Through courses, programs and activities, you’ll be encouraged to cultivate original, creative, and analytical voices. You’ll become an active participant in a learning community involved in intellectual and artistic practice through a wide range of regular on- and off-campus special events, student readings, visits from authors, and literary conferences.
Major and Minor Offered
- English—Literary Studies Concentration (BA major, minor)
- English—Creative Writing Concentration (BA major, minor)
Why Study English at Principia College?
- Our faculty is committed to uplifting and healing humanity through the inventive practice of empathetic, critical, transformative reading and writing with independence of thought.
- We make teaching and supporting students our top priority, encouraging students to understand that the capacity to think, speak, and write with clarity, invention, and empathy will enable them to make useful contributions—beyond disciplinary boundaries—in the shifting contexts of a contemporary world.
- The ability to write well is a fundamental professional skill, and we are deeply committed to supporting students’ progress toward graduate study and professional work in the field.
- We maintain a deep commitment to a sense of community, exchange of ideas, and mutual support for both students and faculty.
- The English Department has played an important role in four Principia abroad programs. The England and Ireland abroad programs are led in collaboration with the Theatre Department. On the England Abroad, students explore the arts of acting, theatre reviewing, research, and literary criticism, using Shakespeare as the central case study. On the Ireland Abroad, students combine creative writing with devised theatre practices to create original theatre pieces. The Prague Abroad emphasizes connections between creativity, critical thought, and responsible citizenship though creative writing, studio art, and the study of modernist and contemporary Czech literature and visual art. The Lake District Abroad (in England) looks at the question "What is Natural?" through the lenses of Conservation and Environmental Literature. (Abroad programs are chosen by the Abroad Office based on broad institutional needs.)
- Students attend and present papers at literary conferences and publish poetry and short stories. They also edit the online journal Mistake House.
- Students intern in the U.S. and abroad at The Wordsworth Trust in England, The Christian Science Monitor, and a variety of educational organizations.
- Through involvement in the student-run club Friends of English (FOE), students organize readings by visiting writers and scholars, plan social activities for majors, and coordinate field trips to readings, cultural events, and conferences.
Abroads
Principia abroad programs are open to all majors, and students are encouraged to apply for any abroad program that interests them. All abroads involve individual research that students can tailor to their interests. The Abroads described above are especially popular with English majors and minors.
Note: See the College Catalog for more detailed information about our program and departmental learning outcomes.
