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 15-25 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 English minor is an excellent complement to any major or professional degree. English students graduate to a variety of careers, including law, teaching, scholarship, publishing, library science, and journalism--as well as medicine, business, politics, design, and any number of other fields that value clear communication, interpretive skill, and critical and creative thinking.
Engaged and innovative scholarship.
KU's English Department has several core strengths that cross tracks and periods, including Global and Cross-Cultural Approaches; Literature, Rhetoric, and Social Action; Diversity Studies; Language, Literature and Science; and Popular Expressive Forms.
At the KU English Department, students work closely with nationally-renowned writers and researchers. Our faculty have won national awards that recognize excellence in research, including grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the Newberry Library, among others. English Department faculty members have also received major research funding from the University of Kansas, including the Hall Center for the Humanities Research fellowships and Keeler Intra-University Fellowships for interdisciplinary work. Undergraduate students can work one-on-one with faculty mentors in the Honors Program, McNair Scholars Program, and Dean's Scholars Program.
Requirements for the Minor
The minor in English requires students to complete 18 hours of English coursework as a general minor, or in one of two concentrations: Creative Writing or Language, Culture, and Rhetoric.
Requirements for the English Minor, General
18 hours. 15 hours must be ENGL 300+ level courses. 12 hours must be selected from the following categories. No more than 1 ENGL 200-level course may count toward the minor; no more than 1 creative writing course may count for the regular track. ENGL 494, ENGL 495, ENGL 496, and ENGL 497 may not be applied to English minor requirements.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| |
| English Grammar | |
| Topics in Writing: _____ | |
| Foundations of Technical Writing | |
| Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition | |
| Topics in Rhetoric and Composition: _____ | |
| Composing Cultures | |
| Cultural Rhetorics | |
| The Development of Modern English | |
| Language and Social Justice in the US | |
| Introduction to the English Language | |
| Topics in English Language Studies | |
| Postcolonial and World Englishes | |
| Rhetoric and Writing: _____ | |
| English Language Studies: ______ | |
| Multimedia/Multimodal Rhetorics | |
| Language and Style | |
| American English | |
| |
| Topics in British Literature to 1800: _____ | |
| Major British Writers to 1800 | |
| Topics in American Literature to 1865: _____ | |
| American Literature I | |
| Chaucer | |
| Shakespeare | |
| The Development of Modern English | |
| Advanced Topics in British Literature Before 1800: _____ | |
| Shakespeare: _____ | |
| The Gothic Tradition | |
| Advanced Topics in American Literature to 1865: _____ | |
| The Literature of England to 1500 | |
| Renaissance English Literature: _____ | |
| Milton | |
| Romantic Literature: _____ | |
| |
| World Indigenous Literatures | |
| Global Environmental Literature | |
| Introduction to African Literature | |
| Introduction to U.S. Latino/a Literature | |
| Introduction to African-American Literature | |
| Introduction to Caribbean Literature | |
| Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literature: _____ | |
| American Literature of Social Justice | |
| Composing Cultures | |
| Cultural Rhetorics | |
| Language and Social Justice in the US | |
| Postcolonial and World Englishes | |
| The London Review | |
| Irish Literature and Culture: _____ | |
| Women and Literature: _____ | |
| |
*additional courses may count with departmental approval.
Requirements for the Creative Writing Concentration of the English Minor
18 hours. 15 hours must be ENGL 300+ level courses. 12 hours must be creative writing workshops (see below) in at least two genres. No more than 1 ENGL 200-level course may count toward the minor. For the purposes of the creative writing concentration of the major and minor, genres are 1) fiction; 2) poetry; 3) playwriting, screenwriting, and/or scriptwriting; and 4) non-fiction. At least one workshop must be at the 500 level or above. ENGL 494, ENGL 495, ENGL 496, and ENGL 497 may not be applied to English minor requirements.
Creative Writing workshops:
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| Fiction Writing I | |
| Poetry Writing I | |
| Screenwriting I | |
| Playwriting I | |
| Nonfiction Writing I | |
| Topics in Writing: _____ | |
| The London Review | |
| Fiction Writing II | |
| Poetry Writing II | |
| Nonfiction Writing II | |
| Intermediate Screenwriting | |
| |
Requirements for the Language, Culture, and Rhetoric Concentration of the English Minor
18 hours. 15 hours must be ENGL 300+ level Language, Culture, and Rhetoric courses (see below). Of those 15 hours, 1 course (3 hours) must beENGL 380 or ENGL 387; 1 course (3 hours) must be a 500+ level capstone in LCR (see below). No more than 1 ENGL 200-level course may count toward the minor. ENGL 494, ENGL 495, ENGL 496, and ENGL 497 may not be applied to English minor requirements.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ENGL 380 | Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition | 3 |
| or ENGL 387 | Introduction to the English Language |
| 3 |
| English Language Studies: ______ | |
| Multimedia/Multimodal Rhetorics | |
| Language and Style | |
| American English | |
| 12 |
| English Grammar | |
| Topics in Writing: _____ | |
| Foundations of Technical Writing | |
| Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition | |
| Topics in Rhetoric and Composition: _____ | |
| Composing Cultures | |
| Cultural Rhetorics | |
| The Development of Modern English | |
| Language and Social Justice in the US | |
| Introduction to the English Language | |
| Topics in English Language Studies | |
| Postcolonial and World Englishes | |
| Teaching and Tutoring Writing | |
| Rhetoric and Writing: _____ | |
| English Language Studies: ______ | |
| Multimedia/Multimodal Rhetorics | |
| Language and Style | |
| American English | |
Minor Hours & Minor GPA
While completing all required courses, minors must also meet each of the following hour and GPA minimum standards:
Minor Hours
Satisfied by 18 hours of minor courses.
Minor Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 12 hours of KU resident credit in the minor.
Minor Junior/Senior Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the minor.
Minor Junior/Senior Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in all departmental courses in the minor. GPA calculations include all junior/senior courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.
