Live the Written Word!
Pursue a degree in English and live what you love. The English department at IUE will afford you the chance to grow as a writer, examine the timelessness of the world's greatest writers, and become a part of a dynamic program.
English Concentrations
Creative Writing:Within the English degree, students can choose to concentrate in Creative Writing, with courses in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Nonfiction. Students will explore writing in various forms: short stories, novels, poetry, memoir, documentary writing, and more. Creative opportunities include Tributaries, the IUE literary magazine; internships; visiting writers; and field trips.
Literature: A literature concentration allows majors to concentrate their courses in British, American, and world literatures. The concentration is recommended for students intending to pursue graduate work in literature. Students are encouraged to take as many classes as possible in the British literature sequence and the American literature sequence. Through these classes, students will have covered the major authors and periods in both British and American literature. Additionally students will take world literature for an appreciation of non-English literatures. Beginning with English L202 Literary Interpretation, students will round off their experiences with literary criticism English L371.
Technical and Professional Writing: A concentrated study in the techniques of professional and technical writing including document design, digital writing, technicalediting and technical writing. Create brochures, websites, presentations, reports, blogs and more. Fine tune your professionalwriting skills for the world of technical writing, editing, marketing, advertising, publishing, journalism and many other areas which require excellent writing skills.
Composition Studies: Students in our program gain practical experience in composition theory, research and pedagogy. In addition to a specialization in composition studies, students will take courses in linguistics, literature, and critical practices an have the flexibility to take electives like creative non-fiction. Students in our program are prepared for professional positions or to go on to graduate work in English or Education.
Noteworthy Courses, Summer II
L361: Nature in 19th-Century American Art and Literature (online): You are invited to explore nineteenth-century paintings alongside literary works that investigate the American landscape and influence our complex national narratives.
Noteworthy Courses, Fall '13
G301: History of the English Language (online): This course offers a historical study of the English language including Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Present Day English. The course will emphasize social, political, and other external historical events influencing language change, as well as the internal history of the language.
L352: American Literature 1865-1914 - The Problems of Progress: Forging a Postbellum National Identity: American literature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reflects a nation in flux, a nation redefining itself in the aftermath of the Civil War, in the face of fresh waves of immigration, and in the scoioeconomic changes brought about by a rapidly industrializing society. In this course, we will join Rebecca Harding Davis, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Mark Twain, Jack London, Willa Cather and other authors who depict and investigate the national questions of this period through their literary art.
L379: Perpetual U.S. Ethnicities: Beginnings & Renaissance of Native American and African American Literatures (online): How can the written experiences and literary art of African Americans and Native Americans help to understand and evaluate Americans’ varied attitudes toward race and ethnicity? Explore the experiences and creativity of major non-European people groups residing in the United States from its founding to the first literary “Renaissance” of these groups.
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Alisa Clapp-Itnyre, Professor of English
Dr. Alisa Clapp-Itnyre has established a reputation in the field of nineteenth-century British music-literature studies, and thus was honored to be invited to participate in a conference panel on music in British literature for the Ninth Biennial Conference on Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain to be held at Cardiff University 24-27 June 2013.
