The department offers the B.A. in English and the M.A. in English. Minors are offered in English, drama, and film studies. Two tracks lead to the B.A. in English: the basic major and the drama track. For those who major in English in the College of Education and Human Services, the Department offers courses toward certification at the secondary level.
The department serves UNF's students through training and education in English. Recognizing the centrality of writing skills to an educated citizenry, the department seeks to enhance its own expertise in the teaching of writing, to develop links between the department's composition courses and the remaining general education curriculum, and to assist faculty in other departments as they, too, seek to teach writing.
Advanced study in English usually concerns the history, modes, context, and accomplishments of the linguistic arts. The department's courses often involve the reading of a culture through its literary products. Film and drama, as forms of story, fall within the department's range, as do literature in general, both oral and written, and linguistics. The English faculty actively advance knowledge in the department's domain.
Content/Disciplinary Knowledge & Skills
-Demonstrate a knowledge of texts in a wide range of media, genres, periods and contexts
-Apply relevant theoretical concepts to the texts they encounter
Critical Thinking Skills
-Read literary texts closely and deeply, analyze and interpret them
-Make reasoned arguments in defense of the positions they take
-Conduct responsible research in print archives and electronic data bases using standard M.L.A. procedures
Communication Skills
-Write papers that are critical, creative, and convincing
-Make effective presentations
The department assesses the achievement of these outcomes through the Senior Seminar (Lit 4934), which serves at the capstone for the major. At minimum 5 sections of Senior Seminar are offered each year. An ad hoc committee made up of faculty who are teaching or have taught the Seminar within a two-year period will assess student projects using a scoring rubric. Faculty will not participate directly in the assessment of their own seminars.