WHY LITERATURE?

Studying literature means thinking critically, reading widely, and writing imaginatively. It means exploring language—from the medieval period, to the American civil war years, to just last week. It means analyzing graphic novels and classic poems—and then looking beyond them. It means investigating history and our shared myths, and then thinking about the ways that they continue to inform our twenty-first-century world.

Students in literary studies select a suite of courses in literature and culture along with a capstone course that applies their talents for reading and writing to the worlds that await them after graduation. We offer an array of options on campus and further afield, through our Internship, Study Abroad, and Domestic Field School courses. Discover Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, or Sherman Alexie while also exploring the global and transnational approaches reshaping literature today. Learn to read critical theory that asks what it means to be human while also training in new media and digital publishing. Work alongside leading scholars in Atlanta and then venture abroad to study in Europe.

Small class sizes develop sophisticated readers and talented writers. Each student receives individual attention from the English Department’s roster of world-class scholars and teachers, many of them leading experts in their fields.

Our graduates excel in professions that require precise analysis, effective research, and strong argumentation. This unique set of skills—honed in seminars and interdisciplinary and multi-media courses—leads to success in post-graduate and professional studies as well as rewarding careers in a variety of fields. In addition to distinguishing themselves in competitive environments that value their aptitude for expressing complex ideas, students of literature acquire an uncommon set of tools for lifelong social and intellectual engagement.

Major in English, concentrate in literature, and you will become a better thinker, reader, and writer. It will give you a strong foundational skill set that you can apply to a wide range of professions—from medicine to law to business, advertising, publishing, teaching, and web-design.