Students will still be required to take classes in literature from different time periods as well as in criticism and literary theory, but the new major will allow students more academic flexibility by eliminating the requirement of a concentration within the major. Currently, students are required to take four classes in one of 10 possible concentration areas in addition to courses in literature before the mid-17th century, the mid-17th century to the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century to the present.
Except for creative writing, the other concentration areas including genders and sexualities, genre, cultural studies and popular culture, period study and literary history will be eliminated. While the concentration areas were originally intended to provide students with a sense of focus, many graduates said they did not find the structure beneficial, Huntington said.
The extensive course requirements made planning an English major a daunting task, said Nick Parillo '15, a student-faculty liaison for the English department.
While fulfilling concentration area requirements is not very difficult because many courses are cross-listed, the current structure of concentration areas seems arbitrary and excessively complicated, he said. Eliminating concentrations could simplify the process for prospective majors.
"Even if it won't make a huge practical difference, it will make people's D-planning crises more manageable," Parillo said.
Eliminating the concentration areas will provide students with more freedom when selecting courses in topics that interest them, Aaditya Talwai '13 said.
In addition to almost eliminating concentrations, the English department will introduce three broad survey courses corresponding to the literary time periods that the department uses to structure its course offerings. English majors will be required to take two out of the three courses in order to gain a sense of "historical continuity," Huntington said.
Survey courses give professors the opportunity to bring together different strains of English-language literature and provide students with a broader understanding of course material, English professor Ivy Schweitzer said.
"We drill down and see a little slice of the literary cultural pie, but we actually don't step back often enough and put it into perspective," she said.
Taking courses that only focus on specific authors or geographic regions prevents majors from gaining a holistic understanding of the literature they are studying, Talwai said. While he did not particularly enjoy reading medieval literature, he said he understands the benefit of studying a broad range of literature.
"As with any major, there are always some course requirements that you go through begrudgingly and don't enjoy as much as others," he said. "In order to appreciate contemporary texts, you need to have a chronological understanding of how the English language developed."
Survey courses could eliminate the need for professors to teach the context of the work before diving into its specifics, English major Patricia Liverpool '13 said.
The courses could also attract non-majors who are interested in English literature but do not want to study a specific author or genre, Schweitzer said.
To provide students with a "sense of progression" in the major, the new requirements also include a junior year colloquium to hone research skills in preparation for senior seminars and thesis competition, Huntington said. While senior seminars are capped at 12 students, the junior colloquia will accept up to 20 students.
Talwai said that since his favorite English courses have been small and discussion-based, he approves of the decision to create a new seminar-style class for juniors.
The major revision began in response to an external review of the English department that took place in 2007.
The review provided English department faculty with an opportunity "to look at the major in a fresh way," eventually leading to structural redesign, Huntington said.
