Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be Pirates. - Mark Twain _Life on the Mississippi_
With over 80 full-time faculty and over 100 graduate students, the department of English is a vibrant and energetic collection of teachers, scholars, researchers, and writers. We offer three degrees: a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English with concentrations in eight
different areas, and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication. We also offer an undergraduate certificate in business and technical communication and post-baccalaureate certificates in professional communication, multicultural and transnational literatures, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and teaching English in two-year colleges. The diversity of the department is one of its strengths: we feature courses in literature, creative writing, technical and professional communication, rhetoric and composition, multicultural and transnational literatures, linguistics, theory and criticism, folklore, children's literature, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and film studies
