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Topics Course Credits
Periodically, the English Department offers topics-based courses developed by individual faculty. This guide describes how they count. For a full list of English Department courses and details about how they fulfill requirements for the department’s three majors, please visit the academic catalog.
English Department Guidelines for Credit and Non-Credit-Bearing Internships
Students pursuing one of the English Department’s majors have undertaken a wide variety of internships in fields including publishing, library science, the law, literary studies, business, education, government, arts management, television, radio, digital media, and print journalism. In some cases these internships are credit-bearing, while in other cases they are non-credit bearing. Internships can be undertaken on-campus or off-campus, domestically or internationally.
Your first step is to visit the Piper Center and request their help in finding an internship that matches your interests and needs. The Piper Center can also provide individualized guidance about the choice between a credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing internship. Before making this decision, there are a number of factors to consider. Click here for more information.
In most cases, students who opt to pursue credit-bearing internships seek approval for their internship through the department of their major. For students pursuing the English major, the English major with CAL Licensure, or Creative Writing, that department is the English Department. In the English Department, students can earn credit for up to two internships. The first credit-bearing internship is given the course number ENGL 294; a second credit-bearing internship is given the course number ENGL 394, and, in the words of the Piper Center, requires “a higher-level involvement or intensive research” and a previous internship undertaken as ENGL 294. Note that ENGL 394 cannot be used to satisfy the 300-level elective requirements for English, English with CAL Licensure, or Creative Writing.
A student who wants to earn academic credit in the English Department should proceed as follows:
- Secure an internship for the upcoming fall, interim, spring, or summer. For help with finding an internship, contact the Piper Center.
- Contact the English Department Chair to ask about the suitability of the internship for course credit in the English Department.
- Find a faculty member to act as your on-campus internship supervisor. Discuss the goals of the internship and college and department policies on internships.
- Work to secure official approval for your academic internship (credit-bearing internship) by following the process outlined on the Piper Center website (here). The Piper Center currently estimates that it may take 1-2 weeks to secure approval. Keep this in mind, as well as the relevant deadlines.
English Department Guidelines for Independent Study (IS) and Independent Research (IR)
- To undertake an IS or IR, students must be a junior or senior and have completed at least 7 courses in the major or have completed, as a non-major, 7 courses in CIS.
- An IS cannot count toward one of the three required courses at Level II; An IR cannot count for one of a student’s two Level III requirements.
- The proposal should present a project that’s not covered by an existing course at St. Olaf; the project should not be one-on-one coaching to replace participation in an advanced workshop or seminar.
- A student asking for an IS or IR must develop a reading list as extensive as what we expect in a regularly offered course, along with writing assignments and a schedule of meetings. These materials should be submitted to a prospective supervising faculty member.
- If the student obtains a faculty supervisor, the student must submit to the English department faculty (via our AAA Lynda Maus or the department chair) a detailed plan that would include the reading list, writing assignments, schedule of meetings, and rationale for why this IS or IR should be approved, along with the faculty supervisor’s signature. This detailed plan must be approved by the department in advance of registration; approval will take up to seven days.
- Please bring the completed application for: Independent Study/Independent Research form that can be obtained at the Registrar’s office.
https://www.stolaf.edu/offices/registrar/forms.html
Note: Proposals turned in after registration will not be acted upon.
English Department Guidelines for Study-Abroad and Study-Away Course Credit
More than 700 St. Olaf students study off campus each year, among them many English majors. Opportunities for off-campus study include the English department’s own Interim programs, other St. Olaf-sponsored programs, and an array of programs offered by other institutions, in which St. Olaf students regularly participate. To offer just a couple of examples, students fulfill requirements for the English major by attending plays during the Theater in London January term course and by taking classes during a semester or a year abroad at another institution, often in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, such as the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford University.
For more information about study abroad at St. Olaf, contact the Smith Center. The Smith Center has created a set of resources that offer suggestions about off-campus programs for students in various majors here.
If you would like to undertake study abroad, keep the following points in mind:
| 1. The English Department generally allows students to apply a maximum of 2 courses taken during study abroad toward major requirements. This is based on the expectation that students are studying abroad for roughly one semester (fall semester, spring semester, or Interim and spring semester). Students who would like to study abroad for a full-year should consult with the chair of the English Department. Credits earned during St. Olaf faculty-led off-campus Interim programs (such as Theater in London) are not subject to this rule. |
| 2. All classes used to fulfill major requirements for the two versions of the English major (the standard major and the modified major for student pursuing a teaching license) and the Creative Writing major must focus on literature originally written in English. Major credit is not given for courses on literature in translation or literature that is read in another language, even if those courses are taken in an English Department or Literature Department. This policy applies to classes taken on campus as well as courses taken elsewhere. |
| 3. Credits earned during study abroad generally transfer back to St. Olaf at the 100- or 200-level. Students should not plan to fulfill 300-level requirements while abroad. |
| 4. Department chairs and program directors must approve credits that are used to satisfy requirements for majors and concentrations. As you begin making plans to study abroad, you are welcome to contact the English Department Chair to discuss your plans. Before or soon after you are officially enrolled in courses, the chair can provide guidance on how courses earned abroad will apply to major requirements. If you are pursuing additional majors or concentrations, it is a good idea to get in touch with those chairs or program directors, too. |
| 5. The official approval of courses for major credit occurs after you return to campus and your grades are posted. After you complete your study abroad, it may take several weeks for grades earned abroad to show up in your official college records. Once your grades appear in SIS, contact the department chair. The chair can ensure that study abroad credits are correctly applied to your major requirements. |
| 6. The English Department is not involved in the approval of study abroad courses for general education/OLE Core requirements. Those approvals are done by the Registrar’s Office. Contact the Smith Center or the Registrar’s Office for more information. |
Why did you choose a Creative Writing major?
I was practically raised by the media I consumed in childhood: The video essays, the animated series, the videogame plots, and dear god, the books! Some of my best company in adolescence were complex ideas and beautiful stories. I wanted to remain in their presence.
Blue Nawa, ’24