English, B.A.

Christopher Loots, Ph.D., Program Director
914-674-7423
cloots@mercy.edu

Bachelor of Arts

English
General Education Requirements*	42 credits
Major Concentration:	36 credits
Open Electives	42 credits
Total	120 credits

*Per New York State Education Department requirements, all students enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts program must successfully complete 90 credits of Liberal Arts and Sciences coursework. If needed, students should use Open Elective credits to fulfill these requirements, beyond their General Education courses, and look for courses with the “LA” attribute when registering.

Purpose:

The English major provides students with one of the most personally-meaningful and professionally-viable degrees a college student can earn. Students of English explore a range of writings and cultural texts, from ancient epic tales through contemporary digital and visual narratives. Through these explorations, students hone skills of creative, professional, and academic writing; creative and critical thinking; interpretation and analysis; research and digital fluency; and emotional intelligence and self-expression. The study of diverse stories, poetry, drama, essays, visual materials, and other texts further develops students’ ability to perceive the patterns of social and cultural power shaped through language, and to register nuances of human interaction to better intuit the motivations of others. Ultimately, while preparing students with skills that can support meaningful and fulfilling careers across a wide variety of professions, the English major also offers experiences that cultivate awe, empathy, and curiosity, which can translate to a thoughtful, meaningful, and fulfilling life.

A degree in English historically and still today translates to potential success in a wide variety of fields, including but not limited to law, teaching, writing, digital content creation, interactive media design, publishing, editing, public relations, library and information science, corporate and public-facing communications, nonprofit work, advertising, and marketing, to name a few.

English majors can earn the English B.A. by completing the requirements listed below. Or, English majors can elect to pursue one of four concentrations within the English major: English Creative Writing, English Cultural Studies, English Literature, or English Professional Writing & Rhetoric. Details about these concentrations, including how to complete each concentration, are listed in the Catalog following this primary entry. Students who complete any concentration in English will receive an English B.A. degree with the concentration listed on their transcript.

Students must complete the following two core courses (6 credits):

Students must complete one course (3 credits) from the following category:

Building Foundations: Literary Surveys

Students must complete one course (3 credits) from the following category:

Expanding Foundations: Literary Histories

Students must complete one course (3 credits) from the following category:

Gaining Perspective: Culture, Identity, & Difference

And students must complete one course (3 credits) from the following category:

Developing Your Voice: Writing, Rhetoric, & Style

Additionally, students have 18 major-elective credits to complete. These credits can be drawn from any combination of the above categories and the two elective categories listed below:

Exploring Further: Genre Studies & Textual Transformations

Crossing Borders & Disciplines

ENGL 215 - Literature and Medicine
ENGL 222 - The Graphic Novel
ENGL 230 - The Bible as Literature
ENGL 238 - Sport Literature
ENGL 242 - Literature and Psychology
ENGL 259 - Oral Performance of Literature
ENGL 263 - Black Atlantic: Lit/History
ENGL 290 - World Lit-Beyond Borders
Foreign language requirement: English majors must complete 6 credits of a foreign language. The 6 credits do not have to be in the same language, but it is recommended that they be. 3 of these credits will come from the student’s Gen Ed Language & Cultural Perspectives disciplinary group requirement; the other 3 will be drawn from either the student’s Gen Ed Liberal Arts Electives or from Open Electives.

Notes

ENGL 195 should be taken as soon as possible, preferably in the semester immediately following completion of ENGL 111 or ENGL/HONR 191. Transfer students should ideally take ENGL 195 in the first semester upon transferring in.

ENGL 400 is the capstone course, meaning the final course in the English major. It should be taken in the final semester of the program, or at least in the penultimate semester if a student foresees scheduling conflicts for the final semester.

ENGL 294 Major Authors and ENGL 295 Special Topics are generic course codes under which can run a number of new or experimental courses. ENGL 397 Independent Study is a course code by which a student might, in rare and special circumstances, pursue a unique course of study. Courses running by these codes will default to working as major electives. If a course running by one of these codes makes sense as a substitution for a category requirement, though, students can request of the Program Director that a substitution be allowed to let the course count for the category requirement.

The English program highly recommends that English majors earn a minor to complement their English major. Students can earn a minor in another field such as Media Studies, Theatre Arts, History, Philosophy, or Communication Arts (to name just a few) by completing 15 credits in that field. To learn more, speak with your PACT mentor or contact the English Program Director.

ENGL 380 Workplace Experience I, ENGL 381 Workplace Experience II, and ENGL 399 English Internship are codes that allow students to earn credits through work. Students interested in seeking internship opportunities should speak with the Mercy University Office of Career & Professional Development, the Chair of the Department of Literature and Language, and/or the Director of Undergraduate English.

The English major has an 18 credit residency requirement.

The English & Creative Writing Minor

15 Credits

Students of other majors can earn a minor in English & Creative Writing by completing any five English courses ranging from ENGL 205 to ENGL 399. Speak with the Program Director of English to learn more.

Theatre Arts Minor

15 Credits
Students who choose to minor in Theatre Arts can complete it with 15 credits earned through five of the courses listed below. *At least TWO of these courses must be selected from the COMM/MEDA performance selections (246, 262, 263, 282).

Earn Graduate MA English Credits During Your Final Undergraduate Year

Even without joining the 4+1 B.A. English + M.A. English Literature program, qualified Mercy University undergraduates can take up to two graduate English courses during the final year of undergraduate study. The courses will count for the student’s undergraduate degree, and if the student should continue into the M.A. English Literature program after completing their undergraduate degree, the courses would also apply to their graduate degree requirements.

To be eligible, students must not be registered for a multiple-degree program (such as a 4+1 program). And students must have completed at least 90 credits with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Such students may petition to enroll in one graduate-level English course at Mercy University per semester of their final year of study, for a maximum possible total of six graduate credits. Students must receive permission from the Program Director of Graduate English or the Department of Literature and Language Chairperson. Contact your PACT mentor or the Director of Graduate English for advisement and to start the process.

Full-time undergraduate students who receive permission to take graduate courses in this way will be charged the undergraduate tuition rate for the graduate courses. If the student is part-time, the graduate rate will be charged for graduate courses and the undergraduate rate for undergraduate courses. Students receiving financial aid in the form of grants and/or loans will continue to be eligible for said aid, as the courses are approved to count as Open Electives. If there are any questions regarding tuition, please speak with a representative from the Office of Enrollment Services.

Graduate courses will not count towards the residency requirement for the undergraduate degree, or for program honors.