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English

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

Claire SeilerProfessor of English

Department coordinator

Kelly Winters-FazioSr Academic Department Coordinator

Phone

717-245-1347

Fax

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Location

3rd & 4th Floors East College Mailing Address

Department Features


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Study Abroad
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Current Courses

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

“I really loved taking Plague Years with Associate Professor of English Claire Seiler. Learning about the different types of literature, propaganda, films and advertisements produced in the influenza epidemic of 1918 and the midcentury polio crisis was incredibly interesting and introduced me to the fields of health humanities and disability/mobility studies, which are now part of my personal interests in the world of literature.”

— Lily Bibro ’24 


English Department News

All News Department News
Expert Show: Comic Books, Movies and Copyright Law

Expert Show: Comic Books, Movies and Copyright Law

Associate Professor of English and Film Studies Greg Steirer dives into his new book, 'Legal Stories: Narrative-Based Property Development in the Modern Copyright Era.'

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Epic Emily Dickinson Collection Comes to the College

Epic Emily Dickinson Collection Comes to the College

Archives & Special Collections is now home to an epic Emily Dickinson collection, with hundreds of tangible, evocative items that open windows to the poet's world and work.

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Humanists Play the Long Game

Humanists Play the Long Game

Read the complete remarks by now-retired Professor of English Wendy Moffat given at the Global Alumni Gathering in April in London.

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Internship Spotlight: Gwendolyn Teeling ’25

Internship Spotlight: Gwendolyn Teeling ’25

After interning at the Library of Congress last year, Gwendolyn Teeling ’25 dove into a social media and marketing internship at the San Francisco Historical Society.

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Finding Vibrant Community

Finding Vibrant Community

"I couldn't ask for a better learning community," says Kiersten Kahn ’26, an English and Africana studies major and student leader who’s found like-minded friends and mentors on campus.

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Sparking Conversations

Sparking Conversations

“I’ve gotten to meet artists, veterans, scientists and academics who have done great work in the world.” Ella Layton ’26 makes a mark as a Clarke Forum and Trout intern.

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