Major
Earning an English degree from Longwood is just the beginning of your exploration and appreciation of words -- in books, poetry, essays, memoirs and literature of all genres, eras and regions.
You also have the opportunity to choose from one of these concentrations:
Professional Writing Course Handout (pdf)
Minor in Literature
Literature
Students will study texts from the Anglo-Saxon era to the current moment, engaging with authors from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. We place literature in its historical contexts but also consider how it speaks to contemporary concerns. The texts we study allow students to grapple with the big questions that define human experience and to understand how diverse writers have approached those questions.
You'll study authors across six categories (18 credits of literature courses).
- British Literature, Pre-1660
- British Literature, Post-1660
- American Literature, Pre-1865
- American Literature, Post-1865
- World Literature
- Literature Elective
English Secondary Teaching Licensure
Becoming a Longwood English major is your first step to an engaging, rewarding career teaching sixth to twelfth-grade English in Virginia's public schools. Our program boasts a 100% full-time placement rate for graduates with a Commonwealth of Virginia teaching license.
Sample 4-Year Plan
English Secondary Teaching Licensure, Teacher Preparation Concentration (pdf)
Children's Literature
Children's literature is everywhere: libraries, bookstores, classrooms, and homes.
Children's and YA titles are on bestseller lists, in the news, and inspire TV and movie adaptations. In this concentration, we practice analyzing these varied and ubiquitous literary texts.
Children's literature concentrators will find their professors eager to mentor research, conference presentations, and even publications.
Studying children's literature at Longwood provides an especially strong foundation for graduate work in children's literature studies.
For those not continuing to graduate school, this concentration will provide knowledge and skill to help in a variety of careers or to just be a more informed and thoughtful reader with children.
Creative Writing
Join this vibrant, close-knit community and hone your creative talents in our small, intimate classes and energetic writing workshops. You’ll develop your skills in classes lead by charismatic instructors who are also accomplished novelists, poets, memoirists, and dramatists.
Minor in Creative Writing
Professional Writing
Here, you'll practice and polish your professional writing skills. You'll learn to create clear, convincing messages for a variety of public communication jobs and develop your understanding of persuasive elements of writing, like
- Formatting
- Professional language
- Awareness of contexts
- Awareness of audience
Professional Writing Course Handout (pdf)
Minor in Professional Writing
Minor
Find your passion for words and literature, be a part of our close-knit community of readers and writers with a minor in English. Pick from our general English, Creative Writing, Rhetorical and Professional Writing or Children's Literature.
Literature
You’ll take six courses to complete this minor, including Introduction to Literary Analysis, a course that will help you cultivate important critical thinking skills, and two literature surveys. The three elective requirements will allow you to shape coursework around your interests.
Creative Writing
No matter your major, at Longwood you can scratch your expressive itch with a creative writing minor. The moment you step on campus, your opportunities to read, write, stretch, grow, and publish begin. Here, you can turn your love of the written word into life as a working writer.
Professional Writing
In the minor you’ll focus on technical writing and public communication, gaining a competitive edge that pairs well with all kinds of majors including business, computer science, and communication sciences and disorders.
Children's Literature
You'll take six courses to complete this minor, including these 5 required courses:
- Introduction to Literary Analysis
- Children’s Literature
- Literature for Young Adults
- History of Literature for Young Readers
- Diversity in Literature for Young Readers
Courses
Experience the breadth of this degree in courses that cover Shakespeare to Contemporary American Literature.
See All English Courses