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Â鶹´«Ã½ the English Department

Whether you are planning to enter the workforce after graduation or continue your education, English prepares you for personal and professional success, with opportunities that are numerous and diverse. From CEOs to lawyers, astronauts to comedians, the world is filled with English majors in fascinating and unexpected places.

The English Department is committed to offering an outstanding student experience. Our undergraduate concentrations enable you to focus on the areas that best align with your interests and career goals, and the English Department’s attentive faculty and staff are here to guide you. Among our array of student activities, the department publishes two student-run journals, Paths and Explorations, giving students the opportunity to gain publishing experience and a portfolio of published work.

Our faculty members have a range of research interests including Shakespeare, Latin American literature, women’s and gender studies, Africana studies, and even conspiracy theories. You can find our faculty’s research and writing in the discipline’s most prestigious publications. But more important, you can most often find our faculty among the students, sparking discussions, hosting panels and celebrating student successes. From the Writers on Campus series to social gatherings, English Department faculty actively engages students in activities that augment learning and bring students together.

Ready to learn how your love for literature, your passion for poetry, your craving for composition will propel you to a great future? Contact us today.

Strong writing and critical thinking skills are quickly becoming top requirements in today’s job market. The English Department fosters these skills through a variety of coursework that serves as the foundation for an exemplary liberal arts education.

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The Â鶹´«Ã½ Composition Sequence

As of Fall 2024, the English Department offers three courses that are part of the General Education Program's Written Communication sequence: ENGL 100, 101, and 102. Though all three courses teach written communication, ENGL 100 focuses on reading comprehension and writing, ENGL 101 focuses on fundamental writing skills, and ENGL 102 focuses on research and more advanced academic writing. These courses foster the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills that are indispensable for college and career success. 

All new non-transfer students start in ENGL 100. Exceptions: students with three college composition credits—transfer, dual enrollment, or AP/CLEP—will be exempt from ENGL 100 and ENGL 101; students with six credits will be exempt from the entire sequence. New students who would benefit from ESL instruction may be placed directly into ESL-specific sections of 101. 

After successful completion of ENGL 100, students move on to ENGL 101 unless their writing demonstrates that they already have the skills required to pass 101, in which case they are placed directly into 102. Placement is determined by an assessment of writing submitted in ENGL 100, which is scored by the ENGL 100 instructor using a standardized rubric. Note that the writing assessment score is separate from the course grade for ENGL 100. The assessment will also indicate whether ESL placement would be appropriate for the student. The English Department’s Composition Committee is the final authority on placement.