Introduction

LTWR BA: Literature Concentration

In keeping with the multicultural and interdisciplinary philosophy of Cal State San Marcos' Mission Statement, the literature major provides students with a global literary experience, which may be best described under the general rubric of "cultural studies."  In its broadest sense, this term implies that literature and other cultural artifacts are studied as reflections and expressions of the cultures that value them.  Studied in this context, literature is viewed not only in terms of its form and style, its relation to previous traditions and genres, its rhetoric and language, but in terms of its use in constructing social and cultural identities.  Cultural studies may involve comparative approaches between "high" and "low" forms of expression; it may concern itself with new kinds of media (film, video, computers); it usually involves issues of social status, gender, ethnicity, and national demographics; it often examines relationships between various kinds of cultural documents (historical records, archives, newspapers, novels).

From a pedagogical point of view, cultural studies stresses cross-cultural contexts of a given literature, exploring not only the dominant literary tradition of a culture, but also the indigenous, marginalized or unrecognized literatures within that tradition.  These "literatures" take multiple forms: oral tale, comic book, folk narrative, national epic, or avant garde poem.

The design of the literature emphasis reflects many recent movements in literary criticism and research. Our approach is not a method of teaching or scholarship so much as an attitude towards literariness with which we view writer, text, and audience as linked in a dynamic, on-going dialogue. Studying literature within cultural studies means going outside of the traditional canon, drawing upon research in related fields of history, sociology, visual arts, ethno-musicology, media theory and political science.  At the same time, the major encourages greater concern for the material and formal nature of artifacts that, until recently, were thought to be transparent vehicles for self-evident ideas.  To study a literary text implies that we address the "cultural text" as well.

LTWR BA: Writing Concentration

The writing concentration provides directed experience in writing expository prose, fiction, and poetry for various media or professional audiences, as well as intensive work in practical criticism. An integral feature of the program places emphasis on student interaction through peer groups. Students who are developing themselves as writers will find courses regularly offered in various genres to develop their own style and breadth of experience in composing and criticism. Those interested in the teaching of writing will find the major a context both for writing extensively and for dealing critically with the act of written composition.