About the Department

Welcome to the Department of English and Language Arts!

The Department of English and Liberal Arts offers students the opportunity to grow as writers, researchers and critical thinkers. Employers around the globe continue to tell universities the type of recent graduates they're looking for: those who can think creatively with good writing skills- that is the sort of scholar our department develops.

The Department of English and Language Arts houses a variety of University and departmental programs. These programs include: the First Year Writing Program, the Introduction to Humanities Program, the Reading Program, the major in English, the major in Screenwriting and Animation (Cinematic Arts and Sciences), and the minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

At the undergraduate level, the Department of English and Language Arts offers the Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. Students may follow tracks in creative writing or literature and language, or they can pursue an undergraduate major in Screenwriting and Animation (Cinematic Arts and Sciences).
The department also offers a Master of Arts Degree in English and the Doctor of Philosophy in English. (For further information on the graduate programs, see the catalog of the School of Graduate Studies or contact our Director of graduate studies, Dr. Julie Conger, Ph.D)

We're confident that students who take courses in the Department of English and Language Arts will find much of what they learn with us connected to their interests and career goals. Our department is home to a world-class faculty of scholars, writers, educators and thought leaders, who have achieved distinction as scholars, critics, journalists, editors, lawyers, presidential speechwriters, filmmakers, screenwriters, creative writers, and (not insignificantly) as teachers. Their areas of expertise include American fiction, African American literature, Shakespeare, literature of the Diaspora, the Harlem Renaissance, rhetoric, composition, cinema, screenwriting, and technical writing. Current research among faculty also includes popular culture, hip-hop, and psychology in literature, documentary film, cinematic studies, and gender studies.

Three widely respected professional journals are edited by department faculty members: Middle Atlantic Writers Association Review (founded in 1980); Zora Neale Hurston Forum (founded in 1986); and Sankofa: a Journal of African Children's Literature (founded in 2002). Department faculty members play leading roles in a wide range of learned societies, some of which were founded on campus. These include the Zora Neale Hurston Society (founded in 1986) and the Middle Atlantic Writers Association (founded in 1981).

The Department of English and Liberal Arts welcomes students from around the university to join us as we train tomorrow's thinkers and leaders.