Undergraduate

Undergraduate

Guide for Concentrators

Concentration Requirements

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Declare English

Declare English

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Creative Writing

Creative Writing

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Welcome from the Director of Undergraduate Studies

daniel donoghueWhat makes the English Department such a welcoming home? It’s the people. As a concentrator you’ll find a supportive community energized by a shared dedication to English-langauge literature produced over the past 1200 years. Whether it is a playwright leading a creative writing workshop, or a professor analyzing how a passage upends a reader’s expectations, or a graduate student leading a section that flows as an engrossing conversation, or the administrative staff guiding you through the steps to graduation, or a fellow concentrator joining you to hear an invited speaker, the people of the English Department make all the difference. In our courses you will read and discuss and write about a vast array of literature: graphic novels, medieval romance, slave narratives, contemporary poets, Victorian novels, Elizabethan plays, Nigerian writers, and other kinds of English writing too varied to summarize. We also sponsor departmental events targeted for undergrads, such as last year’s Q&A with Zadie Smith.

As an English concentrator you will sharpen your skills as a critical reader, deepen your capacity for empathy, and plunge into the complex moral choices that literature allows us vicariously to explore. Our discussions will enhance the pleasure that comes from immersing yourself in the beauty of a well-fashioned work of verbal art. You have the opportunity to nurture your own creative writing. Together these skills prepare you for any walk of life, no matter what you pursue after graduation. We’re proud of our alums, whether they go on to medical school, public service, secondary-school education, scriptwriting, or any of dozens of career paths.

As you complete the departmental requirements, let me urge you to use electives to explore unfamiliar topics, authors, and historical periods. Don’t be content with what you already know. Your concentration advising sessions offer excellent occasions to brainstorm about different avenues opened up by our curriculum.

The people of the English department invite you to find your college home, where you read and discuss and create with us.We are here for you if you want to do a deep dive with your favorite author; but we also hope to introduce you to new authors and forms of expression. And you don’t have to apply to be an English concentrator to take our classes. Please come meet our teachers, read and write with us, and discover what you like.

- Professor Daniel Donoghue

Undergraduate Calendar

A Student's Perspective

Program Administration

sam marks

Sam Marks

Senior Lecturer on Playwriting
(On leave Spring 2024)

Education: B.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts
M.F.A., Brown University

Sam Marks, playwright: World Premieres include THE...

Read more about Sam Marks
Office: Lamont Library 410
p: 617-495-8959
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:30-12 and appointment
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