About
The English Department serves all students at the university through extensive general education offerings designed to improve writing skills, expand liberal learning, and focus critical and analytic thinking.
In addition, its three-track major supports the university鈥檚 areas of emphasis in teacher education (English-Secondary Education Concentration), public and private sector development and service (Writing Track), and liberal education (Literature Track). The department鈥檚 graduate program in Professional Writing, unique in Maryland and paralleled by only six other programs nationwide, graduates expert writers who meet the needs of government, social, and commercial organizations which rely on expert and efficient writing.
Teacher-scholars of the department pursue not only scholarship in literature but also in new pedagogies for teaching and in evaluating and improving writing. In addition, the faculty plays key roles in shaping and sustaining university programs in Women鈥檚 Studies, American Studies, Afro-American Studies, Multicultural Studies, English Education, Law and American Civilizations, Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and the M.A. in Humanities. It also actively serves the needs of the region, the state, and the nation through consultations, contracted research and instruction, conferences, publications, and presentations concerning writing improvement and educational reform.
What you鈥檒l be taught as an English major . . .
How to write powerful prose with the sparkle of poetry
How to be an architect in building a paper and an interior designer in styling it
How to read with a jeweler鈥檚 eye
How to see meanings the casual reader can鈥檛
How to understand literary characters with different points of view
How to understand texts in relation to their contexts
How to engage in magical dialogues with wise authors long dead
How to experience the excitement of visiting other times and places in books