For Undergraduate English Majors
As an English major, you design your own concentration — a program of study based on your areas of interest, organized around a controlling theme or topic — with the help of your advisor. Below are some recommendations for students interested in this area.
Recommended Courses
- ENGL 260/261: American Literature to/since 1865
- ENGL 302/302A/302B: Modern Poetry/Poetry since 1945/Contemporary Poetry
- ENGL 332/333: American Authors to/since 1900
- ENGL 333A: Willa Cather and Her World
- ENGL 334: American Literary Traditions
- ENGL 402: American Poetry
- ENGL 403: American Short Story
- ENGL 405M/N: American Novel I & II
- ENGL 411: Plains Literature
- ENGL 432/433: American Authors to/since 1900
- See also courses offered (all levels) focusing on U.S. ethnic literary traditions
Recommended Experiences
Internships, Volunteering, Publishing, etc.
- Work on the Willa Cather Archive or the Walt Whitman Archive
- Minor in Women's and Gender Studies, History, Ethnic Studies, Art History, Great Plains Studies, Environmental Studies, or another related field
- Attend readings by visiting poets and novelists and lectures by visiting scholars
- Visit Red Cloud, Nebraska, Willa Cather's childhood home
- Attend events at the Center for Great Plains Studies
- Arrange a UCARE experience with an American literature professor
Recommended Reading
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Willa Cather, My Ántonia
- Charles Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition
- Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It?
- Ella De Loria, Water Lily
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Catharine Sedgwick, Hope Leslie
- Collected poetry of Emily Dickinson
- Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn
- Octavia Butler, Kindred
These suggestions reflect the research and teaching interest of our faculty in American literature - ask them for more suggestions!
Career Opportunities
(May require Graduate of Professional School)
- Editing and Publishing
- Teaching
- Writing (journalism, corporate communications, grant writing)
- Graduate or professional school (law, literature, librarianship, etc.)
- Museums and cultural institutions