The English Department at Case Western Reserve promotes intellectual curiosity, analytical inquiry, and creative thinking about the rich variety of fields in our discipline. Building on the passion our students bring to the literary arts, the Department’s faculty encourages the formation of new knowledge through careful examination of both real and imagined worlds.

Our seminars and research explore the craft of poetry, Shakespearean drama, science fictional blueprints for new technologies, the techniques of horror films, the rhetoric of medicine, and the dynamics of novels, plays, short stories and creative non-fiction. Evidence suggests that students wishing to work in one of the fields in our discipline — literature, creative writing, film, journalism, and rhetoric — need not sacrifice passion for practicality.

In addition to serving as a standalone major, English complements majors in other disciplines and serves as excellent preparation for law school, medical school, and business school. There is no better place at a university to learn the art of communication, a skill that informs nearly every profession from teaching literature to computer programming. Our smaller class sizes allow individual attention from distinguished professors who have published acclaimed books and won awards including the Fulbright, the Guggenheim, and the Pulitzer Prize.