English

The English department offers several programs in its literature branch: a Bachelor of Arts in English, BA/English with a Cultural and Media Studies concentration, a BA/English with Paralegal Studies, and a minor in Literature.

The BA requires basic courses in American and British Literature and Literary theory and analysis. Students choose English electives from a wide range of courses that include world literature, diverse literature, and genre literature. The cluster requirement asks students to coordinate their concomitant and elective courses with their literature courses, thus broadening their understanding of interdisciplinary relationships.

The Concentration in Cultural and Media Studies is a response to the way media both reflect and direct awareness of our historical moment in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape. In this concentration, students take 18 credits in areas such as print, cinematic, and electronic media.

Paralegal Studies offers students an opportunity to combine their literary studies with 18 credits of basic law courses in legal ethics, research, and writing.

The department also offers a Literature Minor of 18 credits, open to students in any major. The department offers a range of courses: Medieval and Renaissance studies, British and American literature, African-American literature, Gender and Sexuality studies, Cinema and Media studies, Contemporary literatures, and Literary theory.

Related Programs

• Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/English - prepares students to teach English in middle schools or high schools. Students complete all the requirements for the BA English, plus all the requirements for Pennsylvania certification. Students in this program have two advisers: one in Secondary Education and one in English.
• Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing - Kutztown offers a major and minor in professional writing.
• Composition, Rhetoric and Literacy Studies - This program provides students an avenue for analysis and creation of arguments for the workplace, classroom and public sphere.

Career Opportunities

Those pursing an English major can go on to study law, experience graduate studies, or a career such as journalism after graduation. Graduates with a degree in English can also enter the publishing and advertising fields, education, writing and editing fields, and business and public relations.