By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
The Baylor English major has nearly completed its first semester as a completely revised program.
The new degree plan rejuvenates the curriculum with an entirely new set of core classes and list of electives while also reducing the number of hours needed to complete the major.
The Baylor English major is as old as the university itself, with classes beginning in 1846. While professors and course listings have come and gone over the last 175 years, the crux of the major remained the same.
According to Senior Lecturer in English Ginger Hanchey, who spearheaded the major’s redesign, Baylor English never moved past its original emphasis on British and American literature.
“We don’t even know how old [the old curriculum] was,” Hanchey said. “As far back as we can go in Baylor’s history, it was this structure where you took a mix of American and British classes. Of course, that’s not the way the world thinks anymore about literature or about anything.”
In an essay published in the fall edition of the Baylor Arts and Sciences Magazine, Hanchey highlighted the characteristics of the redesigned degree plan. Perhaps most notably, the 12 hours of British and American literature and the nine additional hours of upper level British and American literature have been phased out.
In their place is a 15-hour core that consists of three types of classes. Nine of these hours are “historical period” courses that focus on a specific movement or period not limited to Great Britain or America. Another three hours are devoted to “diverse perspectives,” which focus on minority and underrepresented writers. The final three hours are for “career exploration” classes like “Literature and Law” or “Literature, Medicine and Public Health,” which are designed to apply directly to careers.
The reasoning behind these changes, Hanchey said, is the need for students to broaden their experiences and take courses that can translate to professional life.
“While [British and American literature] are foundational, and we certainly have lots that we’re still doing with American and British literature, we’re really interested in all kinds of voices, all kinds of writers, and we want all kinds of students to find themselves in our classes and in the content that they’re reading,” Hanchey said.
But these are not the only classes being introduced. The nine semester hours of elective courses have now also expanded offerings. Alongside the core revamp, the past year has seen the introduction of entirely unique seminars like ones on satire, banned books and even Taylor Swift. These new classes have re-energized students, Hanchey said.
“There’s so much more energy. It’s not compulsory anymore. It’s more [like], ‘Oh my goodness, there’s so much that I would like to take that I don’t have time to take.’”
In measurable terms, that means that upper-level English classes had 177 more students in 2023-2024 than in the 2022-2023 school year — a 30% increase, according to Hanchey.
But maybe most importantly for a busy and multifaceted Baylor student, the major is now easier to complete and the classes easier to take. The total credit hours required to complete a major or secondary major has dropped from 36 to 30, and many prerequisites — which often barred non-majors from enrolling in a course — have been stripped.
“We really want all kinds of Baylor people to be able to come,” Hanchey said.
Wake Forest, N.C., senior Connor Cabot said that the redesign has also opened more doors for students within the English major. Although he will graduate in 2025 under the old degree plan, Cabot has been able to take and benefit from many of the new courses.
“It opens people up to more than just the American and British literature worlds,” Cabot said. “You get to see the way the English major opens you up to more real world and versatile skills.”
While the English major already creates “dynamic and powerful” graduates, Cabot also said that the further diversification has set him up for work in fields he had never considered or been associated with an English degree.
“I honestly feel very well equipped to apply for jobs in a lot of different arenas and professions outside of what a typical English major would apply for, and I think that’s because of the ways the teachers have taught their classes,” Cabot said.
