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Undergraduate Bulletin College of Arts and Sciences
Department of English

Major in English (Bachelor of Arts in English)

Students on Fall 2026, Spring 2027, or Summer 2027 requirements ENGBA

The Bachelor of Arts in English provides majors with marketable skills in writing, text analysis, and critical thinking and allows them to explore the power of the English language in all its historical, persuasive, and expressive range.

In addition to core requirements, students choose from an array of elective options.

Requirements

The major requires at least 30 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
  1. Thinking with Texts. One (1) course:
    • ENG-L 260 Thinking with Texts
  2. Encounters with Theory. One (1) course:
    • ENG-L 371 Encounters with Theory
  3. Literary History. One (1) course:
    • ENG-L 305 Chaucer
    • ENG-L 306 Middle English Literature
    • ENG-L 307 Medieval and Tudor Drama
    • ENG-L 308 Elizabethan and Seventeenth-Century Drama
    • ENG-L 309 Elizabethan Poetry
    • ENG-L 310
    • ENG-L 312 Literary History 2: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
    • ENG-L 313 Early Plays of Shakespeare
    • ENG-L 314 Late Plays of Shakespeare
    • ENG-L 317 English Poetry of the Early Seventeenth Century
    • ENG-L 318 Milton
    • ENG-L 320 Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Literature
    • ENG-L 327 Later Eighteenth-Century Literature
    • ENG-L 328 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama
    • ENG-L 332 Romantic Literature
    • ENG-L 338 Celtic Narratives
    • ENG-L 347 British Fiction to 1800
    • ENG-L 350 Early American Writing and Culture to 1800
  4. English Electives.
    1. 200–499 Elective. One (1) course:
      • Any ENG-G 200–299
      • Any ENG-G 300–399
      • Any ENG-G 400–499
      • Any ENG-L 200–299
      • Any ENG-L 300–399
      • Any ENG-L 400–499
      • Any ENG-R 200–299
      • Any ENG-R 300–399
      • Any ENG-R 400–499
      • Any ENG-W 200–299 except ENG-W 202; ENG-W 205
      • Any ENG-W 300–399
      • Any ENG-W 400–499
      • ENG-X 373 Professional Practice in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 395 Global Experience in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 471 Teaching Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 473 Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 490 Individual Reading in English (Departmental consent required)
    2. 300–499 Elective. One (1) course:
      • Any ENG-G 300–399
      • Any ENG-G 400–499
      • Any ENG-L 300–399
      • Any ENG-L 400–499 except ENG-L 498
      • Any ENG-R 300–399
      • Any ENG-R 400–499
      • Any ENG-W 300–399
      • Any ENG-W 400–499
      • ENG-X 373 Professional Practice in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 395 Global Experience in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 471 Teaching Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 473 Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
      • ENG-X 490 Individual Reading in English (Departmental consent required)
    3. 400–499 Elective. One (1) course:
      • Any ENG-L 400–499 except ENG-L 498
      • Any ENG-R 400–499
      • Any ENG-W 400–499
  5. Concentration or Additional Electives. One of the following options:
    • Electives Option.
      1. 200–499 Electives. One (1) additional course:
        • Any ENG-G 200–299
        • Any ENG-G 300–399
        • Any ENG-G 400–499
        • Any ENG-L 200–299
        • Any ENG-L 300–399
        • Any ENG-L 400–499
        • Any ENG-R 200–299
        • Any ENG-R 300–399
        • Any ENG-R 400–499
        • Any ENG-W 200–299 except ENG-W 202; ENG-W 205
        • Any ENG-W 300–399
        • Any ENG-W 400–499
        • ENG-X 373 Professional Practice in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 395 Global Experience in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 471 Teaching Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 473 Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 490 Individual Reading in English (Departmental consent required)
      2. 300–499 Elective. Three (3) additional courses:
        • Any ENG-G 300–399
        • Any ENG-G 400–499
        • Any ENG-L 300–399
        • Any ENG-L 400–499 except ENG-L 498
        • Any ENG-R 300–399
        • Any ENG-R 400–499
        • Any ENG-W 300–399
        • Any ENG-W 400–499
        • ENG-X 373 Professional Practice in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 395 Global Experience in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 471 Teaching Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 473 Internship in English (Departmental consent required)
        • ENG-X 490 Individual Reading in English (Departmental consent required)
    • Concentration Option. One (1) of the following concentrations (see requirements below):
      • Creative Writing
      • Law, Communication, and Writing
      • Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication
      • Science and Writing
      • Social Movements and Writing
  6. Major Hours and Minimum Grade Requirements.
    1. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    2. Major Upper Division Courses. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300-499 level.
    3. Minimum Grade. A grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.

Major Area Courses

  • Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

    • Any course at the 100–499 level with the ENG prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent
    • Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
    • Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
    • Any course, consistent with the policies herein, that is part of a concentration, track, and/or specialization being pursued as part of this academic program
Exclusions

The following courses cannot be applied toward major requirements or the College Breadth requirement (unless otherwise noted) :

  • Any ENG-E 100–199
  • Any ENG-G 100–199
  • Any ENG-L 100–199
  • Any ENG-W 100–199
  • ENG-W 131 Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I *
  • ENG-W 170 Introduction to Argumentative Writing: Projects in Reading and Writing *
  • ENG-W 202 English Grammar Review
  • ENG-W 205 Vocabulary Acquisition
  • ENG-X 101 Pre-Composition

Courses marked with an asterisk (*) will count toward the College Breadth requirement.

Restrictions

The following restrictions apply to the minimum credit hours required in the major:

  • Only 3 credit hours from a combination of:
    • ENG-X 373 Professional Practice in English
    • ENG-X 471 Teaching Internship in English
    • ENG-X 473 Internship in English

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

  • Interdepartmental Major in African American and African Diaspora Studies and English (Bachelor of Arts) [INTRBA_M02]
  • Interdepartmental Major in English and African American and African Diaspora Studies (Bachelor of Arts) [ENGAAADBA]
  • Minor in Communication and Public Advocacy [COPUADVMIN]
  • Minor in Creative Writing [CRWRTMIN]
  • Minor in English [ENGMIN]

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Concentrations