Literary and Cultural Studies - Department of English

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Literary and Cultural Studies

Literary and Cultural Studies gives you access to historical and emergent traditions of literature, culture and thought. Through critical interpretation and dialogue, we can see how language mediated through texts arranges and allows different ways of knowing and living. In the process you will read some of the greatest wordsmiths and thinkers in the English language.

What are the benefits of a Literary and Cultural Studies concentration?

The study of literature and culture provides you with invaluable skills in writing, thinking and expression. These proficiencies in communication and perception are powerfully flexible and adaptable, preparing you to think creatively and innovate across diverse scenarios.

How to Focus?

Students who select the Literary and Cultural Studies concentration may wish to focus their coursework in a particular subject area. Possible area clusters include, but are not restricted to:

African American Literature and Language

From the narratives of slavery and emancipation to the exuberant expressions of the Harlem Renaissance.

American Literature before 1900

Explore an exceptional variety of literary forms and authorial voices from the moment of European contact with the New World through the early twentieth century.

Cultural Studies and Theory

Cultural Studies works with a much wider range of ‘non-canonical’ objects than is usually studied in English courses.

Early British Literature

Early British Literature covers a millennium of writing in English, from the early medieval period through the eighteenth century.

Ethnic American Literatures and Cultures

Ethnic studies examines racial and cultural diversity and its impact in American literature, society, and media (including visual culture).

Students are encouraged to pursue and build their own interests through clusters in other areas and topics.

Relevant Courses

ENGL 225: Sexuality and Modern Visual Culture
ENGL 226: Latina and Latino Border Theories
ENGL 227: Introduction to Culture and Sexuality
ENGL 228: Introduction to Disability Studies in the Humanities
ENGL 233: Chemistry and Literature
ENGL 235: African-American Oral Folk Tradition
ENGL 240: Exploring Literary Traditions
ENGL 245: Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies
ENGL 261: Exploring Literary Forms
ENGL 262: Reading Fiction
ENGL 263: Reading Poetry
ENGL 265: Reading Nonfiction
ENGL 268: Reading Drama
ENGL 297: Special Topics
ENGL 298: Special Topics
ENGL 300: Honors Course in English
ENGL 301M: Honors Seminar in English: Literature Before 1800
ENGL 302M: Honors Seminar in English: Literature After 1800
ENGL 303M: Honors Seminar in English: American Literature & Culture
ENGL 311: The Canon and Its Critics
ENGL 312: Globality and Literature
ENGL 395: Internship (3 credits only)
ENGL 397: Special Topics
ENGL 398: Special Topics
ENGL 400: Authors, Texts, Contexts
ENGL 401: Studies in Genre
ENGL 402: Literature and Society
ENGL 403: Literature and Culture
ENGL 404: Mapping Identity, Difference, and Place
ENGL 405: Taking Shakespeare From Page to Stage
ENGL 407: History of the English Language
ENGL 426: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Production: Literature, Film, Music
ENGL 427: Topics in Jewish American Literature
ENGL 428: Asian American Literatures
ENGL 429: New Media and Literature
ENGL 430: The American Renaissance
ENGL 431: Black American Writers
ENGL 432: The American Novel to 1900
ENGL 433: The American Novel: 1900-1945
ENGL 434: Topics in American Literature
ENGL 435: The American Short Story
ENGL 436: American Fiction Since 1945
ENGL 437: The Poet in America
ENGL 438: American Drama
ENGL 439: American Nonfiction Prose
ENGL 440: Studies in Shakespeare
ENGL 441: Chaucer
ENGL 442: Medieval English Literature
ENGL 443: The English Renaissance
ENGL 444: Shakespeare
ENGL 445: Shakespeare’s Contemporaries
ENGL 446: Milton
ENGL 447: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
ENGL 448: The English Novel to Jane Austen
ENGL 449: Women Poets
ENGL 450: The Romantics
ENGL 451: Literary Modernism in English
ENGL 452: The Victorians
ENGL 453: Victorian Novel
ENGL 454: Modern British and Irish Drama
ENGL 455: Topics in British Literature
ENGL 456: British Fiction, 1900-1945
ENGL 457: British Fiction Since 1945
ENGL 458: Twentieth-Century Poetry
ENGL 461: The Vernacular Roots of African American Literature
ENGL 462: Reading Black, Reading Feminist
ENGL 463: African American Autobiography
ENGL 466: African American Novel I
ENGL 467: African American Novel II
ENGL 468: African American Poetry
ENGL 469: Slavery and the Literary Imagination
ENGL 481: Literary Theory: Historical Perspectives
ENGL 482: Contemporary Literary Theory and Practice
ENGL 482W: Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory
ENGL 483: Problems in Critical Theory and Practice
ENGL 484: James Joyce
ENGL 485: Australian and New Zealand Literature and Culture
ENGL 486: The World Novel in English
ENGL 488: Modern Continental Drama
ENGL 489: British Women Writers
ENGL 492: American Women Writers
ENGL 493: The Folktale in American Literature
ENGL 497: Special Topics
ENGL 498: Special Topics

LA 495: Internship (3 credits only)