The English Studies Major: Areas of Concentration

Literature

The study of literature is designed to understand the message and meaning of a text. This concentration studies fiction and non-fiction oral texts employed in TV, theatre, and film, as well as novels, short stories, poems, and other written genres designed for reading. Texts can be studied individually or as a group, and also comparatively, using texts from two or more genres, cultures or languages.

Professional Writing

This area is designed to prepare students for writing texts suitable for a job, career, or vocation. Professional writing is intended for publication – public or private use – in print/electronic form or in the audio/visual modes of communication. Students in this area can study and practice a wide variety of written and spoken text genres, including creative writing, technical writing for scientific and business fields, and film and television writing.

Folklife/Southern Culture

The concentration covers texts of all types that focus on the history, culture, and literature of the U.S. South, as well as the study of folklore in the South and other regions of the world. Texts studied in this area include all types created by U.S. Southern and folklore authors, including fairy tales and film. Related: Louisiana Folklife Center.

Film Studies

This area studies all types of texts related to the film as a medium of communication. Students will learn to critically analyze a film text for its message and meaning, as well as learn to write specific types of texts, including those designed for professional use, such as screenplays. Opportunities for students to develop and produce their own films are also provided.

Job Readiness
Undergraduate degrees in the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Cultural Studies prepare our students for a wide range of careers, as you can see by the achievements of our graduates. In addition to continuing their education in a variety of graduate and professional schools, our alumni have gone on to work in training and communications at multinational corporations, work as editors at major publishing houses, become directors of legal associations, and teach at the college level. Our graduates have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for poetry and won such esteemed awards as the James Beard Foundation Awards for cookbooks.

Catalog Entry for this degree

English Bachelor’s Degree Checklist

• English 1010: Composition and Rhetoric I
• English 1020: Composition and Rhetoric II
• 6 hours of English at the 2000-level.
• 3 semester hours of 3000- or 4000-level English courses

English Minor Checklist

Foreign Language Minor Checklist
Spanish Minor Checklist

Catalog Entry for this degree

• English 5800;
• 6 hours from Literature courses;
• 6 hours from Writing or Linguistics courses;
• 6 hours of Folklife/Southern culture courses;
• 6 additional hours of any graduate level ENGL course (including 5280 if on assistantship).

Degree Checklist

• ENGL 5800;
• ENGL 6310 or 5590 and 6480 or 5580;
• at least 12 additional hours in the areas of Folklife and Southern literature, or other English courses with approval by advisor and department head. Students may choose to take their remaining courses in the areas of literature (particularly American literature), folklore, grant writing or linguistics.  Courses that can be used to fulfill the 12 hours include ENGL 6890, 6600, 6590, 6580, 6480, 6470, 6373, 6310, 6290, 6200, 6030, 5900, 5721, 5720, 5710, 5600, 5590, 5580, 5570, 5560, 5450, 5400, 5350, 5320, 5290;
• 3 or 6 additional hours of any graduate level ENGL course (including 5280 if on assistantship).

Degree Checklist

• ENGL 5800;
• one 3-hour seminar in a major literary figure;
• at least 15 hours in literature or related courses (includes the following: ENGL 5010, 5020, 5030, 5090, 5210, 5250, 5300, 5350, 5400, 5450, 5500, 5560, 5570, 5590, 5710, 6010, 6030, 6100, 6110, 6120, 6200, 6210, 6230, 6310, 6373, 6580, 6590, 6630);
• 3 or 6 additional hours of any graduate level ENGL course (including 5280 if on assistantship).

Degree Checklist

The program is designed for students who do not plan to pursue state teacher certification and wish to teach English in an educational organization other than the U.S. public school system. These organizations include private schools, businesses, government agencies, and community-based programs in the U.S., and a wide variety of institutions in foreign countries. There is a growing need in Louisiana, the U.S., and in many countries around the world for English teachers to serve in these educational settings.

Students in the TESOL concentration must complete:

• ENGL 5800;
• ENGL 5240, 6610, 6640, and two electives courses from the approved list (a total of 15 hours, required for the graduate certificate in TESOL);
• 6 additional hours of any graduate level ENGL course (including 5280 if on assistantship).

Degree Checklist

Students in the Writing and Linguistics concentration must complete:

• ENGL 5800;
• 15 hours of linguistics, rhetoric, composition, or writing courses (includes the following courses: ENGL 5010, 5030, 5040, 5090, 5230, 5240, 5260, 5270, 5290, 5540, 5700, 5920, 6210, 6540, 6580, 6590, 6600, 6610, 6620, 6640, 6650, 6890)
• 3 or 6 additional hours of any graduate level ENGL course (including 5280 if on assistantship).

Degree Checklist

Graduate degrees in the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Cultural Studies prepare students for a wide range of careers, as you can see by the achievements of our graduates. In addition to continuing their education in a variety of graduate and professional schools, our alumni have gone on to work in training and communications at multinational corporations, work as editors at major publishing houses, become lawyers and directors of legal associations, and teach at the college level. Our MA in English graduates have been accepted into a wide variety of advanced professional and doctoral programs; recent Ph.D. program acceptances include Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Oklahoma State, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Graduate assistantships provide professional development opportunities for qualified students. The student works with a department faculty mentor and contributes to the department’s educational mission in a variety of ways: classroom assistant, research assistant, student tutor, lesson planner, student club assistant, and other department projects and tasks. The training and experience gained as a G.A. is invaluable for the student’s development in their chosen academic and career field, as well as providing funding for the student’s MA program.

Internships for credit are available. Students apply the principles learned in the graduate program to the real-world workplace. The student chooses the career field and organization for the internship, and our department assists with placement, pre-internship orientation, and on-campus supervision of the internship experience. Students who complete successfully a supervised internship receive many benefits, including advanced training and experience, professional connections and work recommendations useful for future jobs, and a great entry for your resume!

Graduate Certificate in TESOL

Required Courses

The required courses comprise nine of the 15 credit hours needed to earn the TESOL certificate.

• ENGL 5240       Principles of Second Language Learning, Instruction and Methodology
• ENGL 6610       Fundamentals of Linguistics
• ENGL 6640       Syntactic Theories and Applications

Certificate Checklist

For more information
Jim Mischler, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Graduate Program in TESOL
Dept. of English, Foreign Languages,
and Cultural Studies
Northwestern State University of Louisiana, USA
318-357-6272
mischlerj@nsula.edu

The program is designed for students who wish to communicate technical information effectively in the workplace, either as professional development for those already working in technical fields or as training for a new career. Career prospects include working as writers, editors, and communication specialists for private businesses, government agencies, and community-based programs. There is a growing need in Louisiana as well as nationally for technical writers and editors, and the Graduate Certificate in Writing for Business, Industry, and Technology is designed to help meet that need.

Students must possess an undergraduate degree from an accredited university to be eligible for the program. The certificate program consists of 18 hours–six courses of three semester hours each–which can be completed in one calendar year. All of the courses in the Writing for Business, Industry, and Technology graduate certificate program may be applied to the coursework requirements for the M.A. in English concentration in Writing and Linguistics at Northwestern State University.

Checklist

For more information on the program email languages@nsula.edu or call 318-357-6272.