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English

Exit portfolio

UPDATE

Students who need to complete an exit portfolio will be added to a Canvas course called "English Exit Portfolio." Current majors are advised to save backup copies of work in core classes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: English Majors beginning with the 2018-2019 catalog year must complete an English Major Exit Portfolio in order to graduate. Students in prior catalog years will not need to complete an exit portfolio.

Welcome to the English Major!

As you complete degree requirements, you will have an opportunity to make progress toward the following English Major Core Learning Outcomes.

Upon graduation, students will be better able to

  1. Identify and investigate enduring questions, concepts, and theories relevant to English Studies.
  2. Analyze, interpret, and critique a variety of texts and media.
  3. Situate diverse authors and genres within and across cultural contexts.
  4. Describe and analyze how language works socially, historically, and systematically.
  5. Use individual and collaborative writing processes to create effective texts in a range of genres.
  6. Articulate how English Studies applies to their personal, professional, and civic lives.
  7. Engage ethically with communities and audiences both inside and outside the university.

The English Major Exit Portfolio Requirement

As an English major, you will need to complete the English Major Exit Portfolio in order to graduate. Your exit portfolio will include work you have completed in the English Major Core, which includes the following course categories:

  • Introduction to English Studies (ENG 300)
  • Critical Theory (ENG 311)
  • Language and Linguistics (ENG 330, 331, 332, or 336)
  • Literary Studies (ENG 301 or 302)
  • Writing and Rhetoric Studies (ENG 313 or 333)
  • Creative Writing or Professional and Technical Writing (ENG 305 or 335)
  • Capstone Research Project (ENG 413 *Writing & Rhetoric and Literature & Cultural Studies Emphasis Majors only)

For categories that have more than one course in them, you will need to select one for your English Major Exit Portfolio.

NOTE: You may take more than one course in each category as part of your major or minor requirements, but for the purposes of the English Exit Portfolio, you need to upload an artifact from only one course from each category. For example, if you take both ENG 313 and ENG 333 from the Writing and Rhetoric category, you can fulfill your English Major Exit Portfolio requirement with an uploaded artifact from one course or the other, but you are not required to upload an artifact for both courses.

The purpose of this portfolio is two fold. First, completing this portfolio will give you an opportunity to reflect on your work and your learning as you progress through the major. Second, the English Department will periodically review student portfolios to help determine program strengths and areas for improvement. The audience for your portfolio includes all English Department faculty and staff.

Choosing Artifacts

For each of your core courses you will need to upload an artifact. Artifacts, which are examples of work you complete for a class, ideally represent evidence of your progress toward course goals. For each artifact, you will complete a reflection. Your instructor may recommend which course artifact should be uploaded to your portfolio. Upload one artifact for each core category to your English Exit Portfolio to Canvas in order to fulfill the portfolio requirement.

Tips for Portfolio Success

Save Your Work

  • Make a habit of saving your work in multiple locations (e.g., hard drive, OneDrive, Canvas, paper, flash drive, etc.)