Students in Dickinson's Department of English study a range of English-language texts, including novels, poems, plays, graphic narratives, films, television and other work.

Our curriculum is flexible and focused, allowing majors to follow their own interests through diverse course offerings that address core questions (of author and audience; culture, nation and identity; form, medium and materiality; and history, period and influence).

Classes deepen the skills that help students to engage in critical conversations with authority and purpose. This culminates in an independently chosen senior thesis project—and then, a life beyond Dickinson in which English majors continue to show how reading, writing and thinking are vital to understanding and shaping our world.  

Contact Info

Chair

Greg SteirerAssociate Professor of English and Film Studies

Department coordinator

Kelly Winters-FazioSr Academic Department Coordinator

Phone

717-245-1347

Fax

---

Location

3rd & 4th Floors East College Mailing Address

Department Features



Student Outcomes

Where Graduates Go From Here

Jobs

  • Vanity Fair
  • Penguin Random House
  • FTI Consulting
  • Gartner
  • MLB Network
  • Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
  • National Theater Institute
  • Urban Teachers (AmeriCorps)

Graduate Schools

  • University of Pennsylvania Law School
  • Princeton University Graduate School
  • The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University
  • Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Columbia University
Where Students Have Interned
  • NPR
  • Christie’s
  • Rodale Inc.
  • WriteGirl Los Angeles
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • NBC/Universal
  • Penguin Group
  • WHDH Boston

Student Perspective

“With the time, space and resources to conduct long-term research, I had the freedom to be creative about my writing process. I was able to put texts together that have never been analyzed next to each other, and I experimented with different approaches to my writing process. All of this freedom gave rise to work that I’m still proud of, years later.”

- Alejandro Heredia ’16


English Department News

English Grad Returns to Campus to Discuss Editing Career

English Grad Returns to Campus to Discuss Editing Career

The English department recently welcomed Sarah Blumenstock ’12 back to campus to present the 2023 Cogan Alumni Fellowship Talk.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Brings Down the House

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Brings Down the House

The first in-person Stellfox residency in three years was also among the most sparkling. Learn about U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón's triumphant visit to campus—and the powerful story that inspired it.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón to Present Reading and Book Signing at Dickinson College

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón to Present Reading and Book Signing at Dickinson College

Ada Limón will receive Dickinson's Stellfox Visiting Scholars & Writers Program Award.

Humanities Professors Seize ‘Urgent Moment’ With $350,000 Mellon Grant

Humanities Professors Seize ‘Urgent Moment’ With $350,000 Mellon Grant

Two Dickinson professors earn a $350,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to reimagine the study of disability and equity across the curriculum.

Graduate Story: Jenna Clark Embrey ’08, Lincoln Center Theater

Graduate Story: Jenna Clark Embrey ’08, Lincoln Center Theater

Myriad roles in Dickinson's theatre program paved the way for a career behind the scenes at one of the most prestigious theatres in the world.

Poet Ada Limón Named Dickinson

Poet Ada Limón Named Dickinson's 2023 Stellfox Scholar

The current U.S. Poet Laureate will serve a campus residency in February 2023, giving a public lecture and meeting with students.