English Major Overview with Professors Kristina Deffenbacher & Rachel Tofteland-Trampe
The English major consists of ten courses that offer students
opportunities to pursue their interests in a diverse field. Students may
choose an English major with a concentration in creative writing or
minors in literature, creative writing, professional writing, or
linguistics. English majors interested in teaching at the
secondary level may elect an education minor with a communication arts
and literature concentration.
The faculty of the English department have three goals for students who graduate with a major or minor in English.
Students should be able to read, write, and inquire critically
and imaginatively, understanding both the theoretical and practical
dimensions of reading and writing.
Students should understand the rhetorical, cultural, historical,
and interdisciplinary contexts of the literatures we teach and the
profession we practice.
Students should join the discourse of the field and explore the
nature of the profession, which includes valuing independent and
collaborative learning, blurring and crossing disciplinary lines, and
investigating the relationship between language and culture.
In order to achieve these goals, students pursuing a major or minor
in English take ten classes in four different categories: Introductory
Inquiries, Gateway Courses, Intermediate Courses, and Courses that
Synthesize Theory and Practice.
Learning Outcomes
The purpose of learning outcomes at Hamline University is to ensure that our mission and values are realized in what our graduating students know, value, and can do. View all learning outcomes for English.