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Minors

**All students who are U3 or U4 should consult with the major and minor advisors before declaring to make sure they can meet the requirements of both their major and minor programs.**

Minor in English

Students with a minor in English cultivate familiarity with and expertise in different literary forms, traditions, and approaches. Students have the opportunity to create a concentration in such areas as creative writing, composition and rhetoric, science fiction and fantasy, African-American and Latinx literatures, gender and sexuality studies, and digital humanities. An English minor teaches students to communicate clearly and effectively, critically read and examine complex texts, build effective arguments, and recognize other points of view. Whatever their major or post-graduate plans, students who minor in English will learn essential skills for thriving in all endeavors.

To declare a minor in English, you must schedule an appointment with an English advisor. Alternatively, you could fill out our English Minor Form and send it to engladvising@tamu.edu.

The minor in English, for majors in fields other than English, requires 18 hours of distributed coursework.

  • 9 hours of coursework can be chosen from any level English course
  • 6 hours of coursework must be taken at the upper-level, indicated by a 300 or 400 course number
  • 3 hours of coursework must be taken at the 400-level

Minor in Health Humanities

The Department of English's minor in Health Humanities offers students a strong grounding in the humanistic study of health issues. Required courses develop skills of cross-disciplinary health studies in English, with students completing nine hours in courses such as narrative medicine and graphic medicine, literature and medicine, and health rhetoric. Students take an additional nine hours of electives, including courses that engage the ethics and philosophy of care, gender and race-based disparities in health, cross-cultural health communication, as well as social science and science electives. Students finish the minor with a required senior capstone course, which requires them to develop a unique Health Humanities research project related to their ongoing professional and educational goals. This minor is conceptualized with a critical framework: the coursework encourages students not only to take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding current and historical issues related to health, but also to critically reflect upon the methods of study they employ, and the future of Health Humanities as a field.

To Declare a minor in HHUM, fill out the Health Humanities Field of Study form and email it to engladvising@tamu.edu. Please note, minor requests are reviewed once per month.

The minor in Health Humanities requires 18 hours of distributed coursework.

  • Students are required to enroll in either ENGL 107: Introduction to Health Humanities or ENGL 292: Introduction to Literature and Medicine.
  • Students are required to enroll in either ENGL 342: Rhetoric of Gender and Health or ENGL 395: Topics in Literature and Medicine.
  • Students are required to enroll in ENGL 482: Health Humanities Senior Seminar.
  • Students should choose 9 hours of elective coursework from the following list: AFST 317/SOCI 317, ANTH 409, ANTH 426, ANTH 435, COMM 315, COMM 335, COMM 370, COMM 420/WGST 420, COMM 470, COMM 471, ENGL 359, ENGL 394, EPSY 430, GEOG 202, GEOG 311, HLTH 236, HLTH 334, HIST 362, HIST 363, HIST 364, HIST 366/RELS 366, HIST 376, HIST 476/WGST 476, INTS 407, PHIL 251, PHIL 305, PHIL 480, PSYC 320/NRSC 320, PSYC 350/NRSC 350, PSYC 360/NRSC 360, SOCI 205, SOCI 408, SOCI 425, VIBS 310, VIBS 311, VIBS 413, VTPB 212, VTPB 221, or WGST 401.

NOTE: At least 3 hours of elective coursework must be at the upper-level, indicated by a 300 or 400 course number.

Minor in Science Fiction & Fantasy Studies

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Studies minor is offered by the Department of English and is open to all students. The minor offers critical explorations of these two genres and the different ways that they have contributed to our understanding of humanity, our relationship to technology and science, our desire to explore other worlds and to imagine utopian societies. Because these genres are rooted in visions of alterity, different futures and different worlds, these genres create templates for the new human experiences made possible by encounters the different, unique, strange.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy interdisciplinary minor teaches students to communicate clearly and effectively, to read critically and examine complex texts and artifacts, to build effective arguments, and to recognize other points of view. These broadly applicable skills will not only enhance the academic development of students, but they are also crucial for graduate school and for those who pursue a career in engineering and other STEM fields.

To Declare a minor in SFFS, fill out the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field of Study form and email it to engladvising@tamu.edu. Please note, minor requests are reviewed once per month.

The minor in Science Fiction and Fantasy requires 15 hours of distributed course work.

  • Students must enroll in ENGL 334: Science Fiction Present and Past.
  • Students should choose 12 hours of elective coursework from the following list: ENGL 220, ENGL 234, ENGL 235*, ENGL 318, ENGL/FILM 324, ENGL 331, ENGL 343, ENGL 347*, ENGL 351*, ENGL 360, ENGL 361, ENGL 390*, ENGL 392*, ENGL 394*, ENGL 415*, ENGL 481*, ENGL 485*, GERM 336, HIST 361, HIST 362, PHIL/FILM 376

*Topic must be related to Science Fiction and Fantasy Studies. Meet with minor advisor to confirm the topic for each semester.

Minor in Professional Writing

The cross-disciplinary field of Professional Writing is growing in popularity at the baccalaureate level, as the variety of genres and forms of communication increase, and as it becomes increasingly necessary for professionals and content creators to possess interdisciplinary backgrounds and skill sets. This minor fills this growing need by offering students a strong grounding in technical and professional writing with consideration of new media and technologies, which will improve their job opportunities.

Required English courses focus on writing for professional and rhetorical situations, with students completing nine hours in courses such as technical and professional writing, technical editing, and modern rhetorical theory. Students take an additional nine hours of electives, including courses that incorporate interdisciplinary approaches to fundamental concepts of technical and professional communication through writing.

This minor is conceptualized with an interdisciplinary framework. The required coursework across disciplines encourages students to take a multifaceted approach to understanding professional and technical writing and its practical applications. This approach will allow them not only to effectively communicate complex information, but also to critically reflect upon the methods of study they employ; and the future of technical and professional writing as a field.

To Declare a minor in PWRT, fill out the Professional Writing Field of Study form and email it to engladvising@tamu.edu. Please note, minor requests are reviewed once per month.

The minor in Professional Writing requires 18 hours of distributed course work.

  • Students must enroll in ENGL 210: Technical and Professional Writing.
  • Students must enroll in ENGL 320: Technical Editing (Prerequisite = ENGL 210).
  • Students must enroll in ENGL 355: Rhetoric of Style.
  • **Select three classes (9 hours) from the following list: COMM 205, COMM/JOUR 230,COMM/JOUR 250, COMM 307/JOUR 301, COMM 323, COMM 330, COMM/JOUR 365,COMM 437, ENGL 235, ENGL 241, ENGL 304, ENGL 353, ENGL 354, ENGL/LING/WGST403, ENGL 460, ENGL 461, ENGL 462, ENGL 484*, ENGL 485*, ENGL 489*, LING 307,JOUR 455.

*Topic must be related to Technical Communications or Professional Writing.

**At least 6 hours must be completed at the 300-level or above.

Additional Requirements

  • The College of Liberal Arts specifies that only courses with a grade of "C" or higher may be used toward a minor.
  • Courses selected must have the ENGL prefix or be cross-listed with English. Students should consult the Undergraduate Catalog for course options, as well as possible prerequisites or restrictions for individual courses selected.
  • Students seeking to minor in English should consult with their major advisor and the Office of Undergraduate Studies in English before completing 90 credit hours.