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Undergraduate Programs

In addition to being inherently pleasurable and intellectually exciting, a major or minor in English and American literature will help you develop important skills. English students learn how to read carefully and closely, write skillfully and stylishly, and argue analytically and critically. These communication skills are in high demand. Studying English can help you perfect your understanding of a language you already use and enhance your appreciation for cultures you inhabit and/or encounter.

Studying English prepares students for careers in teaching, law, business, publishing, writing and administration. Understanding the history and conflicts that have shaped English-speaking cultures is also enormously valuable for anyone interested in human services, politics, travel, cross-cultural exchanges or creative and artistic projects. English graduates help to ensure society’s cultural inheritance even as they contribute to that culture—as creators, as intelligent consumers or both. Among our graduates are scientists, businessmen and women, professors, lawyers, filmmakers, television producers, psychologists, fiction writers and poets, literary agents and social activists.