Areas of Emphasis

Areas of Emphasis

What are the Areas of Emphasis, and how do they work?

An Area of Emphasis is a group of four or more related courses within a major or coherent field of study. The English department introduced Areas of Emphasis to the Major in the Spring of 2009. We advise you to use the areas as suggestions for concentration in a particular genre or field of English Studies. Do you really love Medieval Literature or Creative Writing? By declaring an Area of Emphasis within your English Major, you can now map out the best way to satisfy all your Major Requirements while still focusing closely on the fields you find most interesting. The Areas of Emphasis are yet another way for our majors to tailor their degrees to their particular wishes and needs.

What can you concentrate your major work on now?

Right now, we have eleven different Areas of Emphasis that you may elect to pursue:

Medieval Literature: focuses on early literatures and languages from the British Isles , including work in Old English and Middle Welsh. Contact: Dr. William Kretzschmar.

Studies in the Novel: examines what makes "the novel" unique within English Studies, studying examples of the novel from the inception of the genre through contemporary explorations of what the medium can do. Contact: Dr. Richard Menke

Creative Writing: intensely focuses on Creative Writing classes and also includes discussion of classic and contemporary examples of creative literature. Contact: Creative Writing Office

Humanities Computing: examines how English Studies work in new media and the digital age. Contact: Position Vacant.

Multicultural American Literature: combines work in a variety of disciplines and examines the literary and artistic productions of peoples historically under-represented in English curricula. Contact: Dr. Carmen Comeaux. 

Rhetoric and Composition: looks at what writing is and means. In this concentration you will examine how the way a thing is stated or formed affects/reflects meaning within the composition itself and the cultural circumstances that produced it as well. Contact: Dr. Michelle Ballif.

English Language Studies: is a sister-concentration to Linguistics. In this track, you will examine how English as a language functions and the interplay between language and literature. Contact: Dr. William Kretzschmar.

Advanced Studies in English: has been dubbed the "Grad School Track" by our majors. This concentration will prepare you for continuing your Studies at the Graduate and Professional levels, whether in Law, Business, Medical school or other programs. The track helps specifically with preparation for the GRE subject test in English, emphasizing literary theory, advanced writing, and historical coverage. Contact: Dr. Sujata Iyengar .

Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies: will bring out your latent English nerd. If you love all things Renaissance -- history or the languages or even the fashions -- this cross-departmental concentration provides the ultimate foundation in Renaissance (or Early Modern) Studies. Contact: Dr. Sujata Iyengar .

American Literature: Extensive study of American literature from its colonial origins to the present, including writers of all races, religions, and nationalities. Contact: Dr. Cody Marrs. 

Poetics: poetry in theory and in practice from its ancient roots to the present day. Contact: Dr. Susan Rosenbaum.

If any of these areas of emphasis of these look interesting to you, you will need to come by the Undergraduate Office, Park Hall 111, and speak with the Administrative Coordinator, Jim Kallerman (jkallerm@uga.edu), about what you need to do to get your new Area(s) of Emphasis on record.

Areas of Emphasis are primarily intended as a student's self-advisement tools, ways of planning and tracking progress of study within the English Major as a whole. As such, please note that because of budgetary and staffing constraints, we cannot guarantee that students who have declared an area of emphasis will be able to complete it in any given year. Any student wishing to pursue an Area of Emphasis must come see either the Undergraduate Coordinator or Administrative Coordinator for advisement at the start of his or her Junior Year.

Which courses are accepted for each Area of Emphasis?

Each Area has a set of Required courses as well as a selection of "Emphasis Elective" courses from which students may choose.

Medieval Literature:

Required: ENGL 4060 Old English 

Three more Old or Medieval English Literature Classes

(ENGL 4210 Old English Literature, ENGL 4220 Beowulf, ENGL 4222 Topics in Early Brit. Lit, ENGL 4225 Age of Cathedrals: Lit. Culture in the High Middle Ages, ENGL 4230 Medieval Literature, ENGL 4240 Chaucer, ENGL 4270 Medieval Romance, ENGL 4290 Topics in Medieval Literature, ENGL 4296 Literature of Medieval Wales, ENGL 4297 Middle Welsh)

Studies in the Novel:

Required: ENGL 4864 History and Theory of the Novel

One Class in the Novel Before 1900

One Class in the Novel After 1900

One additional English class in the Novel

(ENGL 4430 18 th c. English Novel, ENGL 4520 19 th c. British Novel, ENGL 4730 American Novel to 1900, ENGL 4505 Jane Austen, ENGL 4865 Topics in the Novel before 1900) 

(ENGL 4670 20 th c. British Novel, ENGL 4780 20 th c. American Novel, ENGL 4685 Postcolonial Literature, ENGL 4690 James Joyce, ENGL 4795 William Faulkner, ENGL 4866 Topics in the Novel after 1900)

([includes all of the above plus any of the following]: ENGL 4630 African American Fiction, ENGL 4640 Film as Literature (when appropriate per topic), ENGL 4720 American Realism and Naturalism, ENGL 4995 Senior Seminar)

Creative Writing:

Required: ENGL 3800, ENGL 4800 (2 sections) 

One Contemporary Literature or Genre class

(ENGL 4760 Contemporary American Literature, ENGL 4770 20 th c. American Poetry, ENGL 4790 Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4860 Multicultural Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4660 20th c. British Poetry, ENGL 4670 20 th c. British Novel, ENGL 4680 Modern Irish Literature, ENGL 4690 Topics in 20 th c. British Literature, ENGL 4821 Poetics, ENGL 4864 History and Theory of the Novel, ENGL 4865 Topics in the Novel before 1900, ENGL 4866 Topics in the Novel after 1900)

Humanities Computing:

Required: ENGL 4885 Intro to Humanities Computing

Three More Humanities Computing classes

(ENGL 4886 Text and Corpus Analysis, ENGL 4888 Humanities Computing I, ENGL 4889 Humanities Computing II, ENGL 4832 Writing for the World Wide Web)

Multicultural American Literature:

Required: ENGL 2400 Multicultural Literature in America Or ENGL 3230 Development of African American Literature

Three more Multicultural American Literature classes

(ENGL 4620 African American Poetry, ENGL 4630 African American Fiction, ENGL 4685 Postcolonial Literature, ENGL 4695 Topics in Postcolonial Literature, ENGL 4860 Multicultural Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4880 Topics in African American Literature)

One class with a Multicultural or Postcolonial focus from outside the English department.

After consultation with your faculty mentor, choose 1 class with a Multicultural or Postcolonial focus in HIST, CMLT, RELI, Education, WMST, or POLS.

Rhetoric and Composition:

Four Advanced Writing Courses

(ENGL 3590 Technical and Professional Communication, ENGL 3600 Advanced Composition, ENGL 4832 Writing for the World Wide Web, ENGL 4830 Advanced Studies in Writing, ENGL 4831 Advanced Studies in Writing: the Critical Essay, ENGL 4850 Rhetoric, Literature and Textuality, ENGL 4833 Composition Theory and Pedagogy, ENGL/LING 4170 Second Language Acquisition, ENGL 4810 Literary Magazine Editing and Publishing, ENGL 4820 Literary Theory, ENGL 4825 Topics in Literary Theory, ENGL 4840 Internship in Literary Media (requires prior approval from the Undergraduate Office), ENGL 4888 Humanities Computing)

Students are encouraged to take a 5th course from the following: ELAN 4450 Teaching Writing in the Secondary School, JOUR 3410 New Writing and Reporting, JOUR 3410H News Writing and Reporting (Honors), SPCM 4200 Introduction to Rhetorical Theory, SPCM 4210 Classical Rhetoric, SPCM 4220 Theories of Argumentation

English Language Studies:

Required: ENGL 4005 History of the English Language 

Three Linguistics/English cross-listed classes

(ENGL 3020 Language Variation, ENGL 3030 Intro to the English Language, ENGL 3150 Generative Syntax, ENGL 4010 American English, ENGL 4040 Language Use in the African American Community, ENGL 4050 Structure of African American English, ENGL 4060 Old English, ENGL 4100 Lexicography, ENGL 4110 English Grammar, ENGL 4170 Second Language Acquisition, ENGL 4180 ESL Error Analysis, ENGL 4190 Topics in English Language, ENGL 4886 Text and Corpus Analysis)

Advanced Studies in English:

Required: ENGL 4820 Literary Theory 

A third pre-1800 class 

A second theory or genre class 

An advanced Writing Class

Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies:

Four Renaissance classes 

Either One Medieval Class

And One class from outside the department with a bearing on Renaissance Studies

OR 

Two classes from outside the department with a bearing on Renaissance Studies

American Literature: (Now Available)

Required: ENGL 2330 American Literature from the Beginnings to 1865 or ENGL 2340 American Literature from 1865 to the Present, or ENGL 2370H American Literature from the Beginnings to 1865 (Honors), or ENGL 2380H American Literature from 1865 to the Present (Honors) taken during first or second year to satisfy Area F/VI of Core or/and for Area C/IV or as general electives.

Required: One course in American or Multicultural Literature

(ENGL 4620 African American Poetry, ENGL 4630 African American Fiction, ENGL 4642/6642-4642L/6642L Films About the American South, ENGL 4700 People of Paradox: American Colonial Voices, ENGL 4710 Emancipated Imagination: American Renaissance, ENGL 4720 American Realism and Naturalism, ENGL 4730 American Novel to 1900, ENGL 4740 Southern Literature, ENGL 4750 American Modernism, ENGL 4760 Contemporary American Literature, ENGL 4770 Twentieth-Century American Poetry, ENGL 4780 Twentieth-Century American Novel, ENGL 4790 Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4860 Multicultural Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4880 Topics in African American Literature)

Four more American classes from the following:

(ENGL 4642/6642-4642L/6642L Films About the American South, ENGL 4700 People of Paradox: American Colonial Voices, ENGL 4710 Emancipated Imagination: American Renaissance, ENGL 4720 American Realism and Naturalism, ENGL 4730 American Novel to 1900, ENGL 4740 Southern Literature, ENGL 4750 American Modernism, ENGL 4760 Contemporary American Literature, ENGL 4770 Twentieth-Century American Poetry, ENGL 4780 Twentieth-Century American Novel, ENGL 4790 Topics in American Literature, ENGL 4860 Multicultural Topics in American Literature)

Poetics:

 

Required: ENGL 4821 Poetics

One class in poetry before 1800

One class in poetry after 1800 (includes Romantic poetry)

One additional English class centered on poetry or poetics.

 

(ENGL 4060 Old English, ENGL 4210 Old English Literature, ENGL 4220 Beowulf, 4230/4230W Medieval Literature,, ENGL 4240/4240W Chaucer, ENGL 4270 Medieval Romance, ENGL 4296 Literature of Medieval Wales, ENGL 4300/4300W Elizabethan Poetry, ENGL 4320/4320W Shakespeare I: Selection, ENGL 4330/4330W/4330E/4330S Shakespeare II: Topics, ENGL 4340 Renaissance Drama, ENGL 4350 17th-Century Poetry, ENGL 4370 Milton, or a topics course with a focus on poetry before 1800)

(ENGL 4500 Romantic Literature, ENGL 4540 Victorian Poetry, ENGL[AFAM] 4620 African American Poetry, ENGL 4660 20th-Century British Poetry, ENGL 4770 20th-Century American Poetry, or a topics course with a focus on poetry after 1800 [including Romantic poetry])

(Any other course from the lists above, ENGL 3050 Intro to Poetry, ENGL 4800W Advanced Creative Writing with a specified poetry or poetics focus; or any ENGL topics class with a poetry or poetics focus)

 

*Please note: courses outside the English major may have lower division prerequisites. Check the University Bulletin to find out what prerequisites you may need in order to enroll in courses outside of the English Major.

*Also note: while many Graduate Level Courses are accepted for various Areas of Emphasis, only 3 Graduate Level Courses in total may be applied toward an Undergraduate Degree at the University of Georgia .

For all Areas of Emphasis, if students feel that a course they have taken for the English Major should apply towards an Area of Emphasis, they may petition the Undergraduate Committee and appropriate Area Faculty for the course's inclusion within their Area of Emphasis work.