Overview
Central to the American Literature and Culture major is the contested meaning of “America” itself. While the word “America” is often treated as synonymous with the United States, there are many different Americas, and all of them exist in complex relationships to the larger world. The American Cultures major examines “America” through a range of frameworks (local, regional, national, oceanic, hemispheric, global, interracial, multiethnic, and migratory). By taking a capacious view of “America,” the major aims to foster self-consciousness about the methods, assumptions, skills and intellectual frameworks that guide our inquiries. In so doing, American Literature and Culture foregrounds the diverse peoples, histories, and ideas of “America”—understood as a place, real and imagined.
Upper division courses in the American Literature and Culture major pursue the following areas:
Origins—Beginnings, Events, and Trajectories Study cultural texts related to the making of the U.S. and the Americas in their myriad beginnings, turning points, and orientations toward the future. Possible topics include indigeneity, imperialism, settlement, political founding, property, war, religion, slavery, abolition, suffrage, civil rights, and free speech.
Identities—Places, Communities, and Environments Study narratives about people and places across the diverse geographies of the Americas, both local and global. Possible topics include cities, suburbs, rural life, regions, borders, immigration, migration, oceans, wilderness, ecosystems, schools, churches, and prisons.
Media—Aesthetics, Genres, and Technologies Study the creative process as it manifests itself in aesthetic forms, artistic movements, and information systems. Possible topics include romanticism, transcendentalism, realism, modernism, post-modernism, science fiction, architecture, music, visual arts, performance, film, television, and the internet.
Requirements
Preparation for the Major: 4 Lower-Division Courses
- All courses taken for major preparation must be taken for a letter grade. A final grade of “C” or higher is required.
English Composition 3: English Composition, Rhetoric, and Language
English 4W/4HW/4WXP: Critical Reading and Writing
English 11: Introduction to American Cultures
English 87: Topics in American Cultures
English 11 and 87 serve as a gateway to the study of American Literature and Culture at UCLA. These courses explore the question of what is meant by America and offer introductory study of the diverse peoples, history, and ideas of America. American Literature and Culture majors should take 11 and 87 in sequence early in their career at UCLA.
The Major: 10 Upper-Division Courses
- All courses used to fulfill requirements for the American Literature and Culture major must be 4 or 5 units and taken for a letter grade.
- When choosing classes to fulfill requirements for the major, students are expected to select those courses that best reflect their own interests and simultaneously contribute toward a coherent program in literary studies.
7 American Literature Courses (2 from each of the following 3 areas – 2 of the 7 must be Pre-1848):
a) Origins (100, M101B*, M102A, M104A, 106*, 123*, 131*, 166A-C, 167A-B, 169*, 170A)
b) Identities (100, M101B*-D*, M102A-B, M103*, M104A-E, M105A-E, M105SL, 106, M107A*-B*, 108*, 109*, 115A, 117, 118E*, M118F*, 119*, 119SL*, M126*, 132*, 133*, 134*, 135, 168, 170B-C, 172C, 173A-C, 174A-C, 175, 176, 177)
c) Media (114*, 115A, 115C*-E*, 115SL*, 116A*-B*, 121*-127*, 167A-B, 168, 169*, 169R, 170A-C, 172C, 173A-C, 174A-C, 175, 177)
*Course must be on an American topic to be eligible to fulfill the corresponding requirement
1 Seminar:
English M105SL, 180*, 181A-B*, 181E, 182E-F*, 183A-C, 184*, M191A-C, M191D-E*
2 Upper Division American Culture Courses:
Please see the degree checksheet below for a list of American Culture Courses that may be applied.
Download your degree checksheet!
To view current Department of English course offerings by major requirement, navigate to the ‘Courses’ tab.
Foreign Language/Literature in Translation Requirement
All American Literature and Culture majors must have completed either (1) level five or equivalent in any one foreign language or (2) level three or equivalent in one foreign language and two additional courses in foreign language or foreign literature, including foreign literature in translation (click here for a list of eligible courses).
Transfer students who have satisfied the College of Letters and Science foreign language requirement at the high school level through the IGETC program may satisfy the departmental requirement with any combination of five foreign language or foreign literature in translation courses.
Transfer students who completed the Cal-GETC program should consult with their College advising unit and the English undergraduate advising office to determine the best pathway for completing the major’s Foreign Language/Literature in Translation Requirement
The Department will give credit toward the major’s Foreign Language/Literature in Translation Requirement for any work the student may test out of in a UCLA language department placement exam or in an AP or IB exam. Please refer to the “Advanced Placement (AP) Credit” and “International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level Exam Credit” tables on the UCLA Undergraduate Admission website.
Foreign language and foreign literature in translation courses may be taken on a Pass/No Pass grading basis.