English Major/Text, Business Writing and Digital Studies Option (B.A.)

https://cola.unh.edu/english/program/ba/english-majortext-business-writing-digital-studies-option

The modern workplace requires that employees be adaptable. The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a long-term study that showed people held 11.7 jobs between the ages of 18 and 48, and those numbers are increasing with people moving between jobs more frequently every year. It is crucial that we prepare our students not just for one industry, but rather arm them with the transferable skills of critical reading, writing, analysis, production, theory, and aesthetics of new forms in digital media and business. Students will leave this major option with the skills that are in the highest demand in all fields today. 

This major option addresses the growing demand for graduates who are well-versed in a combination of humanistic and digital skills and able to work in a variety of professional environments. In particular, graduates of this option will be prepared for careers at cultural and historical institutions, as well as in emerging job markets of information management and online content delivery. This specialization complements areas requirements for the English major but it is not limited to English majors. Double majors are encouraged. Small classes, a great sense of community, and a diversity of faculty specializations create an atmosphere that propels students toward success. Students will receive real-life work experience through our internship class, and they will also leave this major with a digital portfolio that contains a collection of professional projects that can be used on the job market. 

In this English major option, students are trained in the critical reading, analysis, production, theory, and aesthetics of new forms in media and business. These forms include but are not limited to social media, business writing conventions, modes of digital storytelling (i.e. audio and video essays, podcasts, and wikis), digital archives, web design, and online communities and interaction. Students are also trained in analysis through traditional humanistic literature and they are expected to fulfill the core learning objectives shared by all English major tracks. These include:

• the ability to communicate and debate effectively with others, both orally and in writing,
• the ability to closely examine a variety of texts (including modern digital artifacts and archival materials)
• developing the ability to use a variety of media and communication platforms;
• experience and practice in dynamic critical thinking and creativity

Eleven courses (44 credits)

Completed with a minimum grade of C- (with the exception of ENGL 419, which must be completed with a grade of C or better).

Students must meet the following distribution requirements. Note that any one course may satisfy more than one requirement:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ENGL 419	Introduction to Literary Analysis 1	4
One 500-level Introductory Course. Select from the following:		4
ENGL 501	Introduction to Creative Nonfiction (Digital Essay version)
ENGL 502	Professional and Technical Writing
ENGL 503	Persuasive Writing (Text, Business Writing, Digital version)
ENGL 595	Literary Topics (This topic only: Introduction to Digital Humanities)	4
ENGL 602	Advanced Professional and Technical Writing	4
Select three ENGL courses numbered 600 or above 2		12
Select two pre-1800 literature courses (select from the list below)		8
Select two post-1800 literature courses (select from the list below)		8
Select one course that addresses race, the construction of race, and racial theories (select from the list below)		4
Capstone: 3		4
ENGL 695	The Internship Experience
Digital Portfolio

1	Must be completed with a minimum grade of “C" to count towards the major.
2	Students may include any advanced-level ENGL courses in which 20% of student assessment/work includes a digital humanities, digital research, or digital production component (even it taken to fulfill literature requirements). ENGL 602 may NOT be double counted for this requirement. Look for the 'DH' designation in the course descriptions during registration.
3	The Internship Experience: Experiential learning course that allows students to apply all of the writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills into an on-the-job experience, enabling them first-hand practice with writing documents at work, peer collaboration, public speaking opportunities/presentations, and supervision and evaluation.  Students must have JR or SR status to enroll in this course. Students should submit a Capstone Declaration form indicating the ENGL course taken for Capstone credit at time of registration. Capstone Declaration forms can be picked up in the main English office.  Digital Portfolio:  A minimum of six polished projects represented in a digital portfolio started in ENGL 602 and expanded over your career at UNH.  A reflective essay will accompany this portfolio. This is a non-credit degree requirement.

Pre-1800 Literature Courses

Either two advanced courses (600-level and above) or one advanced course and either ENGL 512 British Literature I Age of Heroes: Beowulf to Dr. Faustus or ENGL 513 British Literature II Age of Revolutions: Shakespeare to Austen.  Choose from the following:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ENGL 657	Shakespeare	4
ENGL 741	Literature of Early America	4
ENGL 751	Medieval Epic and Romance	4
ENGL #753	Old English	4
ENGL #756	Chaucer	4
ENGL 758	Advanced Shakespeare	4
ENGL 759	Milton	4
ENGL 767	Literature of the Restoration and Early 18th Century	4
ENGL 768	Literature of the Later 18th Century	4
ENGL #780	Drama of Shakespeare's Contemporaries: Will and Company	4
ENGL #781	English Drama, 1660-1800	4
ENGL 783	English Novel of the 18th Century	4

Other courses may count. Please see your advisor if you have questions about other courses that might fulfill this requirement.

Post-1800 Literature Courses

Either two advanced courses, or one advanced course and one of the following:  ENGL 514 British Literature III: Revolts, Renewals, Migrations, ENGL 515 American Literature I Conquest and Nation: First Contact to the Civil War, or ENGL 516 American Literature II Money, Migration, and Modernity: Huck Finn to Beloved.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ENGL #609	Ethnicity in America: The African American Experience in the 20th Century	4
ENGL 650	Studies in American Literature and Culture 1	4
ENGL 681	Introduction to African Literatures in English	4
ENGL 690	Introduction to African American Literature in America	4
ENGL 739	American Indian Literature	4
ENGL 742	American Literature, 1815-1865	4
ENGL #743	American Literature, 1865-1915	4
ENGL #744	American Literature, 1915-1945	4
ENGL 745	Contemporary American Literature	4
ENGL 746	Studies in American Drama	4
ENGL 747	Studies in American Poetry	4
ENGL #748	Studies in American Fiction	4
ENGL #749	Major American Authors	4
ENGL #769	English Romantic Period	4
ENGL 771	English Victorian Period	4
ENGL #772	English Victorian Period	4
ENGL 773	Literary Modernisms: Return, Revolt, Recycle	4
ENGL 774	Modern & Contemporary British Literature: New Departures	4
ENGL 777	Postcolonial Novel	4
ENGL 782	Modern and Contemporary Drama	4
ENGL 784	English Novel of the 19th Century	4

1	If topic is appropriate. (Please see your advisor if you have questions about other courses that might fulfill this requirement.)

Course That Addresses Race, the Construction of Race, and Racial Theories

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ENGL 517	Introduction to African American Literature and Culture	4
ENGL 550	Introduction to the Literature and Culture of Race	4
ENGL #609	Ethnicity in America: The African American Experience in the 20th Century	4
ENGL 690	Introduction to African American Literature in America	4
ENGL 738	Topics in Asian American Studies	4
ENGL 739	American Indian Literature	4
ENGL #740	Indigenous New England	4
ENGL 693	Special Topics in Literature (subtopic R)	4
ENGL 797	Special Studies in Literature (subtopic R)	4

Other courses may count. Please see your advisor if you have questions about other courses that might fulfill this requirement.

Notes:

To graduate from UNH, a student must earn a total of 128 credits.

E-COURSE RULE: Majors entering the department in Fall 2012 and beyond may only count one online course towards their major requirements.

English 403 'Exploring Literature', English 415 'Literature and...' and English 444 classes may NOT be used to satisfy ENGL major or minor requirements.

English majors may use one major-required course to satisfy one Discovery category requirement.