In addition to the approved minors chosen from Groups I-XII, students may elect minors in the areas of American Studies, Celtic, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Drama, Latina/o Literature & Theory, Medieval Studies, the Novel, Poetry, Renaissance Studies, and Women’s Studies. The following descriptions detail the requirements for each of these areas and the faculty who are eligible to serve on these exam committees:

Description forthcoming.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: P. Gura, F. Hobson, J. Kasson, K. King, T. Ludington, M. O’Connor, R. Rust

Description forthcoming.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: P. O’Neill

A minor in Comparative Literature for the MA consists of two graduate courses (numbered above 100) listed or cross-listed as Comparative Literature. These can include courses cross-listed in English (ENGL/CMPL 153, ENGL/CMPL 179).

A minor in Comparative Literature for the Ph.D. consists of five graduate courses (including two that may have been taken for the MA) listed or cross-listed as Comparative Literature.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: E. Carlston, W. Harmon, E. Kennedy, K. King, T. Leinbaugh, J. McGowan, S. Navarette, R. Varma, L. Wagner-Martin

The English Department has a regularly offered minor in Theory and Cultural Studies, which works like any other minor in terms of graduate exams and requirements. In addition, however, students can earn a Certificate in Cultural Studies through the University Program in Cultural Studies (UPCS). The Certificate can serve as the student’s departmental minor. The Certificate (which is officially registered as such on all transcripts) requires that the student take five courses: a core course in Cultural Studies, three graduate courses (only one of which can be in the English Department) focused on a topic or theme, and a practicum which centers around written research in Cultural Studies. Students who complete the certificate can also have faculty from the Program in Cultural Studies who are not in the English Department serve on their exam committee. For more information, students should contact the UPCS office at 962-4955 or upcs@email.unc.edu; or talk to Professors McGowan, Matchinske, or Varma in the English Department.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: E. Carlston, P. Cooper, T. Curtain, J. Danielewicz, L. Langbauer, M. Matchinske, J. McGowan, S. Navarette, R. Varma

The drama is a genre minor. It entails a mastery of the development of the drama in England and America and familiarity with the wider history of the drama going back to Greek antiquity. Formal requirements for the minor are one seminar in the drama and a reading list for the exam developed by the student in consultation with the examining committee.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: L. Avery, A. Dessen, R. Kendall, E. Kennedy (Medieval), K. King

Ph.D.candidates who choose the in-house minor in Latina/o Literature and Theory can fulfill it by taking one seminar that involves the study of Latina/o literature in a general multi-ethnic, transhistorical sense or a more specialized one (in terms of genre, historical period, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class, and so on) as long as that study is accompanied by an introduction to some of the major theoretical and/or critical essays within the field of Latina/o Literature. Thus, Literary and Critical Theory, Postcolonial, Diaspora, and/or Cultural Studies should be regular components of any course for this minor. The reading list for exams shall be designed according to a multi-ethnic, transhistorical, and theoretically eclectic model, but is to be tailored, with the examining committee, to the needs and interests of the individual Ph.D. candidate. Instructors and thesis advisors include, but are not limited to Professors DeGuzmán, McGowan, and Varma. Courses and advising may also be handled by other faculty members in the English Department as appropriate and to the extent that their present or future work develops areas and topics within Latina/o Literature and Theory, explores the inter-relation between literary and cultural manifestations within the U.S. at various historical moments, and examines the implications of the study of Latina/o Literature for American Literary Studies, American Studies, and Americas Studies. Spanish is highly recommended. However, it is not a requirement for this in-house minor. For more information, students should contact Dr. María DeGuzmán at deguzman@email.unc.edu. See also Latina/o Literature and Theory page.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: M. DeGuzmán, J. McGowan, R. Varma

Description forthcoming.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: E. Kennedy, T. Leinbaugh, P. O’Neill

The novel is a genre minor, which entails a mastery of the history and development of the British and American novel and, of course, familiarity with the major practitioners, from the early modern through the postmodern. As a study of genre, the novel minor also encompasses familiarity with a range of novel theorists offering a wide variety of perspectives on the nature and function of fiction. One seminar in the novel is required, and a reading list for exams is negotiated with the examining committee.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: P. Cooper, T. Curtain, T. Harris, L. Langbauer, T. Ludington, J. McGowan, S. Navarette, J. Raper, T. Reinert, R. Rust, B. Taylor, J. Thompson, L. Wagner-Martin

Students who minor in "Poetry" are expected to have read widely in poetry and theory of poetry from the major periods of British literature (medieval, Renaissance, eighteenth-century, Romantics, Victorians, Moderns, etc.) and from eighteenth-nineteenth-twentieth-century American poetry. Students should be familiar with the development of certain sub-genres of poetry (elegy, satire, epic, ode, lyric, etc.) and with variations of form and prosody.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: C. Armitage, T. Harris, W. Harmon, R. Kirkpatrick, G. Lensing, T. Reinert, R. Rust, T. Stumpf, L. Wagner-Martin

Doctor of Philosophy Degree with a Minor in Renaissance Studies: Students working on their doctorate in one of the regular departmental programs may, with the approval of their departmental director of graduate studies, submit for the degree an interdisciplinary minor in Renaissance Studies. The program, as a matter of administrative convenience, is “housed” in the Curriculum of Comparative Literature. It is administered by the Arts & Sciences Committee for Renaissance Studies. Designed to encourage interdisciplinary work in the area that virtually demands such an approach, the minor requires a minimum of five courses from the list below. Of those five, one must be in Comparative Literature 309, Seminar in Renaissance Studies. The remaining four courses must represent equally two fields other than the major field [e.g., a student with a major in Italian could offer from the approved list two courses in French, two in Fine Arts, and CMPL 309]. Students are required to discuss their proposed plan of study with their departmental major advisor, their departmental director of graduate studies, and a member of the Renaissance Studies Committee whom they choose as Renaissance advisor. Formal approval (by letter or by an approved form) is required by both a Renaissance advisor and the departmental director of graduate studies (although one person may function in both capacities).

CMPL 309 (Seminar in Renaissance Studies) serves as a nucleus for the minor, affording students the opportunity to bring together seemingly divergent strains in an interdisciplinary context. The course, offered once a year or as required by enrollment in the minor, will be taught by different members of the Renaissance faculty who wish to offer a “thematic” study. Normally the faculty member giving the course will invite other members of the Renaissance faculty to participate in the discussions and to present related materials from their own field of inquiry. Student participants will choose a related topic or area for research and all will report regularly on their own projects under investigation. The course will be cross-listed, as appropriate, under departmental offerings.

The Minor in Renaissance Studies for the Ph.D. will be examined orally at the departmental oral examination (not the defense), unless written examination is required by departmental policy; normally faculty with whom the candidate has taken courses will serve as examiners.

A working knowledge of Latin is strongly recommended for students in the program.

Master of Arts Degree with a Minor in Renaissance Studies: Students working on their M.A. in one of the regular departmental programs may also, with the approval of their departmental director of graduate studies, submit for the degree an interdisciplinary minor in Renaissance Studies. The program, like that for the Ph.D. and as a matter of administrative convenience, is “housed” in the Curriculum of Comparative Literature. It is administered by the Arts & Sciences Committee for Renaissance Studies. Designed to encourage interdisciplinary work in the area that virtually demands such an approach, the minor requires a minimum of three courses from the list below. The three courses must be from the offerings of two fields other than the major field. The minor in Renaissance Studies at the M.A. level should encourage students to broaden their program early and should prepare them for continued interdisciplinary work at the doctoral level. It is not designed as such for terminal M.A.’s. Students are encouraged to discuss their proposed plan of study with their departmental major advisor, their departmental director of graduate studies, and a member of the Renaissance Studies Committee whom they choose as Renaissance advisor. Formal approval (by letter or by an approved form) is required by both a Renaissance advisor and the departmental director of graduate studies (although one person may function in both capacities).

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: R. Barbour, R. Kendall, M. Matchinske

The Curriculum in Women's Studies offers a graduate minor which requires Ph.D. students to take 15 credit hours in crosslisted courses at the 200 or 300 level. Courses must be distributed as follows:

• 9 credit hours in crosslisted courses in two different disciplines outside the student's major. These courses may include theory courses beyond the three-credit requirement.
• 3 credit hours in feminist theory; this course may be taken in any department, including the student's major department.
• 3 credit hours in a Women's Studies seminar for graduate minors. (WMST 299)

Graduate students minoring in Women's Studies must include on their doctoral committee a faculty member who teaches Women's Studies courses. Students will need to specify which of their WS courses satisfies the English Dept's requirement of one seminar in the minor.

Faculty members who can serve on this exam committee: E. Carlston, P. Cooper, J. Danielewicz, L. Langbauer, M. Matchinske, J. McGowan, J. Moskal, S. Navarette, M. O’Connor, B. Taylor, R. Varma, L. Wagner-Martin

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