Welcome to the English Department!

English, as a discipline, stresses the intensive study of writers and their works in literary, cultural, and historical contexts. It is keyed to the appreciation and analysis of literary language, through which writers compose and organize their poems, stories, novels, plays and essays. We offer a wide range of courses: introductory courses in literary skills, more advanced courses in influential writers, historical periods, and themes in English, American, and world literatures in English, and numerous courses in creative writing, including screenwriting and creative non-fiction.

Our course offerings strike a balance between great authors of past centuries and emerging fields of study. We teach courses on writers such as Shakespeare, Milton, Jane Austen, and James Joyce, and on Asian-American literature, writers from the Indian subcontinent, and film. We stress analysis and argument in paper-writing, critical thinking, and literary research, and we foster and develop a deep, complex, passionate response to literature.

Goals for the Major
In short, the Wellesley English Department seeks to acquaint all its majors with the following bodies of knowledge and to develop in them the following abilities:

• A knowledge of English literary history, including both the canonical works of the past and works from emerging traditions;
• Familiarity with critical methodologies generally employed in the discipline of literary studies;
• An ability to write with clarity, originality, and style;
• An ability to recognize and construct a lucid and persuasive argument;
• An ability to read imaginative literature with close attention to language and form.

Those who major in English and Creative Writing should fulfill all the goals above and in addition should develop a distinctive literary voice and knowledge of the history and cross-cultural diversity of the genres, traditions, and styles in which they are working.

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