University of California, Santa Barbara
UndergraduateFor Majors

Major Requirements

The New English Major

Welcome to the New English Major! From subject areas that explore literatures and cultures around the globe, to historical arcs that ground your readings and analysis, as well as advanced projects that enable you to work closely with faculty in small workshop settings, our new major prepares you to graduate as a skilled writer and creative thinker.

Below you’ll find inviting paths through the major, more ways to fulfill requirements, as well as exciting courses that reflect the diverse voices and intellectual richness of the English department. The new English Major requirements go into effect in Fall 2023. Students who declared the major before Fall 2023 should consult the pre-Fall 2023 requirements.

New Major Sheet
Preparation for the Major
At the Upper Division
Subject Area Requirements
Historical Field Requirements
Senior Seminar

The English Department prides itself on providing a welcoming environment for all students, especially first-year and transfer students.  To consult about requirements, courses, or your path through the major, please contact the Undergraduate Advisor, Jessica Good, , or the Vice Chair of the department, Jim Kearney .

The English major requires 56 units in English, at least 44 of which must be upper-division units, distributed in the manner outlined below. Students interested in petitioning a course outside the English Department to count for credit towards the major should contact Undergraduate Advisor for assistance with the petition process.

Preparation for the Major

We want students to be able to enter the major from a variety of directions, and so we offer a range of options at the lower division. Students should take two courses from the following:

To provide students greater flexibility, we also allow majors to take one of their elective courses (four units) at either the lower or upper division.

At the Upper Division

The English Department offers innovative courses that address the challenges of the twenty-first century even as they attend to the traditions and histories that shape us. The following requirements are designed to reflect the department’s unique profile and to capture the diversity of approaches and materials that we want our students to encounter in their time at the university and in the major.

At least 44 upper division units in English are required, as follows:

Subject Area Requirements

    • Majors should take one course from each of the following areas:

    • Literature and the Social
    • Form, Media, Expression
    • Regions, Borders, Worlds
    • Literature across Disciplines

See the major sheet for the extensive list of courses that fulfill each of these requirements.

Historical Field Requirements

    • Majors should take one course from each of the following historical fields:

    • Literatures & Cultures, pre-1500
    • Literatures & Cultures, 1500-1700
    • Literatures & Cultures, 1700-1900
    • Literatures & Cultures, post-1500

See the major sheet for the extensive list of courses that fulfill each of these requirements.

Senior Seminar

  • English 197 – the capstone course of the English Major

Subject Area Requirements

(four courses, 16 units)

Explore courses that expand your knowledge of literatures and cultures around the globe and that expose you to a range of ideas and approaches. Virtually all upper-division English courses fulfill at least one of these subject areas, and most fulfill more than one. See the major sheet for the extensive list of courses that fulfill each of these requirements

Majors should take one course from each of the following subject areas:

  • Literature and the Social
    The English Department offers a variety of courses that address topics concerning literature and the social realm.
    In Spring 2024, the following courses can fulfill this requirement:

  • Form, Media, Expression
    Students will encounter a range of courses that address literature in relation to form, media, and expression.
    In Spring 2024, the following courses can fulfill this requirement:

  • Regions, Borders, Worlds
    The English Department offers a variety of courses that address literature in relation to regions, borders. and worlds.In Spring 2024, the following courses can fulfill this requirement:

  • Literature across Disciplines
    Students will encounter a range of courses that address literature across  disciplines.
    While there are no courses that fulfill this requirement in Spring 2024, the department has offered seven courses that fulfill this requirement in 2023-2024 and will offer more in 2024-25.

Historical Field Requirements

(four courses, 16 units)

Explore courses that expand your knowledge of literary history and expose you to a range of cultures and histories. See the major sheet for the extensive list of courses that fulfill each of these requirements

Majors should take one course from each of the following historical fields:

  • Literature & Cultures pre-1500
    In Spring 2024, the following course can fulfill this requirement:

  • Literatures & Cultures 1500-1700
    In Spring 2024, the following course can fulfill this requirement:

  • Literatures & Cultures 1700-1900
    In Spring 2024, the following course can fulfill this requirement:

  • Literatures & Cultures post-1900
    For courses that fulfill this requirement, check back in the Fall.

Senior Seminar

(one course, 4 units)

The capstone of the English major is the senior seminar (English 197), which gives students the opportunity to work closely in small classes with our faculty. The topics covered in these courses range widely. Recent titles include: Ghosts and War in Asian America; Poetry Lab; Feminist Interventions: Women/Writing/Film; Humor and Ecology; James Joyce’s Ulysses; Trauma and Somatic Reading; Pre-Raphaelites and Victorian Culture; Digital Humanities; Steal From the Rich: Robin Hood in Literature and Media; J.M. Coetzee: Ethics and the Other; The Culture and Politics of the Long 1960s. Search the English Department’s Courses page for more information.

The department offers multiple iterations of the senior seminar in every quarter (Fall, Winter, Spring).

Undergraduate