Undergraduate Programs

Courses in the English Department are designed to enrich students' understanding of life and arts through the study of literature in English.  Courses are organized in various ways and at a number of levels. 

At the 100 level, English Department courses teach rhetoric and composition and provide intensive introductions to fiction, drama, poetry and to the contested issues generally enlivening the study of literature. 

Our 200 level courses include intermediate-level courses in writing, period surveys of British, American, and other literature written in English, together with introductions to folklore, film study, and English linguistics. 

The 300-level courses are advanced electives in creative writing, historical studies of the poetry, drama, and fiction of various periods, courses in literary theory, studies of major literary figures such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton, courses in minority and ethnic literatures, and other specialized approaches to literature, as well as a senior seminar “Topics in Literature.”  A detailed English Department Handbook is available in the department office.