Department Chair:
Dr. Alison Ligon (Professor)
Faculty:
Francine Allen Adams (Associate Professor), Consuella Bennett (Associate Professor), Corrie B. Claiborne (Associate Professor); Tanya Clark (Assistant Professor), Leah Creque (Professor), Stephane Dunn (Professor), Michael Janis (Professor), Sonya Freeman Loftis (Professor), Nathaniel Norment (Professor NTT), Corey Stayton (Assistant Professor)
Program overview:
English majors gain an abiding appreciation of world literature and cultures-textual, visual, and digital-and acquire the interdisciplinary and intercultural skills in critical thinking and writing necessary to succeed in advanced studies in the humanities and all professional careers. The English major offers three concentrations: Africana Literature and Cultural Studies, Traditional English Studies, and Writing. The program provides a comprehensive curriculum of traditional and contemporary course selections with robust offerings in the African American and Africana literary traditions. The faculty is devoted to the teaching of writing across disciplines, including research skills, literary and cultural criticism, and creative writing.
Morehouse students must be effective communicators whose abilities in reading, writing, speaking, and listening reflect their sustained intellectual preparation and commitment to humanistic inquiry. Diverse and interdisciplinary courses represent the effort of the department to meet students’ societal needs and interests and to broaden career opportunities for majors and minors. Because of its emphasis on communication skills, critical thinking, and cultural diversity, English provides a firm foundation for those interested in fields such as education and scholarship, creative writing, and journalism, as well as social activism, theology, law, and business.
Students who complete the requirements for the English major will earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The B.A. requires 42 hours in English major courses. The curriculum for the major in English includes 10 mandatory core courses that include the HENG 241 - Literary Form gateway course and the HENG 497 - Senior Seminar capstone course. Senior Seminar serves as the capstone course for all fields of concentration. After completing the other English core courses, students will choose from three areas of concentration. This new curriculum allows students to choose at least four of their courses based on their career interests. As a part of the Senior Seminar, the senior project will focus on the student’s area of concentration.
Student learning outcomes:
- Recognize the significant authors, representative works, literary conventions and techniques, genres, movements, periods, and cultural background of British, American, and African diasporic literature.
- Apply knowledge of literary forms and historical modes of literary criticism and theory.
- Demonstrate oral and written communication skills at or above the department’s established achievement levels.
- Integrate critical thinking and research skills into the interpretation and analysis of literary and non-literary works.
- Identify and analyze relationships among and between global literature, languages, and cultures.
- Synthesize culturally diverse perspectives in literature and literary criticism.
Department policies and/or General Education modifications:
A grade of C or higher is required for majors to satisfactorily complete all courses in the English major or minor, including concentration courses and electives designated for the concentration.
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