Undergraduate Studies in English
Where language unlocks the world
Welcome to the CSU Department of English! We invite you to join us in exploring how language and storytelling connect people, transform the places we live, and deepen our understanding of what it means to be human right now.
Our classes are filled with students studying literature across centuries, crafting original poems and stories, engaging with rhetorical theory, examining texts and the ethics of teaching them, and reflecting on the many ways language shapes our lives and communities.
Here, you’ll find a vibrant and supportive environment—classrooms rooted in compassion, conversations that matter, and professors and peers who care.
B.A. in English
In our undergraduate program, students learn how to write with purpose for a variety of audiences and develop nuanced cultural understanding by exploring texts from a wide range of global perspectives and historical contexts. You’ll learn how to read with vision and care—fusing analysis and imagination—and be able to identify the complex interactions of ethics, power, and justice embedded in the ways we use language.
English majors can choose from six concentrations, allowing you to focus and specialize according to your interests and future goals: Creative Writing, English Education, Integrated English Studies, Linguistics, Literature, and Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy.
Why Study English?
Study what you love and find your place
The Department of English at CSU is a comprehensive English Studies department and home to poets and linguists, literacy researchers and teacher educators, novelists and literary scholars, composition specialists, and writers of creative nonfiction.
By applying critical literacy, interdisciplinary thinking, and culturally informed interpretative skills, we study how people use the English language and its literatures to process and document the human experience. Through inquiry, imagination, and the development of insight, our students and faculty collaborate across the disciplines of English to expand their vision and help make a difference in the world.
As an English major, you’ll have limitless opportunities to pursue your curiosity across our fields of study, cultivate critical thinking and creativity, and make lifelong connections in beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado.
Our students become actively involved in what they find meaningful. From getting outdoors and seeing the world to joining student-run clubs and using your voice for change on campus, you can discover what you love and go after it.
Get a glimpse inside our caring community and culture
Careers
Build a fulfilling career and cultivate a meaningful life
An English degree trains you to really see the world—to notice nuance, understand others, and make sense of the stories that shape us. These habits of attention build lifelong empathy and curiosity, while leading to versatile careers that value critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and strong communication skills. English alumni develop careers across 20+ industry paths, including marketing and public relations, communication and media, education, publishing, technology, nonprofits and advocacy, management, and more.
Other Opportunities
Minors
With a minor, you can focus on an area of interest that complements your major while enhancing your knowledge and skills. We offer three departmental minors: English, Creative Writing, and an Interdisciplinary Minor in Linguistics & Culture.
Accelerated Master’s Option
Earn your B.A. + M.A.
The Accelerated Master’s Program in English provides a pathway for high-achieving English majors and minors to get a head-start on earning their master’s degree while completing their B.A. Our AMP program specializations include English Education, Literature, TEFL/TESL, and Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Change.
University Composition Program
A dynamic part of the Department of English, the University Composition Program fosters the intellectual work of writing by teaching students to develop and deepen their written communication practices and to value writing and rhetoric as vital tools for global engagement. Our courses fulfill the All-University Core Curriculum (AUCC) requirements, prepare students to write, research, and design documents across audiences, genres, and contexts.
Facilities
Centrally located on campus, Willard O. Eddy Hall is the English department’s home base. This is where you’ll find many of our classrooms, the University Writing Center, faculty and staff offices, a computer lab, and several lounge areas just off the main hallways where students gather before and after classes—known affectionately as eddies. Our main office is located on the third floor in Eddy 359. Come say hi!
Next Steps
Are you interested in joining our community?