Welcome to the Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor! Our program enables you to explore English, American, and World literatures and cultures. In addition to gaining knowledge of diverse literary and cultural traditions, you will develop valuable skills in reading, writing, and critical thinking. You will also attain greater cultural literacy and develop a wider perspective on the world.

Why Minor in Literature and Diverse Cultures??

Nurture Your Interest in Literature.

The Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor gives students from all majors and disciplines at WCU the opportunity to explore and deepen their passion for literature in all of its complex forms—poems, novels, plays, short stories, essays, slave narratives, nonfiction essays, and more.

Diversify Your Perspective on the World.
If you're interested in learning about the world's many diverse cultures—African, Asian, European, Latin American, and more—the Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor can help you. Analyzing texts from a variety of cultural traditions enables you to examine your own preconceptions and empathize with people whose lives, experiences, and perspectives are different from your own.

Enhance Your Career Prospects.
In today's diverse and globalized workplace, employers are always looking for graduates with the multicultural skills and sensibilities that our minor provides. Moreover, the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills that you hone in the Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor will make you more attractive to employers in any field in which clear writing and intelligent communication are valued.

Enrich Your Major.
The Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor can be combined with any major at WCU (with the exception of the Literatures Minor of the English Major). Whether you're majoring in English or fields such as History, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Nutrition, Communications, Women's & Gender Studies, or others, you'll find that the critical study of literature can enrich and inform your major in profound ways.

Learning Outcomes

Students in the Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor will:

  • Broaden and deepen their understanding of literary expression from a diverse array of historical and cultural contexts.
  • Develop skills in close reading, critical interpretation, and the application of literary theory to a multitude of literary works.
  • Broaden their appreciation of how literary narratives from diverse histories and cultures often explore shared themes and motifs.
  • Study trends within various genres of literary expression that reflect the ever-expanding scope of literary studies.

Courses

Like most minors at WCU, the Minor in Literature and Diverse Cultures requires students to take six courses, or eighteen credits, in order to complete the program. T he minor allows students to take full advantage of the English Department's flexible and extensive course offerings, as the department offers dozens of classes each semester that count toward the minor’s credits.

To complete the minor, students need to take a total of eighteen credits in approved LIT and CLS courses. Of these eighteen credits, only six credits may be below the 199-level. Six of the credits must also be taken from courses on the approved list of courses focusing on diversity and literature, and six credits must be from courses on the approved list of courses focusing on writing about literature. In both cases—courses focusing on diversity and literature and writing about literature—courses can “double dip,” fulfilling one or both of these requirements.

By earning a Minor in Literature and Diverse Cultures, you will be able to: nurture your interest in literature; diversify your perspective on the world; enhance your written communication; and, enhance your major and career prospects. View the Literatures and Diverse Cultures Minor Advising Sheet , or view the complete list of required and elective courses for the Literatures and Diverse Cultures Minor in the undergraduate catalog.

Program Coordinator

Gabrielle Halko
Main Hall 543
ghalko@wcupa.edu

Affiliated Faculty

The Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor draws on the teaching and research expertise of the more than two dozen literature specialists in the English Department. For more information on our literature faculty, please consult our Faculty Listing and Profiles.

Declare the Minor

Interested in declaring the Literature and Diverse Cultures Minor? Visit the WCU Registrar's Registration page for instructions on how to submit an Academic Plan Change