Undergraduate

Majors and Minors

The following information reflects the requirements for students entering the University of South 91社区 in or after summer 2020. For students who entered prior to summer 2020, please review the requirements for your specific year or meet with your advisor.

ENGLISH

A bachelor鈥檚 degree in English prepares students for any field that values critical thinking, high reading comprehension, clear and effective writing, and the ability to interpret and analyze language. It provides two concentrations from which students must choose one: creative writing and literary studies.

Creative writing

This concentration is designed for aspiring writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Students who graduate with this concentration will demonstrate the following:

  • Knowledge of the forms and techniques of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction
  • Knowledge of literary genres and the techniques used by authors within each genre
  • The ability to analyze literature in its cultural and philosophical context
  • The ability to critique student manuscripts and offer constructive feedback within a workshop setting

Literary studies

This concentration provides students with a knowledge of literary method, literary history, and a broad range of literary accomplishment (including knowledge of emerging fields, world literatures, and ethnic literatures). While the concentration places much emphasis on appreciating works of literature as artifacts produced in their own culture contexts, it also enables students to make connections between contemporary life and the study of literature. It evaluates students' grasp of formal and technical elements of literary practice and emphasizes the development of writing skills and the production of disciplinary writing.

Successful completion of the major with this concentration will enhance students' capacity for aesthetic enjoyment, critical reflection, and effective self-expression, and may provide preparation for further study (graduate and professional schools) or communication and research skills to be used in a work environment.

PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

This major provides students with both a practical and a theoretical orientation to communication in a variety of media and genres. The major prepares students to work as innovative professional communicators in a variety of fields 鈥� from government to business to medicine. It also prepares students for graduate programs in rhetoric, composition, and professional communication.

The major will produce graduates who can think critically about communication, contexts, and technology as well as compose technologically-mediated documents and products using a variety of tools.