Program Overview

The ability to communicate ideas and information is one of the most valuable skills you can have. The English language is a powerful tool, and those who master it are well-prepared for the multiple career changes most college graduates experience in their lives.

English majors develop sophisticated abilities in communicating, listening, speaking, reading, writing, critical thinking, information gathering and understanding a broad spectrum of human cultures.

USF’s goal is to heighten and intensify student reading experiences, and help students reflect upon the ways in which written and spoken words deliver meaning. Through this discovery, students can develop the ability to recognize authoritative analysis and question authority. They can even become authoritative critics themselves.

Skilled writing begins with skilled listening and speaking. Through spontaneous and focused exchanges that entertain wide-ranging ideas in a respectful way, USF English majors become confident speakers and can present their ideas in formal and informal settings. Critical thinking skills are honed in every class and assignment, enriched by discovery, originality, humor, creativity, and the pleasure of reading.

English Literature
For 1,400 years, the English language has been a rich and supple medium for poets, novelists, essayists, playwrights, filmmakers, and translators, not only in English-speaking nations but across the globe. To study this long tradition, we adopt a wide variety of lenses; rhetorical, political, and philosophical approaches complement the study of performance modes and material culture. English Literature students read a wonderful mix of old and new everything from ancient epics, Renaissance dramas, and Victorian novels, to the latest memoirs, graphic novels, and spoken-word poetry. They also study writing with published writers in a variety of creative, professional, and digital modes. In our student-focused, discussion-driven classes, students work alongside faculty to develop their own interests as they hone essential skills demanded by the job market: close reading and research, confident analysis and argument, both oral and written. Opportunities for learning outside the classroom are always on offer: internships, conference presentation, spoken word, live theater, and more.