About
The English Department serves all students at the university through extensive general education offerings designed to improve writing skills, expand liberal learning, and focus critical and analytic thinking.
In addition, its three-track major supports the university’s areas of emphasis in teacher education (English-Secondary Education Concentration), public and private sector development and service (Writing Track), and liberal education (Literature Track). The department’s graduate program in Professional Writing, unique in Maryland and paralleled by only six other programs nationwide, graduates expert writers who meet the needs of government, social, and commercial organizations which rely on expert and efficient writing.
Teacher-scholars of the department pursue not only scholarship in literature but also in new pedagogies for teaching and in evaluating and improving writing. In addition, the faculty plays key roles in shaping and sustaining university programs in Women’s Studies, American Studies, Afro-American Studies, Multicultural Studies, English Education, Law and American Civilizations, Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and the M.A. in Humanities. It also actively serves the needs of the region, the state, and the nation through consultations, contracted research and instruction, conferences, publications, and presentations concerning writing improvement and educational reform.