College of Letters and Science
149 Kaplan Hall
Box 951530
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530
English
310-825-4173
Department e-mail
The Department of English is dedicated to the study of the literatures and cultures of those parts of the world in which English is a primary language. Although committed to no single method or approach, the department requires a knowledge of British, American, and Anglophone literary history and an engagement with a range of methodological approaches that foster intellectual curiosity and critical thinking and encourage its students to be not only expert readers and writers but engaged and ethical citizens.
An understanding and appreciation of literature can furnish lifelong rewards. In addition to offering students such personal benefits, the department seeks to foster critical analysis and lucid writing and to teach them to think about how language and representation function in the world. Such skills are essential to success in a variety of professions for which the major in English can provide excellent preparation, including law, administration, business, teaching, media, and entertainment.
The department offers Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees in English and in American Literature and Culture. When selecting courses to fulfill requirements for the majors, students are expected to choose those courses that best reflect their own interests and simultaneously contribute toward a coherent program in literary studies.
Students must have completed the Entry-Level Writing requirement before taking any courses in English (other than English Composition 1 or 2). For more information regarding Entry-Level Writing, see Undergraduate Study.
A graduate program leading to the Master of Arts (MA) degree is available for students who wish to continue the study of literature at an advanced level. A parallel program continues to the PhD degree. Because the PhD program may require five years or more, it is intended only for qualified students who are seriously committed to advanced literary scholarship and, in some cases, to a career in college or university teaching.
