What does it mean to study
English today? The English department engages that question
by offering its students the opportunity to explore literary
texts written in Old English, internet texts, American novels,
Anglo-Irish literature, queer textuality, Science Fiction,
literature of the body, modern poetry, Shakespeare etc.—all
kinds of "literatures" written in English. We study the complex
interactions between literature, culture and history. At the
heart of literary study lies the simple yet striking recognition
that language constitutes both a technology of thought and
a constituent of human reality. The major in English transforms
this recognition into a program of study that develops the
critical skills required to negotiate complicated literary
and cultural texts. Together, we spend time working on questions
like these: (1) how do historical and cultural contexts lend
written texts their intelligibility and convey their strange
power? (2) How do gender and minority discourses inform our
understanding of literature? (3) How does the study of English
engage the public
sphere in its intersection with other fields, such as
cognitive science, social science and information science?
What can one "do" with a degree
in English? Graduate and professional schools and employers
seek people who can read, write, speak, and analyze—the
basic skills acquired by our English majors. Students who
study English learn how to think, and to think independently.
They are trained to read a variety of literary and cultural
works from across centuries and continents and to write proficient
and lively arguments. English majors learn about how the past
informs the present, become "keepers" of past works and present
cultures, and leave college thinking and feeling more deeply
about life and how to live it.
Our program is a coherent and
comprehensive program of literary studies leading to the Bachelor
of Arts degree. The program is academically oriented, providing
thorough preparation for graduate
studies, and is a strong program for those students desiring
a broad liberal arts background. The English major provides
the opportunity to develop skills in writing and in critical
reading.
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