Literary & Cultural Studies

Students in the Literary & Cultural Studies track hone their skills as attentive readers of literature (poems, plays, literary fiction and nonfiction) and other media (films, comics, television shows, songs, and websites, for example), and as writers engaged in literary analysis and cultural criticism. Our students gain knowledge of literary language, form, genres, and histories through study of national, ethnic, and world literatures. They also sharpen their skills as critical thinkers by drawing on various literary, cultural, and interdisciplinary theories—from psychoanalytic theory and post-structuralism to queer theory and the digital humanities—to analyze texts. In doing so, they engage issues involving culture, identity, language, ethics, race, gender, class, and globalism, among many others. 

Critical thinking, close reading, and reflective, analytic, and persuasive writing are among the vital skills you can acquire as an LCS student and readily apply to your other courses and your career. Our students also get practice in conducting effective research, which becomes central to projects undertaken in our senior capstone seminars. The typical LCS course strongly encourages a substantial amount of discussion among students as well as with the teacher. Graduates from our program pursue successful careers in areas such as law, education, writing and editing, publishing, library sciences, arts administration, social justice work, public relations, business, and any field where careful and critical reading and effective communication are valued.

Literary & Cultural Studies Checklist
This electronic requirement checklist can be completed and used during advising sessions or utilized to track the progress toward your degree.

• A minimum of 36 credit hours is required, with at least 15 hours in the chosen track.
  
• Only courses listed on this checklist count toward the major. If you wish to substitute a course, before taking it you must submit a petition to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
  
• English Composition (ENGL 1001) is prerequisite to any Literary and Cultural Studies coursework.
• Although not required, it is highly recommended to complete the composition sequence (ENGL 2089: Intermediate Composition or equivalent) prior to beginning Literary and Cultural Studies coursework.

• ENGL 3000 Intro to English Studies
• ENGL 3006 Intro to Shakespeare
• ENGL 2007 or ENGL 2008 Survey: American Literature
• ENGL 2134 or ENGL 2135 Survey: British Literature
• English Course in Global, Ethnic, and Minority Literature in English
   (see below for list of approved courses)

• ENGL 3125  – Intro to Critical Theory
• Literary and Cultural Studies Track 3000+ Electives- take any three 3000 level or higher Literary & Cultural Studies courses. You may take more than one Capstone (ENGL 4100). The second Capstone will count as Literary and Cultural Studies Track elective. See the "Literary and Cultural Studies Track 3000+ Electives" list below for courses frequently offered.
• Capstone Course* – ENGL 4100 LCS Capstone
    *Prerequisites for the capstone are ENGL 3000, ENGL 3125, 6 hours of LCS coursework at the 3000 level or above and at least 75 total credit hours (UC +transfer credit if any).

• Choose 2 English courses, at the 2000 level or above, for a total of 6 hours (No English elective credit is given for 2000 level composition courses - (ENGL 2089 or it equivalent)