”
    • CTCS-393 “Topics in Historical Cinema and Media”
    • CTCS-394 “History of American Cinema since 1960”
    • CTCS-407 “African American Cinema”
    • CTCS-414 “Latina/o Screen Cultures”
    • DANC-312gw “African American Dance”
    • ENGL-290 “Cultural Studies: Theories and Methods”
    • ENGL-381 “Narrative Forms in Literature and Film”
    • ENGL-392 “Visual and Popular Culture”
    • ENGL-447 “African-American Narrative”
    • HIST-380 “American Popular Culture”
    • MUSC-200gw “The Broadway Musical: Reflections of American Diversity”
    • MUSC-320gw “Hip-hop Music and Culture”
    • MUSC-460 “Film Music: History and Function from 1930 to the Present”
    • THTR-395 “Drama as Human Relations”
    • THTR-405 “Performing Identities”

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • AMST-325gw “The Middle East in Hollywood”
    • ANTH-263g “Exploring Culture through Film”
    • ANTH-365 “Life History in Anthropological Perspective”
    • ANTH-372 “Interpretation of Myth and Narrative”
    • COLT-264gp “Asian Aesthetic and Literary Traditions”
    • COLT-303 “Globalization: Culture, Change, Resistance”
    • COLT-375 “Latin American Cultural and Literary Theory”
    • COLT-382gw “Zen and Daoism in Asian Literature”
    • CTCS-200g “History of the International Cinema I”
    • CTCS-201 “History of the International Cinema II”
    • EALC-125g “Introduction to Contemporary East Asian Cinema and Culture”
    • EALC-332 “Modern Korean Literature in Translation”
    • EALC-333g “Introduction to Korean Film”
    • EALC-342gp “Japanese Literature and Culture”
    • EALC-358g “Transnational Chinese Literature and Culture”
    • EALC-380 “Cultural Topics in East Asian Literature”
    • EALC-385 “Myth, Folklore, and Fantasy in Japanese Literature and Film”
    • EALC-452 “Chinese Fiction”
    • EALC-455 “Japanese Fiction”
    • ENGL-333g “Literature of Gandhi’s India”
    • ENGL-374 “Literature, Nationality and Otherness”
    • ENGL-444 “Native American Literature”
    • ENGL-445 “The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives”
    • ENGL-450 “Caribbean Literature”
    • FREN-320g “The French New Wave and its Legacy”
    • FREN-375gw “Global Narratives of Illness and Disability”
    • GERM-360g “20th Century German Prose: Texts and Films”
    • ITAL-360g “Italian Cinema”
    • MDES-343g “Modern Arab Culture and Literature”
    • SPAN-301 “Introduction to Literature and Film”
    • SPAN-302 “Screen Cultures: From Film to the Internet”
    • SPAN-380g “Literature of Mexico”

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • AMST-301gp “America, the Frontier, and the New West”
    • AMST-378 “Introduction to Asian American History”
    • CLAS-325 “Ancient Epic”
    • CLAS-337gp “Ancient Drama”
    • CLAS-380 “Approaches to Myth”
    • COLT-312 “Heroes, Myths and Legends in Literature and the Arts”
    • COLT-324 “Women in Medieval and Renaissance Europe”
    • COLT-374g “Women Writers in Europe and America”
    • COLT-475 “Politics and the Novel”
    • COLT-476 “Narrative and the Law”
    • ENGL-351 “Periods and Genres in American Literature”
    • ENGL-352g “Bookpacking”
    • ENGL-364 “The Modern Novel”
    • ENGL-372 “Literature and Related Arts”
    • ENGL-422 “English Literature of the 17th Century”
    • ENGL-423 “English Literature of the 18th Century (1660–1780)”
    • ENGL-424 “English Literature of the Romantic Age (1780–1832)”
    • ENGL-425 “English Literature of the Victorian Age (1832–1890)”
    • ENGL-426 “Modern English Literature (1890–1945)”
    • ENGL-430 “Shakespeare”
    • ENGL-440 “American Literature to 1865”
    • ENGL-441 “American Literature, 1865 to 1920”
    • ENGL-461 “English Drama to 1800”
    • ENGL-465 “The English Novel to 1800”
    • ENGL-466 “The 19th Century English Novel”
    • GERM-340 “German Prose Fiction from Goethe to Thomas Mann”
    • GERM-372g “Literature and Culture in Berlin in the 1920s”
    • ITAL-350g “Gender and Sexuality in Renaissance Italy”
    • ITAL-381 “Storytelling in the Italian Tradition”
    • SLL-302g “Modern Russian Literature”
    • SLL-344g “Tolstoy: Writer and Moralist”
    • SLL-345g “Literature and Philosophy: Dostoevsky”
    • SPAN-304 “The Art of Fiction”
    • SPAN-372 “Modern and Contemporary Latin American Fiction”
    • THTR-301 “Greek and Roman Theatre”
    • THTR-302 “Shakespeare in His World”

  • Choose one course from this list based on your interests.

    • AMST-448 “Chicano and Latino Literature”
    • AMST-449 “Asian American Literature”
    • COLT-345 “Realist Fiction”
    • COLT-348 “Modernist Fiction”
    • COLT-420 “The Fantastic”
    • COLT-472 “Los Angeles Crime Fiction”
    • COLT-475 “Politics and the Novel”
    • EALC-354g “Modern Chinese Literature in Translation”
    • ENGL-361g “Contemporary Prose”
    • ENGL-363g “Contemporary Drama”
    • ENGL-375 “Science Fiction”
    • ENGL-376g “Comics and Graphic Novels”
    • ENGL-442 “American Literature, 1920 to the Present”
    • ENGL-447 “African-American Narrative”
    • FREN-347g “Race, Gender and Power in Francophone Literature”
    • SLL-303 “Contemporary Russian Literature”
    • SLL-348g “The Novels of Vladimir Nabokov”
    • SPAN-372 “Modern and Contemporary Latin American Fiction”
    • THTR-314 “Advanced Topics in Modern Drama”
    • THTR-401 “Contemporary Theatre in a Changing World”

  • Choose two upper-division (300-level or above) electives from the categories above, based on your interests, from different departments.

  • Complete this course during the fall or spring of your senior year. Most or all of your major requirements must be completed before enrolling in ENGL-492.

    • ENGL-492 “Narrative Studies Capstone Seminar”
Narrative Studies (Pre-2023) Requirements Worksheet

English (Minor) Requirements

The English minor requires 5 courses (20 units). At least 4 courses (16 units) must be unique to the minor (that is, not used to count toward any other requirements such as GE or major).

  • Choose two introductory seminars, which should be completed before you take any upper-division (300-level and above) courses for the minor.

    • ENGL-261g “English Literature to 1800”
    • ENGL-262g “English Literature since 1800”
    • ENGL-263g “American Literature”

  • Choose one course focusing on literature written before 1800.

    • ENGL-341 “Women in English Literature before 1800”
    • ENGL-420 “English Literature of the Middle Ages (1100–1500)”
    • ENGL-421 “English Literature of the 16th Century”
    • ENGL-422 “English Literature of the 17th Century”
    • ENGL-423 “English Literature of the 18th Century (1660–1780)”
    • ENGL-430 “Shakespeare”
    • ENGL-461 “English Drama to 1800”
    • ENGL-465 “The English Novel to 1800”

  • Choose one course focusing on American literature.

    • ENGL-350g “Literature of California”
    • ENGL-351 “Periods and Genres in American Literature”
    • ENGL-441 “American Literature, 1865 to 1920”
    • ENGL-442 “American Literature, 1920 to the Present”
    • ENGL-445 “The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives”
    • ENGL-446 “Contemporary African American Literature”
    • ENGL-447 “African-American Narrative”
    • ENGL-448 “Chicano and Latino Literature”
    • ENGL-449 “Asian American Literature”

  • Choose one upper-division (300-level or above) English (ENGL) elective based on your interests.

English Minor (Pre-2023) Requirements Worksheet