Two Minors: (1) English and (2) Technical and Professional Communication

Declaring a Minor in English or in Technical and Professional Communication (TPC)

There are no admission requirements and no prerequisites for minors at the UW. Any undergraduate student with at least sophomore standing (45 credits completed) who is officially declared in any major may declare a minor with his or her major adviser's permission. If you have not yet declared a major (i.e., if you are still in "premajor" status), you are not yet eligible to declare a UW minor. (This does not mean that you cannot begin to take classes now that will eventually apply toward the minor, however.)

To declare a minor, meet with your major advisor. Only an adviser there may sign the form to declare a minor; this is to ensure that students meet satisfactory progress requirements.There are no deadlines for declaring minors, except that you cannot declare a minor after the deadline for applying to graduate. In other words, you cannot declare a minor after the third week of the quarter in which you intend to graduate.

English majors are not eligible to declare an English Minor or a Writing Minor per UW policy.

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.

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.
Some courses may be restricted during Registration Period 1 to majors only; we're not generally able to override these restrictions, so those pursuing the minor must in most cases wait until Period 2 registration to enroll. See the Time Schedule notes for individual course restrictions. Those few courses that are restricted to majors only will have a note that reads, "English majors only PER 1." By UW policy, English majors may not add a minor in English.

TPC Minor Requirements

The Technical and Professional Communication Minor is designed to provide students with concentrated study of and practice in writing, language, and rhetoric related to technical and professional topics. The minor is most appropriate for students interested in careers in technical writing, technical editing, technical journalism, business and business writing, marketing, publishing, education, public relations, and scientific and technical fields where writing, analytic, and communication skills are valued.

30 credits

  1. Core Courses (10 credits): ENGL 206, ENGL 288
  2. Elective Courses (20 credits): See website for list of approved courses
    1. Technical and Professional Communication (10 credits)
    2. Additional Writing, Rhetoric, Communication, and Design (minimum 10 credits)
  3. Minimum 15 credits of upper-division courses
  4. Minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA in courses applied toward the minor
  5. Minimum 20 credits taken in residence at UW Seattle

 

 

Courses and Advising

Please visit the Humanities Academic Services Center to discuss a minor and your options for courses, as well as 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. These will provide you with information about teaching faculty, themes, texts, etc.

You may also want to look at what qualities the Writing Minor is designed to help you practice and the goals that the writing minor has in mind for students.

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.

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