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Overview of the English Literature Major
Perhaps more than any other, the English Literature major demands sifting the material of literary texts, of culture, and of language itself to find connections, to distill essences. Our Literature major at Pitt-Greensburg is distinctive in providing historical orientation to literary traditions, valuable preparation for teaching literature in high school or college. More broadly, our approach develops skills in information processing, handling coherently the overload of information we are faced with in the internet age. Most of all, the major engages students with challenging and provocative texts, developing reading and writing skills in the process. Several of our courses, like Satire and Reading Poetry, concentrate on honing skills in reading and critical thinking: how to tell what is sincere from what is ironic, how the form of a sonnet shapes a statement or asks a question. Some, like the core courses in eighteenth- or nineteenth-century literature, investigate connections between literature and history, while others focus on literary forms and traditions, such as The Short Story or Development of the Novel. Some focus on gender and women's issues, such as Women and Literature. Courses on Jane Austen: Books and Film, as well as Science Fiction, examine how literature and film influence and interact with each other. Our major makes many interdisciplinary connections, strongly emphasized in courses like Introduction to Social Literature and History of the English Language, which covers everything from grammar to geography to historical movements of people around the globe. While dedicated to teaching, our literature faculty are also active and internationally respected researchers who have published scholarly books and articles in their fields. Their enthusiasm for research finds its way into the classroom, as students learn up-to-date critical approaches and theoretical issues that apply to the literature under discussion. Beginning in 2006, The Norman N. McWhinney Scholarships are available annually for a qualifying junior and senior English Literature major at UPG, to be nominated by English faculty or any senior faculty member at UPG. The Literature faculty also judge the annual contest for the Junior Essay in Literature Prize or JELP Award, for the best research paper on literature produced by a Junior at Pitt-Greensburg. For information on this year's contest, please see the News & Events page. Program Requirements |
