English Minors Guide

The Department of Literatures in English offers three minors: “Creative Writing,” “English,” and “Minority, Indigenous, and Third World Studies” (MITWS). English majors can complete any minor except English.

Successful completion of the minor will be noted on students’ official transcripts after their conferral date and when processing by their college's Registrar is complete.

Submit Intent Form

Students interested in minoring with the department should submit an online Intent to Minor form as soon as possible. To declare a minor, students submit the applicable online minor declaration form as soon as all classes to be used are known, and no later than the end of the seventh week of their final semester. This initial step lets us know of your interest in a particular minor. We will add your name to the minors listserv so that we can let you know of English-related news that may be of interest, such as reminders about course offerings during enrollment periods each semester, calls for submissions to literary magazines and writing contests, and notification of upcoming department events and Zalaznick Reading Series guests.

• Intent to Minor form

Minor Declaration Forms

The next step is to apply for certification by declaring the minor. Students should submit the applicable online declaration form once all classes to be used are known, and no later than the end of the seventh week of their final semester. A confirmation email is sent when the declaration form has been processed by the department. 

• Minor in English
• Minor in Creative Writing

• Minor in Minority, Indigenous, and Third World Studies (MITWS)

• Each minor requires students to pass five three- or four-credit courses at the 2000-level or higher with a minimum grade of C (no S/U grades). Courses offered by the department and all crosslisted courses quality for the minors, even if the student is not enrolled in the ENGL section.
• No First-Year Writing Seminars may be applied toward the minors.
• A maximum of one course from transfer, study abroad, independent study, or upper-level literature courses from another Cornell department may qualify if approved by the department.
  ​​​​​​​Visit Obtain English Credit Approval for more information

Due to the writing-intensive nature of these courses, the department discourages enrollment in more than one writing course per semester. 

Students minoring in Creative Writing must complete the following courses:

• ENGL 2800 - Creative Writing
• ENGL 3820 - Narrative Writing
• ENGL 3840 - Poetry Writing
• Either ENGL 4800 - Advanced Poetry Writing or ENGL 4801 - Advanced Narrative Writing
• Any English course in literature or cultural studies which otherwise qualifies for minor credit.

Students minoring in English may distribute their eligible courses from categories such as literature, creative writing, and critical writing/creative nonfiction. Those wishing to take four creative writing courses should minor in creative writing.

Students minoring in MITWS may distribute their eligible courses from categories such as African American, Asian American, American Indian and other Indigenous, Latino/a, and Anglophone African, Asian, and Caribbean literatures. The MITWS minor seeks to foster comparative thinking across domestic U.S. and international contexts, and coursework should engage with ethnic, indigenous, and/or national literatures. 

Review the course sampling for examples of classes that have qualified for the MITWs minor in the past: MITWS Eligible Course Sampling
For questions about a course's eligibility, please consult the department.