General Education English Courses

First Year Writing Program

Housed in English and taught primarily by full-time English faculty, the First Year Writing sequence (part of the required University Academic Foundations General Education curriculum) is designed to help students succeed as writers and develop as thinkers, both at the university and beyond. Our classroom best practices are based in research about (and expertise in) what works to help newer writers explore ideas, take ownership over their writing and writing processes, and learn "rhetorical agility"—that is, the ability to navigate and make change in different writing situations with awareness, sophistication, confidence, and, when the situation calls for it, resistance. Rhetorical agility and engaged thinking, the centerpiece skills of our ENG Q20, WRT 120, and WRT-200-level courses, are critical to our rapidly-changing, multimedia-driven world. Read more about our First Year Writing Program.

Writing Emphasis, Diverse Communities, and Interdisciplinary Courses

With over half of our courses carrying a Writing Emphasis (WE), Diverse Communities (J), or Interdisciplinary (I) designation, the English Department serves not only our own majors but also thousands of students in departments all across campus. These Gen Ed attributes are attached to courses in all areas of our curriculum, including Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Film, Journalism, Literature, Technical Writing, Writing & Rhetoric, and many other subject areas. We also regularly offer multiple sections of the WE course ENG 368: Business & Organizational Writing, which enrolls students from many departments in the College of Business & Public Affairs, including Accounting, Management, Marketing, and Economics & Finance. For a complete listing of all English courses carrying the WE, J, or I attribute, please view the English section of the Undergraduate Catalog. For the learning goals and outcomes associated with WCU's General Education program, consult the Undergraduate Catalog's General Education Requirements section.

Literature and Film: Gen Ed Distributive Courses

The English Department offers several Literature (LIT) and Comparative Literature (CLS) courses specifically approved to satisfy the Humanities Distributive requirement of the university's General Education program:

  • CLS 165: Introduction to World Literature (WE, J)
  • CLS 260: World Literature I (WE, J)
  • CLS 261: World Literature II (WE)
  • LIT 100: Popular Culture: Reading Culture as Text
  • LIT 101: Contemporary Issues Through Literature
  • LIT 165: Topics in Literature (WE)
  • LIT 219: Literature for Young Children
  • LIT 220: Children's Literature

We also offer a FLM 200: Introduction to Film (WE) course that satisfies the Arts Distributive requirement. Please note that English majors may not take any approved Gen Ed literature course to fulfill their Gen Ed requirements, though they may take the 200-level courses listed above for credit in the English major.

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