The English program of the Department of English and Modern Languages offers courses leading to the BA degree.
Every attempt has been made to state the major and minor requirements as clearly as possible. However, we recommend that every student majoring or minoring in the program maintain close communication with the academic advisor assigned by the department in order to plan a program suited to the student’s needs.
NOTE: The department does not guarantee that all courses listed will be offered every year.
Assessment
The Department requires student portfolio creation for assessment.
The major in English requires a minimum of 42 hours of coursework in the discipline divided between 24 hours of core courses and 18 hours in a concentration (Literature, Children’s Literature, Professional Writing, Creative Writing, and Secondary Licensure). Graduates from the program enter a variety of careers requiring skills in communication; research; and the analysis or production of texts, including teaching, journalism, law, publishing, creative writing, technical writing, and business management. The relatively low number of required hours for the major gives students flexibility either to develop further their background in writing and literature or to add expertise in a related field.
Students in Longwood’s English education program complete the core courses for the English major, as well as a minimum of 49 additional credit hours in courses that allow students to meet Virginia’s State Licensure Requirements for English teachers in grades 6-12. In addition, students must be formally admitted to the Teacher Preparation Program and should therefore complete EDUC 245 and EDUC 260 and pass the Praxis I examination preferably during their freshman year. Before being admitted to student teaching, teacher candidates must complete all required education and major courses except ENGL 482 , maintain a minimum cumulative GPA both overall and in the major, pass the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) and Praxis II tests. Finally, students must complete student teaching in their last semester.
In addition to the BA degree in English, the department offers four minors (English, Children’s Literature, Professional Writing, and Creative Writing).
