Literature Minor

The Literature minor is an excellent accompaniment to any major course of study. Studying literature improves critical thinking through close reading and careful analysis of language and cultures. You will gain strong research, reading, and writing skills alongside a deeper and more empathetic understanding of different voices and life experiences. More importantly, you will get to read and study beautiful and moving stories, plays, and poems that cut to the meaning of being alive and human.

Core courses in American, British, or world literature and an introduction to literary theory form the basis for this 18 credit Literature minor. You also have the opportunity to study literature in translation, ancient to contemporary, from every corner of the globe. With your three electives you can customize your coursework to your interests. A few example elective clusters you can construct include:

• Women and Sexuality in Literature – 4060 Early Modern Women Writers, 3300 Women and Literature, 2765 LGBTQ Issues and Literature
• Identity and Literature – 2300 Literature and Disability, 2765 LGBTQ Issues and Literature, 3880 Folklore in America
• Ethnic American Literature – 2650 Ethnic American Literature, 2660 19th Century African American Literature, 3061 Jewish American Literature and Culture
• Myths and Folklore – 3620 The Classical Tradition in Western Literature, 3880 Folklore in America, 2620 Classical Mythology
• Popular Culture and Literature – 4150 The American Comic Tradition, 3730 Comics and the Graphic Novel as Literature, ENGL 2710 Introduction to Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Global Literature – 2003 Hispanic Literature, 3710 South Asian Literature, 3000 World Drama
• Colonialism Across the Atlantic – 3720 Caribbean Literature, 3092 Transatlantic Literature, 3700 African Literature
• The Novel – 4090 The 19th-Century English Novel, 4050 The Novel in the 18th Century, 3100 World Novel
• Drama – 3000 World Drama, 4030 Shakespeare’s Drama: Text and Performance, 3010 American Drama
• Film – 3091 Asian Cinemas: Eastern Vision in a Post Colonial World, 2540 Global Issues in Film, 3090 Questioning War in Film and Literature
• Literature before Shakespeare – 3030 The Middle Ages, 2600 The Bible as Literature, 4010 Chaucer and His World
• The Romantics – 4200 The Romantic Movement in U.S. Literature 1810-1860, 4080 British Romanticism, 4090 The 19th-Century English Novel
• Modern and Contemporary British Literature – 4115 British Modernism, 3060 Modern Poetry, 3040 British Literature Since World War II
• Modern and Contemporary American Literature – 4230 American Novel Since World War II, 3210 Major American Writers of the 20th Century, 2670 20th Century African American Literature

Curriculum and Requirements

Visit our University Catalog for more information about this minor.