By Jazzya Rivera
Central Connecticut State University’s English Department revised its curriculum by introducing a new course, English 398, that will be offered starting the Spring 2013 semester.
Any CCSU students who declared English as their major at the start of the Fall 2012 semester fall under the new curriculum. Students seeking a Bachelor of Arts in English or a Bachelor of Science in English Secondary Education will be required to take and pass the English 398 course with the grade of a C- or higher.
“The English 398 course will be piggybacking,” said Dr. Stephen Cohen, professor and Chair of the English Department at CCSU.
Essentially, the material learned in English 298 will be applied and expanded upon in the English 398 course.
The work load for both students and the professors as well as the crammed amount of material in English 298 spiked the English department’s movement in creating the English 398 course.
“It’s a matter of pedagogy,” said Dr. Cohen. “If you try to teach too much you don’t teach it as well or as thoroughly and we weren’t able to give the class time or the out-of-class time to all the things we wanted to cover in a single three hour class.”
English 298 will now serve as a prerequisite for all 300-level English courses. Students will be introduced to the literary genres, learn close reading skills, how to examine primary sources and develop critical arguments. All 300-level courses will then practice the skills learned in the 298 course.
English 398, on the other hand, will serve as a prerequisite for all 400-level courses. Students will learn how to incorporate secondary material into their own critical arguments. The 400-level courses will then practice and emphasize the use of secondary material.
The English Department and faculty say the inclusion of the new English 398 course and revision of the University’s english curriculum will be beneficial to students and their progression throughout the English Major.
Dr. Mary Anne Nunn, english professor at CCSU, spoke enthusiastically about the new curriculum.
“I think it’s a great design; it is very much to the advantage of the student,” said Nunn. “I really believe in 298. I think it’s a really valuable course and I’m very excited about 398. I think it’s going to prove to be a very valuable course.”
While professors at the University are excited about the new English curriculum, students are a bit more reluctant due to misleading rumors lingering a and lack of knowledge regarding the changes made.
Evan Tingey, English Major and senior at CCSU, expressed his conflicting feelings regarding the change in curriculum.
“I’m torn. On the one hand, I would have been upset if this applied to me and I had to take 398 to graduate considering I got a majority of the content of that class in 298,” said Tingey. “On the other hand, I feel as if that content was rushed and kind of thrown in at the end and superficial. From what I’ve heard, the GRE’s for English are heavily based on theory and criticism, something that I only received basic instruction on. So, for new students declaring themselves English Majors, it’s probably for the best.”
Students are also concerned that the addition of English 398 will mean an overall increase in the credits required to complete a B.A. or a B.S. in English. The English Major remains the same size in terms of credits.
The English 398 course will count towards the upper-division course requirement that English Majors have already been fulfilling with other various 300- and 400-level English electives.