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English

Undergraduate Studies

Information for Majors

Group Photo during Honors Day 2017
2017 Honors Day Award Winners

Bachelor of Arts in English

The English major offers studies in three concentrations:

  • Literature
  • Creative Writing
  • Applied Linguistics

Students majoring in English must declare the concentration that best aligns with their personal interests and professional goals. Students are highly encouraged to discuss the differences between each concentration while meeting with the Undergraduate English Advisor. 

For more information about majoring or minoring in English, please visit our Degree Programs page.

Each fall, the department hosts a Meeting for Majors event to share information about the major and about campus resources for English majors. Please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies for details about this meeting. 

Senior Experience

As part of a research university, our English undergraduates participate in capstone coursework in each concentration with some of the department's most accomplished faculty members.

The senior experience constitutes three credit hours taken at some point during the final three semesters of coursework in the major. Students choosing the honors thesis option take six credits. Common to all options is an expectation that students will be engaged in an active learning project involving independent research. In the case of the professional internships, the teaching practicum, community engagement/service learning, or learning abroad*, students should inquire further into the professional field or areas in which they are interested and develop a reflective inquiry related to the problems and challenges faced by its practitioners or community members. 

Literature Concentration, students choose one of the following:

  • 4396: Senior Experience Seminar (1 offered in fall, 2 in spring)
  • 4391: Advanced Community Engagement or Service Learning courses
  • 4392: Practicum: Teaching English as an Additional Language
  • 4319: English in the Secondary Schools (teaching practicum)
  • 4399: Senior Honors Thesis (students choosing the Honors Thesis option will take 6 hours, see Honors in English below)
  • 4398: Special Problems Senior Experience course with Research Directed by Faculty Member (requires prior approval of Undergrad Director/Undergrad Committee)
  • 4390: Professional Internship

Creative Writing Concentration: 

  • In place of the Senior Experience, Creative Writing majors will complete one of the following Senior Writing Projects in Creative Writing: 4387 (Fiction), 4384 (Poetry), or 4358 (Nonfiction)

Applied Linguistics Concentration, students choose one of the following: 

  • 4396: Senior Experience Seminar (1 offered in fall, 2 in spring)
  • 4391: Advanced Community Engagement or Service Learning courses 
  • 4392: Practicum: Teaching English as an Additional Language 
  • 4319: English in the Secondary Schools (teaching practicum) 
  • 4399: Senior Honors Thesis (students choosing the Honors Thesis option will take 6 hours, see Honors in English below) 
  • 4398: Special Problems Senior Experience course with Research Directed by Faculty Member (requires prior approval of Undergrad Director/Undergrad Committee)
  • 4390: Professional Internship
*Learning Abroad: Learning Abroad programs must be approved by the English Department, Honors College, or Comparative Cultural Studies. Start by contacting the Learning Abroad Office to determine which program meets your objectives.

Honors in English

  • Students wishing to complete work on a senior honors thesis, and thus to graduate with "honors in English," should begin to arrange their honors project through the Office of Undergraduate Research  in the fall semester of their junior year. Interested students can view our list of recent English Department honors theses online.
  • The English Department is home to the Epsilon Phi chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society.
  • The Department hosts an Honors Day each spring to celebrate the accomplishments of our students.

Professional Internship Program

  • The Department of English professional internship program is designed to give students practical experience that will be helpful in setting career goals and in securing positions after graduation. The program places students in a variety of businesses and non-profit organizations.
  • Internships are unpaid and consist of at least 70 work hours during the academic semester.  Upon successful completion of all work and course requirements, students receive 3 hours credit (ENGL 4390) that can be applied as English elective hours. Credit for ENGL 4390 is on an S/U basis and does not contribute to your GPA.
  • To qualify for the internship program, you must:
    • be an English major with junior or senior standing
    • have a GPA of at least 3.25 in English
    • have completed at least 9 hours of upper division English courses (with at least 6 hours on this campus)
  • If you meet those requirements and are interested in pursuing an internship, please contact Dr. Lauren Zentz at lrzentz@central.uh.edu at least three months before the semester in which you would like to enroll in the internship program. 

Awards and Scholarships

  • English 1301 Writing Award
  • English 1302 Writing Award
  • Jimmie Katherine Morris Gentile Scholarship in Literary Criticism
  • Robert and Jennifer Reichek Award
  • Kathryn Powell Leadership Award
  • Sylvan N. Karchmer Fiction Prize
  • Bryan Lawrence Award in Fiction
  • Bryan Lawrence Award in Nonfiction
  • Bryan Lawrence Award in Poetry
  • Howard Moss Award in Poetry
  • Gulf Coast Editorial Assistant Award
  • Provost’s Prize for Creative Writing
  • 2022 Undergraduate Award Application Packet

We also encourage students to apply for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS), and the Houston Early Research Experience (HERE). More information on these awards is available from the Office of Undergraduate Research.