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.
1. English 200
	1 Intensive Literary Studies Seminar for Intended Majors and Minors.
2. British Literature
	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, ENG 359, ENGL 359H, ENGL 469, ENGL 469J, ENG 491KK
	1 Course in Shakespeare: ENGL 221, ENGL 222
3. American Literature
	1 American Identities: ENGL 270
	1 Additional course 200 level or above
4. Writing and Criticism
	1 Junior-Year Writing Seminar: ENGL 300 or ENGL 419
NOTE: Students with English as a 2nd major normally satisfy their junior-year writing equirement in their primary major. It then is waived in English. Successful completion of PWTC specialization requirements also satisfies requirement.
5. Elective — Literature (Non-Writing)
	1 Course at 300 or 400 level
6. Electives — Writing or Literature Courses
	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 advisors 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. ENGL 200 requires a B- or higher to receive major credit. 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 advisors 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: (6 courses)
	(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) Social World (AL, AT, HS, SB, I, or SI)
B. Social and Cultural Diversity (2 courses)
	(1) Course with Diversity designation (U)
	(1) Course with Global Diversity designation (G)
NOTE: 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.
NOTE: The "U" and "G" designations may be combined with Social World courses with designations like ALU, ALG, ATU, ATG, HSU, HSG, SBU, IU, or IG.
C. Biological and Physical World (3 courses)
	(1) Course in Biological Science (BS)
	(1) Course in Physical Science (PS)
	(1) Additional course: students who entered the University prior to Fall 2005 can satisfy this third science requirement with a BS, PS, Interdisciplinary (I) or Science Interdisciplinary (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 can not satisfy this requirement.
D. Basic Math Skills (1 course)
	(1) Course in Basic Math Skills (R1/Tier I): completion of a Basic Math Skills (RI) course or a satisfactory score on either the Math Placement Exam or the Basic Math Skills Exemption Exam.
E. Analytical Reasoning (1 course)
	(1) Course in Analytical Reasoning (R2/Tier II)
NOTE: The following courses may satisfy both the R1and R2 requirements: Math 113, 121, 127, 128, 131, 132, 135, 136, 233, 235, 236, or 456, Res-Econ 211 or 212, Statistc 111, 140, 501, 515, or 516.
F. Writing (2 courses)
	College Writing (CW): completion of a College Writing course or a satisfactory score on the Placement Exam, SAT/Achievement, or the Advanced Placement Test.
	Junior-Year Writing to be satisfied in the student's major department.

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:
Language Requirement: 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.