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Lasell University
Lasell University

School of Humanities, Education, Justice & Social Sciences

B.A. in English

English degree student

English at Lasell

The B.A. major in English degree program allows students to examine major concepts in literature and language through reading, reflection, and discussion. Students will gain an understanding of the artistic and cultural impact of language and become creative and critical thinkers.

English majors choose a track - focus on literature or creative writing. Lasell also offers a creative writing minor. You can also combine your English degree with a secondary education licensure for grades 5-12. 

English majors are well prepared for careers in education, journalism, media, law, and non-profits or to pursue graduate programs in many fields.

Lasell also offers a MFA in Creative Writing.

Program Features

  • Focus on literature or creative writing.
    • Students on the literature track delve deeper into advanced literature and language studies.
    • Creative writing students participate in workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting.
  • A 2-semester capstone literary research or creative writing project allows in-depth focus on one interest. Students in the literature track read and research their chosen topic during a semester-long individual tutorial and write a capstone essay during the following semester. The creative writing capstone offers students a tutorial-style opportunity to complete a major creative writing project. 
  • Gain teaching experience with the Secondary Education Licensure (Grades 5-12) and English Majors program that a has Fifth Year option to graduate with a Master of Education.

What You'll Learn

From your first day, you’ll take courses in your major and advance towards graduation with a yearly plan. Not sure what classes to take? We’ll help you create the perfect plan. 

Learning Outcomes

    • Critically analyze and write about a variety of literature forms.
    • Apply insights from texts to historical and modern individual and societal human experiences.
    • Make real-world connections and respond critically to moral and ethical choices that are presented in works.
    • Understand ethical and legal principles and distinguish between fact and opinion to create valid arguments.
    • Develop sophisticated writing and speaking skills while exploring career options.

    For a complete list of courses and Learning outcomes, view the Academic Catalog >>


    Accelerated Master's Program

    Save time and money — earn your graduate degree in just 1 year with the Accelerated Master's program. Learn more and how to apply >>

    Undergraduate alumni return to Lasell for second (or third!) degrees 
    Read their stories >>

    Career Success with an English Degree

    Lasell’s degree in English major prepares students for careers in teaching, education, journalism, library science, museum education, and non-profits.

    Our students have interned with:

    • Autism Speaks
    • Embassy CES
    • English at Large
    • MacArthur Elementary School
    • WriteBoston at English High School

     

     

     

     

     

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    ENG209 - Intro to Literature & Literary Studies

    This is a foundations course required for the major and the minor in English. The course provides an introduction to a variety of forms and styles in poetry, drama, short story, fiction, memoir, and essay; European, North American, and world literatures are considered. The focus is on interpreting texts; students are introduced to various schools of interpretation and to standards for supporting an interpretation. Students become familiar with the conventional elements of each genre and with the terminology of critical interpretation. The course introduces print and database tools for research on literature.

    ENG210 - Survey of American Literature (KP)

    This course surveys representative periods, authors, or genres in American literature from beginnings in Native American oral literatures through contemporary works. Individual sections organize study of classic and contemporary texts around particular themes, such as Queering American Literatures, American Migrations, Hemispheric American Literature, or Americans on the Edge: "Frontiers" in the American Imagination. Individual sections also trace twentieth- or twenty-first-century movements to their roots in or resistance to earlier movements or forms. This is a writing-intensive course.

    ENG218 - British Literature (KP)

    This course surveys British writing in poetry, fiction, and drama, with a focus on key periods in the development of British literature. Emphasis is on representative writers in each period. Periods and movements surveyed include Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Renaissance, Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, Romanticism, Victorian, Modern, and Contemporary or Postmodern. This is a writing-intensive course.

    HUM103 - Invitation to the Humanities

    This course invites students to consider what it means to be human from manifold scholarly perspectives. As such, students are introduced to the many disciplines included in the humanities. Arguably, there are eight: art, communication, history, language, literature, music, philosophy, and religion. Taking a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach, this course investigates how humanists employ these varied disciplines in studying and expressing humanness.

    HUM399 - Humanities Internship Seminar

    This seminar helps students to develop objectives and identify potential sites for the senior internship. Topics include the application of humanities course work to a professional career and the development of skills necessary to locate an internship. The final goal of this course is to locate an appropriate internship. Junior or senior standing is required; this course is designed for Humanities Department majors only.

    HUM400 - Humanities Field Experience

    This course provides individually arranged participation in a work setting related to students' majors. Students spend 150 hours at the internship site over the course of the semester. Primary responsibility rests with students in identifying and pursuing an area of interest in consultation with the instructor. Students participate in a one-hour seminar each week that focuses on reflective activities that enhance the internship experience. Students complete written exercises about and evaluations of the experience. Evaluation of the field experience is based on student performance as reviewed by the employer and instructor at the internship site, as well as participation in the seminar and written assignments. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, approval of instructor, HUM 399. Humanities Department majors only.