Major Requirements
The Literature Major
The Literature major consists of 10 courses given by, or approved by, the department.
Two core courses are required for the Literature major. All students will complete LTWR 199. In most cases, Literature majors will fill the core requirements by taking LTWR 200. Literature majors who minor in Cinema and Media Studies can substitute LTWR 221 for LTWR 200.
Two of the following core courses are required for the Literature major:
- LTWR 199 Approaches to Literature
- LTWR 200 Intro to Theory (or LTWR 221 The Critical Lens for Cinema and Media Studies minors)
Four Context courses that cross borders of space or time are required for the Literature major:
- Two courses that emphasize Geographical and Cultural Contexts
- Two courses that emphasize Historical Contexts
Of the ten courses required for the Literature major, two must be upper-level courses:
- One course designated by the department as a 200-level Research Methods course.
- One course taken at the 300 level.
The remaining two courses are taken as electives.
LTWR 199 is an introduction to the Literature and Writing majors and is open to all students thinking about majoring in Literature or Writing. All potential majors are urged to take it no later than the beginning of their sophomore year. While LTWR 199 and LTWR 200 constitute a sequence in the Literature major and must be taken in that order, this sequence is not necessarily consecutive: LTWR 199 is a class appropriate for incoming first-year students, while LTWR 200 is an advanced course in critical theory, open only to students with sophomore standing and above who have taken LTWR 199. Students will thus typically take LTWR 199 at the beginning of their first year, and they will take LTWR 200 no earlier than the beginning of their second year.
LTWR 199 is the prerequisite for all 300-level classes offered by the department. Some 300-level classes may have additional prerequisites.
The Department of Literature & Writing does not permit double-counting. Although some of our courses fill multiple requirements, each course can only be used to fill one requirement for a particular student’s major or minor.