The English Department will have restructured degree options for English majors, beginning in the Fall 2025 semester.
Degree emphases will be removed for the English degree. To obtain an English degree, students will have the option to take one course from five new core categories, two seminar courses and one additional elective, for a total of 39 credit hours.
The prior English program had four degree emphases: literature, rhetoric & writing, elementary education and secondary education. A unification of the English major program disassembles these; however, students will still be able to specialize in different English fields, according to Ann Amicucci, associate professor in the English department.
“Everybody is just an English major in one category, but then within that category, they have a lot of options,” Amicucci said. The classes themselves haven’t changed, and Amicucci said that students can still focus on one of the emphases, but the degree will no longer reflect the specifics.
The new program is designed to allow students to pursue their areas of interest as well as prepare them for careers, according to Amicucci.
First-year student Asher Evans was admitted to UCCS undecided but declared an English degree after hearing about the new curriculum. “The new curriculum just gives you options,” Evans said. “It’s not so much the rhetoric and writing focus, or the literature focus: it’s broader. You get to focus on taking more classes that you enjoy.”
The degree change improves circumstances for students interested in creative writing, according to Amicucci. “Previously, if someone [was] a literature major, they might feel, ‘well, I’ll also do a creative writing minor,’ but, with this new option, they’ll be able to take all those creative writing classes in the major.”
Students majoring in English before Fall 2025 can decide between staying on the old degree program or switching to the new program. “For existing students, it’s an option if they want to [switch], but they don’t have to,” Amicucci said. “We will, of course, continue to offer courses that allow them to finish their current plans.”
Students who begin an English major track in Fall 2025 will not have a choice between the old and new program. They will automatically be on the new degree plan.
English minors remain unaffected by the changes to the major. “You can minor in literature, in rhetoric or in creative writing, and anybody on campus can do one of those minors,” Amicucci said. Those outside of the English track can take any course in the department.
Students with questions surrounding the degree changes are advised to contact their academic advisor or English department chair, Steven Carter.
English textbooks in the Kraemer Family Library. Photo by Josiah Dolan.