Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Catalog 
    
2021-2022 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

English, BA


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Program Mission Statement

The BA: English degree offers students the opportunity to develop superior knowledge and skills in oral and written communications. Graduates are positioned to enter fields including editing, journalism, and public relations, or gain acceptance into graduate school (e.g., MFA). This course of study encourages students to become empowered and astute readers, writers, speakers, and listeners. Moving beyond traditional approaches, students develop their own voices in writing and speaking. Students respond critically and creatively to literatures in seminar formats and small classes. Whether it is an issue of revision or grammar, faculty encourage open inquiry and a critical understanding of the question of interpretation.

A liberal arts education forms the foundation of our present society and culture. The study of literature, the practice of writing, compels people toward self-reflection where they discover not only those possible sites of commonality, but also how important it is to value our difference. Studying literature and writing thus creates a stronger and more civic-minded person, a person more apt to comprehend the complexity of existence. As technology drives us further from our neighbors but closer to those more distant, we need a citizenry informed by tradition but with the course to create and invent new approaches when necessary. We need a citizenry able to articulate their thoughts formally and informally, in writing and in speech, while acknowledging the importance of diverse opinion to understanding and knowledge.

The BA: English degree emphasizes individuality and the freedom to pursue a history of ideas through a broad and eclectic range of courses. While writing courses prepare students for continued academic success, it is Montana Western’s goal to teach “writing for life” encouraging writers to apply their craft for both self-articulation and for occupational purposes. Montana Western’s perspective on the study of literature and writing is to both teach and learn through new and innovative processes and foster creative and innovative approaches to learning in the classroom and beyond.

With this degree, students will be able to engage the world more fully, with greater insight and understanding. They will have the ability to nurture their creative spirit and mind, and enjoy life more fully and completely, because they will have learned the skills to engage ideas more deeply and complexly.

Graduate Outcomes

Program graduates:

  • Produce texts informed by a knowledge of literary terminology, theory, and traditions;
  • Produce texts using conventions from the discipline;
  • Engage in critical research.

Assessment

The graduate outcomes for the BA: English degree are assessed through graduate/exit surveys, employer surveys, alumni surveys, feedback from internship supervisors, review of collected student generated exhibits over time, and program self-study and/or reports from external reviews. The assessment plan for the BA: English is available from the English Department.

Additional English Major and Course Information

Credit Requirements


General Education: 32 Credits


General Education 

English Major Core: 48 Credits


Select 2 course/8 credits from the following:


Select 2 different topic courses/8 credits from the following:


Complete 4 credits from the following Capstone options:


English Minor: 24 Credits


Select any one BA: Minor or Related Area (English or other program). Students may also opt to take no Minor/Related Area and instead take 40 total elective credits with at least 8 upper level elective credits.
Note: Some Major and Minor/Related Area combinations will require completion of additional prerequisites for some classes.

**This program is currently in Moratorium. We are not accepting new students in currently enrolled will be able to complete this degree. This program are being available in the future.

Electives: 16 Credits


Choose elective credits from any college-level catalog courses to bring the degree to a total of 120 credits

BA: English Total Credits: 120


Additional English Major and Course Information


Students who score 3 or above on the AP: English Language and Composition exam will receive credit for WRIT 101: College Composition. Students who score 3 or above on the AP: English Literature and Composition exam will receive credit for ONE of the following:

  • LIT 162  : Folk & Fairy Tales
  • LIT 163  : Fantasy & Science Fiction
  • LIT 166  : Literature & Politics
  • LIT 167  : Literature & Gender
  • LIT 168  : Literature & and the Environment
  • LIT 169   Literature as Popular Culture

Students who are B.A.: English Majors, B.A.: English & Education Double Majors, or Literature minors MAY NOT substitute 100-200 level English courses for 300-400 level English courses.

Transfer students and/or students engaging in Prior Learning Assessment may substitute no more than 16 credits of coursework toward their major and/or minor in English.

Students who are B.A.: English Majors, B.A.: English & Education Double Majors, Literature minors or Professional Writing minors must take all LIT/CRWR/WRIT 494, 498, and 499 courses within UMW’s English Department, taught by UMW English faculty.

Recommended Four Year Course Sequence


This list includes the major, minor, and option core classes as guidelines to complete in four years. It is one example of how the program can be completed in four years; faculty advisors assist students in choosing among the options in a given semester to insure progress towards completion of the program. Students should complete general education and elective requirements while working with these guidelines.

Freshmen Year English Courses


Sophomore Year English Courses


Junior Year English Courses


Senior Year English Courses


Select 2 courses/8 credits from the following:


Complete 4 credits from the following Capstone options:


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