Mission

The B.A. in English at the Lebanese American University aims at providing students with a strong liberal arts background and communicative competence in English, and at enhancing their qualification potential for a wide range of career opportunities.

Program Objectives

Graduates of the program will be:

1. Prepared for field-related careers in Lebanon and abroad;
2. Prepared for follow up graduate programs in English Studies, comparative literature and other interdisciplinary fields; and
3. Equipped with the knowledge, the critical thinking/reading/writing skills, the curiosity, and the creative impulse to pursue meaningful life-long learning.

Program Outcomes

At the completion of this program, students can:

1. Analyze texts from multiple points of view in the context of history, society, culture and politics;
2. Demonstrate the ability to interpret, explain, and appraise the allusive qualities of texts;
3. Evaluate the principal theoretical assumptions in literature and culture;
4. Demonstrate knowledge of thematic content and the formal features of discourse;
5. Interpret a variety of texts from a systematic linguistic perspective;
6. Demonstrate ability to write for various print, artistic and media genres; and
7. Produce individual scholarly research projects of significant length.

Admission Requirements

To enter the major, students must meet the general university requirements.

Graduation Requirements

A total of 92 credits are required to graduate, based on:

• Literature option (Students choose 15 credits if literature is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second option, and 3 credits if it is their third)
• Language option (Students choose 15 credits if language is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second, and 3 credits if it is their third)
• Writing option (Students choose 15 credits if writing is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second, and 3 credits if it is their third)

Program Requirements

A Senior Study is required of all students in addition to successful completion of the course of study.

Core Requirements (24 credits)

• ENG213 / Introduction to Language (3 cr.)
• ENG216 / Introduction to Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG281 / Language and Change: Past, Present, and Future (3 cr.)
• ENG303 / Literary Linguistics (3 cr.)
• ENG366 / Creative Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG372 / Comparative & World Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG479 / Topics in Literature & Culture (3 cr.)
• ENG499 / Senior Study (3 cr.)

Literature Option

Students choose 15 credits if literature is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second option, and 3 credits if it is their third.

• ENG323 / Renaissance Drama (3 cr.)
• ENG324 / Medieval Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG325 / Renaissance Poetry (3 cr.)
• ENG326 / Restoration & Neoclassical Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG328 / Early Novel (3 cr.)
• ENG336 / Romantic & Victorian Poetry (3 cr.)
• ENG339 / 19th-Century British Novel (3 cr.)
• ENG342 / Modernism and Beyond (3 cr.)
• ENG345 / 20th-Century British Novel (3 cr.)
• ENG346 / Contemporary Culture (3 cr.)
• ENG348 / Postcolonial Anglophone Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG351 / Early American Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG352 / 20th-Century American Novel (3 cr.)
• ENG354 / Theories of Lit. & Culture (3 cr.)
• ENG376 / Gender in Literature (3 cr.)
• ENG487 / Topics in Drama & Theatre (3 cr.)

Language Option

Students choose 15 credits if language is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second option, and 3 credits if it is their third.

• ENG282 / Language and the Media (3 cr.)
• ENG283 / Language and Gender (3 cr.)
• ENG308 / Semantics and Pragmatics (3 cr.)
• ENG380 / Language and the Law (3 cr.)
• ENG381 / Corpus Linguistics (3 cr.)
• ENG480 / Discourse and Power (3 cr.)

Writing Option

Students choose 15 credits if writing is their first option, 6 credits if it is their second, and 3 credits if it is their third.

Students will ideally choose courses (and a writing internship as well as a senior project) in a consistent fashion that will enable them to specialize in 1 of 4 options: non-fiction writing, creative writing, writing for the media, and writing for organizations.

• COM325 / Feature and Magazine Writing (3 cr.)
• COM326 / Script Writing for TV and Film (3 cr.)
• ENG366 / Creative Writing (3 cr.)
• GRA455 / Advertising Design (3 cr.)
• TRA224 / Transl. of Journalistic Texts (3 cr.)
• TRA326 / Translation of of UN & International Conferences (3 cr.)
• TRA328 / Translation of Audiovisuals (3 cr.)
• ENG301 / Food Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG302 / Travel Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG304 / Fashion Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG305 / Performing Arts Criticism (3 cr.)
• ENG331 / Poetry Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG333 / Fiction Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG335 / Playwriting (3 cr.)
• ENG361 / Adaptation (3 cr.)
• ENG362 / Multi-media Storytelling (3 cr.)
• ENG410 / Writing for International Organizations (3 cr.)
• ENG411 / Speech Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG412 / Grant Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG498 / Writing Internship (3 cr.)

Free Electives (10 credits)

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this program can enter secondary and high school teaching and administration (if they also obtain the Teaching Diploma), or enter MA and /or PhD programs in literature, linguistics, translation, comparative studies, law, and other fields in the humanities and social sciences. Graduates can also pursue careers in the arts, media, professional writing, publishing, diplomacy, business, international organizations, consulting, information technology, journalism, and public relations.

Study Plan

The following three-year course map represents only one of a great many of possible course maps, since each course map—at least with regard to the courses in the major—will correspond to the profile of the individual student. In the sample case below, the student is most interested in literature, then in writing, and relatively least in language. Thus her/his course map presents the 34 credits for LAC, the 24 credits of the major core, the 15 credits of the literature option, the 6 credits of the writing option, the 3 credits of the language option, and the 10 credit of free electives for a total of 92 credits, of which 48 credits are in the major.

Year One

Fall (16 credits)

• ENG202 / Sophomore Rhetoric (LAC core) (3 cr.)
• ENG213 / Intro to Language (Major core) (3 cr.)
• ENG216 / Intro to Literature (Major core) (3 cr.)
• ENG324 / Medieval Literature (Major literature option) (3 cr.)
• CST2xx / Cultural Studies (LAC elective) (3 cr.)
• CSC201 / Comp. Applications (LAC core) (1 cr.)

Spring (16 credits)

• ENG203 / Oral Communication (LAC core) (3 cr.)
• ENG281 / Language & Change (Major core) (3 cr.)
• ENG372 / Comparative & World Lit. (Major core) (3 cr.)
• Free elective (3 cr.)
• ENV200 / Intro to Environmental Science (LAC elective) (3 cr.)
• ETH201 / Moral Reasoning (LAC core) (1 cr.)

Year Two

Fall (15 credits)

• ENG303 / Literary Linguistics (Major core) (3 cr.)
• ENG339 / 19th-Ct. British Novel (Major literature option) (3 cr.)
• ARA201 / Appreciation of Arabic Lit. (LAC core ) (3 cr.)
• POL231 / Intro to Human Rights (LAC elective) (3 cr.)
• PHL311 / Philosophy of Religion (LAC elective) (3 cr.)

Spring (15 credits)

• ENG342 / Modernism & Beyond (Major literature option) (3 cr.)
• ENG345 / 20th-Ct. British Novel (Major literature option) (3 cr.)
• ENG366 / Creative Writing (Major core) (3 cr.)
• Free elective (3 cr.)
• ENG479 / Topics in Lit. & Culture (Major core) (3 cr.)

Year Three

Fall (16 credits)

• ENG336 / Romantic & Victorian Poetry (Major literature option) (3 cr.)
• ENG361 / Adaptation (Major writing option) (3 cr.)
• ENG480 / Discourse & Power (Major language/linguistics option) (3 cr.)
• COM210 / Comm. Media and Society (LAC elective) (3 cr.)
• HLT201 / Basic Health (LAC core) (1 cr.)
• REL411 / Myth & Ritual (LAC elective) (3 cr.)

Spring (14 credits)

• ENG362 / Multi-media Storytelling (Major writing option) (3 cr.)
• Free elective (1 cr.)
• ENG499 / Senior Study (Major core) (3 cr.)
• ART431 / Modern Art (LAC elective) (3 cr.)
• Free elective (3 cr.)
• PED2xx / Physical Education (LAC core) (1 cr.)