English department gets face-lift for next year

Major to be revamped and embellished upon

Next fall, English majors will have the opportunity to dabble in crime, Mythology and the life of Don Juan. They may even be able to throw in a little criticism and theory here and there.

The English Department is undergoing a huge revamp in the selection of classes, to begin in the fall of 1998. Professor of English Nick Jones, chair of the department, said he is "very excited about the changes. This item has been on our agenda for years and we feel that its success will really make a difference in the education of our majors."

Currently the department is set up in such a way that a student must take one to two introductory-level courses in order to continue into the 200 level survey course. After that a major must complete several advanced courses in different times periods and genres.

Jones said the new structure will eliminate the introductory-level courses and introduce a series of colloquia that will be specifically designed for the first year students. The goal of these classes is to introduce first-years to discussion and theory in a manner that will be more exciting, according to Jones.

English major representative junior Thomas Marquart said, "The classes are good because majors will be able to choose something specific. The classes will be less like high school surveys."

"There will probably be a little grumbling at first. No longer will the English major just be a fall back for students when all else fails," said Marquart. "The major will be a bit more difficult and structured. There will definitely be more activity in the department.

The current 200-level courses will be broken down and will allow for more critical material to be focused upon. These new courses will allow for the incorporation and specific attention to be given to critical issues and contemporary study. By removing the required introductory course, the major will expand its opportunities and integrate material into literary history.

"We really want the courses to sound more familiar to majors," Jones said.

"The new structure has been a lot of hard work, and there was a lot of input by the students especially from the English major representatives. We could not have done this without them," said Jones.

Classes for the next semester were proposed by the faculty and then chosen by the curriculum committee.

Associate Dean of the College Suzanne Gay said, "The educational rationale is it augments our curriculum very nicely."

"Attention will also be more focused for our senior majors," said Jones. "In addition, the regular senior seminars there will more opportunities as far as individual projects, honors and senior projects."

More advanced courses will have a limit of 25 students. "We want our majors to be more uniformly prepared as they continue on into upper level courses," said Jones. "Current English majors should not worry about the changes. The department is working to make the transition as painless as possible."

"The 400 level courses will be designed to provide a capstone for the major. Students will graduate feeling like they have actually progressed through the major," said Marquart.