British Literary Studies Minor

The British Literature minor is for students who wish to increase their knowledge of important British authors, texts, and contexts. Students with aspirations toward fully understanding and appreciating the English-language literary tradition from its origins to the present will be well served by this minor, as will students who wish to develop critical reading and writing abilities necessary for graduate study of literature as well as law, business, and other fields in which a clear comprehension of complex rhetoric and communication is essential. The British Literature minor will be especially attractive to English majors, majors in other overlapping areas in the humanities such as History and Philosophy, and all students with interdisciplinary interests that include literature.

Rationale for the Minor

The department is revising its major and minor curriculum this year. The new minor in British Literary Studies  will add to the options students will have to pursue a focused study of a major national literature. At present, students can take a minor in film or a minor in drama; however, they do not have the option of taking a minor that focuses on the study of British or American literature. The minor in British Literary Studies, then, increases the number of different areas of concentration for students not majoring in English. In addition, it provides students who are interested in graduate school in English the opportunity to major in English and to minor in one of our discipline’s most important content areas.