The Department of English teaches students to see their worlds with clarity and respond to them with sensitivity, through reading, writing, and critical thinking. Students gain the knowledge and skills to participate actively and conscientiously in the twenty-first-century global culture and the professional workplace. The Department fosters the deep reading of the traditional Anglophone canon as well as the literatures of diverse cultures and under-represented voices, it cultivates an appreciation of their aesthetic features and social functions, and it studies the crafts of creative and professional writing. By engaging in multiple media, learning a wide variety of rhetorical practices, and writing and editing academic and creative texts, students gain skills in critical and creative thinking increasingly recognized as essential by employers. Students are prepared to participate in their historical and cultural moment, to speak with authority about the literatures of the past and present, and to produce substantial creative and professional communication of their own.
Students have the option to pursue minors in creative writing or professional writing and editing. Students also have the opportunity for meaningful experiential learning, whether through internships, independent studies, or pursuit of the department’s Distinguished Majors program.
Bachelor-level job titles
- Editor
- Fundraiser
- High School Teacher
- Human Resource Specialist
- Library Technician
- Proof Readers and Copy Markers
- Public Relations Specialist
- Reporters and Correspondents
- Research Assistant
- Social Media Coordinator
- Staff and Legislative Assistant
- Technical Writer
Graduate and professional level job titles
- Advertising Executive
- Attorney
- College Professor or Administrator
- Copywriter
- Director of Communications
- Public Policy Specialist