The English department of CSUN is a community of teachers, scholars, writers and support staff whose primary mission is to promote learning in literature, creative writing, composition and linguistics and to help students acquire knowledge, develop skills and realize their own intellectual and creative goals. In pursuit of our mission, the department also is committed to promoting faculty development in areas such as research, publication, creative work and other professional activities for the advancement of knowledge and pedagogy.
Student Learning Outcomes of the Undergraduate Program
Students will:
- Demonstrate critical reading skills.
- Demonstrate effective writing skills.
- Demonstrate knowledge of creative, literary, linguistic, and/or rhetorical theories.
- Analyze British and American cultural, historical and literary texts.
- Analyze culturally diverse texts.
Students in the Creative Writing Option are expected to reach the following Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Create and revise original writing by practicing techniques and strategies employed by experienced writers.
- Analyze drama, narrative and/or poetry to identify writerly strategies.
- Assess their own creative writing in relation to relevant literary and theoretical traditions.
- Demonstrate advanced creative writing skills by applying contemporary methods in at least one genre in a final portfolio for a capstone course.
Students in the Subject Matter Option are expected to reach the following Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Demonstrate their knowledge of the nature and structure of the English language and of its relationship to other human languages.
- Apply rhetorical and composition theory.
- Demonstrate fluency in the discourses pertaining to the disciplines of English.
In addition to the above Subject Matter Option Learning Outcomes, students in the Four-Year Integrated and Junior-Year Integrated Subject Matter Options are expected to reach the following Learning Outcomes:
(As determined by the Department of Secondary Education.)
Students will:
- Develop the ability to engage and support all secondary students (grades 6-12) in learning.
- Develop the ability to create and maintain effective environments for secondary student learning.
- Develop the ability to make subject matter comprehensible for student learning.
- Develop the ability to plan instruction and design learning experiences for all secondary students.
- Develop the ability to assess secondary students’ learning.
- Give evidence of the ability to develop as a professional educator.
Students in the Honors Option are expected to reach the following Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Articulate clear interpretations of cultural texts.
- Conduct independent research and scholarship.
- Present their research as a scholarly paper in a colloquium or conference setting.
Student Learning Outcomes of the Graduate Program in Literature
Students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of creative, cultural, linguistic, literary, performative and/or rhetorical theories.
- Conduct research and/or produce creative work appropriate to their option.
- Produce advanced analyses that take into account current schools of aesthetic, critical and historical methodology and are informed by disciplinary standards appropriate to their option.
Student Learning Outcomes of the Graduate Program in Creative Writing
Students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of creative, cultural, linguistic, literary, performative and/or rhetorical theories.
- Conduct research and/or produce creative work appropriate to their option.
- Produce advanced analyses that take into account current schools of aesthetic, critical and historical methodology and are informed by disciplinary standards appropriate to their option.
Student Learning Outcomes of the Graduate Program in Rhetoric and Composition
Students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of creative, cultural, linguistic, literary, performative and/or rhetorical theories.
- Conduct research and/or produce creative work appropriate to their option.
- Produce advanced analyses that take into account current schools of aesthetic, critical and historical methodology and are informed by disciplinary standards appropriate to their option.