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Department of English

Committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and creative performance, our undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Composition and Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Linguistics, and Literature place this community at the center of liberal arts education at Miami.

Mission and Goals

The Department of English endeavors to prepare students to read and write critically, imaginatively, and effectively. We study the production and reception of texts within contemporary and historical perspectives, reflecting on those texts to cultivate aesthetic sensibility, to nurture intellectual curiosity, and to foster appreciation of diverse views.

In an age of new media and global community, and in concert with related but differently articulated goals of other departments and programs in the university community, the English Department enables faculty and students alike to envision and contribute to potential futures emerging out of an ever-transforming world.

Department Strengths

  • Four undergraduate majors, an MA, MFA, and a PhD program ranked 77th nation-wide, as well as a prominent role in affiliate programs;
  • Distinguished and award-winning faculty committed to excellence in teaching and research;
  • Internships and other experiential-learning opportunities for the future, be it for graduate or law or entry into the work force;
  • Study-abroad opportunities including its Literary London summer program, Luxembourg, and writing center internships at Sun Yat-sen University in China;
  • Advising and mentoring involving all faculty to support student research development and to improve their creative problem-solving abilities; and
  • Active participation by outside scholars, writers, poets, and other lecturers.

Guiding Principles

We, the members of the English Department, strive for deep engagement with the scholarly and creative work of our colleagues and students.

We aspire to create the best possible educational environment for all our students.

We aim to recognize one another’s expertise across programs and disciplines. We seek to cultivate an environment in which we can trust one another.

We value and seek fairness and equity. We strive to share labor in ethical ways.

We value transformative diversity and strive to practice inclusivity in hiring, curriculum, programming, student recruitment and retention, resource distribution, and ongoing support. 

We strive to identify and achieve common goals and to reconcile differences internally. We believe that collaborative decision-making requires diligent effort to understand histories, perspectives, and contexts and to discuss and address them with one another.

We aspire to practice critical self-reflection in order to be challenged, engaged, creative, collaborative, and open to different ways of teaching, learning, and communicating. 

Our Undergraduate Programs

Majors, minors, and graduate programs offered through the Department of English emphasize rigorous academic engagement, independent scholarship, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. As participants in this community, students work closely with faculty and peers, and benefit from lectures and performances by visiting scholars and writers, as well as off-campus and experiential learning opportunities.

Creative Writing

The creative writing major at Miami is a thriving program, one of the largest in the United States, with an increasingly global curriculum and outlook. With eight full-time creative writing faculty, over 200 undergraduate majors and minors (as well as 20-25 graduate students), there’s a creative writing buzz at Miami.

Professional Writing

Professional Writing is an ideal first or second major for students who love to write and want to learn how to write effectively in a wide range of print and digital media.

Linguistics

Linguistics is the field of inquiry that addresses the origin and nature of language, investigates language in all of its forms (spoken, written, signed), and describes how language is used wherever, whenever, and however, it is practiced. Linguistics is comprised of several subfields including, but not limited to, applied and educational linguistics, formal and computational linguistics, historical and comparative linguistics, neuro- and psycholinguistics, and sociocultural linguistics.

Literature

The Literature Major is ideal for those who love to read and write. In lively conversations with fellow students and dedicated professors, you will analyze and discuss the forms of artistic expression that matter most to you: stories and poems, fiction and nonfiction, novels and material culture, plays and films. We offer courses on everything from graphic novels to popular and YA fiction. Our classes will challenge and amaze you, even as you become a better writer and thinker.

Minors

Minors permit students to use elective hours to satisfy a personal interest, to strengthen a degree in another discipline, or to enhance career opportunities by providing additional practice in writing and textual analysis.The Department of English offers minors in Creative Writing, Linguistics, Literature, Medical Humanities, and Rhetoric/Writing. Each minor consists of eighteen hours of study (six courses) from the introductory to the senior level, including historical surveys, major author courses, and courses in special topics. Courses taken for credit/no credit will not count toward the hours required for the minor.

Creative Writing

Explore intersections between creative practice and critical practice through your own Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetics, Screenwriting, Graphic Narratives and Digital Literature. Students transform their ideas into polished final products with the support of peers and faculty.

English Literature

The English Literature minor allows you to study what you love—and prepares you for the work that you will love! In dynamic discussion-based classes, you will analyze and discuss the forms of cultural expression that matter to you most: poems, novels, comics, plays, and films. In courses with award-winning faculty, you will be challenged, provoked, and inspired.

Linguistics

Linguists look at how people use language and try to find the rules that govern that use. The interdisciplinary minor in linguistics is useful for students majoring in a number of academic fields including foreign languages, English, sociology, anthropology, psychology, mathematics, communication, philosophy, computer science, and others.

Medical Humanities

This minor offers students, including students interested in health careers, an interdisciplinary program of study that will enhance their understanding of the humanistic dimensions of medicine and their ability to communicate effectively. Students will investigate the historical, philosophical, literary and ethical issues of medicine in the past and today and focus on changing concepts and perceptions of disease, health, medical authority and patient experiences. Students will be prepared to respond to a dynamic range of professional and personal issues related to health and illness, life and death.

Rhetoric/Writing

The Rhetoric/Writing minor provides an understanding of how language and writing shape actions and attitudes and form persuasive discourse through study of rhetorical theory for writers, research methods in writing, and practice in a wide range of writing that college-educated graduates can be expected to produce in their civic and professional lives.

Give to the English Department

Help us prepare the next generation of leaders. We have numerous scholarships, grants, and programs accepting contributions from donors like you.

 

Department of English

Committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and creative performance, our undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Composition and Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Linguistics, and Literature place this community at the center of liberal arts education at Miami.

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Contact Us

356 Bachelor Hall
301 S. Patterson Ave.
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-5221
english@MiamiOH.edu