In fall 2011, the English Department will move to a new core literature and writing curriculum and discontinue its current literature and writing core courses. As of fall 2011, the current core sequence of ENGL 111/112 as well as ENGL 190 (used as a placement option for students with high English ACT scores) will be discontinued and will be replaced by a new “first course” (ENGL 121) and a cohort of courses (ENGL 201 through 204) from which students may choose their second course in the Literature and Writing core.
What follows is information for academic advisers as they help current advisees understand their options if those advisees have not yet completed their core requirement in Literature and Writing.
Upcoming registration information (options for spring and summer 2011)
The English Department will offer six sections of ENGL 111 Critical Reading/Writing I and 40 sections of ENGL 112 Critical Reading/Writing II courses in spring 2011. It also plans to offer at least one section of ENGL 112 during the extended 2011 summer session (May 25-July 21).
Students who currently are enrolled in ENGL 111 this fall or who have taken only ENGL 111 thus far are encouraged to take ENGL 112 in the spring to complete their core literature and writing requirement. Students who do not take ENGL 112 in the spring or during the extended 2011 summer session can complete their core requirement next fall or later by taking one of the ENGL 201-204 Texts in Conversation courses. (See below for more information.)
Students who will enroll in ENGL 111 this spring can complete their core literature and writing requirement by taking ENGL 112 during the extended 2011 summer session or by taking one of the ENGL 201-204 Texts in Conversation courses next fall or later.
Students enrolled in ENGL 190 this fall and who still need to complete their core requirement should take an additional literature course in English numbered 205 or above in any future semester. ENGL 190 will not be offered in spring 2011 or during the extended 2011 summer session.
The new core literature and writing sequence
In place of the ENGL 111, 112 and 190 courses, the English Department will move to a new two-tiered core literature and writing sequence beginning in fall 2011.
The first course that the majority of students will take is:
- ENGL 121 Critical Thinking: Literature and Writing (4 credits)
Students will read and write about literary texts critically and closely. The course emphasizes recursive reading and writing processes that encourage students to discover, explain, question and clarify ideas. To this end, students will study a variety of genres as well as terms and concepts helpful to close analysis of those genres. They will practice various forms of writing for specific audiences and purposes. Students will reflect on and develop critical awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses as readers and writers.
To complete their second and final core literature and writing course, students will be able to choose from one of four “Texts in Conversation” courses (ENGL 201-204).
In these courses, students will develop their ability to read and write critically from a variety of perspectives with a specific focus. Students will read texts not only closely but also intertextually, understanding them in relationship to one another. They will develop reflective awareness of the process they use as readers and writers within a community. These courses emphasize how writing produced in the classroom engages a larger discourse community.
The four Texts in Conversation courses are:
- ENGL 201 Texts in Conversation: Perspectives on Genre and Craft (4 credits)
This course examines the conventions of, and developments within, a literary genre during a specific period or across literary history. It also may explore the particular choices made by writers working in several genres and the effects of those choices on readers. The course will examine both the conventions and innovations practiced by writers working within one or more genres or periods, and may include study of the authors’ reflection on their own work and the work of their fellow writers. - ENGL 202 Texts in Conversation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (4 credits)
This course examines a body of literary texts in the framework of a discipline other than literary or English studies per se, e.g., the physical or social sciences, religion/theology, history, the other arts. - ENGL 203 Texts in Conversation: Thematic and Intertextual Perspectives (4 credits)
With its focus on thematic and intertextual perspectives, the readings in this course might be ordered any number of ways: according to theme, an idea that develops across genres or literary periods, or by their incorporation of specific oral or textual precedents (e.g., mythology, the Bible, classical writings, legends of folklore). - ENGL 204 Texts in Conversation: Perspectives on Language, Culture, and Literacy (4 credits)
This course examines artifacts of language and literature in their functions as social and cultural phenomena. The course will explore angles of analysis appropriate to the study of one or more of the following: everyday language, public rhetoric, or the various forms of mass and popular culture (film, music, blogging and texting). The course also may examine essential but critically contested concepts such as literacy, culture or literature.
It should be noted that the English Department is committed to offering one or more Aquinas Honors sections of ENGL 201-204 in future fall semesters.
New students starting in fall 2011 and who have qualifying ACT English scores will complete the core literature and writing requirement by taking one of the ENGL 201 through 204 Texts in Conversation courses plus one additional literature course in English numbered 205 or above (includes ENGL 205, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217, 218, 220, 221, 222, 297, 324, 325, 334, 337, 341, 360, 361, 362, 364, 365, 366, 367, 370, 371, 372, 373, 390 and 395 ) or two, two-credit ENGL 295 courses during J-Term.
Questions concerning spring registration or about the new core literature and writing sequence can be e-mailed to English Department chair, Dr. Andrew Scheiber.
