About the Department

The Department of English, Theatre, and Speech Communication offers courses in literature (American, British, and other literature, including literature in translation), in speech communication, in composition and creative writing, in theatre, and in film. Three majors are offered: English (with a concentration in either Literature or Writing), Theatre, and Speech Communication, as well as a minor in Communication.

The Department has two principal responsibilities: advancing the student's skill in writing, speech, theatre, and critical analysis, and furthering the student's insight into the meaning and value of human experience through the study of literature and other art forms and through the student's own creativity. An English major includes a minimum of ten courses with department prefix of ENG, a Theatre major a minimum of eleven courses with the prefix of THR, and a Speech Communication major a minimum of ten courses with the prefix of COM. After fulfilling the major requirements, a student may wish to concentrate electives in literature, speech or composition.

An integral part of the fulfillment of these standards will involve the student's satisfactory and complete response to a department reading list. As an ongoing project for English majors, the list is designed to stimulate students to read beyond assignments of particular classes; to encourage students to discuss literature with each other and with faculty in various settings; to expose students to some of the most important literatures in Western and, to a lesser degree, international cultures; to display the varieties of periods, authors, and genres; and to develop students' abilities to explore and analyze what they read.

Upon graduation, majors proceed into graduate or other professional schools, into secondary teaching, into theatre work, into communications or into numerous other occupations.