Department of English at UMass-Amherst

English Major Course Requirements

To graduate from the university with an English major, all students must complete three requirement areas: English Departmental requirements, University General Education requirements and College of Humanities and Fine Arts requirements. This page shows the current requirements to obtain an English major degree. While these pages are designed to be a helpful guide, it is the student's responsibility to stay in contact with an advisor to insure that all graduation requirements are met and to keep informed of any changes in requirements.

English Departmental Requirements

English Majors at UMass are required to take eleven courses, including the junior-year writing requirement. There are some courses which can meet more than one requirement; you may count one such course towards two requirements, but will then need an additional upper-level elective to end with a total of eleven courses.

English 200 (one course required:)

1 Intensive Literary Studies Seminar for Intended Majors and Minors: ENGL 200

British Literature (three courses required:)

1 Course pre-1700 with some coverage of Medieval: ENGL 201, ENGL 311, ENGL 313, ENGL 416, ENGL 502, ENGL 505
1 Course 1700-1900: ENGL 202, ENGL 348, ENGL 349, ENGL 358, ENGL 469, ENGL 469J
1 Course in Shakespeare: ENGL 221, ENGL 222

American Literature (two courses required:)

1 American Identities: ENGL 270

1 Additional course 200 level or above

Writing and Criticism (one course required:)

1 Junior-Year Writing: ENGL 300 or ENGL 419
NOTE: Students with English as a second major normally satisfy their junior-year writing requirement in their primary major. It then is waived in English.

Elective - Literature course (Non-writing) (one course required:)

1 Course at 300 or 400 level

Electives - Writing or Literature courses (three courses required:)

1 Course at 300 or 400 level

1 Course at 300 or 400 level
1 Course at 300 or 400 level

NOTES:
1. Some 200-level courses may count as electives: ENGL 203, ENGL 279, ENGL 297H, or a second course in Shakespeare (ENGL 221, ENGL 222).

2. Two upper-level electives may come from closely related 300- or 400-level courses in other departments with approval from one of the chief advisers in Bartlett 252.
3. If a course meets more than one requirement, a student may count 1 course twice but will then need to take an additional upper level elective for a total of 5 electives to end with a total of 11 courses.
4. Three writing courses (creative, technical, or expository) can count as upper-level electives.

Additional Information

A. English courses with grades below C and pass/fail courses will not be counted toward the major.
B. One English course of any level may be counted toward General Education requirements.
C. The department normally accepts a maximum of three courses from other institutions, including the other colleges in the Five-College system. This is also the rule for transfer students, who should have their transcripts evaluated for major credit by one of the chief advisers.
D. If there is any doubt about the applicability of a particular course in another department, or from another school, check with the chief undergraduate advisers in Bartlett 252.

University General Education Requirements

All students graduating with a bachelor's degree from UMass-Amherst must satisfy a set of General Education requirements. These requirements are designed to give all students a broad background in the liberal arts and sciences. Each General Education requirement has a special letter designation. For a list of courses which satisfy General Education requirements, log onto SPIRE, go to "Class Search" and click on "Open another window for Gen Ed course list".

A. Social World (six courses required:)

1 Course in Literature (AL)

1 Course in Historical Studies (HS)

1 Course in Social and Behavioral Sciences (SB)

1 Course in Arts (AL, AT, I, or Si)

1 Course in Social and Behavioral Sciences (SB, I, or SI)

1 Course in Social World (AL, AT, HS, or SB, I, or SI)

B. Diversity (D) (two courses required:)

1 Course with Diversity designation (U)

1 Course with Global Diversity designation (G)

NOTES:
1. Students who entered the university before Fall 2002 can fulfill their 2-course Diversity requirement through any combination of (the old) "D" or the new "U" or "G" designations.

2. The "U" and "G" designations may be combined with Social World courses with designations like ALU, ALG, ATU, ATG, HSU, HSG, SBU, SBG, IU, or IG.

C. Biological and Physical World (three courses required:)

1 Course in Biological Science (BS)

1 Course in Physical Science (PS)

1 Additional science course. Students who entered the University prior to Fall 2005 can satisfy this third science requirement with a BS, PS, I, or SI course. Students who entered the University Fall 2005 or later can satisfy this third science requirement with a BS, PS, or SI course (an Interdisciplinary (I) course cannot satisfy this requirement).

D. Basic Math (one course required:)

1 Course in Basic Math Skills (R1/Tier I: completion of a Basic Math Skills (R1) course or a satisfactory score on either the Math Placement Exam or the Basic Math Skills Exemption Exam

E. Analytical Reasoning (one course required:)

1 Course in Analytical Reasoning (R2/Tier II)

NOTE: The following courses may satisfy both the R1 and R2 requirements: Math 113, 121, 127, 128, 131, 132, 135, 136, 233, 235, 236, or 456, Res-Econ 211 or 212, Statistic 111, 140, 501, 515, or 516.

F. Writing (two courses required:)

1 College Writing (CW): Completion of a College Writing course (English Writing 112 or 113) or a satisfactory score on the Writing Placement Exam, SAT/ Achievement Test, or the Advanced Placement Test

1 J unior-Year Writing to be satisfied in the student's major department

NOTES:
1. A student may substitute up to (3) interdisciplinary courses (I) for some Gen Ed requirements, except for CW, R1, and R2. Up to (3) "I" courses may be substituted in the other areas subject to the restriction that all students must take at least one course in each of: AL, HS, SB, BS, and PS. An "I" course which has a Social and Cultural Diversity designation (ID) may also be used to fulfill the Diversity component.

2. Only one course in a student's major department may be counted toward the satisfaction of General Education requirements, with the following exception: If a student uses one course from the major department designated AL, AT, HS, SB, BS, PS, R2, I or SI, the student may use a second course from the major department that has a Diversity designation (U or G, alone or added to AL, AT, HS, SB, I or SI) to satisfy one of the Diversity requirements. (Only a Diversity requirement will be fulfilled by the second course.)

3. Courses taken pass/fail will not satisfy General Education or Diversity requirements.

College of Humanities and Fine Arts Requirements

The College of Humanities and Fine Arts Language Requirement must be fulfilled. It can be satisfied in any of the following ways:

Foreign Language: All students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the intermediate level, by one of the following methods:

1. Completion of a foreign language course at the fourth semester level (Intermediate II or Intermediate Intensive courses numbered 240-249). Intermediate II courses may be graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

2. Degree credit equivalent to such a course earned through an appropriate score on a College Board Foreign Language Test or a College Board Advanced Placement Test.

3. Proficiency demonstrated in a test designed by a University of Massachusetts language department, or a test administered and validated by a local faculty member if the language is not one offered by a department at the University.

4. Satisfactory completion in high school of either a fourth-level foreign language course, or of a third-level course in one language and a second-level course in another language.

5. Successful completion of one year in a high school in which English is not the language of instruction.

6. Successful completion of a semester or year's study abroad program that leads to foreign language proficiency at the fourth semester (Intermediate II) level as approved by the appropriate language department.

Students who have not satisfied the Foreign Language requirement on admission to the College must select a foreign language course each term in residence until the requirement has been satisfied. The University offers sequences that satisfy this requirement in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian (available through the Five Colleges), and Spanish. Students who have not yet completed the Foreign Language requirement may not apply their Pass/Fail option to foreign language courses numbered below 240.

Students who are certified by the Disability Services Office as having a significant hearing impairment that is seriously limiting to the auditory reception of language may fulfill the Foreign Language requirement either by demonstrating proficiency in American Sign Language at the intermediate level, or by completing four courses (12 cr.) taught in English on the history, culture, or literature of non-English speaking countries or regions. These courses must be in addition to courses used to fulfill the General Education requirements, and may not be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. A list of courses that may be used in this manner is available from the Arts and Sciences Advising Office.

Students with a documented learning disability may petition a consumer manager at Disability Services. To initiate such a petition, contact Disability Services, 231 Whitmore Administration Building, (413 ) 545-0892

Students with questions about the language requirement should contact one of the Academic Deans in the Arts and Sciences Advising Center, E-24 Machmer Hall, (413) 545-2192.

NOTE: A current list of university departments which offer proficiency sequences can be obtained in the Arts and Sciences Records Office, E-22 Machmer Hall.