Welcome!
If you enjoy studying and creating texts, film, and multimedia compositions, you’ve come to the right department. In our courses, minors, and majors, you will analyze and critically engage many kinds of texts for their craft and meaning in their cultural contexts. Many of our courses involve written, visual, and auditory texts, challenging students to develop 21st century digital literacy skills and exploring new ways to create and seek meaning.
Whether you seek to take courses in our program as a major, minor, or elective, our award-winning faculty members are committed to supporting you. We are active writers and scholars who publish and teach about literature, cinema, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, teacher education, multimodal communication, antiracist pedagogy, digital rhetorics and literature, environmental literature and rhetoric, Appalachian studies, and many other timely topics.
We offer a B.A. program with specializations in Creative Writing, Film Studies, Literary Studies and Professional Writing, a B.S. in English Education, and minors in English and Film Studies. Our graduate program is being redesigned to offer concentrations in Literary Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, and Teaching Literature and Writing.
Our department’s goal is to contribute to students’ success in their professional aspirations. Our graduates frequently teach at the secondary and postsecondary levels, go on to complete graduate degrees, and pursue fruitful careers in creative and technical writing, business, medicine, entertainment, publishing, broadcasting, advertising, journalism, government, and the law.
If you are interested in taking courses, becoming an English major, or doing a minor within our department, you might:
Explore our website for information about our diverse, engaging programs.
Reach out to a program’s director about your interest as a potential major, minor, or student taking elective courses.
Check out our course promos, so you can see how some of the courses are taught.
Discuss your interest in our courses with your academic advisor.
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
The English Department acknowledges and honors the ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ (Cherokee), the yeh is-WAH h’reh (Catawba), and other Indigenous peoples whose ancestral lands we occupy.
Please read our full acknowledgement here.
Our Statement on Diversity
Education is transformative, and open intellectual inquiry is the foundation of a university education and a democratic society. In the spirit of shared humanity and concern for our community and world, the Department of English faculty celebrate diversity as central to our mission and affirm our solidarity with those individuals and groups most at risk. In line with our departmental goals, we disavow all racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism, and hate speech or actions that attempt to silence, threaten, and degrade others.
As educators, we affirm that language and texts, films and stories help us to understand the experiences of others whose lives are different from ours. We value critical reasoning, evidence-based arguments, self-reflection, and the imagination. Building on these capacities, we hope to inspire empathy, social and environmental justice, and an ethical framework for our actions. We advocate for a diverse campus, community, and nation inclusive of racial minorities, women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of all religious faiths.
As part of ongoing efforts to improve our inclusivity, the English Department recently approved the following resolution on the use of the n-word in our classes.
Latest News

Meet Andie Pabón Thomas, our new Admin!
The English Department has a new Administrative Support Associate: Andrea Pabón Thomas.Andie graduated from our Creative Writing concentration in 201...

Congratulations to our Graduating Class of 2022!
Congratulations to our graduating class of 2022!Here's a list of our graduating English majors and graduate students, in alphabetical order, by semest...

2022-2023 Scholarship Winners!
We are excited to announce the complete list of our department's scholarship winners for the years 2022-2023!Mary Willis Shores Memorial Scholar...

We Are Hiring! Administrative Support Associate
We are hiring a new Administrative Support Associate!The primary purpose of the Administrative Support Associate is to serve as administrative support...

Fall 2022 Semester Promo Index
2000 CoursesENG 2040-101: World Literature from 1650-Now3000 CoursesENG 3740: The Materials of Poetry (Studies in Poetry)HON 3515: Human Rights and Re...

HON 3515: Human Rights and Reconciliation/GLS 4100: Borders and Walls
HON 3515: Human Rights and Reconciliation/GLS 4100: Borders and WallsFall 2022T/TH 9:30-10:45Title: Human Rights and Post-Conflict Reconciliation/Bord...

ENG 4508: JUNIOR/SENIOR HONORS SEMINAR, SECTION 101
ENG 4508: JUNIOR/SENIOR HONORS SEMINAR, SECTION 101Fall 2022Title: JUNIOR/SENIOR HONORS SEMINARMichael Wilson (wilsonmt@appstate.edu)Description...

ENG 3740: The Materials of Poetry
“You can’t have art without resistance in the materials.” William MorrisBasic InformationENG 3740: Studies in Poetry (The Materials of Poetry)MW...

ENG 5890: Twentieth-Century British Literature
ENG 5890: Twentieth-Century British LiteratureFall 2022Thursdays, 2-5pmTitle: Twentieth-Century British LiteratureDr. William Atkinson (atkinsoncw@app...

ENG 4870: Literature of the Romantic Period
ENG 4870: Literature of the Romantic PeriodFall 2022Title: Romantic NatureWilliam Brewer (brewerwd@appstate.edu)Description:This course will focus on ...