With departmental building renovations slated for this summer and an alumni database in the works, the English Department has had its hands full lately.
But that did not stop new Undergraduate Chairman Michael Gamer from deciding to significantly revamp the department's current major for the first time in 10 years.
"When we added new requirements to the major in 1998, it became confusing to students," Gamer said, adding that -- if approved -- the new major will be "at least as challenging" as the old one, but simpler and with added flexibility.
Implemented in 1994 -- with minor changes made in 1998 -- the current major consists of a total of 13 courses, including four set core courses -- English 020, 040, 060 and 080 -- a six-course concentration, a language and literature requirement, a pre-1800 requirement and a freshman writing seminar.
If passed, the new major will go into effect this September. It consists of six core courses, but allows students to choose from several courses which they will take to fulfill each sector.
It also allows for six electives -- up to three of which may be non-English Department classes -- for a total of 12 course units, and offers an optional concentration.
Gamer said that an optional emphasis in creative writing and literature or film studies has been added to the proposed new major.
For College sophomore Jillian Ivey, adopting the new major is a strong possibility if it is approved.
"I like that there's more variety in the classes you take," she said, adding that, with her concentration in creative writing, she will have more options than she would have had with the old major.
The English Department is also proposing changes to the old curriculum, adding over 40 new courses as well as taking steps to "rationalize and renovate" existing ones so that their numbers and titles all make sense in relation to one another, according to Gamer.
"Our aim is to give students more choice and a wider array of options while providing foundational teaching in literary history, writing and research methods," Gamer wrote in an e-mail.
These proposed changes, Gamer added, will not only benefit students but professors as well.
"We've hired about 15 new people in the last five years," he said. But "over half of our faculty didn't teach in areas covered by the core curriculum."
"We might not agree on what we think English is, but we could all agree that our curriculum should reflect the makeup of our faculty," Gamer added.
Current majors will be given the option to adopt the new major or keep the older version, Gamer said. The department is urging interested students to declare before the end of the semester for this reason.
Seniors, however, will not have the chance to switch to the new major, which, for some, is something of a disappointment.
"I definitely would have done" the new major, College senior Ethan Fixell said. "More variety is definitely a better thing as far as an English major goes."
Although the English Department unanimously approved the changes in November, the new proposal is still waiting for approval from the College Curriculum Committee, which will evaluate it in February.
Gamer added that School of Arts and Sciences Course Data Manager Kirsten Chalfen and Assistant Dean and Associate Director for Academic Affairs Eric Schneider "have been nothing short of heroic in helping to move these mammoth changes forward. Without their work there's no way that we could do this in a year."
"We hope that it will be approved," Gamer said. "We're optimistic. The department has put in a lot of time and nearly everyone in the department has been involved."
