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The CSUSB English department provides instruction in literature, linguistics, and diverse writing disciplines. Undergraduate students pursuing an English major can select from four specialization areas: literary studies, creative writing, language studies, or rhetoric and composition. With faculty guidance and departmental consent, exceptional students may craft a customized Directed Self-Study program that integrates English coursework with potential interdisciplinary offerings. All five pathways feature a shared 30-unit foundation, beginning with ENG 2000: Introduction to English Studies and concluding with ENG 5160: Professional Pathways in English. Following this core curriculum, each concentration demands 18 supplementary units, typically allowing considerable flexibility in fulfilling individual requirements. Students have numerous opportunities within each specialization to explore their specific academic interests.
The English program aims to cultivate students' capacity for attentive reading and analytical thinking, develop their skills in crafting coherent, evidence-based textual analyses, enhance their comprehension of English language components, broaden their familiarity with authors and literary traditions across historical periods and cultures, and recognize writing as a contextualized, influential social practice. These five concentrations allow students to explore their diverse interests within the comprehensive field of English Studies.