The Department of English is the largest arts and humanities unit on the USU campus and features a wide variety of courses that cover a broad curriculum in literature, creative writing, English education, technical writing, and more. With its small class sizes and nationally published faculty members, the English Department helps students develop skills in analysis, production, and understanding of texts in the English language. Students learn to write, think, and communicate effectively in a technologically and culturally complex world. Students develop skills in the areas most valued by employers, including critical thinking, teamwork, and oral and written communication, which will prepare them to enter into a wide range of career options.
Because the English Department is home to faculty that are heavily involved in research, students are provided with numerous opportunities to pursue undergraduate research projects and creative projects with individual attention from professors.
Students receive a BS by completing all required courses in the major. To receive a BA, students must also gain proficiency in one or more foreign languages.
Emphases:
- Creative Writing: The creative writing program gives students exposure to poetry, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction writing and then allows them to specialize in their chosen area(s). Through literature and writing courses, students develop critical and cognitive writing skills applicable in numerous professional fields.
- English Teaching or English Teaching Composite: Students emphasizing in English teaching prepare to teach secondary level English in the public school system. Students take a wide range of literature, writing, and teaching courses that prepare them to teach language arts in secondary education classrooms.
- Literature: Literary studies students read, analyze, and research texts and writers in American, British, and other world literatures as well as their cultural contexts. Students in literary studies develop critical thinking and communication skills that prepare them for a variety of careers.
- Technical Communication and Rhetoric Emphasis: The professional and technical writing emphasis prepares students for various writing careers in communication, business, industry, and government as well as providing a basic knowledge of current communication technology and its uses in various fields. Visit our website for more information.
- General English: The General English major option allows students to take classes with subjects in literature, creative writing, professional/technical writing, folklore, and/or English teaching, but without a focus in any one area. Students should meet with the advisor to determine the most appropriate course of study, and students should be prepared to articulate their educational and career goals.
Education Component:
This is for the english teaching emphasis only. In order to obtain a secondary teaching license for grades 6-12, students must complete the 35-credit Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP), which includes one semester of student teaching in a public school. This program is administered by USUs School of Teacher Education and Leadership (TEAL) within the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. Student must apply to the School of TEAL the semester before taking STEP courses. This is usually the fall of their junior year. Students learn subject content through the English Department, and spend the last year or two studying education techniques through the STEP program.
Students in the English teaching program are required to select an approved teaching minor in order to expand their career options.