The concentration in Literary Studies provides students a broad background in British, American, and other Anglophone literature.  Students begin the concentration with the gateway course, "Tools of Textual Analysis," which teaches essential approaches and methodologies for analyzing a variety of textual forms (poetry, novel, film, etc.).  Incoming first-year majors take 101 as a combined course with sections of 110, "First Year Writing," thus receiving special instruction in how to write for the discipline.  Students then move into 102, "Texts in Time," a small course (enrollment limit is 22) which offers the opportunity for an in-depth exploration of how texts interact with their cultural environment.  Content of the 102 sections varies by the expertise of the instructor.

Typically in the second year of the concentration students enter into a sequence of survey courses designed to provide them with a historical "map" of literary history and movements.  In the Fall students take 205, "British Literature to 1660," followed in the spring semester by 206, "British Literature to the Present" and 204, "American Literature."

Upon completion of these requirements, students may choose the courses which most appeal to them, enabling students to develop and pursue their own intellectual interests.