Why study English language and literature?
Because reading and writing shape the world.
KU's English Department is at the core of the humanities, highlighting the "human" through our individual, one-on-one interactions with our students, our emphasis on community and global engagement, and our abiding interest in our shared humanity through the stories of others. We seek to challenge the mind and to engage the imagination of our students, to teach them to ask questions and to seek for answers. We encourage them to grapple with the complexity of a culturally and commercially interconnected world and the global networks and processes of cultural exchange. We believe that words and ideas will shape the world. We teach our students life-long skills, so that they learn to write clearly, creatively, and effectively—discovering themselves even as they lay a solid foundation for professional success.
A commitment to teaching and learning.
Our department is renowned for its tradition of excellence in teaching. The vast majority of our undergraduate classes have 20-35 students, and much of the class time is dedicated to active learning and engagement with texts and ideas. In the last ten years, faculty members in the department of English have won ten Kemper Fellowships for Excellence in Teaching, two Chancellors Club Teaching Professorships, a Career Achievement Teaching Award, and a wide variety of other university-level teaching and advising awards, and the department as a whole received the Center of Teaching Excellence (CTE) award for Department Excellence in Teaching at the University of Kansas.
A variety of career and life paths.
The Literature, Language, and Writing program at the Edwards campus helps to prepare undergraduate students for a variety of professions, including law, scholarship, publishing, library science, and marketing--as well as any number of other fields that value clear communication, interpretive skill, and critical and creative thinking.
Contact Academic Advisor J. D. Smith, jdsmith@ku.edu, 785-864-1689, for more information.
Undergraduate Admission
Admission to KU
All students applying for admission must send high school and college transcripts to the Office of Admissions. Prospective first-year students should be aware that KU has qualified admission requirements that all new first-year students must meet to be admitted. Consult the Office of Admissions for application deadlines and specific admission requirements.
Visit the International Support Services for information about international admissions.
Students considering transferring to KU may see how their college-level course work will transfer on the Office of the University Registrar website.
Requirements for the B.A. or B.G.S. Literature, Language, and Writing Major
KU Edwards Campus
The undergraduate program in literature, language, and writing is offered in its entirety only at the KU Edwards Campus, 12600 Quivira Rd., Overland Park, KS 66213. This program is designed for students who have earned an associate’s degree or equivalent hours and wish to complete the upper-level courses necessary for a bachelor’s degree.
Literature, Language, and Writing Program
The major in Literature, Language and Writing requires 30 hours, of which 3 hours may be an appropriate 200-level English course. The program includes professional writing courses. Internship opportunities may be pursued as credit toward the major, offering students the opportunity to develop communication skills in specific professional contexts.
In today’s rapidly changing work environment, employers are seeking people who can deal with concepts and abstractions, who are imaginative and creative, and who have good communication and people skills. A degree in English can help develop these skills, and it is good preparation for a variety of advanced professional degrees in areas such as business and law. English majors pursue a range of careers including editing, technical writing, advertising and public relations, teaching, market research, retail management, teaching English as a second language, nonprofit fund-raising and/or advocacy, Web design, speech writing, sales, video production, script reading, radio and television, and many others. Some career paths require an advanced degree or specialized post-graduate training, but an undergraduate degree in English is an excellent base from which to explore career options.
Contact the Academic Coach on the Edwards Campus, Alyson Germinder, agerminder@ku.edu, 913-897-8528 for more information.
Requirements for the B.A. or B.G.S. Major
Course Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 9 |
| |
| Topics in British Literature to 1800: _____ | |
| The British Novel | |
| Major British Writers to 1800 | |
| Major British Writers after 1800 | |
| Studies in British Literature | |
| Topics in American Literature to 1865: _____ | |
| American Literature I | |
| Chaucer | |
| Shakespeare | |
| Advanced Topics in British Literature Before 1800: _____ | |
| Shakespeare: _____ | |
| The Gothic Tradition | |
| Advanced Topics in American Literature to 1865: _____ | |
| |
| Introduction to English Studies | |
| Topics in British Literature to 1800: _____ | |
| Topics in British Literature Since 1800: _____ | |
| World Indigenous Literatures | |
| Global Environmental Literature | |
| Introduction to Literary Criticism and Theory | |
| The British Novel | |
| Major British Writers to 1800 | |
| Major British Writers after 1800 | |
| Studies in British Literature | |
| Topics in American Literature Since 1865: _____ | |
| Recent Popular Literature | |
| Studies in Twentieth-Century Drama: _____ | |
| Topics in Forms and Genres: _____ | |
| Chaucer | |
| Shakespeare | |
| Major Authors: _____ | |
| Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literature: _____ | |
| American Literature of Social Justice | |
| |
| Science Fiction | |
| Science, Technology, and Society: _____ | |
| Contemporary Literary Theory | |
| History of the Book | |
| Advanced Topics in British Literature Before 1800: _____ | |
| Shakespeare: _____ | |
| Irish Literature and Culture: _____ | |
| Major Authors (Capstone): _____ | |
| Fiction Writing II | |
| Poetry Writing II | |
| Nonfiction Writing II | |
| The Gothic Tradition | |
| Modernism | |
| Topics in American Literature: _____ | |
| Women and Literature: _____ | |
| African American Literature: _____ | |
| Advanced Topics in American Literature to 1865: _____ | |
| Poetry since 1945 | |
| Rhetoric and Writing: _____ | |
| English Language Studies: ______ | |
| Multimedia/Multimodal Rhetorics | |
| Language and Style | |
| American English | |
| Studies in: _____ | |
| Renaissance English Literature: _____ | |
| Romantic Literature: _____ | |
| Victorian LIterature: ______ | |
| Studies in: _____ | |
| 9 |
| Topics in Reading and Writing: _____ | |
| Introduction to Fiction | |
| Introduction to Creative Writing | |
| Professional Communication | |
| Fiction Writing I | |
| Poetry Writing I | |
| Screenwriting I | |
| Playwriting I | |
| Foundations of Technical Writing | |
| Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition | |
| Topics in Rhetoric and Composition: _____ | |
| Cultural Rhetorics | |
| The Development of Modern English | |
| Introduction to the English Language | |
| Postcolonial and World Englishes | |
| 12 |
| Total Hours | 30 |
Major Hours & Major GPA
While completing all required courses, majors must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:
Major Hours
Satisfied by 30 hours of major courses.
Major Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours of KU resident credit in the major.
Major Junior/Senior Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 27 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.
Major Junior/Senior Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in junior/senior courses (300+) in the major. GPA calculations include all junior/senior courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.
A sample 4-year plan for the BA degree in Literature, Language, and Writing can be found here: Literature, Language and Writing, or by using the left-side navigation.
A sample 4-year plan for the BGS degree in Literature, Language, and Writing can be found here: Literature, Language and Writing, or by using the left-side navigation.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Recognize and be able to draw on the main methods and fields of English studies, including writing (creative, technical/professional, scholarly) and literary and cultural studies using the texts, genres, and approaches appropriate to the field.
- Demonstrate understanding of methods of interpretation and analysis, including but not limited to close reading, rhetorical analysis, and reading for craft.
- Write clearly and proficiently in more than one genre / rhetorical context (e.g. academic, creative, public, professional, multimedia, etc.); demonstrate competence with the elements of form appropriate to the genre.
- Organize, develop, and sustain critical arguments with a clear, complex thesis supported with textual evidence drawn from close reading and scholarly methodologies current in English Studies; also demonstrate ability to address potential objections or contradictory viewpoints.
- Undertake independent research using scholarly methodologies current in English studies; work with the KU library and other resources for pursuing research; cite research in an accepted citation style.
- Understand and produce writing with an awareness of relevant social and historical contexts.
Departmental Honors
To be admitted to the English Honors major program, an undergraduate student must have earned a 3.5 grade-point average in English courses. The student should declare an English major, if enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or an English concentration, if enrolled in the School of Business or the School of Education.
Honors English majors must complete at least 1 section of ENGL 598
Honors Proseminar: _____ and ENGL 599
Honors Essay. This requirement, in effect, adds 3 hours of capstone-level coursework to the student’s emphasis.
