Learning Goals

Learning Goals

The department of English at Bowdoin College takes a broad and varied approach to the study of Anglophone literature and media. Our courses share the common goal of teaching students to engage closely with primary materials and to write and speak about them with clarity and conviction. Students may also pursue the study of creative writing, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and screenwriting. We strongly believe that the study and creation of literature are fundamental to a liberal arts education and offer crucial skills for living in the world today.  

English majors have the option of pursuing two tracks through the major: a general track focusing on literary analysis and a creative writing track. Both options provide students with a solid foundation in different periods and trends in Anglophone literary history.

Introductory Courses

First-Year Writing Seminars: These small classes introduce students to college-level reading and writing at Bowdoin. Focused on a wide range of topics, they provide individualized instruction on the basics of literary interpretation and methodologies. Students will learn skills including close reading, scholarly research, analytic writing, and oral discussions and presentations.

English 1060 and English 1070: English Composition and The Art of Rhetoric: These are skills-based workshops aimed at helping students improve their writing and public speaking. They offer an intensive overview of the basics of composition and rhetoric, including grammar and mechanics, modes of argumentation and analysis, and citation practices that students will use across the curriculum.  We recommend ENGL 1070 for students on the pre-med track looking to fulfill the requirement that applicants take a second writing-intensive course in addition to the First-Year Writing Seminar. These courses do not count for the English major.

1100-Level Lecture Courses: These courses are intended for students who are interested in learning about a methodology, genre, or topic related to the study of Anglophone literature. Students will apply basic methods to literary analysis and cultivate a greater appreciation of primary texts. Intended for prospective majors and non-majors alike.

Intermediate Courses 

2000-Level Lecture Courses: These courses constitute the core offerings in the English major, covering all periods in the Anglophone literary tradition, from early medieval literature to the present. They do not require previous coursework in the English department and are intended for majors and non-majors. Students can choose from a variety of offerings at this level of the curriculum, ranging from survey classes on a particular period to inquiries into specific genres, theoretical questions, and subfields. Capped at 35 students, they encourage active participation and inquiry.

2000-Level Seminars: Capped at 16 students, these writing-intensive seminars function as a follow-up to the First-Year Writing Seminar and as a gateway into the major and minor. These seminars allow for sustained inquiry into a literary topic as well as acquiring and practicing the foundational methodologies required for more advanced study in English. Students will learn skills related to close reading and analysis, scholarly research, and writing analytical and critical essays. Majors must take at least one intermediate seminar in the English department.  Potential majors are strongly encouraged to take this required intermediate seminar in their sophomore year.

Advanced Courses

3000-Level Seminars: These small capstone seminars offer opportunities for deep inquiry into a given topic in literary studies for English majors and minors. Students will gain greater awareness of critical trends and develop facility with engaging in scholarly discussions. These classes incorporate research, writing, and presentation skills, and culminate in a substantial project that reflects the student’s independent research on a related topic of their choice.  Majors must take at least one advanced seminar in the English department. Majors are strongly encouraged to take a 3000-level seminar in their junior or senior year.

Independent Studies and Honors Theses:

Students may work with a faculty member on a semester-long independent study or year-long honors thesis. Both options give students the tools for individual research and writing. These projects can be in literary analysis and history or in creative writing and can count toward the major.

Creative Writing Courses

Our curriculum includes introductory and advanced courses in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We also offer courses in other genres, including screenwriting and (through a cross-listed workshop offered in Theater and Dance) playwriting. Creative writing classes allow students to acquire the skills needed to critically read works of literature, and also to learn various styles and techniques of writing. Most of these courses consist of workshop critiques that foster generous and empathetic discussion of writing in a small setting of 12 students. Students who opt for the creative writing English major track are required to take one introductory and one advanced course in a single genre, as well as a third course in a different genre.

Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department

Students may elect to major in English, the English and theater interdisciplinary major, or to coordinate a major in English with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing a coordinate or interdisciplinary major may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in English.

Department Website