English

English is one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and forms part of the School of Letters, Art and Media (SLAM).

The department offers a wide range of approaches to the study of English literature and language. Students can choose to read a range of texts from Old and Middle English, to Renaissance and Early Modern, to Romantic and Victorian, through to contemporary Australian, Caribbean, American and British works.

In their first year, students are offered a choice of four or five junior level units and can, if they wish, take up to three junior level units in English. Senior level units are normally rotated on a two-year basis to allow full-time students a larger number of choices in their two senior years.

There are also 'advanced' units of study available, normally in a student's third year, for those who have achieved grades of Credit or above in senior units. Students taking advanced units are normally positioning themselves to enter the honours year in English or Australian Literature.

Classes are taught in a variety of ways, sometimes combining formal lectures with one-hour tutorial classes, sometimes through two-hour seminars, sometimes with a significant web-based component, according to the best practice appropriate to the nature of the unit itself. Some classes, both at junior and senior level, are taught in the evening as well as in day timeslots to allow for greater flexibility.

Units taught in the department are designed for students with native-language ability, and although there are no formal prerequisites, all units are based on the assumption that students will have completed one of the more demanding courses for the Higher School Certificate, or the equivalent.

Major
Students wishing to major in English must take two junior level units in the subject area (12 credit points). At senior level they complete six English units of study (36 senior credit points).

Cross-listing
A number of units in other departments are cross-listed to English and up to three cross-listed units may be included in an English major (18 senior credit points). All ASLT (Australian Literature) and CLST (Celtic Studies) units are cross-listed to English. For other cross-listed units see the information on the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences website at sydney.edu.au/arts

Pathways
Students are advised to consult the Possible Pathways document on the Department of English website which offers them guidance in their English studies by organising the large range of junior, senior, Advanced, and Honours units on offer to students of English and Australian Literature into areas reflecting the historical, generic, national, and thematic diversity of linguistic and literary citites in English.

Honours (see chapter 5 for further information)
Honours in English or Australian Literature allows students to specialise further in their area of interest. It offers students the opportunity to work independently and creatively in a community of scholars that includes both their peers and the staff of the department. A number of honours graduates each year continue to postgraduate study in Australia or abroad.

Students wishing to enter honours in 2011 must have achieved grades of Credit or above in their senior units and there is one compulsory unit, ENGL3655 The Literary in Theory. Students who have completed the honours entry units in ENGL3962 and ENGL3964 will also be eligible to enter honours in 2011. During their honours year students will write a thesis as well as completing four honours options. Further details regarding prerequisites for 2011 and the nature of the honours year are described in chapter 5 of this handbook.

Contact/further information
For comprehensive information see the English department website:
sydney.edu.au/arts/english
Undergraduate Student Adviser: Dr Peter Marks, phone +61 2 9351 6862, email