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English & Comparative Literature

Mission Statement

The mission of the English Department is to work within the mission of the University and the mission of the College of Humanities and the Arts to develop the reading and writing skills, the interpretive ability, and the cultural awareness of its students by maintaining and enhancing a tradition of strong teaching, good scholarship, and vigorous support of creative literary activity.

Department Goals

  1. Develop students' literary understanding, including their reading ability, critical thinking, interpretive skills and historical knowledge of literature and language.
  2. Deepen students' appreciation of diverse cultures and expand their view of the world through study of the written word.
  3. Develop students' rhetorical and creative skills: ability to think, speak, listen, and write effectively.
  4. Maintain a broad-based program of General Education courses at both the lower and upper division levels.
  5. Foster professional growth and development for the faculty.
  6. Recruit and retain a diverse student and faculty population.
  7. Develop and maintain excellent relations with and service to our wider Community, including alumni and emeritus faculty.

BA English

Student Learning Objectives - revised May 2008 (doc)

Student Learning Objectives - prior to May 2008 (doc)

MA English and Comparative Literature

  1. Students will demonstrate an appropriate level of expertise in literary history, literary theory, and rhetoric.
  2. Students will demonstrate high-level proficiency in literary research and in the synthesis of research.
  3. Students will demonstrate critical and analytical skills in the interpretation and evaluation of literary texts.
  4. Students will demonstrate a command of written academic English, including the abilities to a) organize and present material in a cogent fashion, b) formulate and defend original arguments, c) employ effectively the language of their discipline and d) write under time constraints.
  5. Students will demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language.
  6. Students preparing for teaching careers will receive the appropriate instruction.
  7. Students will be prepared for further graduate study.

Assessment Schedules 

 BA (doc)        MA (doc)        MFA Creative Writing (doc)

Assessment reports

Spring 2008

BA (doc) MA (doc) MFA (doc)

Fall 2007

BA fall 2007 (doc) MA fall 2007 (doc) fall 2007MFA (doc)

BA questionnaire 1 results fall 2007 (doc)     BAquestionnaire 2 results fall 2007 (doc)

Spring 2007

BA (doc) MA (doc)       MFA (doc)    

MFA grading rubric fall 2007 (doc)

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