Department of English

Because the Department of English teaches virtually all undergraduate students in the two schools of the College, including a large group of English majors, as well as many graduate students in the School of Arts and Science, and because its curriculum offers the kind of education universally regarded as essential to a liberal arts preparation for lifelong learning, its mission complements the College's mission.

The Department intends that all students in English courses, through a rigorous analysis of a significant body of literature, learn the uses of language, the rhetorical purpose and structure of texts, the importance of cultural contexts, and the philosophical and ethical implications of literary portrayals of human behavior. All students should learn the necessary skills to express their insights in reasoned and well-crafted oral and written discourse. Such learning should help prepare students for lives distinguished by intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, aesthetic sensitivity, and professional competence. As a concomitant goal, our curriculum is intended to help students develop an awareness of and appreciation for ethical and humanistic values and for cultural diversity, values that should reinforce the desire of our students for lives of leadership, service, and civic responsibility.