Through an exciting array of courses in literature, writing, linguistics, and cultural studies, English majors develop skills, perspectives, and knowledge for a lifetime. The English curriculum at Marquette prepares undergraduates for many career paths in a wide range of fields. Some recent graduates have gone directly to work as writers, editors, legal assistants, teachers, and professionals within the business and nonprofit sectors; others have pursued advanced degrees in fields such as law, literature, library and information studies, and academic administration.

With three distinct concentrations to choose from, English is an ideal choice for students with many interests and a desire to gain broadly applicable, widely transferable skills in writing, textual analysis, and critical thinking while cultivating a deeper understanding of the ways literature and language work.

The Literature Concentration studies major periods, authors and literatures written in English with an emphasis on literary-historical and cultural analyses.

The Writing-Intensive English Concentration studies both literature and writing with emphasis on rhetoric and composition, creative writing, and/or workplace writing.

The English Language Arts Concentration studies literature, language and writing to prepare for a teaching career at the primary or secondary level. This major is designed for students whose primary major is Education.

Rub shoulders.

The Marquette English Department has hosted major writers — Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz, two-time Oprah Book Club veteran Jane Hamilton, Elizabeth Berg, Michael Perry, Benjamin Percy, Lan Samantha Chang, David Haynes and Charles Baxter, to name a very few.

Learn from the best.

As an English major, you will enter the classrooms of faculty known not only for their teaching talent, but also for their scholarly research and publication in interdisciplinary areas such as cultural studies, environmental studies, women’s and gender studies, literatures of diverse cultures, popular culture and childhood studies, as well as in periods extending from medieval and Renaissance literatures, Romanticism and modernism to postmodernism and twenty-first century literature. Two faculty members are award-winning novelists, and one is an acclaimed poet. And not to brag, but Marquette's Archives hold the most comprehensive collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's manuscripts in the world! So, join the Fellowship and study English at Marquette. 

The cure for writer's block.

Need to get your paper just right — or merely started? Schedule an appointment with the Ott Memorial Writing Center, staffed by English professors and graduate students who assist students with every step of the writing process. Trained undergraduate tutors can also help.

Discover the practicality of English.

The English Department offers many opportunities for enrichment, service, mentoring and community beyond the classroom, including writing internships, faculty and alumni mentoring, Sigma Tau Delta (the English honor society), the Marquette Literary Review for creative writers, MASA-NCTE (the intercollegiate Milwaukee chapter of the National Council of Teachers of English) for future educators, an active alumni/ae group (FAME) and an ongoing program of social and cultural events.

Some of the classes you'll take:

  • Creative Writing
  • Global Hip Hop 
  • Jane Austen
  • Law and Literature
  • Literature and Medicine
  • Native American Literature
  • Shakespeare
  • Tolkien
  • Writing for the Health Professions 
  • And many, many more!

For a complete listing of required courses for the program in English, please visit the Marquette University Online Bulletin at this link.