A bachelor's degree and minor in English will prepare you to tackle critical and complex issues, deepen your understanding of diverse cultural issues, and improve your ability to analyze and produce complicated texts. We prepare our students for careers in writing and teaching, as well as professions requiring high levels of literacy and critical thought, including law and business.
The degree in English provides a foundation in literature, rhetoric, composition, and critical theory. In your courses, you will study text and writing that represents many cultures and historical periods and learn critical approaches to texts and issues that enable you to interpret and compare positions, to read closely, critically, and with empathy. You will gain skills by conducting your own research, weighing evidence, and writing with insight and expertise with guidance from our dedicated expert faculty.
We offer:
- A flexible degree with electives that encourage exploration in writing, publishing, and literature
- Hands-on experience through an internship advising course
- Online, hybrid, and evening classes
- Courses that work with our in-house literary magazine Portland Review, and our publishing imprint Ooligan Press
- A degree option to pursue a greater emphasis in math and the sciences
The major is grounded in critical and theoretical approaches to literary study and requires a 20-credit sequence of core courses designed to ensure a thorough understanding of the methodologies of the field, in addition to allowing a variety of elective coursework in literature and writing courses in literary studies, film and digital media analysis, and publishing, creative writing, and technical writing. The department also offers an undergraduate degree in creative writing, minors in English, writing and film studies, and a certificate in comics studies.