English (B.A.)

The Creative Writing and Literature track gives students a solid grounding in the most important literary genres, movements, and writers worldwide.

It also develops their skills in writing literary criticism as well as fiction, poetry, and/or creative nonfiction.

Students on this track learn what it is like to envision and craft literary works, as well as to critically analyze and respond to them—they learn both sides of the creative equation.

Working on the Calliope (ESU’s literary magazine), on the Stroud Courier (ESU’s student newspaper), or on both, they also develop and hone valuable writing and critical thinking skills that will serve them well in a wide range of professional careers, as well as in academia or in the literary world.

They enjoy special events, such as poetry readings, and fellowship surrounding the celebration and pursuit of artistic writing.

The Professional and Digital Media Writing track is all about breaking into the writing and editing workforce. It also leads to a B.A., preparing students for a variety of writing fields in the corporate, educational, non-profit, and governmental sectors. Students take classes in specialties such as writing for the web and social media, journalism, technical writing, grant writing, and advertising and public relations.

Many professional writing students actually launch media careers by volunteering at the Stroud Courier (available in print and online), where they develop news and feature writing skills while trying out Adobe InDesign, the industry standard for magazine and newspaper production.

A special new accelerated B.A.-to-M.A. pathway allows undergrads in professional writing to "fast-track" into our M.A. program.

Students of ESU professional writing classes (pictured at a recent College Media Association conference) have ended up with jobs at NBC, the Discovery Channel, Running World, the Express-Times, Bloomberg Media, Bicycling Magazine, and Harper Collins. One currently conducts online user experience (UX) research at Harvard!

Unlike some professional writing programs, ESU has the tech you need, too, including absolutely state-of-the-art professional photo- and videographic equipment and tools such as mobile podcasting studios.

The Secondary Education Program gives students who aspire to teach the chance to pursue a highly valued B.S. degree in English. They study literature and classroom methodology so they can become effective, certified middle and high school teachers.

But that only tells part of our story. Our department has always enjoyed a warm and vibrant relationship with local schools, and our graduates fill English departments across eastern Pennsylvania. It's hard not to run into at least one ESU English education grad on the job at just about any local district.

We work with regional schools on the development of writing skills, too, and we both host, and send out to schools, writing-instruction experts for fun, writing-centered events.

If you dream of teaching middle or high school English, we're here to make the dream come true.

If you're looking to add an extra boost to your degree but can't commit to a whole new major, consider our 18-credit English minor.

It's especially valuable for anyone seeking a career where strong communication and thinking skills are valued -- in other words, almost everywhere.

Students in majors other than English will find the minor's workload manageable, and future potential employers and grad and professional schools will respect the key workforce skills it brings to your degree.

English students may complete an accelerated pathway through the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English to Master of Arts (MA) in Professional and Digital Media Writing.

This accelerated pathway allows qualified undergraduate students to take up to twelve (12) graduate credits of coursework that will apply to both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. At least three (3) of the twelve (12) credit-hours must be from a core class (ENGL 501, 510, 514, or 520).

Admission Requirements:

• Be in good academic standing;
• Minimum of ninety (90) undergraduate credits or more;
• GPA of 3.3 or higher within the major.

Application Process: Students will need to meet the admission requirements and obtain the approval of the English Department Chair, Graduate Coordinator, and their advisor to participate in the accelerated pathway.