Literature
Your Literature Concentration is an interdisciplinary program that sharpens analytic skills through reading and writing
You prefer a hardback book to a gaming console.
Your idea of fun is crafting fan fiction.
Now if only you could figure out a way to read in the shower.
If that sounds familiar, channel your passion by choosing the Literature Concentration within your BA in Liberal Studies.
One of five optional academic tracks in the Liberal Studies degree, the Literature Concentration is for students devoted to reading and writing in a variety of forms, from classics and graphic novels, screenplays to poetry. Our intentionally small class sizes mean you’ll benefit from seminar-style learning without waiting to enroll in upper-division electives.
Your literature courses are taught by full-time Liberal Studies faculty – a departure from some programs that rely on teaching assistants. You’ll study day to day with faculty mentors who double as your academic advisers outside the classroom.
Benefit from project-based learning that offers plenty of practice in teamwork, analytical reasoning and critical thinking – skills you’ll need for advanced degrees and professions like teaching, business and communications.
Your Literature Concentration is a flexible program that you’ll help design, featuring –
- Liberal Studies Travel Courses for academic credit that adds cultural context.
- Eco-League educational exchanges for insight into the intersection of great literature and the natural world.
- Junior practicum experiences that extend classroom learning into the real world.
- Senior year capstones that demonstrate your intellectual curiosity, project management skills and ability to express ideas clearly and creatively.
Your Literature Concentration helps develop your reasoning skills, cultural awareness and historical perspective – abilities valued more than an ever by public and private sector employers in a world that grows smaller every day.
Courses in the Literature Concentration:
- CS2700 – History and Culture of Alaska Native People A survey of Aleut, Yup’ik and Inupiat Eskimo, Athabascan, and southeastern peoples and cultures. Entrance into Alaska, prehistory, and traditional adaptations including economic, social, and ideological components. Historic contact, culture change, contemporary position, and ongoing concerns are also examined. Satisfies the Humanities GUR. Offered Fall/Spring
- LS20400 – Liberal Studies Travel Course This course combines classroom study with structured off-campus experiences for lower division students in the humanities and social sciences. Travel Fee. Academic themes and destinations vary. Offered Spring.
- CS40800 – Ideas of Nature An investigation of the ways in which ideas about nature are foundational to U.S. culture. The focus will be mainly on U.S. American attitudes toward nature but will include consideration of views held by diverse peoples worldwide, particularly indigenous peoples. Offered Spring.
- LL40600 – Introduction to Literature and Language Advanced studies in literature are grounded in critical theory and cultural and historical contexts. Studies of language rely on current theories in the field. Satisfies the Humanities GUR. Offered Fall/Spring.
