Declaring the Major / Minor

Home Undergraduate Program Declaring the Major / Minor

Students declare a major or minor in literature by completing and submitting a Proposed Study Plan and Declaration of Major/Minor petition (See: How do I declare the major?). All students considering a literature major or minor should consult with staff and/or designated faculty advisors as early as possible, normally before the end of their sophomore year. Transfer students are urged to declare the major or minor in their first quarter at UCSC.

All students must complete LIT 1 Literary Interpretation or its equivalent prior to declaring the Literature major.

Literature Major Options

Students wishing to major in literature may choose either the standard literature major or the intensive literature major. The intensive literature major is recommended particularly for students who plan to continue their studies in graduate school. The requirements for the intensive major include the study of literature in two languages; proficiency in a second language is therefore required.

Standard Literature Major - Thirteen courses are required:
Three lower-division and ten upper-division courses. One of the latter may be a senior seminar, which may be used to satisfy the campus senior comprehensive (exit) requirement. Students who do not take a senior seminar normally satisfy the exit requirement by taking a senior oral examination. In exceptional cases, and with faculty permission, students may write a senior thesis to satisfy the exit requirement.

Intensive Literature Major - Fifteen courses are required:
Three lower-division and twelve upper-division courses. One of the upper-division courses may be a senior seminar, which may be used to satisfy the campus senior comprehensive (exit) requirement. Two upper-division literature courses must be in a second language.

Double major: A student studying literature as part of a double major must fulfill all of the requirements for any concentration in the literature major, plus all of the requirements in another major field.

The Literature Minor

The minor in literature comprises eight courses.

Three lower-division courses are required:
Literature 1, Literary Interpretation: close reading and analysis of literary texts
One Literature 61-series course: categories, methodologies, and problems of literary study
One Literature 80-series course: topical, thematic, and comparative study of literary texts

Five upper-division courses are required:
Literature 101, Theory and Interpretation
Four other upper-division literature courses