Skip to Content Request Info
English - Secondary Education Concentration | Undergraduate Degree Program

English - Secondary Education Concentration

Explore the profound power of language. Learn to appreciate the ways in which creative writing can capture the essence of the human condition. Courses promote understanding, analysis, and evaluation of a wide range of authors, characters, themes, plots, and styles in world literature. By identifying the techniques and impacts of successful writers, you develop your expressive abilities and discover your own voice and styles through the written word. The skills you gain as an English major, including the ability to write, analyze material and communicate effectively, are valuable in many different fields.

This degree program was developed for those who want to teach at the secondary level. You will gain hands-on, in-classroom experiences. Prospective secondary education teachers learn how to identify and be sensitive to the unique needs, challenges and learning styles of diverse student populations.

English - Secondary Education is offered at the following locations.

  • Overland Park, Kansas

Education 6-12 Licensure Courses

Required Courses

  • The Teaching Profession I
  • The Exceptional Child
  • Educational Psychology
  • Foundations of Schools in a Diverse Society
  • Secondary Methods and RICA
  • Specialized Methods/Practicum
  • SEI Methods for ELL II
  • Secondary Student Teaching I
  • Secondary Student Teaching II

 

English Major Courses

Introductory Course (one required)

Contemporary Literature |  
Consists of analytical and reflective reading of contemporary (since 1945) American fiction, poetry and drama. Attention to developing techniques for critical reading and writing. Basic course for literature majors and study in the humanities and liberal arts.

Introduction to Literature |  
Survey of the major genres of literature (short story, poetry, drama) with emphasis on the organizational principles that give artistic structure or integrity. Intensive studies of such elements as characterization, plot, setting, tone, symbolism, etc conducted.


Survey Courses

From Homer to Herrick |  
Engages in primary analysis and response to significant literature from antiquity through the Renaissance.

From Voltaire to Victoria |  
Engages in primary analysis and response to significant literature from the era of Confucius and the Enlightenment through the late nineteenth century.

From Wilde to Wai-Lin |  
Engages the student in primary analysis and response to significant literature from late nineteenth century
Modernism through post-colonial and post-modern configurations.



Linguistics Course

The English Language |  
Treats history and development of the English language with special attention to grammar, syntax and phonetics. Applies various linguistic approaches to the task of understanding evolution and system of
the language. Not designed to treat special problems in speaking or writing English.


Writing Course (one required)

Advanced Expository Writing |  
Refinement of expository writing skills through analysis of models and writing practice.

Creative Writing |  
Course development skills in writing drama, poetry and fiction. Develops critical skills and encourages students to develop tools to refine expression.


Theme-Based Courses (three required)

Multicultural Literature |  
Study of works by African-American, Hispanic, Native American, female and other historically marginalized authors specifically to address issues of culture, value and self-development. Literature poses critical issues that arise in the increasingly diverse societies of our shrinking world.

Environmental Literature |  
An examination of a variety of literary works from several genres, focusing on the portrayal of physical environments and the connections between these environments and human spheres of influence. This
course will explore how human beings relate to the natural world, and how that relation influences the way we read texts and the world around us, Authors to be studied might include Leopold, Thoreau, Defoe, the Brontes, Wordsworth, Merwin, Snyder and Kingsolver.

Protest Literature |  
A study of the literature of social protest, emphasizing the relationship between aesthetics and politics, or the political purposes of literature. This course will examine how various authors assault the status quo of an often inhumane, brutal, and repressive society. Readings might include works by Richard Wright, Upton Sinclair and Nelson Algren.

Peace Literature |    
Literature, from ancient to modern times, has taken up themes of peace and sought to examine the fragile
dynamics of the human community. This course will explore the literature that offers reflections, sorrowful
and hopeful, pragmatic and prophetic, on peace.

Literature of Personal Discovery |  
Questions of identity and self-definition, from agonizing to liberating, in the work of such writers as Dante, Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Kate Chopin, Simone de Beauvoir, Ralph Ellison and Anne Sexton.

Literary Criticism |  
Identifies major trends in the history of critical thought from Plato to Derrida. Seeks to discover the position of literary criticism and to apply various critical theories. Library research and writing. 


Seminars (*required; choose one other)

Shakespeare Seminar |   
Examines major dramas to discover questions and themes central to individual plays and to the work as a whole. Attention is given to the historical and cultural context of the plays, but the course is primarily concerned with assisting students in reading and exploring the texts.

Seminar in British Literature |  
Analyzes major British literature with emphasis on genre, period or author, to gain understanding of the critical approaches necessary for a thorough investigation of literature.

Seminar in American Literature* |  
Analyzes major American literature with emphasis on genre, period or author, to gain understanding of the critical approaches necessary for a thorough investigation of literature.


Capstone Course

  • Integrative Seminar in Criticism |  
    Capstone course that guides student in development of an integrative project that demonstrates achievement of the learning outcomes in the English major. Course is organized around the major trends in critical thought and application of literary criticism theories within and across periods and genres.
Full Degree Catalog

University Accreditation

Ottawa University, as a whole, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Specific degree programs within our institution have also been accredited by relevant bodies within the field:

We are proudly recognized for our commitment to student excellence by the following designations:

Why Choose Ottawa
Almost all courses in Ottawa University’s programs are available online and accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. We make it easy for you to transfer credits in order to help keep tuition costs down. We also offer courses in accelerated 8-week terms in order to reduce your time to completion. These are just a few of the reasons why we are proud to be the best, fastest, and most affordable option locally in the Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Phoenix areas, as well as serving students nationally through our online degrees.

Back to top