Starting next fall, Georgetown’s English major will be revamped, eliminating many of the requirements that mark the current program. Current sophomores and juniors will have the choice between the two systems, while freshman and incoming students will be required to abide by the new standards.
The revamped system is designed to clarify the major’s requirements for students, English Department Chair Joseph Sitterson said. Although the same essential classes will be offered, students will no longer be required to take classes from within each of the three current concentrations – literature, cultural studies and writing.
“[The old system] was pretty complicated and it was difficult for some students to choose a course of study,” he said.
Instead, electives will be categorized within one of four subdivisions – Medieval and/or Renaissance Literatures and Cultures (courses numbered 100-149), Eighteenth and/or Nineteenth Century Literatures & Cultures (150-199), Modern and/or Postmodern Literatures & Cultures (200-299) and Critical, Scholarly and Creative Practices (300-499). An elective from each of the first two groupings, as well as one from the last two, will be required. Additionally, the new system will negate the distinction between introductory and advanced level classes.
Previously, the system was more complex and mandated that students take at least four courses in one of three concentrations, including Studies in Literature and Literary History, Studies in Culture and Performance and Studies in Writing: Rhetoric, Genre and Form. Furthermore, there is no longer a stipulation to take two courses focusing on literary material before 1850.
The push for change was initiated primarily from the faculty but was also based on exit interviews from two graduating classes, Sitterson said.
During the junior and senior years, after completion of the gateway courses, majors will have the option of either concentrating their studies in a specific topical area or studying a greater sampling of topics. These themes include British & American Literary Periods and Authors; Postcolonial, Ethnic and Critical Race Studies; Genre Studies; Creative Writing; Studies in Gender and Sexuality; and Cultural, Media and Performance Studies.
The English department will also be effected by other general education requirements mandated by the university. Whereas most students used to be required to take English-011 and then English-022 or an equivalent in another department, the second portion of this track has been changed. Now non-English majors will be required to take English 011 and either a Gateway course or an equivalent; those who have already taken 022 are free to choose whatever classes they would like.
English majors who have already begun their respective courses of study are strongly encouraged to fulfill the new requirements, Sitterson said.