The English minor encourages students to develop familiarity with and deeper appreciation for English-language literary and cultural texts, and gain an understanding of how literature and language shape, and are shaped by, culture and history. It also strengthens critical reading skills by learning techniques for parsing, analyzing, and contextualizing a variety of texts and genres, and improve writing, research, and communication skills through explicit attention to constructing arguments, using evidence, crafting prose, and structuring discourse for a variety of audiences, genres, and contexts. Students acquire introductory awareness of the variety of methodologies and theories employed by scholars of literature, language, and culture to interpret texts and their effects.
Declaring a Minor in English
There are no admission requirements and no prerequisites for minors at the UW, including the English minor. Any undergraduate student with at least sophomore standing (45 credits completed) who has officially declared any major may declare a minor with their major advisor's permission. If you have not yet declared a major, can you begin to take English classes now that will eventually apply toward the minor.
To declare a minor, meet with your major advisor. Only your major advisor may sign the form for you to declare a minor; this is to ensure that you meet satisfactory progress requirements. You can declare a minor until the third week of the quarter in which you intend to graduate.
English majors are not eligible to declare an English Minor.
English Minor Requirements
The English minor requires a minimum of 30 credits in English courses taken at the 200, 300, or 400 level:
- any 200-, 300-, or 400-level English course may count, with the exceptions of ENGL 295 and 491, which may not be applied to the minor;
- at least 20 credits applied to the minor must be taken at the 300 or 400 level;
- at least 20 credits applied to the minor must be taken in residence at the UW Seattle;
- an average GPA of 2.00 must be maintained among all ENGL courses being applied to the English minor.
- No more than five credits may be counted from Creative Writing courses.
Notes:
- 20 credits must be taken in residence at the UW.
- No 100-level courses may apply toward the English minor.
- English minors, reach out to the Humanities Academic Services Center for help registering for English classes as early as the last week of any registration period 1.
Courses and Advising
Please visit the Humanities Academic Services Center to discuss the English minor, your options for courses, English-related internships, potential careers or other post-graduation plans, or areas of focus within your minor, such as language & rhetoric, expository or creative writing, genre studies, historical literary periods, literary theory & criticism, cultural studies, multicultural literature, literary modernism/postmodernism, gender studies, etc.
You can find detailed course descriptions for each quarter posted to our quarterly course offerings.
Staying Connected
We hope you'll consider yourself part of the UW's English Department community. Please feel free to subscribe yourself to the English e-mail list, "like" us on Facebook, and seek assistance from our department at any time.