Major: English
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 180.0
Co-op Options: Three Co-op (Five years); One Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 23.0101
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 25-1123
About the Program
Students with a Bachelor of Arts in English move between literature, creative writing and practical publication as they prepare to master the literary and creative world of the future. The English curriculum focuses on three areas:
- A rich Academic Core grounded in disciplinary expertise that promotes literary exploration, sophisticated textual literacy, excellent writing, and other transferable skills;
- Applied Learning opportunities using skills in research, interpretation, analysis, and writing to solve real-world problems;
- Opportunities for Civic Engagement, connecting with community partners to promote social justice and the common good.
Our flexible curriculum offers four concentrations:
We study British, American, and World literatures, stressing the cultural, historical, and political contexts that shape literary production. Courses in creative and professional writing are reinforced by opportunities for hands-on experience in writing, editing, and publishing.
The Department of English and Philosophy offers an intellectually stimulating learning experience that embraces opportunities in Philadelphia, in our region, and across the world. Our dedicated and award-winning faculty enable creativity and rigor within a supportive environment.
Students develop solid techniques in critical inquiry as well as in writing, literary analysis, and research skills. We engage issues critical to success in the twenty-first century: the connection between oral, written, and digital modes; analytical, ethical, and critical thinking; the relevance and relation of the past to the present; the relations between and among cultures; the role of literary and philosophical texts in our attempts to explain human motives and behavior; issues of personal and communal identity; and the connection of the literary arts to social change.
For more information about this program, please visit the Department of English & Philosophy web page.
Co-op/Career Opportunities
English majors pursue a range of professions. Many go on to law school or graduate studies. Others build careers in business, politics and government, education, digital and popular media, publishing, and communications. The critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills provided by our program are essential for high-level decision-making and problem solving in any professional situation.
At Drexel, English majors gain valuable work experience through co-op employment and internship opportunities. They work as writers, analysts, and researchers at major corporations, Philadelphia-area museums, city government and visitors’ bureaus, television and radio stations, law firms, and nonprofit organizations.
Our students have worked with a number of publications and companies including Marie Claire, Philadelphia Magazine and the Philadelphia Tourist Bureau.
Visit the Drexel Steinbright Career Development Center for more detailed information on co-op and post-graduate opportunities.
English Faculty
Jan Armon, PhD (University of Michigan). Associate Teaching Professor. Academic functions of personal writing, composition.
Kenneth Bingham, MA (Temple University). Teaching Professor. First-year writing; engineering ethics; literature of baseball.
Raymond Brebach, PhD (University of Illinois). Associate Professor. Modern British fiction; the novel; textual studies.
André Carrington, PhD (New York University). Assistant Professor. Cultural politics of race, gender and genre; feminism criticism; critical race theory.
Paula Marantz Cohen, PhD (Columbia University) Distinguished Professor, Dean of the Pennoni Honors College. Co-editor, <em>Journal of Modern Literature;</em> Host of the <em>Drexel Interview.</em> Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century English and American literature; film studies.
Albert DiBartolomeo, MA (Temple University). Teaching Professor. Co-Director, Drexel Publishing Group; Creative writing; first-year writing; non-fiction.
Dan Driscoll, MA (Temple University). Associate Teaching Professor. Associate Director, University Writing Center: Curricular Initiatives. Co-Director, Minor in Writing. First-year writing.
Anne Erickson, PhD (Purdue University). Assistant Teaching Professor. Online educational applications; the short story cycle.
Lisa Farley, MEd (Temple University). Associate Teaching Professor. English as a Second Language (ESL).
Robert Finegan, MFA (University of Pittsburgh). Associate Teaching Professor. First-year writing; technical and creative writing.
Alexis Finger, MS (Queens College, CUNY). Associate Teaching Professor. Speech; ESL; oral communication.
Valerie Fox, PhD (SUNY at Binghamton). Teaching Professor. Founding Editor, <em>Press 1.</em> Twentieth century drama; modern and contemporary American poetry; first-year writing.
Edward Fristrom, PhD (State University of New York-Albany). Associate Teaching Professor. Professional writing, creative writing, multimedia, and writing education.
Keunah Han, PhD (Temple University). Assistant Teaching Professor. English as a Second Language (ESL)
Gabriella Ibieta, PhD (City University of New York). Associate Professor. Comparative literature; Cuban and Latin American fiction.
Henry Israeli, MFA (University of Iowa) Associate Director, Certificate in Writing and Publishing. Associate Teaching Professor. Founder and editor of <i>Saturnalia Books</i>, a publisher of contemporary poetry.
Miriam Kotzin, PhD (New York University). Professor. Founding Editor, <em>Per Contra.</em> American literature; genre studies; creative writing; communications.
Stephen Mandell, PhD (Temple University). Professor. First-year writing; technical writing; speech; American literature.
Deirdre McMahon, PhD (University of Iowa). Associate Teaching Professor. 19th-century British literature and culture: empire, critical race studies and analyses of material culture.
Marianallet Mendez-Rivera, PhD (University of Minnesota). Assistant Teaching Professor. Use of the mass media to secure, maintain and enhance political power; international technical communication—including issues of translation v. localization.
Harriet Levin Millan, MFA (University of Iowa) Director, Certificate in Writing and Publishing. Associate Teaching Professor. Poetry.
Jill Moses, MFA (University of Oregon). Assistant Teaching Professor. Dramatic literature; first-year writing.
Christopher T. Nielson, PhD (Purdue University) Assistant Department Head; Director, Programs in English. Teaching Professor. Shakespeare; Renaissance drama and literature; dramatic literature; first-year writing.
Karen Nulton, PhD (Rutgers University) Director, Writing Assessment. Associate Teaching Professor. Writing assessment, writing pedagogy, and writing across the curriculum.
Margene Peterson, MA (Rhode Island School of Design). Instructor. English as a Second Language (ESL); the learning styles and strategies of non-native speakers of English.
Abioseh Porter, PhD (University of Alberta, Canada). Professor. Comparative literature; postcolonial literatures; Editor, <em>JALA, Journal of the African Literature Association</em>.
Donald Riggs, PhD (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill). Teaching Professor. Cinematic monsters; science fiction and fantasy literature and film; Renaissance literature; creative writing; first-year writing.
Donna Rondolone, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Associate Teaching Professor. Medieval literature; Arthurian legend; first-year writing.
Gail Rosen, JD (Temple University). Associate Teaching Professor. Literature and law; first-year writing.
Doreen Alvarez Saar, PhD (SUNY Buffalo) American Literature Editor, Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. Professor. Early American literature; Eighteenth-century America; race and gender studies.
Sheila Sandapen, PhD (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Teaching Professor. First-year writing; cultural studies; women's studies; history and film.
Fred A. Siegel, PhD (New York University) Director, First-Year Writing Program. Teaching Professor. Popular theater; dramatic literature, creative non-fiction; first-year writing.
Scott Stein, MFA (University of Miami). Teaching Professor. Creative writing; first-year writing; Founding Editor, <em>When Falls the Coliseum: A Journal of American Culture (Or Lack Thereof).</em>
Elizabeth Thorpe, MFA (Goddard College). Assistant Teaching Professor. New England literature, illness/healing narratives, and the creative process.
Eva Thury, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Associate Professor. Mythology; classical literature; drama; first-year writing; desktop publishing and software documentation.
Kathleen Volk Miller, MA (Rutgers University) Director, Graduate Program in Publishing; Co-Director, Drexel Publishing Group. Teaching Professor. Co-Editor, <em>Painted Bride Quarterly (PBQ)</em>; creative writing; first-year writing.
Maria Volynsky, EdD (Temple University) Associate Director, First-Year Writing Program; ESL Coordinator. Assistant Teaching Professor. English as a Second Language (ESL).
Scott Warnock, PhD (Temple University) Director, Drexel Writing Center; Director, University Writing Program. Associate Professor. Rhetoric and composition; medical writing; information technology and literacy.
Robert A. Watts, MA (Temple University). Associate Teaching Professor. Creative writing; first-year writing.
Rachel Wenrick, MFA (Columbia University) Associate Director, University Writing Program: Strategic Initiatives; Co-Director, Minor in Writing. Associate Teaching Professor. First-year writing.
Vincent Williams, PhD (Temple University). Assistant Teaching Professor. First-year writing; the intersection of race, gender, class and urbanism.
Jennifer Yusin, PhD (Emory University). Associate Professor. Postcolonial literature; trauma theory; literary theory; psychoanalysis, and memory studies in contemporary literature in English.
Emeritus Faculty
Richard Astro, PhD (University of Washington) Distinguished Professor. Provost Emeritus. Twentieth-century American literature; literature and sports.
