English Focus Courses

After completing your core courses, you will select one of our nine focus areas to continue your studies. Each focus area consists of a selection of courses designed to work together to build a focused set of skills or knowledge you can apply to your career or life goals. You will choose four courses from this selection to complete your focus.

Spring 2024 Focus Courses

For a complete list of all courses for each focus, see the Focus Your Studies section.

Archives, Power, & Making the Present

  • CLS 270 (Life, Death, and Disease)  

Creativity, Aesthetics, & Design

  • CRW 201 (Introduction to Creative Writing)  
  • CRW 202 (Creative Writing I)
  • CRW 203 (Narrative and Lyric Forms)
  • CRW 302 (Poetry Workshop II)
  • CRW 304 (Short Story Workshop II)
  • CRW 305 (Creative Nonfiction Workshop I)

Identity & Representation

  • CLS 203 (African Studies)    
  • LIT 220 (Children's Literature)
  • LIT 398 (Young Adult Literature) 

National & Transnational Cultures

  • CLS 203 (African Studies)
  • CLS 261 (World Literature II)
  • ENG 339 (Dialects of American English)
  • LIT 302 (Development of the American Novel)    

Popular Culture & Cultural Studies

  • FLM 200 (Introduction to Film)
  • FLM 202 (American Themes) 
  • LIN 300 (Language and the Internet)
  • LIT 398 (Young Adult Literature)  
  • WRH 341 (Visual Cultures)

Public & Professional Writing

  • ENG 368 (Business and Organizational Writing)
  • ENG 371 (Technical Writing)
  • JRN 225 (Newswriting)
  • WRH 201 (Introduction to Rhetoric)
  • WRH 225 (Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing)
  • WRH 365 (Writing for the Health Professions)

Social Justice and Activism

  • ENG 339 (Dialects of American English)
  • JRN 200 (Introduction to Journalism)
  • LIT 309 (Thoughts/Writings of Martin Luther King)

Sustainability & Environmental Humanities

  • CLS 270 (Life, Death, and Disease)

Visual and Digital Rhetoric

  • DHM 260 (Digital Storytelling)
  • DHM 280 (Introduction to Digital Humanities)
  • FLM 200 (Introduction to Film)
  • JRN 212 (Digital Journalism)
  • LIT 219 (Literature for Young Children)
  • WRH 341 (Visual Cultures)