The Department of English offers over seventy-five courses in literature, literary criticism, rhetoric, grammar, the history of the English language, and various forms of writing. A staff of seventy full-time faculty includes nationally noted literary critics and scholars, novelists and poets, rhetoricians and linguists, and business and technical writers.
All English majors explore through literature a wide range of human experience and values.
They learn how to gather, analyze, and synthesize information. They receive substantial practice in the techniques of research and writing. English students may choose to emphasize literature, writing, or rhetoric. The Department of English offers a minor for students enrolled in other academic majors. An honors program in English brings outstanding students together in a sequence of small seminars and provides special opportunities for individual study.