Undergraduate Programs

When you come to the English Department at North Carolina A&T, we are committed to helping you find the path to your dreams.

Whether those dreams have you engaged in teaching, writing, leading or serving others, one of our undergraduate programs will let you embark on a wide range of careers and callings.

We also offer a Bachelor of Science degree and an undergraduate English Education degree that prepares students for secondary school teaching. A minor is also offered in English.

African-American Literature

African American literature focuses on the literary work produced by people of African descent in the United States - an expansive and diverse body of literature that begins with 18th century writers such as Phyllis Wheatley and Olaudah Equino, continues through slave narratives, the Harlem Renaissance and on to the contemporary preeminence of writing by Toni Morrison and others, not only on the national stage but internationally.

Themes of this literature include the role of African Americans in American society as a whole, racism, civil rights, slavery and African-American culture.

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing Program

“Leading with Service – Motivating through Words and Ideas”

North Carolina A&T is one of the oldest historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) offering a full-service Creative Writing Program, and one of the few offering a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Creative Writing. At North Carolina A&T we help you shape your ideas into the spoken or printed word.

Students choose from two tracks: fiction or poetry, and while our curriculum includes a full range of literature past and present, we have a special focus on African-American Literature, literature of Africa and the African Diaspora. Spoken Word and Hip-Hop are among the courses offered. Such diverse course offerings allow our Creative Writing majors to develop their talents in writing fiction, poetry, screenwriting, spoken word and nonfiction from a diverse background of writing traditions.

Students also have the opportunity to:

• Participate in the Aggie Open-mic Series: SpiritSpeak
• Attend the Carolina on my Mind Reading Series
• Become an Aggie Keeper Peer-mentor
• Perform in N.C. A&T’s premier Spoken Word Troupe: Poetic Insurgents
• Become the next Aggie Poet Laureate
• Become an Aggie Poet of the Month
• Publish in our literary journal: Encore
• Join the creative writing club: Freedom Scribes
• Showcase creative work in The Blue Poet Salon
• Write in the Bi-annual Craft Workshops for majors
• Participate in a writing competition: NC HBCU Literary Network
• Participate in the annual "Aggies Create" Literary Festival

For more information contact:

Dr. Anjail Rashida Ahmad, Program Director
Creative Writing Program, General Classroom Building A-427
Telephone: 336-285-3501
E-mail: arahmad@ncat.edu

English Literature

The undergraduate program in English literature, or Professional English, prepares students to teach, to conduct research, to pursue graduate or professional degrees (such as law or library science), and to work in government, business, the media, and numerous other careers requiring mastery of the language.

Africana Committee

The Africana Committee of the English Department was initiated in the spring of 2008 by Dr. Pauline Uwakweh with the vision to establish North Carolina A&T as a premier international resource hub on Africa and the African Diaspora for students, faculty and community. The Committee’s mission goals are:

• To increase enrollment in existing course offerings on Africa and the African Diaspora.
• To promote student and faculty knowledge on the intellectual and cultural heritage of Africa and the African Diaspora.
• To catalyze innovative and interdisciplinary student and faculty research on the challenges facing Africa and the African Diaspora in the globalizing world, from energy crises and geopolitical conflicts to emergent United States/Africa relations.
• To promote educational programs, cultural activities, conferences and lecture series on Africana issues for students, faculty, and community.
• To promote student learning on Africana issues through service to the community, study abroad and transnational collaboration between students, faculty and other institutions in Africa and the African Diaspora.
• To create and maintain a web presence devoted to the Committee’s academic initiatives as well as its university and community engagements.
• To establish, in the long term, an Africana program of studies uniquely devoted to academic research on Africa and African Diaspora historical and social experience.

Technical Writing

North Carolina A&T has the distinction of being the only HBCU to offer a four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Technical Writing. The Technical Writing concentration focuses on teaching students to write and edit documents such as technical reports, software documentation, instructional manuals, patient care literature, employee publications, proposals, and web pages. Upon graduation, students are prepared for writing careers in technology, industry, government, health care, and business. The degree also prepares them for careers in teaching or law. In addition to classroom studies, each student is required to obtain an internship and to participate in:

• Seminars and Workshops
• Annual Technical Writing Fair

For more information contact:
Dr. Kimberly C. Harper, Program Director
Technical Writing Program, General Classroom Building A-449
Telephone: 336-285-3518
email: kharper@ncat.edu

Undergraduate Teaching Program

Students wishing to teach secondary education may enroll in our Undergraduate Teaching Program. Students are required to have a 2.8 GPA and must major in English and minor in Education. About 30 students a year are admitted to the program. Students receive coursework in both English and Curriculum and Instruction, culminating in a Student Teaching Internship, a 12-week intensive work experience at an area high school. In the past students have been placed at Page, Dudley, Northeast, and Andrews (in High Point).

This program seeks to help students receive official North Carolina Teaching Certification. In order to do this, they must complete the following:

• All coursework
• Student Teaching Internship
• Passing score on the Praxis II exam

For more information contact:

Marlene Hendricks, Program Director
Secondary English Education
General Classroom Building, A-451
Telephone: 336-285-2627
Email: mwhendri@ncat.edu

Minor in English

The minor in English consists of 18 semester hours of English (ENGL) courses.

• ENGL 220 English Literature I or ENGL 221 English Literature II
• ENGL 333 African-American Literature I or ENGL 334 African-American Literature II
• ENGL 430 American Literature I or ENGL 431 American Literature II
• Nine (9) hours of any 200 or above level English course
• Request for Minor Form 
• Curriculum Guide

All courses counting toward the minor must have a grade of "C" or better. A student must complete at least 24 hours of academic credits before declaring a minor and must have a minimum GPA of 2.0. A student may not have more than two (2) minors.