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    Aliesha Walz
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    Class of 2007

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    Fr. Rene Kollar, O.S.B., Dean
    School of Humanities and Fine Arts
    Phone: 724-805-2343
    Fax: 724-805-2812

    rkollar@stvincent.edu 

Home > Majors and Programs > English

  • The School of Humanities and Fine Arts

    The English Program

    The English Department at Saint Vincent College provides an atmosphere and a setting for professors and students to continue the 2,500-year-old conversation about text, language, creativity, and imagination. With literature at the center of the conversation, students pursue focused intra-textual reading and apply wider insights that cross national, historical, critical, and disciplinary boundaries. Teachers are devoted to the perennial investigation of beauty and truth, the elasticity and fixity of language, the moral valences of scriptural and non-scriptural books, the complexities of gender, and the quest for self through the ideas of others. As participants in these processes, students think, research, and write more fluently about the canon as well as popular culture. Giving direction and resonance to these departmental endeavors are the Benedictine values of community, hospitality, stewardship, and care and concern for the individual. Ultimately, the person graduating with a degree in English will comprehend language both as an instrument and an art, having explored the felicitous tension between creative impulse and traditional form.

    • Literary study lies at the heart of the English Department’s curriculum: all courses demand extensive reading and textual analysis.
    • English faculty consists of publishing scholars of varying interests who prioritize teaching.
    • All courses demand a significant amount of writing and provide substantial writing instruction.
    • A cumulative portfolio requirement enables majors to chart their development as writers and thinkers.
    • Concentrations in Secondary School Teaching Certification, Creative Writing, Professional Writing, Children’s Literature, and Literary Studies allow students to focus their studies and prepare for careers.
    • Based on their concentration, majors complete a publishable Senior Project.
    • Our broad literature curriculum offers survey courses in British, American, and European literatures, as well as advanced courses in Chaucer, the British Renaissance, Romanticism, Sentimental Novels, and American Modernism.
    • Contemporary literature offerings include courses in J.R.R. Tolkien, Science Fiction, The Beat Generation, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Criticism.
    • The Creative Writing concentration develops skills in poetry, fiction, literary translation, and literary magazine production.
    • The annual Ragan Poetry Competition offers cash prizes to successful aspiring poets.
    • A yearly Writer-in-Residence holds readings and master classes.
    • Our Visiting Writer series hosts internationally renowned poets, novelists, and essayists.
    • The Alpha Theta Lambda chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, affords students the opportunity to present and publish creative and scholarly work.
    • The Review, the college newspaper, enables majors to gain first-hand journalistic experience through staff writer and editorial positions.
    • Internships at local newspapers, television stations, and professional writing firms provide practical work experience.

     The English Major: 36 credits  

    English Major Common Curriculum: 18 credits
    English majors must take each of the following courses:
    EL 102 Language and Rhetoric* - 3 credits
    EL 202 Intermediate Writing - 3 credits
    EL 325 Literary Criticism - 3 credits
    EL 326 Literary Criticism II - 3 credits
    EL 400 Senior Seminar - 3 credits
    * This course does not count toward the major, but it does count toward
    graduation.

    English majors also must take two (2) of the following surveys; at least one must be a British survey, and at least one must be an American survey:
    EL 114 British Literature: Middle Ages to Restoration - 3 credits
    EL 115 British Literature: Neoclassicism to Modernism - 3 credits
    EL 131 American Literature: Exploration to Civil War - 3 credits
    EL 132 American Literature: Civil War to Present - 3 credits

    In addition to the course requirements, all students must develop a portfolio in which they file a sample of their written work in their concentration related courses and a self-assessment of their learning each semester. Department faculty will evaluate student work after the Senior Project.

    Introductory Electives: 6 credits
    English majors must take two (2) of the following courses, the successful completion of which will also satisfy concentration requirements. Please note that certain concentrations will, to some degree, dictate students’ choices.
    EL 108 Technical Writing - 3 credits
    EL 109 Business Communications - 3 credits
    EL 110 Introduction to Creative Writing - 3 credits
    EL 111 Green Writing: Literature and the Environment - 3 credits
    EL 113 Women and Literature - 3 credits
    EL 114 British Literature: Middle Ages to Restoration - 3 credits
    EL 115 British Literature: Neoclassicism to Modernism - 3 credits
    EL 119 History of The English Language - 3 credits
    EL 121 Faces of Battle: War and Peace in Literature and the Arts - 3 credits
    EL 122 African Studies - 3 credits
    EL 124 Literature and The Bible - 3 credits
    EL 125 History and Development of Science Fiction - 3 credits
    EL 126 Rock 'n’ Roll Criticism - 3 credits
    EL 127 Shakespeare on Film - 3 credits
    EL 128 Children’s Literature: Fables to 1900 - 3 credits
    EL 129 Young Adult Fiction - 3 credits
    EL 130 Children's Literature: 1900 to Present - 3 credits
    EL 131 American Literature: Exploration to Civil War - 3 credits
    EL 132 American Literature: Civil War to the Present - 3 credits
    EL 137 American Short Story - 3 credits
    EL 138 Multi-Ethnic Literatures of The US - 3 credits
    EL 139 African American Literature - 3 credits
    EL 140 Myth - 3 credits
    EL 142 Creative Writing: Magazine Production - 3 credits
    EL 143 The Beat Generation - 3 credits
    EL 144 Reading as Writers: Literary Essay - 3 credits
    EL 145 Reading as Writers: Poetry - 3 credits
    EL 146 Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking - 3 credits
    EL 147 Arthurian Literature - 3 credits
    EL 148 Modern Catholic Literature - 3 credits
    EL 149 J.R.R. Tolkien - 3 credits
    EL 151 American Indian Literature - 3 credits
    EL 152 The Epic - 3 credits
    EL 153 Satire - 3 credits
    EL 154 Special Topics in Literature - 3 credits
    EL 155 Special Topics in Creative Writing - 3 credits
    EL 156 Special Topics in Professional Writing - 3 credits
    EL 157 Special Topics in Children’s Literature - 3 credits

    Advanced Electives: 12 credits
    English majors must take four (4) of the following courses, the successful completion of which will also satisfy concentration requirements. At least two of these required Advanced Electives must be a 200-level literature course. One Literature Advanced Elective must be chosen from the following group of courses: EL 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 218, 261, and 272. The second Literature Advanced Elective must be chosen from the following courses: EL 224, 225, 226, 236, 242, 257, 258, 259, 263, and 272. Please note that certain concentrations will, to some degree, dictate students’ choices.
    EL 203 Poetry Workshop - 3 credits
    EL 204 Fiction Workshop - 3 credits
    EL 208 Pedagogy of Composition - 3 credits
    EL 210 Classical Greek Poetry and Drama - 3 credits
    EL 211 Medieval Studies - 3 credits
    EL 212 Chaucer - 3 credits
    EL 213 Shakespeare's Histories - 3 credits
    EL 214 Shakespeare's Comedies/Tragedies - 3 credits

    EL 216 British Renaissance Literature - 3 credits
    EL 218 Eighteenth-Century Literature - 3 credits
    EL 224 The Romantic Age - 3 credits
    EL 225 The Victorians - 3 credits
    EL 226 British Modernism - 3 credits
    EL 236 Modern European Literature - 3 credits
    EL 242 American Renaissance - 3 credits
    EL 244 Creative Nonfiction Workshop - 3 credits
    EL 252 Creative Writing: Literary Translation - 3 credits
    EL 257 Sentimental Politics: American Women
    Writers of the Nineteenth Century - 3 credits
    EL 258 American Modernism - 3 credits
    EL 259 Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature - 3 credits
    EL 261 Advanced Studies in Literature - 3 credits
    EL 264 Advanced Studies in Creative Writing - 3 credits
    EL 266 Advanced Studies in Professional Writing - 3 credits
    EL 272 Advanced Studies in Children’s Literature - 3 credits

    Minor in English: 18 credits
    EL 102 Language and Rhetoric - 3 credits
    EL 325 or 326 Literary Criticism I or II - 3 credits 
    EL 114 British Literature: Middle Ages to Restoration or EL 115 British Literature: Neoclassicism to Modernism - 3 credits
    EL 131 American Literature: Exploration to Civil War or EL 132 American Literature: Civil War to Present - 3 credits
    EL — Any 2 Advanced courses (200 level)

    Minor in Children’s Literature: 18 credits
    The Children's Literature Minor at Saint Vincent College invites students to combine courses from many areas, to explore a wide range of topics from various disciplines, and to complement their academic aspirations. English majors are ineligible for the minor, but may choose children's literature as their area of concentration within the English major. Centered on exploring children's literature, the minor emphasizes many aspects of the reading, writing, and teaching of texts for age-specific audiences.

    Required courses: 12 credits (4 courses)
    Children’s Literature minors must take these courses:
    EL 129 Young Adult Fiction - 3 credits
    EL 128 Children's Literature: Fables to 1900 or EL 130 Children’s Literature: 1900 to Present - 3 credits
    EL 259 Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature

    Also, Children’s Literature minors must take one (1) of the following:
    PY 212 Child Development
    PY 214 Adolescent Development

    Elective courses: 6 credits
    Finally, Children’s Literature minors must choose two of the following:
    EL 119 History of The English Language
    EL 125 History and Development of Science Fiction
    EL 140 Myth
    EL 146 Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking
    EL 147 Arthurian Literature
    EL 235 The Epic
    EL 325 Literary Criticism
    EL 326 Literary Criticism II

    Fall Semester
    EL 102 Language and Rhetoric - 3 credits
    EL 114, 115, 131, or 132 British or American Literature - 3 credits
    Classical or Modern Language - 3-4 credits
    Mathematics or Natural Science - 3-4 credits
    100-level History - 3 credits

    All students will take one course designated as a First-Year Seminar which
    will satisfy a Core Curriculum requirement.

    Spring Semester
    TH 119 First Theology - 3 credits
    Classical or Modern Language - 3-4 credits
    Mathematics or Natural Science - 3-4 credits
    PL 101 First Philosophy - 3 credits
    EL 114, 115, 131, or 132 British or American Literature - 3 credits