Bachelor of Arts in English

About

The Bachelor of Arts in English follows a course of historical and topical study in the English language and the literatures of Britain and the United States, as well as related English-language traditions across the globe, and also in world literature in English translation. Students are trained in composition and proceed with a solid grounding in practical criticism and critical theory to explore literature as an artistic medium and an intellectual discipline. They acquire skills in writing and textual analysis designed to complement other academic studies, and later to enhance professional skills and to achieve personal goals.

Available Options

Concentration in Creative Writing

The Creative Writing concentration is a course of study in which students develop their craft in creative writing, informed by international literature. Students will develop their ability to write, revise, and discuss creative work in a workshop setting while examining a range of approaches to writing in related literature courses. The critical thinking skills developed during the concentration are professional skills valuable in publishing, advertising, film, television, journalism, nonprofit organizations, and those businesses that depend upon clear oral and written communication. The concentration also prepares students for graduate study in English and Creative Writing, while familiarizing them with the venues where they may consider publishing their own creative work.
Concentration in Professional Writing

The Bachelor of Arts in English follows a course of historical study in the English language and the literatures of Britain and the United States, as well as related English-language traditions and literary works in translation. Students are trained in composition and proceed with a solid grounding in critical theory to explore literature as an artistic medium and an intellectual discipline. They acquire skills in writing and textual analysis designed to complement other academic studies and to enhance later professional and personal goals.
Concentration in Literature

The Literature Concentration follows a course of historical study in the English language and the literatures of Britain and the United States, as well as a range of multi-ethnic literatures and literary works in translation. Students are trained in composition and proceed with a solid grounding in critical theory to explore literature as an artistic medium and an intellectual discipline. They acquire skills in writing and textual analysis designed to complement other academic studies and to enhance later professional and personal goals, and it prepares them for fields of law, communications, and journalism.
Concentration in Cultural Studies

The Cultural Studies Concentration emphasizes the analysis of various forms of cultural expression, particularly popular culture and electronic media culture. It approaches cultural genres such as film, television, and various popular literary forms like science fiction, crime and graphic novels, through critical models shaped by cultural theory. This theory reads popular cultural texts as both narratives that conform to a variety of storytelling methods and works which perform an ideological and political function. Cultural theory incorporates ideas from fields such as Film Studies, Materialist Philosophy, Ethnic and Race Studies, Feminist and Gender Studies, and Queer Studies. The Cultural Studies Concentration develops students' analytical and interpretive skills while introducing them to various critical approaches to popular culture and electronic media culture.
Concentration in Writing and Rhetoric

The writing and rhetoric concentration encompasses fields ranging from writing studies to professional writing to technical communication. Underscoring the concentration is a fundamental attention to how the wide variety of texts we encounter and produce—spanning genres and mediums from the public sphere to the workplace to our daily lives—can best achieve their purposes and meet the needs of diverse audiences. Combining theory with practice, students in the writing and rhetoric concentration take courses that provide both a theoretical foundation for understanding effective writing and also the skills in analysis, research, writing, and editing that prepare them to engage productively in both public life and a wide variety of industries and fields.

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please head over to Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

Students will produce informed, rhetorically effective texts both in writing and orally.
Students will read, evaluate, and apply textual, digital, and material resources.
Students will analyze, synthesize, and apply a range of theories and critical methods.
Students will recognize and explain significant themes, aesthetic trends, linguistic features, and generic conventions across the historical range of textual and literary production in English.
Students will interrogate complex relationships between race, class, gender, and sexuality in written texts and other media.

Concentration in Creative Writing

Upon completing the concentration in Creative Writing, students will:

Demonstrate familiarity with major authors, works, genres, and movements in international literature.
Apply theoretical and critical methods to their understanding of works of literature.
Articulate the aesthetic approaches employed in the crafting of their own creative work.
Write and revise their own works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Utilize editing skills learned in critiquing the writing of fellow writers.
Produce informed, rhetorically effective written and oral work that communicates their insights on literature and society.
Develop a familiarity with publishing and professional standards when submitting work for publication.

Concentration in Professional Writing

Students will demonstrate the ability to read, write, and think critically.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of English language and linguistics.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of theoretical and critical methods.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of multi-ethnic literature.
Students will demonstrate proficiency in designing, writing, and editing print and digital texts for a variety of audiences and purposes in professional contexts.
Students will demonstrate project management skills.
Student will exhibit a complex understanding of common professional writing genres.
Students will exhibit an ability to collaborate effectively at all stages of a writing project.
Students will exhibit visual design awareness and acuity.
Students will apply a broad repertoire of research and critical-thinking skills that reflect an awareness of cultural contexts.
Students will develop strategies for learning digital/software applications and acquiring expertise.

Concentration in Literature

Upon completing the concentration in Literature, students will:

Students will produce informed, rhetorically effective texts both in writing and orally.
Students will read, evaluate, and apply textual, digital, and material resources.
Students will analyze, synthesize, and apply a range of theories and critical methods.
Students will recognize and explain significant themes, aesthetic trends, linguistic features, and generic conventions across the historical range of textual and literary production in English.
Students will interrogate complex relationships between race, class, gender, and sexuality in written texts and other media.

Concentration in Cultural Studies

Upon completing the concentration in Cultural Studies, students will:

Demonstrate familiarity with a set of theoretical and critical approaches to the study of culture.
Analyze and interpret cultural texts and think critically about them.
Argue persuasively about cultural texts, especially in writing.
Demonstrate knowledge of key primary cultural texts, including films and popular literary works, spanning the modern period.

Concentration in Writing and Rhetoric

Upon completing the concentration in Writing and Rhetoric, students will:

Identify and explain different critical and theoretical frameworks for understanding writing and rhetoric.
Read, interpret, and evaluate the effectiveness of a variety texts as aesthetic works, persuasive exchanges, and sites of cultural production.
Demonstrate proficiency in research and scholarly methods, including familiarity with both critical and empirical methods for studying writing and rhetoric.
Produce rhetorically effective written texts across a variety of mediums and for a variety of audiences and purposes.
Understand and articulate the role, relevance, and responsibility of rhetoric and writing within a globally diverse community.

Requirements

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