English (BA)

Program Requirements

Courses required for both concentrations

Lower Division
ENGL 101Writing3
or ENGL 200 Intermediate Composition
Select one of the following English Form courses:3
Introduction to Literature
Themes in Literature
Special Topics: Multicultural and World Literature
Studies in Poetry
Studies in Fiction
Studies in Drama
Film Form
Special Topics in Form
Honors Special Topics in Literature 1
Select one of the following English History courses:3
Studies in Shakespeare
Honors Literature II
Literature of Western Civilization I
Literature Western Civilization II
British Literature Survey I
British Literature Survey II
Survey of American Literature
Topics: Multicultural Literature
Indigenous Literature Alaska Hawai'i
Topic: World Literature
Film History
Special Topics: Literature History
Honors Special Topics in Literature 1
Upper Division
300/400 Literature 1660 or Before (see list of courses below under the Literature Concentration) 3
300/400 Multicultural Distribution courses: (may double count with another requirement) 0-3
Special Topics in Writing 1
Multicultural Literature of the United States
Studies in Post Colonial Literature
African-American Literature
Themes in Literature (Florence) 1
Advanced Special Topics in Writing 1
American Indian Literatures
Literature of the Americas
Special Topics in American Literature 1
Studies in Women Writers 1
Topics in Literature 1
Special Topics 1
Total Hours12-15
1

Indicates Department Chair’s approval needed for using this course as a requirement.

Students must choose one of the following two concentrations:

Literature Concentration

Literature 1660 or Before
Select two of the following:6
Medieval Literature: Rage and Romance
Shakespeare
Renaissance Literature
Themes in Literature (Florence) 1
Love in the Renaissance (Florence)
Beowulf: In-Laws and Outlaws
Chaucer
Milton and His Contemporaries
Tudor and Stuart Drama
Studies in Women Writers 1
Topics in Literature 1
Topics in Literature 1660 or before (Pre-1660 or Before)
British Literature 1660-1914
Select one of the following:3
The Romantic Age
Victorian Era
Restoration and 18th Century Literature
Twentieth Century British Literature
Modern Drama 1
18th Century British Novel
Restoration 18th Century British Drama
19th Century British Novel
Studies in Women Writers 1
Topics in Literature 1
Topics: British Literature 1660-1914
American Literature Pre-1914
Select one of the following:3
American Literature I
American Literature II
American Narratives
African-American Literature 1
19th Century American Novel
Special Topics in American Literature 1
Melville
American Realism and Naturalism
Studies in Women Writers 1
Topics in Literature 1
Topics in Pre 1914 American Literature
Literature Post-1914
Select two of the following:6
American Literature III
Multicultural Literature of the United States
African-American Literature
Modern Drama 1
20th Century Novel (Florence)
Topics in Film 1
20th Century American Novel
Recent American Writing
American Indian Literatures
Literature of the Americas
20th Century British Novel
Special Topics in American Literature 1
Studies in Women Writers 1
Topics in Literature 1
Topics in Literature Post 1914
300/400 Non-Literature Broadening
Select one of the following:3
300/400 Level Writing (see Writing Concentration below for writing courses)
Critical Theory: Literature and Cultural Study
Poetics
Internship
300/400 Electives 6
ENGL 495Senior Seminar3
ENGL 499Senior Project0
Total Hours30
1

Indicates Department Chair’s approval needed for using this course as a requirement.

Note: No single course can satisfy more than one requirement, except for the Multicultural Distribution courses listed.

Writing Concentration

300/400 Literature Electives (see Literature Concentration above for literature courses) 12
Select five of the following Writing courses:15
Research and Writing for Majors
Poetry Writing
Fiction Writing
Creative Non-Fiction Writing
Highways and Byways English Country Poetry
The Writing Traveler
Special Topics in Writing
Typography and Book Design
The Art(s) of Editing
Writing for Social Action
Writing Center Practicum
The Teaching of Writing
Advanced Poetry Writing
Advanced Fiction Writing
Advanced Nonfiction Writing
Advanced Special Topics in Writing
Directed Research
Literary Journalism
Playwriting
ENGL 496Writing Senior Project0
Total Hours27

Note: Students must take at least one 400 level Writing course.

University Core

In addition to their major and minor areas of study, all undergraduate students follow a common program designed to complete their education in those areas that the University considers essential for a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal, and humanistic education. The University Core Curriculum consists of forty-five credits of course work, with additional designation requirements that can be met through core, major, or elective courses.

The University Core Curriculum is a four-year program, organized around one overarching question, which is progressively addressed through yearly themes and questions. Hence, core courses are best taken within the year for which they are designated. First year core courses encourage intellectual engagement and provide a broad foundation of fundamental skills. Second and third year courses examine central issues and questions in philosophy and religious studies. The fourth year course, the Core Integration Seminar, offers a culminating core experience. Taken at any time throughout the four years, broadening courses intersect with the core themes and extend students’ appreciation for the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Finally, the designation requirements (writing enriched, global studies, and social justice) reflect important values and reinforce students’ knowledge and competencies.

Overarching Core Question: As students of a Catholic, Jesuit, and Humanistic University, how do we educate ourselves to become women and men for a more just and humane global community?

Year 1 Theme and Question: Understanding and Creating: How do we pursue knowledge and cultivate understanding?

  • The First-Year Seminar (DEPT 193, 3 credits): The First-Year Seminar (FYS), taken in the fall or spring of the first year, is designed to promote an intellectual shift in students as they transition to college academic life. Each small seminar is organized around an engaging topic, which students explore from multiple perspectives. The FYS is offered by many departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of FYS courses).
  • Writing (ENGL 101 Writing, 3 credits) and Reasoning (PHIL 101 Reasoning, 3 credits): The Writing and Reasoning courses are designed to help students develop the foundational skills of critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing. They may be taken as linked sections. Writing (ENGL 101 Writing) carries one of the three required writing-enriched designations (see below).
  • Communication & Speech (COMM 100 Communication and Speech, 3 credits): This course introduces students to interpersonal and small group communication and requires the application of critical thinking, reasoning, and research skills necessary to organize, write, and present several speeches.
  • Scientific Inquiry (BIOL 104 Scientific Inquiry:/BIOL 104L Scientific Inquiry LabCHEM 104 Scientific Inquiry/CHEM 104L Scientific Inquiry Lab, or PHYS 104 Scientific Inquiry/, 3 credits): This course explores the scientific process in the natural world through evidence-based logic and includes significant laboratory experience. Students pursuing majors that require science courses will satisfy this requirement through their major.
  • Mathematics (above Math 100, 3 credits): Mathematics courses promote thinking according to the modes of the discipline—abstractly, symbolically, logically, and computationally. One course in mathematics, above Math 100, excluding MATH 193 FYS: and including any math course required for a major or minor, will fulfill this requirement. MATH 100 College Algebra (College Algebra) and courses without the MATH prefix do not fulfill this requirement.

Year 2 Theme and Question: Being and Becoming: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?

  • Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201 Philosophy of Human Nature, 3 credits): This course provides students with a philosophical study of key figures, theories, and intellectual traditions that contribute to understanding the human condition; the meaning and dignity of human life; and the human relationship to ultimate reality.
  • Christianity and Catholic Traditions (RELI, 3 credits). Religious Studies core courses approved for this requirement explore diverse topics including Christian scriptures, history, theology, and practices as well as major contributions from the Catholic intellectual and theological traditions (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

Year 3 Theme and Question: Caring and Doing: What principles characterize a well lived life?

  • Ethics (PHIL 301 Ethics or RELI, 3 credits): The Ethics courses are designed to help students develop their moral imagination by exploring and explaining the reasons humans should care about the needs and interests of others. This requirement is satisfied by an approved ethics course in either Philosophy (PHIL 301 Ethics) or Religious Studies (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • World/Comparative Religion (RELI, 3 credits): Religious Studies courses approved for this core requirement draw attention to the diversity that exists within and among traditions and encourage students to bring critical, analytical thinking to bear on the traditions and questions considered. These courses carries one of the required two global-studies designations (see below) (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

Year 4 Theme and Question: Imagining the Possible: What is our role in the world?” 

  • Core Integration Seminar (DEPT 432, 3 credits). The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) offers students a culminating core experience in which they integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the core, and their disciplinary expertise. Some CIS courses may also count toward a student’s major or minor. The CIS is offered by several departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of CIS courses).

The Broadening Courses

  • Fine Arts & Design (VART, MUSC, THEA, 3 credits): Arts courses explore multiple ways the human experience can be expressed through creativity, including across different cultures and societies. One approved course in fine arts, music, theatre, or dance will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • History (HIST, 3 credits): History courses are intended to develop students’ awareness of the historical context of both the individual and the collective human experience. One course in History (HIST 101 Foundations of the WestHIST 102 The West and the WorldHIST 112 World HistoryHIST 103 United States History IHIST 104 United States History II) will fulfill this requirement.
  • Literature (3 credits): Literature courses foster reflection on how literature engages with a range of human experience. One approved course in Literature (offered by English, Classics, or Modern Languages) will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences (3 credits): Courses in the social and behavioral sciences engage students in studying human behavior, social systems, and social issues. One approved course offered by Criminal Justice, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women and Gender Studies will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

The Designations

Designations are embedded within already existing core, major, minor, and elective courses. Students are encouraged to meet designation requirements within elective courses as their schedule allows; however, with careful planning students should be able to complete most of the designation requirements within other core, major, or minor courses.

  • Writing Enriched (WE; 3 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the WE designation are designed to promote the humanistic and Jesuit pedagogical ideal of clear, effective communication. In addition to the required core course, Writing (ENGL 101 Writing), which carries one of the WE designations, students must take two other WE-designated courses (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Global-Studies (GS; 2 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the GS designation are designed to challenge students to perceive and understand human diversity by exploring diversity within a context of constantly changing global systems. In addition to the required core course, World/Comparative Religion (RELI 300-level), which carries one of the GS designations, students must take one other GS-designated course (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Social-Justice (SJ; 1 course meeting this designation): Courses carrying the SJ designation are designed to introduce students to one or more social justice concerns. Students must take one course that meets the SJ designation (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

Major-specific adaptations to the University Core Curriculum

All Gonzaga students, regardless of their major, will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements. However some Gonzaga students will satisfy certain core requirements through major-specific programs or courses. Any major-specific adaptations to the core are described with the requirements for the majors to which they apply.

Honors Program Requirements

Students must take the following courses to complete their Honors degree

HONS 100Multi-modal Communications3
PHIL 101Reasoning3
HONS 193FYS:3
HONS 432CIS3
HONS 499Honors Senior Project3
Select five of the following: 115-16
Science Inquiry
and Science Inquiry Lab
Honors Human Nature
Honors Special Topics: Mathematics
Honors Christian Catholic Traditions
Honor World or Global Religion
Foundations of the West
Asian&PacificIslanderAmerHist
Honors Special Topics in History
Honors Special Topics in Art
Honors Special Topics in Literature
Honors Ethics
HONS 290Honors Colloquium 23
HONS 390Honors Colloquium 23
1

These courses are cross-listed with regular University courses, and can fulfill core or major requirements.

2

Course numbers may be repeated for credit.

In order to remain an Honors student in good standing, a student must:

  1. Complete the Honors First Year Block (HONS 193 FYS:HONS 100 Multi-modal Communications, and PHIL 101H Reasoning: Honors) or the transfer equivalent within one academic year of joining the program.
  2. Must either complete 6 credit hours of HONS courses (or courses with the Honors Designation) per academic year, or be within 12 credit hours of completing the Honors requirements. Exceptions will be made for students studying abroad during the academic year.
  3. Must achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.3 at the time of graduation and good academic standing throughout their tenure at Gonzaga (as defined by the undergraduate catalogue). Students who drop below a 3.0 for two consecutive semesters will be removed from the program (subject to Director review).

Students who fail to meet these requirements will be removed from the program and will no longer qualify for the Honors scholarship.