The Department of English is devoted to the critical study of literature and language, indeed to the study of creative expression of many kinds, including film and other media. We offer courses in all periods and genres of English, American, and Anglophone literature—poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and drama—as well as a wide array of classes in creative writing, film, media studies, journalism, rhetoric, and theater. The department joins critics, scholars, and artists in an environment that fosters interactive learning and teaching, with extensive opportunities to pursue internships and independent research.

Undergraduate majors may choose from four distinct tracks in the major—English Literature; Creative Writing; Theater; and Language, Media, and Communication—and we offer minors in English Literature, Creative Writing, Journalism, and Theater. Double majoring in English and another discipline—Physics or Music, History or Psychology—is readily managed. (For more information, see Undergraduate.) Our internationally recognized graduate program offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, and our alumni have gone on to academic careers at some of the nation’s most respected colleges and universities. (See Graduate.) The English Department maintains wide-ranging connections with other university programs in Film Studies, Comparative Literature, African-American Studies, Women’s Studies, Theater, and Literary Translation, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The department sponsors an annual literary reading series that has brought distinguished poets and fiction writers to campus. (See Plutzik Series.) We also regularly host lectures, conferences, workshops, and symposia on a wide variety of subjects of scholarly and general interest.