Bachelor of Arts - English

Studying literature is a road map to the world. In the Department of English, Philosophy, and Foreign Languages, students will travel the past with such great literary voices as Chaucer and Shakespeare, Dickens and the Brontës. Then students will discover the world through contemporary writers such as James Joyce, Tennessee Williams, and Virginia Wolfe. The B.A. in English with a Concentration in Literature offers students an opportunity to explore these great minds of Western civilization, in their own words, on a one-to-one basis. The systematic study of great literature prepares students for a wide variety of careers, including teaching, law, medicine, business, and computer science.

In this 120-credit program, students will learn to write clearly, to organize and communicate their thoughts and feelings, and to understand what the finest writers of the past and present have said about the enduring issues of identity, morality, spirituality, and material success. Along with a solid grounding in basic composition and a survey of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 20th century, students can choose from an exciting array of electives that range from “The Bible as Literature” and “The Victorian Rebels” to “The Art of Autobiography “and “The American Novel.”

With introductory courses in logic and political science, English is an excellent, traditional pre-law major, and with appropriate introductory sequences in the sciences, English is also an excellent pre-medical or pre-dental major. With a minor in Business or Computer Science, a student who majors in English will prepare especially well for many executive positions in business and government.