Language is one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of educated men and women. English is the discipline where students encounter works of fiction, poetry, and drama that unlock the richest potentialities of language. Students are also afforded a range of opportunities for developing their own writing to the fullest: critical essays on literature in a variety of courses, workshops in creative writing (poetry, fiction, and nonfiction), and the art of the essay. Language is also approached through linguistics, the history of English, and global English.With advanced training in English increasingly necessary for business and professional careers, this course of study is universally recognized as an ideal "preprofessional major"---one that opens career possibilities in such fields as law, publishing, teaching, and community service.
The English major offers a rich variety of courses for students interested in literature, creative writing, and language and society. Among the interdisciplinary offerings are courses in film, linguistics, and global studies.
Students may prepare for the study of literature on the graduate level. Concentrated work in English will be of great value to students preparing for such business and professional careers as editing, publishing, science and technical writing, advertising, public relations, and communications. The literature courses are designed to help students sharpen their reading and writing skills, gain new insights into human nature and cultural diversity, and achieve increased flexibility in their own approach to life.
Students preparing for graduate study in literature should have some knowledge of the range of English, American, and non-Western literature and should be acquainted with such major figures as Chaucer and Shakespeare. Because most graduate schools have foreign language requirements and candidates must sometimes demonstrate competence in several languages, prospective graduate students are urged to undertake their study of foreign languages as early as possible.
Students in English are encouraged to broaden their base of knowledge in as many fields as possible, many of which will resonate with interdisciplinary approaches in their English courses. Courses in comparative literature, foreign languages, communication studies, history, art, music, religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and education are especially recommended.
Base Curriculum Courses
No credit toward the major/specialization
| Writing I (or its equivalent) | 3 credits | |
| Writing II | 3 credits | |
| Great Works of Literature I | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| Great Works of Literature II | 3 credits |
Major/Specialization: 30 credits
Required Courses 15 credits
| Survey of English Literature I | 3 credits | |
| Survey of English Literature II | 3 credits | |
| Survey of American Literature I | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| Survey of American Literature II | 3 credits | |
| Contemporary Literature from Asia, Africa, and Latin America | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| Ethnic Literature | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| A Survey of African American Literaturee | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| English Voices from Afar: Post-Colonial Literature | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| A Survey of Caribbean Literature in English | 3 credits | |
| Chaucer | 3 credits | |
| or | ||
| Shakespeare | 3 credits |
Electives 15 credits
Choose five additional courses for 15 credits. Electives must be selected from Department of English offerings numbered at the 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000-levels. Courses offered by the Harman Writer-in-Residence are also included.
Note: Interdisciplinary courses, such as Feit Seminars (), and appropriate film studies courses may be included with prior permission of the department.
Advanced training in English language and literature is increasingly necessary for business and professional careers. Students who choose to develop their intellectual abilities in these areas may select two courses numbered 3000 or above from the offerings of the Department of English. To complete their minors, they enroll in an appropriate capstone course. All 4000-level offerings in the Department of English or an Independent Studies course in English may serve as the capstone course.
The Sidney Harman Writer-In-Residence Program
The Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program, an endowed residency in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, offers gifted undergraduates the opportunity to enroll in writing workshops taught by distinguished visiting professors. Since its inception in the fall of 1998, Harman Writers-in-Residence have included poets Yehuda Amichai, Agha Shahid Ali, April Bernard, Carol Muske-Dukes, Charles Simic, and Major Jackson; playwrights Edward Albee and Tony Kushner; authors William Finnegan, Philip Gourevitch, Jane Kramer, Mark Kurlansky, and George Packer; fiction writers Paul Auster, Susan Choi, Anita Desai, Francisco Goldman, Colum McCann, Lorrie Moore, Sigrid Nunez, Francine Prose, Joseph O'Connor, and John Edgar Wideman; and graphic novelist, Ben Katchor.
Harman courses vary in numbering and in subject, depending on the choice of the visiting writer. Interested students of all majors are encouraged to submit transcripts and writing portfolios for review to Professor Bridgett Davis, 646-312-3927; e-mail: Bridgett.Davis@baruch.cuny.edu.
Harman classes can be taken for honors credit and students can use the Harman courses to fulfill their honors course requirements. The courses also can be used in the Journalism major and minor and in the English major and minor.
Additional information on the Harman Residency is available at www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/harman.
All students are required to take:
(3 credits)
and
(3 credits).
Entering Students
Students are eligible to take ENG 2100 if they have earned a verbal SAT score of 480 or above or a score of 75 percent or higher on the New York State Regents English examination. Entering students in neither of these categories will be tested for reading and writing proficiency. The results of these exams will determine a students placement.
Special requirements for second-degree transfer students from universities in which English is not the language of instruction: Prior to their first semester at Baruch, all such transfer students must take a writing placement test administered by the Department of English. Students who pass the test will be awarded any and all composition credits to which they are entitled. Students who do not pass the writing placement test or who have earned fewer than 6 credits in composition will be placed in an appropriate English course.
Exemption Criteria
Students who enter Baruch College with any of the following sets of qualifications are exempt from ENG 2100 Writing I (without credit): an Advanced Placement (AP) English exam score of 4 or 5, an SAT verbal score of at least 680, and a writing section score of 12 or an SAT verbal score of at least 700 and a writing section score of 11 or 12. Note: Students who are exempt from this requirement may not enroll in ENG 2100.
| Writing I | 4 hours; 3 credits | |
| Writing II | 4 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literature and Economic Perspectives | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Great Works of Literature I | 4 hours; 3 credits | |
| Great Works of Literature II | 4 hours; 3 credits | |
| Naked English: Baring the Bones of the English Sentence | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Introduction to Literary Studies | 4 hours; 3 credits | |
| Survey of English Literature I | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Survey of English Literature II | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Survey of American Literature I | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Survey of American Literature II | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Contemporary Literature From Asia, Africa, and Latin America | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Ethnic Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| A Survey of African American Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| English Voices from Afar: Post-Colonial Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Survey of Caribbean Literature in English ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Children's Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literature for Young Adults | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Topics in Politics and Literature ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
Literature and Globalization | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| The Art of Film | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Film and Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Documentary Film ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Women in Film | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Workshop: Fiction Writing ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Sudden Fiction - Crafting Short Short Stories ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Elements of Poetry: Presenting Subject Matter | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Craft of Poetry: Form and Revision | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Advanced Essay Writing: Style & Styles in Prose | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Lyrics as Literature | 3.0 credits; 3.0 Hours | |
| Introduction to Linguistics and Language Learning ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Women in Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literature and Psychology ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Structure and History of English ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Masters of the Modern Drama: Ibsen through Tennessee Williams | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Contemporary Drama: The New Theatre | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The American Short Story | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Tradition and Influence in African American Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Black Women Writers | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literature and Philosophy of South Asia | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Law and Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Topics in Film | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Topics in Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Topics in Language | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literary Theory ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Globalization of English ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Approaches to Modern Criticism | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Medieval Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Chaucer | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Shakespeare | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| A Century of Renaissance Drama | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Religion and Revolution in Renaissance English Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Milton | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Eighteenth-Century Novel | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Major Topics in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Romanticism | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Nineteenth-Century English Novel | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Aestheticism and Decadence | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Oscar Wilde | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Modern Irish Writers | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Twentieth-Century British Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Currents in the Modern Novel | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Modern Short Story | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Modern Short Novel | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The Main Currents of Literary Expression in Contemporary America | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| The American Novel | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Lesbian and Gay Themes in Twentieth-Century Literature | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| African Diasporas: U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean ( | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Literature of the Harlem Renaissance | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Jewish-American Literature | 3 hours, 3 credits | |
| Insult, Abuse, and Ridicule: Satire Through the Ages | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Medieval Romance: A Comparative Study | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Gothic Mysteries | 3 hours; 3 credits | ||
| Perspectives on Literary Interpretation | 3 hours; 3 credits | |
| Narrative Writing ( | 4 hours; 4 credits | |
| Independent Study I | Hours and credits to be arranged | |
| Independent Study II | Hours and credits to be arranged | |
| Independent Study III | Hours and credits to be arranged | |
| Independent Study IV | Hours and credits to be arranged | |
| Independent Study V | Hours and credits to be arranged | |
| Honors in English I | Hours to be arranged; 3 credits | |
| Honors in English II | Hours to be arranged; 3 credits |