The Whittier College Department of English maintains a deep commitment to interdisciplinary and historical approaches to literary study.

Courses in language, in various forms of writing, and in literary, textual, and cultural analysis, develop the ability to make sense out of both ourselves and the world around us, to analyze experience and data, to express the results of our analysis clearly and effectively, and to take greater pleasure in the experience of life itself. The study, creation, and appreciation of language and literature are thus a significant part of the lives of all liberally-educated people and the life of the community.

Our Department offers a major and minor in English, as well as a major in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Courses and preceptorship opportunities?for those students who intend to go into school teaching or who intend to pursue an advanced degree in English?contribute broadly both to personal enrichment in the liberal arts tradition and to professional development in a variety of fields.