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  • 20 Average class size for English majors
  • 25 Courses for majors per semester
  • 20 Graduate seminars per semester

Our Mission

The Department of English creates and teaches knowledge about literature, poetics, writing, media, language and cultures in the English-speaking world. The Department serves constituents both inside and outside the university — including interdisciplinary programs, service-learning projects and the discipline at large — and prepares students for careers inside and outside of academia. We believe that the analytical study of our sub-disciplines helps develop logical thought, awareness of the complexity of texts and of value judgments, apprehension of others’ points of view, and imagination. English studies can expand creative, communicative and cognitive capacities; can sharpen the ability to make difficult judgments; and can help us understand societies, times and cultures different from our own.

 

What We Care About

  • Human connection: community and communication
  • Finding meaning(s) in life
  • Making a difference in the world
  • Active, participatory learning
  • Textual production, creation and expression
  • Artifacts of language: books, media, writing, comics, talk
  • The arts of persuasion
  • The pleasures of analysis
  • The ways language structures the world and the self
  • Examining society through scholarship and fostering inclusion
  • The history and future of English(es)
  • The interdependency of form and content

 

 

Upcoming Events

Kathy Fagan and Maggie Smith with the cover of Fagan's book "The Unbecoming" in the middle.
Thu, September 24, 2026
Event Start Time: 7:00 pm
Event Location: Gramercy Books (2424 East Main Street, Columbus, OH 43209)
Advertisement for Michelle Herman's book launch of "All the Time in the World"
Sat, September 26, 2026
Event Start Time: 1:00 pm
Event Location: Cover to Cover, 2116 Arlington Ave, Upper Arlington, OH 43221
Spirited Away cover photo
Wed, September 30, 2026
Event Start Time: 7:00 pm
Event Location: 180 Hagerty Hall
Assorted snacks such as chips and pretzels.
Thu, October 1, 2026
Event Start Time: 12:00 pm
Event Location: 407 Denney Hall

Recent News

A decorative font displays "Welcome New English Hires."

Welcome New Hires ’26-’27

By Hannah Millikan

As the Autumn 2026 semester begins, the Department of English would like to introduce our newest hires.

Tenure Track Faculty

Ben Markey is an assistant professor who…

Students studying in library

Recent and Upcoming Releases from our MFA Program

The Department of English is incredibly proud of these recent and forthcoming works from our MFA students, faculty, and alumni! From reflections on parenthood to a poetic reimagining of

Within a scarlet border, the message "we're hiring" is repeated three times in block letters

Undergrads: come work for English!

The Department of English is seeking undergraduate student workers to join three teams: Front Desk/Department Ambassadors, Communications and the Digital Media Project. While we typically only…

A scene from the The Faithful Shepherdess

Et tu, Brutus? Theatre group provides artmaking outlet to a multitude of majors across the university

Reporting by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Few writers stir such mixed emotions as Shakespeare. His devoted fans — often called Bardolaters — speak passionately about their…

People Directory

MFA in Creative Writing Student
Associate Professor