The course of study of literature, language, rhetoric, and creative writing fosters the development of critical thinking, skilled communication, appreciation of cultural contexts, informed citizenship, and knowledge of the various literary texts representing human thought and inquiry through the centuries.

The mission of the English department is:

• To help students improve the ability to read intelligently and to write with precision, fluency, and grace.
• To enable students to evaluate literature of the United States and beyond, with an appreciation of the diversity represented throughout the world of letters.
• To provide students with a broad historical view of literature, as well as an intensive knowledge of selected periods, genres, and writers.
• To assist students in furthering the knowledge of the structure and history of language, and to acquaint them with the theories of language held by major schools of linguistic thought.
• To enable students to evaluate texts not only as readers, but also as writers, and to seek innovative methods for expressing their own observations.