Program Overview

The program in writing is committed to establishing a habit of lifelong learning that emphasizes the relationship of reading, writing and critical thinking. Our students:

• learn to read and write texts in a variety of modes and genres. They read and write imaginatively, critically, analytically, and interpretively, with close attention to detail, and they situate their reading and writing within established and contested historical, cultural, critical, and literary traditions. They understand that reading and writing are deeply inter-related activities, whether their major emphasizes the production or the reception of texts. 
• think, read, and write collaboratively, sharing their work with others and drawing on their individual and collective knowledge, experience, wisdom, understanding, and background to advance their learning. They become adept at working creatively and effectively with others, through dialogue, debate, and critique.
• come to English and writing from a broad range of backgrounds, with a variety of beliefs, motivations, and tastes, to pursue a broad range of personal, professional, and expressive goals. Our faculty are co-learners with our students, taking active part in the challenging and rewarding practices of critical literacy and creative writing.
• develop into culturally aware users of language, attuned to the way language and the variety of meanings to which it gives rise change and respond to contemporary developments, including the political, social, technological, and aesthetic. They learn to question and reflect on these changes and to adapt their readerly and writerly sensibilities to address them.
• develop the desire to better understand themselves and their world through language, as exploratory writers and inquisitive readers. They are able to achieve that understanding by using language in critical and imaginative ways to advance their learning throughout their lives.
• become reflective and informed readers, able to generate and pursue complex questions of language’s meanings and uses. By focusing on textual details in relation to larger questions of form, purpose, and context, our students are able to articulate well-reasoned understandings of the language they encounter.
• learn to take pleasure in the play of language and other representational, symbolic systems of thought and expression. They value novelty and experimentation, both in their critical and writerly endeavors, and become adept at seeing and pursuing opportunities for playful engagement with language and meaning.
• contend with ambiguity and respond meaningfully and responsibly to changes in the way language functions, whether in its literary or everyday manifestations.
• develop the critical and creative wherewithal to recognize that language and representation are complex and important, wherever they manifest themselves. They are able to use the critical and creative approaches for thinking about film, drama, new media, novels, stories, poems, and other literary artifacts to analyze and reflect on symbolic representation of all kinds, from popular music to painting to political discourse and beyond.

Our courses involve students in a range of activities, including discussions (in class and online), collaborative projects, conferences, presentations, independent study, internships and service learning.

The English Department is committed to supporting interdisciplinary programs and encourages students to pursue interdisciplinary concentrations, second majors and/or minors. A number of the Department's courses are cross-listed with interdisciplinary programs, facilitating such study. In addition, the Writing major permits students to include related courses taken outside the Department for credit toward their program of study, subject to approval by the student’s English Department adviser.

Our graduates pursue professional careers in such fields as professional writing, editing, advertising, publishing, education, management, computers, public relations and public service, or pursue post-baccalaureate study in English studies, law school or medical school. Students contemplating graduate study should confer with their advisers about special preparation and should be aware that many graduate schools typically expect proof of competence in foreign languages.

B.A. Degree Requirements

The Writing major requires 12 courses: at least 5 at the lower division and at least 6 at the upper division. The Writing major allows for 3 electives, 2 of which must be 100-level courses. An English course may be used only once to fulfill a particular major . Transfer students majoring in Writing must take at least 6 courses in English at Drake. Students with advanced placement (A.P.) will be credited one lower-level elective toward the major. Students majoring in Writing may minor in English.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Lower Division Core
Gateway:
ENG 050	LITERARY STUDY	3
ENG 051	WRITING SEMINAR	3
History and Traditions:
Select one of the following:		3
ENG 040	TOPICS IN LITERARY HISTORY
ENG 041	INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDY
ENG 042	APPROACH TO AMERICAN LITERATURE BEFORE 1900
ENG 043	APPROACHES TO BRITISH LITERATURE BEFORE 1900
ENG 044	READING DRAMA
ENG 045	GENRES
ENG 046	BOOK HISTORY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
ENG 047	READING SHAKESPEARE
ENG 048	THE CLASSIC THEN & NOW
Culture and Identity:
Select one of the following:		3
ENG 060	TOPICS IN CULTURE AND IDENTITY
ENG 061	APPROACH TO AMERICAN LITERATURE AFTER 1900
ENG 062	APPROACHES TO BRITISH LITERATURE (AFTER 1900)
ENG 064	AFRICAN-AMER LIT BEFORE 1920
ENG 065	AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE SINCE 1920
ENG 066	READING RACE AND ETHNICITY
ENG 067	ASIAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE
ENG 068	RHETORIC IN POPULAR CULTURE
ENG 069	RHETORIC AND POLITICS
ENG 075	INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES
ENG 077	READING GENDER
ENG 078	PUBLIC FEELINGS
ENG 079	HOME AND BELONGING
Writing: Topics and Genres:
Select one of the following:		3
ENG 080	TOPICS IN WRITING
ENG 081	INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
ENG 082	AI IN FICTION
ENG 086	READING AND WRITING SEXUALITY
ENG 087	READING AND WRITING NATURE
ENG 088	READING AND WRITING ABOUT CLASS
ENG 090	READING AND WRITING DRAMA
ENG 091	READING AND WRITING POETRY
ENG 092	READING AND WRITING SHORT STORIES
ENG 093	READING AND WRITING NON-FICTION
ENG 094	BUSINESS & ADMIN WRITING
Upper Division Writing Courses
Select at least nine credits from the following:		9
ENG 107	TEACHING WRITING
ENG 109	PROSE STYLISTICS
ENG 111	ADVANCED WORKSHOP IN CREATIVE FLASH NON-FICTION
ENG 112	AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS
ENG 113	CROSS-GENRE WRITING
ENG 114	ADVANCED POETRY WRITING
ENG 115	ADVANCED FICTION WRITING
ENG 116	WRITING FOR THE NETWORKED WORLD
ENG 117	ADAPTATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
ENG 118	READING AND CREATING COMICS
ENG 119	COMMUNITY WRITING
ENG 120	ADVANCED TOPICS IN WRITING
Electives
Select at least nine hours of ENG courses, none of which can count toward any other Writing major requirement from the following: 1		9
One ENG course numbered 001-099
At least two ENG courses numbered 100 or higher
Total Hours		33

¹

Courses may be taken outside of the department with advisor approval. Up to six individual experience hours (internship, independent study, portfolio) may be counted as electives.

In addition to programmatic requirements, students are responsible for satisfying all requirements of the Drake Curriculum, including Areas of Inquiry (AOI)

Student must also satisfy university graduation requirements for all undergraduate students..