Literatures and Cultures in English

About the Concentration

Studying English at Brown is the best way to gain an introduction to the works and traditions that produce our sense of what it means to be a member of the human community. For 40 years the English Department at Brown has been at the forefront of innovations in the field of literary studies. A pioneer in interdisciplinary methods of reading, the department has also led a turn toward “transnational” approaches – a response to a world in which works of literature and literary criticism increasingly appear against a global rather than national backdrop. Our emphasis, as students, scholars and teachers, is on understanding how meaning is produced historically, and how literature contributes to and is formed by that process.

Students concentrating in English will learn to think about the relation between a literary text and its moment in history; develop a sense of the work as shaped by, and shaping, contemporary practices and debates; and encounter critical models as bodies of knowledge with their own histories, tensions and traditions. The principle of our activity in the English department is an alertness to our own historical moment as a prism in which new aspects of a work may come to light.

All concentrators must have their concentration programs approved by a concentration advisor. To declare a concentration, students need the Registrar's Declaration of Standard Concentration form and the English Department's concentration advising form.

Concentration Requirements

The concentration in Literatures and Cultures in English consists of ten courses. The ten courses must include one course in literary theory or the history of literary criticism as well as two courses in each of the following areas:

1. I. Medieval and Early Modern Literatures and Cultures
2. II. Enlightenment and the Rise of National Literatures and Cultures
3. III. Modern and Contemporary Literatures and Cultures

Students are encouraged to choose at least one course in each area that will provide a coherent sense of the literary history and the major critical developments during a substantial portion of the period covered by the area.

Concentrators also choose a four-course focus from one of the following focus areas: (a) historical development of literature, (b) historical period, (c) anglophone, post-colonial, and multicultural studies, (d) American, British, or another national/regional literature, (e) gender and sexuality, (f) genre, (g) theory, (h) nonfiction writing, or (i) independent. For further information about these specializations, see below.

A given course may satisfy two requirements (for example, a designated Area I course may also satisfy a focus requirement). However, a total of ten courses must be completed to satisfy requirements for the concentration. Five of the ten required courses must be at the 1000-level or above.

As many as two courses dealing primarily with the practice of writing rather than the interpretation of literature may be counted as electives toward the concentration. This provision differs slightly for students focusing in nonfiction writing (see below).

These courses must be 1000-level courses. Such courses may not be counted toward theory or scholarly area requirements.

Concentrators may count one ENGL 0200 Seminar in Writing, Literatures, and Cultures as an elective in the concentration, but such courses may not be counted toward theory, scholarly area, or focus requirements.

Up to two courses outside the English Department (e.g., Comparative Literature, History, Modern Culture and Media Studies, American Civilization, foreign literatures, Classics, Medieval Studies, Program in Literary Arts) may count toward the concentration requirements. Such courses must be approved by a concentration advisor. (Courses from other departments that are cross-listed with the English Department are regarded as English courses and do not require advisor approval.)

All substitutions and/or exceptions must be approved by the concentration advisor in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. A substitution or exception is not approved until specified in writing in the student’s concentration file housed in the English Department.

Models for the Four-Course Focus

• A. Historical Development of Literature
  The study of the history of English literatures throughout the centuries, from earliest medieval writings to 21st-century world English, directed to exploring how literary canons and models of literary history form and change. Students will complete at least one course from each of the following four categories: medieval (7th-15th centuries), renaissance and early modern (16th-17th centuries), 18th-19th centuries, and 20th-21st centuries. Students are encouraged to take a history course in one of their areas of study, as an elective.


• B. Historical Period
  The in-depth study of a single area of scholarly research of literatures in English by taking four courses in any one of the following areas of study: (I) medieval and early modern literatures and cultures; (II) enlightenment and the rise of national literatures and cultures; or (III) modern and contemporary literatures and cultures. Within the area, students may focus on a particular genre or on a particular theme or problem.


• C. Anglophone, Post-Colonial, and Multicultural Studies
  The study of literature as a cultural production that reflects, mediates, and creates competing conceptions of race, ethnicity, nationalism, and colonialism.


• D. American, British, or Another National/Regional Literature
  The study of literature in English produced: 1) in the American colonies and the United States, 2) in Great Britain and the British Isles, or 3) in another nation or region with a tradition of literature in English.


• E. Gender and Sexuality
  The study of literature as a cultural production that reflects, mediates, and creates social conceptions of gender and sexuality. Students choosing this specialization may explore not only the implications of historically specific constructions of gender and sexuality, but also the effects of these social constructions on literary authorship, genre, textual reception, and language itself.


• F. Genre
  The study of a particular literary genre such as narrative, poetry, or drama. With the approval of the concentration advisor, students may specify other genres and modes such as nonfiction prose, autobiography, satire, etc. With advisor approval, a 1000-level course dealing with the practice of writing in the focus genre may count as one of the courses in the four-course focus.


• G. Theory
  The study of theoretical models of literary production, interpretation, and value. Emphasis may fall upon one or more of the many aspects of theory: aesthetics, historical materialism, feminist theory, psychoanalytic theory, semiotics, the history of literary criticism, etc. Two of the courses are expected to cover fields of literature.


• H. Nonfiction Writing
  The study and practice of nonfiction writing as integrated with the student’s interest in literature. For example, students interested in creative nonfiction may choose to study travel writing, memoir, science writing, literary journalism, or historical narrative. Three advanced-level nonfiction writing courses (ENGL 1140, 1160, 1180, 1190, or 1200) may count toward the focus; the fourth focus course must come from relevant literature offerings.


• I. Independent
  This focus allows students to specialize in an interest not covered by those described above. A proposal for an Independent focus must be approved by the English Department’s curriculum committee.

Honors in Literatures and Cultures in English
Requirements are the same as those for the regular concentration, with the following changes and additions:
Honors candidates must complete at least three upper-level seminars or comparable small courses and complete ENGL 1991 and ENGL 1992. Honors candidates must also earn more A's than B's in courses taken as part of the English concentration (or receive the equivalent faculty evaluation on a Course Performance Report for courses taken S/NC).

Honors in Nonfiction Writing
Requirements are the same as those for the regular concentration, with the following additions:
Honors candidates must successfully complete ENGL 1200 (Independent Study in Nonfiction Writing) and ENGL 1990 Senior Honors Thesis in Nonfiction Writing. Honors candidates must also earn more A's than B's in courses taken as part of the English concentration (or receive the equivalent faculty evaluation on a Course Performance Report for courses taken S/NC).

Honors in Creative Writing
This program is only open to students who matriculated in Spring 2005 or before. For students who began their studies at Brown in Fall 2005 or thereafter, this option is not available. Interested students should obtain information from the office of the Literary Arts Program.

Page last updated in February, 2008.

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