The English Department houses Old Westbury’s Writing Program and offers the Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. The B.A. in English provides majors with a cutting-edge curriculum in the study of multicultural and world literature, creative writing, advanced writing and research, and critical thinking and analysis. The English program rigorously cultivates skills in literary analysis, careful reading, and advanced writing through a multicultural and global literary framework. Building on common foundations, this degree offers three upper-level specializations: Multicultural U.S.-British Literature, World Literature, and Creative Writing.
The English major is designed to give students: Knowledge of the main themes, historical/social backgrounds, periods of development, and genres of British/U.S. and European/World Literature, with specific knowledge of the multicultural and intercultural content of those literatures Ability to interpret literary texts with regard to themes, form, genre affiliations, and social/cultural reference Mastery of English writing skills, including the ability to construct large-scale interpretive-analytical papers that are proficient in grammar, expression, discussion of literary scholarship, and discipline-specific (MLA) documentation Ability to synthesize and integrate knowledge from different courses into an overall conception of the development and importance of Multicultural, World Literature, or Creative Writing.
At the Foundations level, requirements recognize the importance of firm grounding in Language Arts and Literary Interpretation. These emphases correlate with stress on skills foundations in current pedagogy. The Linguistic Foundations requirement recognizes the centrality of strong training in the history and structure of language as well as the formal grammar of English. The Literary Analysis requirement offers training in literary interpretation, close reading, knowledge of literary genres, social and historical contextualization of literature, and literary theory, today a sine qua non of competitive literature degrees. A three-course sequence in Literary Traditions includes historical surveys of British, U.S., European, and World literature and selected courses in classical foundations, genres, and such recent topics as postcolonialism.
The Multicultural U.S./British Literature Specialization is rooted in recent trends in literary theory and interpretation, which view U.S./British literature as expressing diverse national, cultural, and gender perspectives within a common tradition. Multicultural U.S./British Literature includes texts from both the U.S. and U.K. by writers of different ethnicities, genders, sexualities, classes, and ability/disability status. Multicultural literature focuses on the complexity of two countries in which people of many different cultures cohabit. Such fields as African American Literature, Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States, Women’s Literature, and LGBTQ Literature, increasingly prominent in English studies since 1990, form the core of this specialization. This specialization enhances the competitiveness of students applying to graduate English programs or continuing to a variety of careers.
The World Literature Specialization studies literature in English from outside the U.S./U.K. as well as other literatures in translation. This specialization speaks to the increasing integration of international literary culture and to an increasing emphasis on global culture. It is directly relevant to the sizeable number of Old Westbury students from postcolonial English speaking cultures and to others with an interest in world culture. It helps prepare students for graduate study in such fields as Postcolonial Studies, the Literature of the African Diaspora, and others, and for varied careers.
The Creative Writing Specialization provides students with an opportunity to read, study, and write literature. The specialization provides a foundation in creative writing in multiple forms, including short fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, and poetry. It also facilitates both creative and practical skill-building, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving through the process of workshopping and revising. The Creative Writing specialization enhances the competitiveness of students applying to graduate programs in creative writing or continuing to a variety of careers.
The Senior Seminar requirement offers an integrated capstone experience for students in this degree program. The Senior Seminar requirement begins with Senior Seminar I-Research and Writing, an intensive preparation for the Senior Thesis including study of advanced research methods, seminar presentations, and a semester-length writing project. Senior Seminar II-Thesis provides a semester-long thesis writing project with a common curriculum of reading and research.
The English Department offers co-curricular, community-building activities and systems of support for our majors through individual academic advising sessions; student publications, round tables and conferences; and workshops, poetry readings, and career networking sessions. The Department publishes Harmonia, a creative writing journal, and Discordia, an academic writing journal, open to all Old Westbury students. Majors have opportunities to earn course credit as peer mentors and as peer tutors. Internships place students in legal, cultural and publishing venues under the supervision of professionals.
The B.A. Degree in English program prepares majors for entrance into graduate school as well as for employment in fields that require strong proficiency in communication, writing, critical analysis, and intercultural understanding. Our graduates work in fields such as publishing, banking, education, business, library sciences, teaching, and law. Our graduates have continued their education, pursing graduate degrees in English, Education (including Old Wesbury’s Master of Arts in Teaching English Language Arts 7-12), Library Science, Business Law, and other fields of study. The English Department is equally dedicated to developing the language arts skills of Old Westbury students (including writing, revising, reading, researching, information management, public speaking, and critical thinking) through our offerings of English Composition I and II. Faculty value involvement in campus life and reflect the university’s social justice mission in our approaches to teaching, service, and professional development.
Program Policies
- Up to 3 transfer courses may apply toward the forty-four credits required for the major.
- Only one grade of C- will be accepted toward the major.
- EL3500: Literature Across Cultures I and EL3510: Literature Across Cultures II are pre-requisites for EL4800: Major Authors.
- Students are usually ready to register for EL5000: Senior Seminar I if all of the following apply: 1. students have completed 88 credits, 2. students have completed at least 5 courses in the English major (excluding EL3010: Structure and Grammar), and 3. students generally take and pass 4 courses per semester; if students take a part-time load, adjust the timeframe.
- EL5010: Senior Seminar II is usually offered in the summer. Students are eligible to register for the course in the summer under two conditions: 1. students need only EL5010 to graduate or 2. students need only EL5010 and one additional course (total of 8 credits) to graduate. Students must get the department chair’s approval to register.
Combined B.A. in English, M.A. in Liberal Studies
The combined B.A. in English, M.A. in Liberal Studies program allows qualified undergraduate students to accelerate their progress toward a master’s degree. This can save time and cut overall tuition costs. Applicants will major in English at the undergraduate level and complete the requirements for that B.A. degree, while beginning a portion of the graduate M.A. in Liberal Studies program in their senior year. For more information, visit the MALS web page: https://www.oldwestbury.edu/programs-courses/liberal-studies-ma.
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