English
Cultivate a passionate appreciation for literature and its cultural contexts. Embrace the power of language with skillful reading, writing, and speaking.
About the Program
Studying English at Mills will prepare you for a career in just about any field where critical thinking, imagination, and compelling communication are valued—including education, journalism, law, and publishing. It will also prepare you for graduate study in literature, creative writing, and many other disciplines. Your professors will help you chart an individualized academic path that meets your goals, beginning with your choice of a major or minor. English majors select from two emphases, literature or creative writing:
- Literature students choose from courses covering a wide array of periods and genres—from Greco-Roman myth to science fiction—and write a senior thesis based on research and analysis of a subject area they choose.
- Creative writing students may take workshops and craft courses in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, and more. They produce original poetry or prose for their senior project.
The English minor is also available in either literature or creative writing. View our program details for in-depth information on the major and minor options.
No matter which path you choose, your professors will include acclaimed novelists, poets, journalists, and literary scholars. In small, interactive classes, they’ll empower you to express your ideas boldly, experiment with creative techniques, and explore the intersections of literature and history.
Courses You Could Take
The Craft of the Young Adult Novel
Digital Storytelling
Poets of Color of the 20th & 21st Centuries
Jane Austen, The Critical Legacy
Race, Class, Wizardry: Harry Potter
Studies in Lesbian Writing