English is a liberal arts program of study that nearly all universities and colleges offer. Majoring in English can provide you with many transferable skills to prepare you for employment in a field that interests you. Various specializations related to a major in English may be offered by colleges and universities. These specializations may be of greater or lesser interest to you.
The study of English has evolved over the years but has never ceased to be important in many professional settings. The roles that English students play in the workforce after graduation are exciting and varied. In addition to developing traditional skills, such as exploring literary masterworks and learning to critique literature, English majors have opportunities to become talented writers with communication skills that can benefit nearly every industry.
Studying English can prepare you for jobs in various fields including teaching, journalism, public relations, nonprofits, medicine, law, publishing, finance, tech and entertainment.
In this article, we will introduce top 5 best universities for english majors in America
Columbia University
Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754. It is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States. Columbia is organized into twenty schools, including four undergraduate schools and 16 graduate schools.
The English bachelor’s degree program at Columbia College Chicago weaves your imagination and love of reading with the writing and communication skills that lead to success in the workplace.
English majors at Columbia College work in a variety of industries and settings. You’ll be prepared to develop written content for advertisements, books, magazines, journalism, blogs and other forms of media. Students are also prepared for graduate-level studies in English.
Work for companies that rely on communication for marketing and public relations. Work in a non-profit setting to help charities convey their needs and services. Or work for governments and agencies that need to convey important messages to their constituents. Some English majors also provide services through freelance work or become independent writers.
An English degree from Columbia University provides a foundation for a variety of careers. You’ll develop strong communication and critical thinking skills grounded in a liberal arts education that offers a basis for understanding the human experience. English majors learn to analyze and critique literature, write critical arguments, conduct literary research and identify the cultural contexts of diverse works.
Brown University
Brown University is a private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island. It is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764. It was the first college in the United States to codify in its charter that admission and instruction of students was to be equal regardless of their religious affiliation.
The university comprises the College, the Graduate School, Alpert Medical School, the School of Engineering, the School of Public Health and the School of Professional Studies. Its international programs are organized through the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and it is academically affiliated with the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Rhode Island School of Design; with the latter, it offers undergraduate and graduate dual degree programs.
The English Department fosters the study of British, American, and Anglophone literature—old and new—in ways that are both intensive and open. We study how English literature works, how we understand and appreciate it, and how we write about it. We offer a wide array of courses in poetry, drama, fiction, creative nonfiction, film, digital media, and theory. All our courses emphasize the development of student skills in writing, textual analysis, and argument. The department’s faculty members are deeply committed to undergraduate teaching and advising. You will find considerable diversity in our critical methods, including cross-disciplinary approaches that relate the study of literature to history, politics, science, as well as to other art forms. We encourage students in our classes likewise to forge their own new ways of understanding literature and culture.
One of the largest humanities concentrations at Brown, English provides a strong foundation for a liberal education and for employment in many sectors. In addition to authorship, scholarship, and teaching, these include: journalism, publishing, advertising, visual media, consulting, public relations, public service, finance, government, corporate research, and administration. Our English concentrators routinely go on to law, medical, and professional schools as well as to graduate education in literature and the arts.
Stanford University
Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, California. It was founded in 1885. The university admitted its first students on October 1, 1891, as a coeducational and non-denominational institution.
The university is organized around seven schools on the same campus: three schools consisting of 45 academic departments at the undergraduate level as well as four professional schools that focus on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business. The university also houses the public policy think tank, the Hoover Institution.
The English Department’s required core courses introduce you to a body of knowledge and fundamental skills that are essential for you to master if you are to flourish as a reader, writer, and critic. After taking a basic set of courses with your classmates, you should find yourself able to reflect in common with them on the enterprise of interpretation and expression, even as you pursue your particular interests and passions through elective course work.
The English major offers a number of emphases, which help you to focus your literary study in a particular area, whether you’re seeking to learn the art of creative writing, or to understand the philosophical power of literature. Your chosen emphasis will help you to select a group of electives or cross-listed courses in other departments that give a coherent shape to your interests.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
The university is composed of ten academic faculties plus Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers study in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate academic disciplines. Harvard has three main campuses: the 209-acre (85 ha) Cambridge campus centered on Harvard Yard; an adjoining campus immediately across Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston; and the medical campus in Boston's Longwood Medical Area.
The vital presence of creative writing in the English Department is reflected by our many distinguished authors who teach our workshops. We offer courses each term in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, and television writing.
The graduate program in English provides you with a broad knowledge in the discipline, including critical and cultural theory and literary history. This solid foundation enables you to choose your own path based on the wide variety of areas of concentration.
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University.
English majors must take a total of 10 courses: one course in literary and cultural history (LCH), the junior seminar (JRS), and eight departmental courses. Courses in literary and cultural history ask questions about tradition and transmission over longer periods, and provide background for more specialized study. The junior seminar is a topical introduction to research methods in the discipline, and prepares students for their independent work. Of the remaining eight required courses, five must meet distribution requirements, and three more may be any ENG or ENG cross-listed courses.
All courses in English follow the department’s grading standards. While all courses at the university may be taken P/D/F, including English courses, the English department has returned to the default policy of requiring that courses to be counted as departmentals (i.e., toward the requirements of the major in English) must be taken for a letter grade (not P/D/F).
The English department has many majors with strong interests in creative writing and theater, and offers special programs for students pursuing certificates in those closely related subjects.
- Creative Writing: students accepted to the creative writing (CWR) certificate program may cognate two CWR courses as departmental courses in English, and may substitute a thesis in CWR for the thesis in English. Final admission depends on the permission of the Program in Creative Writing to write a creative thesis in the spring of junior year. Students not approved to write a creative thesis may cognate one course in CWR.
- Theater: students accepted to the Program in Theater (THR) certificate program may cognate two THR courses as departmental courses in English.
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