undergraduate/major/concentrations-and-foci/text/top

Many options exist within the English major. We offer two main tracks: our Standard Major and the Creative Writing concentration. Within the Standard Major, you can explore a series of concentrations devoted to historical period, genre, or critical approach -- and you can add these to your Standard Major at any time before graduation. 

Concentrations within the Standard Major consist of four courses. They do not increase the total number of courses for the major; students instead build the concentration from courses already taken to fulfill the major. A student choosing a concentration in Poetry and Poetics, for example, would still complete the major in the same number of courses. On the way, the student would need to take four poetry courses: 2 at the intermediate and 2 at the advanced level.

HOW TO DECLARE A CONCENTRATION:

• Create a new worksheet in Penn-in-Touch. Add an English major and choose your concentration. (You also can just delete your existing major in your current worksheet and then add the new one if you wish).
• Meet with your Faculty Advisor and fill in the bubbles on your worksheet. Have your Faculty Advisor change the status of your new worksheet over to "Official."
• Send an e-mail to Loretta Williams. Explain that you have met with your advisor, and request that she change your major designation to include the Concentration.

Current concentrations include: