As a student in the IU Online Graduate Certificate in Literature, you explore the core principles of literature. You learn to teach students how to read and analyze texts and contexts and to write literary analysis. You also develop a fluency with current literary debates and theories of instruction. 

Specific areas of focus include:

• Contemporary theory on the pedagogy of composition and literature
• Linguistic structures and history of the English language
• Reading strategies and literary analysis, with attention to close reading, style, form, genre, and rhetorical practices
• Approaches to composition and writing instruction, including the identification and evaluation of sources, use of evidence, generation of ideas, and development and organization of argument
• Fostering discussion and developing presentation skills in a seminar setting
• Developing archival research skills and facility with electronic resources
• Developments, trends, and frontiers in the digital humanities

Of Special Interest for Dual-Credit and Community College Instructors Needing to Meet HLC Standards

The Graduate Certificate in Literature is ideal for those who want to teach dual-credit courses and who need to meet Higher Learning Commission dual-credit qualification standards. These standards require teachers wanting to teach dual-credit courses to hold either a master's degree in their area of instruction or a master's degree in another discipline (such as education), plus at least 18 credit hours of discipline-specific graduate coursework.

• If you hold a master's degree in another discipline, you can meet HLC standards by completing the 20 credit hour Graduate Certificate in Literature.
• If you plan to pursue the IU Online MA in English, you may apply the 20 credit hours from the Graduate Certificate in Literature toward the master's degree.

Your IU Online Graduate Certificate in Literature prepares you for such careers as:

• Literature dual-credit teacher (high school)
• Literature instructor (community college)

This 100 percent online, consortial program is taught by IU Bloomington, IUPUI, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast. This consortial model allows you to take coursework from several campuses and learn from a wide range of faculty.

Certificate Requirements

To earn the Graduate Certificate in Literature, students must complete 20 credit hours of coursework as follows:   

1.  Introductory Course - Teaching Literature at the College Level (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 503 Teaching of Literature in College (4 cr.)

2.  History, Methods, and Practice of Literary Study (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 553 Studies in Literature (4 cr.)

3.  Course on the History and Development of the English Language or English Literature (4 cr.)

Complete one of the following:

• ENG-D 600/ENG-G 655 History of the English Language (4 cr.)
• ENG L 639 English Fiction To 1800 (4 cr.)
• ENG L 641 English Literature 1790-1900 (4 cr.)
• ENG L 660 Studies In British and American Literature (3-4 cr.)
• ENG L 681 Genre Studies (4 cr.)

4.  Certificate Electives - (8 cr.)

• ENG-L class at the 500/600 level (4 cr.)
• ENG-L class at the 500/600 level (4 cr.)