Goucher College 2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalogue

Nov 23, 2024

Goucher College 2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalogue PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived catalog. Programs are subject to change each academic year.

Literary Studies Major

Analyzing literature will hone your skills in recognizing repeating themes, tropes, and images. It will teach you how to prioritize (which of these elements matter and why?) and interpret (if this matters to the text, what can be learned from it?). Unlike other art forms in which your view is from the outside, in literature your eye is the narrative’s “I” and you learn what it is like to see from the perspective of someone other than yourself. Through reading historic, American, and international literatures you will also learn historical, social and cultural contexts.

This versatile major balances a comprehensive core of literary study with recommended area studies. We require a total of 36 credits, many of which can be taken in flexible sequences: this means LIT lends itself well to students pursuing double majors, and is a very attainable major for students taking semester or year abroad programs.

We encourage interdisciplinarity and accept up to 12 credits of complementary courses from other Goucher programs or study abroad.

16 credits of your LIT credits must be taken at the 300 or 400 level.

Up to 2 credits of 100 level LIT may count towards the major.

Creative Writing majors may wish to pursue the 20 credit LIT minor.

Secondary Education majors should take the core, as all our majors do, and then draw on the “British Legacies” area studies track.

What to Expect

200 level LIT courses provide context, breadth and specific skills (nb LIT 200 and LIT 215 are required for most upper-level courses so take them early in your major).

300 level LIT courses engage in deeply focused literary criticism and require an extended research essay.

400 level LIT courses engage in sophisticated analysis that can extend widely across our discipline as well as beyond.

Required Core Courses:

LIT 200 - Close Reading, Critical Writing (2 Cr.) (WID for Literary Studies)
LIT 215 - Literary Theory: Four Ways of Looking at a Text (2 Cr.)

At least 4 credits in American Literature:

At least 4 credits in African-American or International Literature:

At least 6 credits in British Literature:

Capstone:

All students must either complete the capstone (LIT 497 ) or submit a thesis (LIT 495 ).

Notes:

Writing in the Discipline (WID) for Literary Studies is achieved in LIT 200 .

Our current Writing Enriched Curriculum Courses (WEC) are LIT 232 and LIT 265 .

Area Studies

In addition to core courses, students design a course of study around a thematic area of their choice. This focus invites students to become experts in a body of literature, including its cultural context. Up to 12 credits can be chosen from non-LIT courses, in consultation with your advisor.

Possible area tracks include:

Alterities of Race and/or Gender

Course offerings will vary by year, can include courses not listed here, and will required students and advisors to be attentive to prerequisite requirements in non-LIT courses. Up to 12 credits can be chosen from non-LIT courses, in consultation with your advisor.

Suggested courses include:

American Literature and Culture

Suggested courses include:

British Legacies

Suggested courses include:

International/Transnational/Global

Suggested courses include:

Literature with Theatrical, Visual and Musical “texts”

Suggested courses include:

Book Studies

Suggested courses include: