English & Humanities

Develop a richer understanding of human society and culture.

To Be Or Not To Be

The ability to communicate effectively on paper is instrumental to academic and professional success. Coastline's English and Humanities courses help you prepare for a certificate, earn a degree, transfer to a university, or advance your career. Our students have busy schedules, so our caring instructors offer classes during fall, spring, and summer in 8-week and 16-week sessions through a variety of deliveries, including classroom, hybrid, independent study, and online.

Coastline has a wide variety of courses in English composition, literature, and writing. Coastline's Humanities courses provide insights into historical, religious, intellectual, socio-political, philosophical, and cultural values through the study of arts and civilizations.

Available Programs

Ready To Get Started?

Our students have busy schedules, so Coastline's instructors offer classes during Fall, Winter Intersession, Spring, and Summer in 4-week, 8-week, and 16-week sessions.

Take a look at our topics below to get a better sense of the English & Humanities department and commonly asked questions. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the English & Humanities department.

• English Freshman Composition

  Enrolling in Freshman Composition

  In accordance with the state law AB 705, all incoming Coastline students enter English C100 Freshman Composition (3 units), ideally during their first semester. Based on the table below, some students may also elect to take English C090 (1 unit), basic skills and support co-requisite course, concurrently with specified sections of English C100. This allows all students to complete the freshman composition requirement in only one semester.

  Eligibility table for students enrolling in English classes

  Recommended for English C100 only	Recommended for English C100 + C090
  High school GPA of 2.6 or above	High school GPA of 2.59 or below
  OR Earned an A or B in highest level of high school English	Earned a C or below in highest level of high school English
  OR Note that any student is eligible for English C100, regardless of the criteria in the right column, preferably with the input of a counselor or instructor.	English Language Learners and students completing the ESL pathway

  Note that the English C100 + C090 option replaces the former English C099 to English C100 pathway starting Fall '19.

• English Placement

  Which English placement is best for me?

  To determine which English class or classes best fit your needs, please take a few minutes to assess yourself using this Guided Self-Placement tool: http://forms.coastline.edu/GSP/

• Current English Offerings

  English C100 Freshman Composition teaches students grammar and punctuation conventions, logic, critical thinking, fallacies, reading comprehension strategies, research methods, and the structures of the most common essay modes. (Please see above for placement info and descriptions of English C090, C098N, and C099N.)

  After completing English C100, students who are planning to transfer to the University of California, to any private college or university in California, or to any university may take English C102 Critical Reasoning. Students who are on the IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum) track are required to take 102, which focuses on reading critically, thinking critically, writing argumentative essays, and writing a research paper.

  For other types of writing, students may take Fiction Writing, Business English, Business Writing, or Business Communication. Coastline has a wide variety of literature courses from which to choose: Appreciation of Literature, Children's Literature, American Literature: The Short Story, American Lit through the Civil War, American Lit 1865 to Present, Shakespeare, British Lit to 1800, British Lit Since 1800, Gothic Victorian Lit, and Contemporary Gothic Lit.

• Humanities Offerings

  Coastline's Humanities courses provide insights into historical, religious, intellectual, socio-political, philosophical, and cultural values through the study of arts and civilizations. Our three offerings: HUM C100 Introduction to the Humanities, HUM C110 Humanities through the Arts, and HUM C135 History and Appreciation of the Cinema also fulfill IGETC Area 3, CSU Area C, CCC Group C, and the CCC Global and Multicultural Studies requirement.

DEDICATED FACULTY

DEDICATED FACULTY

DEDICATED FACULTY

Stephanie Bridges is one of Coastline's full-time professors in the English & Humanities Department.

Non-credit Options

Starting Fall ’19, if you are a non-credit student seeking to develop your English reading and writing skills prior to enrolling in English C100, then you may enroll in English C098N Sentences to Paragraphs or English C099N Paragraphs to Essays. These courses are repeatable and tuition-free. Students who complete both non-credit courses earn the Preparation for College Writing certificate, after which they should be well-prepared to succeed in English C100 or at writing-related duties in the workforce.

Writing Competition

Crux Essay Contest

If you have received high marks on an essay in any class at Coastline, consider submitting it to the Crux Essay Contest for an opportunity to earn $300 for your achievement. Winners are also published in Storyline, Coastline's Arts & Letters Magazine.

Essays are accepted in the Fall each year for the following categories:

1. Argumentative or Persuasive Essay
2. Informative or Analytical Essay
3. Research-Based Essay

Publications

StoryLine Magazine

StoryLine Magazine

StoryLine Magazine

StoryLine, Coastline College's Arts and Letters Magazine, is published once a year in the fall semester featuring original art, poetry, essays, and short stories by Coastline students. Submit by July 1st if you would like your original work to be considered for inclusion. View Issue 2 via an accessible version or a viewbook.

Department Faculty

• Charles Ardinger cardinger@coastline.edu
• Stephanie Bridges sbridges@coastline.edu
• Marilyn Brock mvbrock@coastline.edu *Dept. Co-Chair
• Dianna Blake dblake17@cccd.edu
• Oceana Callum ocallum@coastline.edu
• Linda Carpenter lcarpenter@coastline.edu
• Mai Dang mdang@coastline.edu
• Maribeth Daniel mdaniel@coastline.edu
• Scott Davis sdavis@coastline.edu
• Nicholas Enke nenke@coastline.edu
• Christine Garavito caravito@coastline.edu
• Ken Leighton kleighton@coastline.edu *Dept. Co-Chair
• Michelle Lopez mlopez208@coastline.edu
• David McDevitt dmcdevitt1@coastline.edu 
• Karen Morehouse kmorehouse@coastline.edu
• Kristen Nichols knichols@coastline.edu
• Daniel Oase doase@coastline.edu
• Katherine Ozbirn kozbirn@coastline.edu
• Meri Rogoff mrogoff@coastline.edu
• Lauren Sakovich lsakovich@cccd.edu
• Dave Seymer dseymer@coastline.edu
• Terry Thacker estraussthacker@coastline.edu
• Kim Volmer kvolmer@cccd.edu
• Adrian Windsor awindsor@coastline.edu