The Department of English endeavors to provide students with the intellectual skills that lead to:

• excellent written and verbal communication skills,
• an awareness of and respect for diverse ideas and viewpoints,
• the ability to analyze and understand complex ideas and texts,
• experience in inventing drafting, editing, and publishing both printed and electronic texts,
• a knowledge of the history of spoken language, written literature, rhetoric, and communication technology,
• the ability to collaborate on complex research and writing tasks.

One of our graduates’ most valuable skills is the ability to understand and analyze complexity and ambiguity. Having developed an aptitude to devise innovative solutions to challenging problems, our undergraduates have pursued advanced degrees in literature, law, medicine, teaching, and administration. Others students generate careers for themselves in any number of fields including business, banking, advertising, public relations, and technical/professional writing.

Our graduate students go on to pursue similar careers, but their advanced degrees give them additional opportunities for professional recognition and advancement. Our Master’s students have been successful in their in pursuit of the Ph.D., as well as positions in professional writing, teaching, and administration. Please see the UNC Charlotte Graduate Catalog for details on graduate programs.

Awards

The Department gives awards each spring (usually to Senior English majors). These include: the Margaret Bryan Award for excellence in scholarship; the Gray’s Creative Writing Awards; the Julian Mason Award for excellence in the study of Southern literature; the Glenn Burne award for excellence in Children’s Literature Scholarship; the Garland Keever Memorial Award for humorous writing; the Kay Horne Public Service Award; The Blair Rudes Award for Excellence in Linguistics; and the Robert M. Wallace Award for excellence in the study of English. The Department also sponsors the Loch Walker Writing Competition annually.

Writing Assistance

The Writing Resources Center and The Writing Project are available to students who want to become more effective writers, as well as to those studying to be K-12 writing teachers, respectively. For more information, please see the University Writing Programs  listing in the Student Life, Resources, and Services section of this Catalog.

Programs

• English, B.A.
• English, Creative Writing Concentration, B.A.
• English, Language and Digital Technology Concentration, B.A.
• English, Literature and Culture Concentration, B.A.
• English, Pedagogy Concentration, B.A.

• Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies, Minor
• Diverse Literatures and Cultural Studies, Minor
• English, Minor
• Linguistics, Minor
• Technical/Professional Writing, Minor