Faculty and students in the Department of English collaborate in a rich mix of intellectual and creative pursuits. Together, we ask crucial questions about the role of the humanities and literature in a diverse, pluralistic public life. How do texts, writers, and readers make meaning? What is at stake in our study and creation of literary texts?

Our award-winning faculty contribute to four programs within the department—literary studies, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, and linguistics—with many working across those boundaries. Students may pursue B.A., M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. degrees by taking courses in global literatures, English and American literature, film studies, pedagogy, sociolinguistics, rhetoric and composition, and all genres of creative writing. Our courses promote inquiry from a variety of perspectives and theoretical traditions.

The Department of English is one of fourteen academic departments and schools within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; CLASS also includes dozens of academic programs and centers in which English faculty and students participate—Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, for example, and the Center for Mexican American Studies. The Department of English currently serves 500 English majors and minors and 120 graduate students. In addition, the department hosts many lectures, readings, and symposia during the academic year, and our students staff two literary journals (Gulf Coast and Glass Mountain), an undergraduate creative writing conference (Boldface), and a literature recovery project (Unsung Masters).

Graduates of our English programs enjoy a variety of careers in academic and cultural institutions around the globe. We invite you to explore our degrees further by clicking the links below.