Literature and Critical Analysis (Minor)

Overview

The Literature and Critical Analysis minor is offered through Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. This page outlines requirements for the minor. Students who major in Literary Studies at Lang (BA Literary Studies) can also choose the Literature and Critical Analysis concentration.

Literature and Critical Analysis students develop a distinctive critical-analytical voice and receive a firm grounding in literary theory and history and their vocabularies. Many of the faculty teaching literature are also creative writers and understand approaches to the study of literature from the perspectives of practitioner, scholar, and critic. Although many students in literature classes are themselves creative writers, literature writing almost always takes the form of the critical essay or research paper. Learn more about the Literature and Critical Analysis program at Lang. 

Curriculum

The minor in Literature and Critical Analysis requires completion of 5 courses, distributed as follows, and a minimum of 18 credits. 

NOTE: The links below are to spring 2026 course offerings.

• Choose 1 introductory course (4 credits)
  
• Choose 1 (4 credits):
  • LLST single-author course or LLST single-text course
• Three LLSL (or LLST single-author) courses, at least one of which should be 3000 level or higher (10–12 credits)

Total credits: 18–20

Students must receive a grade of C or better in all courses taken to fulfill the minor. 

Eligibility

Minors are available to undergraduate students across The New School. Please meet with your Student Success advisor to discuss how a minor will fit in with your overall degree requirements. If you have additional questions about requirements for the Literature and Critical Analysis minor that cannot be answered by your Student Success advisor, please consult Literary Studies chair and Literature and Critical Analysis departmental faculty advisor Juan De Castro at decastrj@newschool.edu.

How to Declare or Change a Minor

General guidelines for declaring a minor are available here. Current students can declare or change a minor by logging in to my.newschool.edu, clicking on the Academics tab, and then clicking on the link to Major/Minor Declarations.