Advisement

Because of the diversity within the field of English studies, the English major allows you a great deal of flexibility in fulfilling program requirements. Along with the traditional focus on reading and analyzing British and American literature, English studies also incorporates a variety of sub-areas focusing on diversity of identity and culture, such as African American, Native American, or other ethnic American literature; women’s studies; or, more broadly, folklore, postcolonial, or multicultural studies. In addition, English studies also includes the use of language (such as language studies and rhetoric) and the production of texts (such as creative or professional writing and editing). Finally, it includes the pedagogy of teaching English studies (such as secondary education programs in English or composition studies).

Given such diversity, you might at times feel bewildered as to how to best pursue your own studies in English. This page provides basic advice on planning your English major program. It includes links to the general requirements of the English major as well as to area studies that you may choose to emphasize. As you plan your major program, you may decide to focus on a particular area of study or you may broadly sample a variety of areas. However you choose to shape your program, we offer seven recommendations for a successful experience as an English major at BYU:

1. In planning your program, be guided by your own interests. Ideally, you will feel rather passionate about the courses you take: you will enroll in them because they interest you deeply and because you want to learn more about the subjects they focus on. At the same time, you should keep an open mind: a university education is designed to broaden your understanding and interests. You will likely discover new “passions” as you learn more about English studies from the courses you take, and these new passions may lead you to reshape or modify your original program of study.
   
   
2. Visit your advisor in the English department early and often. Several professors in the English department are assigned to be advisors; you may learn their names and office numbers from the English department receptionist in 4198 JFSB. Because department advisors know English studies well and because it is their profession, they may offer insights and tips that the general humanities advisors will be unable to provide.
   
   
3. Plan to attend the annual English Department Advisement Fair. During each fall semester after you declare yourself an English major, an automatic hold will be placed on your registration by the English department. To release this hold, you must meet with an English department faculty advisor. The easiest way to meet with an advisor is during the annual Advisement Fair, usually held the week before winter semester registration begins. Advisement sessions generally last 5 to 15 minutes depending on your class standing and experience. Your progress towards graduation will be evaluated, and counsel will be given regarding departmental programs and opportunities and eventual career options. You must bring with you to the Fair a completed “Graduation Planner” worksheet (available from the Humanities Advisement Center, 1175 JFSB) and a copy of your current ABC report (in PDF format).
   
   
4. Plan ahead. Take prerequisite classes early in your program: English 251 should be taken by the first semester of your sophomore year, followed shortly by the 290s series, English 291, 292, and 293. You should fill the advanced writing requirement by no later than the first semester of your junior year (filling it during your sophomore year is preferable). The English department offers a limited number and variety of classes each semester or term, so map out your schedule early—and include options in case you can’t take the course you want during a given semester or term. Taking prerequisite and other core courses early in your program will allow you to adhere to a reasonable graduation timetable—and will allow flexibility in scheduling elective courses or in changing your focus or emphasis later in your program.
   
   
5. Start early in fulfilling the foreign language requirement—which is that you must successfully complete a 202-level class in the foreign language of your choice. All English majors at BYU must complete the GE foreign language option even if they have already completed the math option. Do not assume that this requirement will be met through missionary service: many missionaries are called to serve English-speaking missions. If you have had several years’ experience studying a foreign language in high school, you may be able to enter classes in that language at the 102 or 201 level (rather than at the beginning 101 level) here at BYU. If you’ve served as a missionary in a foreign-language mission, remember that you will need to pass a test in that language to receive foreign-language credit at BYU (or you will need to enroll in and pass a 202-level course). Advisors in the Humanities Advisement Center (1175 JFSB) can tell you where to go for more information about challenge exams in a given language.
   
   
6. Supplement required English courses with English 195 and English 200. English 195 is a one-credit class providing an overview of the area studies comprising English, the extracurricular and academic opportunities available to English majors at BYU, and career or graduate study options available to students who receive a bachelor’s degree in English. English 200 is a first-year English course for students with advanced high school experience in English. Even if you have AP credit which waives your taking English 115, you are strongly encouraged to take English 200 to prepare you for subsequent experiences in a writing-intensive major. (Most Honors 200 writing classes will also prepare you well for the writing you will do as an English major.)
   
   
7. The advanced writing requirement for English majors may be filled by taking any one of the several GE-approved advanced writing courses (go to the GE advanced writing web page at http://saugus.byu.edu/writing/homepage.cfm and click on “Courses” for a complete list of advanced writing courses). The advanced writing course tailored specifically to English majors is English 314: Writing about Literature—and most majors enroll in this course. However, many English majors choose to take other advanced writing courses that may be more congruent with their academic and career objectives. For example, pre-law English majors often enroll in English 312: Persuasive Writing, while students with a broad interest in the humanities may take English 311: Writing about the Humanities. English majors planning to do graduate work in sociology, psychology, or family relations may sign up for English 315: Writing in the Social Sciences; pre-business English majors may take Management Communications 320: Written Business Communication; students interested in editing or professional writing may take English 316: Technical Writing. This is the point: if you enroll in a specific advanced writing class by way of informed choice rather than by default, your experiences in that class likely will be much more useful and satisfying.