Academic Catalog 2023-2024

English

College of Arts and Humanities
Department of English

Program Description and Features

Bachelor of Arts

As a major, English offers a varied and soundly-based program that unifies the study of composition, language, and literature. Within the English major, students may concentrate their programs of study in literature, language, linguistics, or English education. Minors can focus on Creative Writing, English Literature, or Language and Linguistics.

The English major prepares the student for many different career paths, including teaching, law, social work, writing or editing, arts and entertainment, business, politics and public service, media, journalism, and many more. It also prepares students for advanced study in graduate and professional schools. Students develop skills in critical thinking, writing, and research, which are valuable in many professions. It is truly a versatile major.

The English: Literature option provides a strong foundation for the critical study of literature, its histories, and its structures. Students pursuing a degree in Literature will engage deeply with a variety of literary theories and critical methodologies as they create and construct their own analyses of literary and cultural texts. The program encourages students to investigate and interrogate the construction of the literary canon, as well as to expand its boundaries through the inclusion of diverse texts and perspectives. The capstone seminar, English 490 Seminar in Literature, enables students to demonstrate their development as readers, writers, thinkers, and as professional scholars.

The English: Language and Linguistics option provides insights into how human languages work. It covers topics such as the structure of the world's languages, the production, and perception of sounds, the formation of words and sentences, the creation and understanding of meaning, how people use two languages, how languages change over time, and the connection between language, identity, and society, just to name a few topics. The program provides the tools to investigate and to reflect upon its function within society and educational systems. Linguistics degrees provide students with organizational and analytical skills and help to train them in analyzing data. These skills provide a useful foundation for careers and graduate school.

Students may prepare for a career in teaching English at the secondary level (junior high or high school) by completing the English major. An approved "Subject Matter Preparation Program" such as our B.A. in English (English Education Option) offers further training useful to future educators. The English: Education option provides students with a solid foundation in the study of literature and language along with training in pedagogy and a secondary field. Completion of the English major is the first step in meeting the state requirements for a teaching credential. Interested students should consult the departmentally designated advisor for current information.

Master of Arts

The program leading to the Master of Arts Degree in English is a 30- semester-unit curriculum. Opportunities for emphasis in British and American Literature, Rhetoric and Composition, and Teaching English as a Second Language exist in a flexible curriculum.

The Master of Arts in English prepares students for doctoral degrees or for community college teaching positions. It is also a strong finishing school for students who wish to continue to develop their writing, reading, and research skills beyond the undergraduate level. The concentration in Rhetoric and Composition specifically prepares students to teach composition at  the community college level; it also improves the instructional skills of in-service teachers of English in the secondary schools. Graduate  students also may elect to do all of their work in the study of literature. Many students have discovered that work at both the undergraduate and graduate levels has provided them with the skills that enable them to succeed in business, industry, and the professions.

Students may choose to complete a concentration in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) .  The M.A. English: TESL program prepares students to teach adult ESL/EFL. Graduates go on to teach community college or adult school classes, or they teach abroad. This program also provides a solid foundation for those who plan to pursue a doctorate in either Linguistics or Applied Linguistics. 

Academic Advisement

All of the full-time faculty serve as academic advisors. Students may either choose their own advisors, or they may be assigned to advisors. Students who would like to be assigned to an advisor should come to the department office for assistance.

Students are urged to see an advisor upon admission, upon completion of 60 semester units, and during the first semester of their senior year. Academic advisors may refer their students to other student services when appropriate.

Preparation

Four years of high school college-preparatory English courses must have been completed in partial fulfillment of the admission requirements of The California State University.

Graduation with Honors

Undergraduate students who have met the following criteria will be awarded departmental honors at graduation:

  1. A minimum of 36 units in residence at CSU Dominguez Hills;
  2. An overall grade point average of 3.6 for upper-division courses taken for the major in English at CSUDH.