The English Department is committed to improving our students' writing, reading, analysis, and communication skills, with the larger goal of fostering human, social, cultural, and global understanding. Such understanding is made possible through the shared experience of language, identification, empathy, and beauty available in literary expression.  In our major programs and our general education program, we seek to enhance our students' abilities to use language effectively and creatively so that they may reach their full potential both personally and professionally. Our graduate and undergraduate programs provide professional development for students seeking careers as writers, scholars, and educators, and they prepare students for a variety of careers requiring expertise with language, creative expression, and analytical skills. We are committed, as well, to disciplinary, community, and professional enhancement. As part of a regional education center, we provide classes and sponsor literary, artistic, and cultural events that feature our faculty and guest lecturers and artists. Within a friendly, supportive atmosphere, we strive for excellence in our teaching, our curriculum, our professional and artistic productivity, and our professional service work both inside and outside the university.