English (BA)

The University offers a bachelor of arts (BA) in English with concentrations in literary studies, creative writing, and rhetoric and professional writing.

This degree program prepares students for a variety of careers in professional or creative writing, editing, business, and government—and is excellent preparation for advanced study in literary studies, creative writing, the humanities, and law.

Coursework includes study in a wide range of literature, from international classics to contemporary multicultural American texts. Special features of the program include the development of enhanced writing skills (critical, creative, expository, and technical) as well as critical thinking skills.

Areas of study include:

• British literature
• American literature
• English language
• Grammar
• Literary analysis
• Multicultural literature
• Writing
• Creative Writing

An optional minor is offered in creative writing. Students considering graduate work in English should take substantial work in at least one foreign language.

In addition to coursework, students may participate in the Department of English's internship program, which provides valuable pre-professional experience. Other opportunities include the University's Honors Program and study-abroad programs, which range from summer programs to a single semester or a full academic year in over fifty-six countries.

Students benefit from small classes taught by award-winning faculty who have a diversity of specialties including British and American literature, rhetoric, and creative writing. Most hold doctoral degrees, and many publish books and articles, conduct research, edit journals, and speak at national and international meetings within their specializations.

The Department of English sponsors a variety of activities including the Joseph S. Schick Lecture Series, a showcase of distinguished scholars from around the world who present formal lectures on British or American literature and language before 1900; the Bash Lectures in Modern American Literature Series, which focuses on contemporary American writers; and the Theodore Dreiser Visiting Writer Series, which brings writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction to campus for readings of their work and for informal visits with students.

Prior speakers on the Indiana State University campus include poet laureates Robert Pinsky and Donald Hall; international best-selling authors, such as Amy Tan and Sister Helen Prejean; Pulitzer Prize winners, such as Stacy Schiff, W. D. Snodgrass, Paul Muldoon, and Megan Marshall, and award-winning contemporary writers, such as Roxane Gay and Kaveh Akbar.

Other opportunities include the Creative Writing Society and Sigma Tau Delta (an international honor society), as well as literary readings and public exhibitions of professional and student writing.