English Major Requirements
An English major at Lehigh consists of nine 4-credit courses (total of 36 credit hours). Those nine courses must include the following:
- English 100: Working with Texts
- One course in British Literature to 1660
- One course in British Literature 1660-1900
- One course in American Literature to 1900
- One course in 20th/21st Century literature, film, or popular culture
- One 300-level writing-intensive course (which can be taken either as an elective or to fulfill one of requirements 2-5; students may also fulfill the writing-intensive requirement in a second major)
- Three or four electives (students who use a writing-intensive course to fulfill one of requirements 2-5 must take four electives; students who do not use a writing-intensive course for one of requirements 2-5 must complete four electives, one of which must be a 300-level writing-intensive course). At least five of these courses must be at the 300-level, with at least three of those five being used to fulfill requirements 2-5.
At 36 credit hours, the English major is designed to work well as both a standalone major and a double major. In addition, students can enroll in a five-year combined bachelor’s plus master’s degree program in English Education through Lehigh’s College of Education.
English Minor Requirements
To minor in English students take 16 credits in literature or film, one course must be at the 300 level. Students may also minor in creative writing. A minor declaration form is available onlne.
To learn more about other aspects of the English Department, please click on the navigation block to the left.
To learn more about a major, double major, or minor in English, talk to Professor Lyndon Dominique in Drown 320B (lyd211@lehigh.edu)
Honors in English
To receive departmental honors, an English major must attain a 3.5 GPA in courses for the major, take a course in Critical Theory (either ENGL 309 or 312) in addition to the 36-hours of course credit listed above, and write a senior thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor.
To complete an honors senior thesis, students enroll in ENGL 307: Thesis Proposal (1 credit) the semester before writing the thesis, and under the guidance of a faculty advisor produce a formal proposal and bibliography. During the following semester, students enroll in ENGL 308: Thesis (3 credits), during which time they complete a long writing project directed by a faculty advisor.
To see examples of recent thesis projects, both critical and creative, follow the links below to the individual abstracts and excerpts:
2015 Honors Thesis Students
Sara Wu
2014 Honors Thesis Students
Jane Givens
Kylie Gray
Kelsey Lee
Abiligail Michelini
Rachel Whittemore
2013 Honors Thesis Students
Jeff Gilbert