Together with the visual arts and music, literature has for millennia provided humanity with the means to depict, reflect on, and understand our existence, from the most personal details of daily life to grand philosophical or religious efforts to comprehend the world as a whole. The literary arts are essential to what it means to be human; their study necessarily plays a central role in the modern university. Our programs specifically focus on how literature in English has developed through the centuries, all over the world, and in a rich variety of different forms and modes, from oral recitations to digital media.
Our degree programs and courses introduce students to the full range of literary genres and traditions in English, from eleventh-century elegies written in Old English to contemporary postcolonial novels. Courses may focus on the development of particular forms (e.g., the lyrical poem), a particular period (e.g., the Victorian age), or a particular author (Shakespeare, for instance, or Jane Austen). Students receive in-depth training in critical reading and writing skills. Perceptive and attentive reading and clear and persuasive writing are key to the craft of literary criticism, and our programs are designed to make students better critics; but these skills are equally crucial in all areas of research, business, and professional activity, and are therefore of lasting value both within and beyond the university.