English Major (BA)
The Department of English embraces the integration of faith, biblical understanding, and life-long learning. The department strives to equip students who major or minor in English and those who take English classes as a general studies requirement with essential knowledge and skills in language, literature, and communication.
- Total Credit Hours: 120 Minimum
- Program Length: 4 Years (average) for full-time students
- Course Descriptions
- Humanities and Social Sciences Minors >>
Why an English Degree?
If you love to read and write, this major is probably a good fit for you. English majors are prepared for graduate school and/or careers in such fields as business, law, ministry, teaching, writing, content creation, public relations, researching, publishing, editing, and marketing. Steve Jobs famously said, “Technology alone is not enough. . . It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that make our hearts sing.” This is exactly why English majors are needed not only in the field of education and graduate programs, but also in major corporations and technology firms.
Designed to Meet Your Needs
Course Convenience
DBU's English degree program offers an in-person university experience with some hybrid (classroom and online) and asynchronous online* course options.
*Selected courses are available in the formats listed. View the current Schedule of Classes for specific courses.
Classes Start
Generally, classes begin four times a year:
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- Winter
Double Major or Minor
The English degree plan offers many elective opportunities so that with careful planning, the English major can double major or minor. Common second majors or minors for our students are history, psychology, sociology, Biblical/Christian studies, Asian studies, philosophy, legal studies, political science, communications, graphic design, broadcasting, and marketing.
Teaching Certification
Students considering a career teaching English are required to meet the general studies requirements for receiving a teacher certification.
Certifications
- Elementary (Grades 4-8)
- Secondary (Grades 7-12)
DOXA
DBU’s Literary and Arts Magazine
The magazine is student-authored, edited, designed, published, marketed, and sold with faculty oversight and collaboration. The magazine, published annually at the end of each summer, also has included sections specifically for alumni, faculty, and creative class collaborations.
Share Your Work
Share your original work at the DOXA Literary Circle, a creative writing group for students, staff, faculty, and alumni that meets regularly at the DBU Coffeehouse.
DOXA Literary Festival
Submit creative work to the DOXA Literary Festival contest, which is held each spring. The festival includes a competition in Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Song Writing. The festival always invites writers of Christian faith to address a topic of their concern and also read from their work.
Literary Festival Opportunities
Sigma Tau Delta
Join Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society recognizing excellence in English language, literature, and writing. Sigma Tau Delta promotes interest in literature and language in surrounding communities, fostering all aspects of English studies.
Travel Opportunities
Study Abroad through DBU’s Global Studies program or partner programs around the globe. Students can take American Literature in Boston and surrounding areas, studying Thoreau and Emerson on the banks of Walden Pond. Or, they might study the great epics and dramas of World Literature in Athens and Rome or read and write about Contemporary Israeli Literature in Israel.
English majors also have enjoyed semesters in Oxford, studying such topics as Christianity in the British Isles, Jane Austen in Context, and C. S. Lewis and the Classics.
More Options
Paideia Research Forum
Present a paper at Paideia Research Forum, which chooses a different academic area yearly to explore its relationship to faith and culture. The Paideia Forum includes presentations from undergraduate students on Saturday mornings, where the speaker gives three lectures. Most of the lectures include research done while at DBU.
Friday Symposium
Bring your lunch and learn at Friday Symposium, an interdisciplinary lecture series that meets in Rogers Theater (LL-14) in Pilgrim Chapel at noon on Fridays. The main purpose of the Friday Symposium is to encourage conversation about topics of importance from a Christian perspective. Symposiums feature DBU faculty, guest lecturers, and alumni.
Alumni Testimonials
Faith Myers | English Major with minors in Legal Studies and Spanish
"I am beyond grateful for the faculty at DBU who invested in not only my career goals but my life outside of the classroom. It has been a true blessing that they have all been willing and able to help me, even into my law school career."
Graci Henard | English Major
“The DBU English Department's intentionality to guide and equip me during my time with the program was so encouraging. The professors truly make learning fun, and I appreciated their willingness to read the material with us. What I loved most about the program, however, is that every poem, short story, novel, and article read is brought back to Christ in discussion. I am so thankful for my time in the DBU English Department!”
Meet the English Faculty
Professors in the English department aspire to participate in God’s redemptive and restorative work through unique and eloquent voices that have been honed through literary studies. Deeply committed to their students, English faculty specialize in topics ranging from composition, rhetoric, and creative writing to literature composed from the ancient to modern period, including Greco-Roman and medieval texts; seventeenth-century poetry; American, British, Scandinavian, Latin American, Spanish, Israeli, African, and African American literature; and the fiction and philosophy of C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and other contemporary Christian authors.
Meet the Program Director
“The study of language and literature is significant. God speaks the world into existence in Genesis 1, and John 1:14 tells us that God incarnate, Jesus, is the Word. As an orator and storyteller, through his sermons and parables, Jesus himself was involved in linguistic and literary creation. Through the study of the written word, the English major at DBU develops the analytical thought, rhetorical skill, and understanding of humanity necessary for a rapidly evolving workplace. English majors ask big questions and develop innovative solutions, articulated courageously and gracefully, to transform their communities.”(214) 333-5416 | english@dbu.edu
- Dr. Jodi Grimes, Chair of the English Department
Vision Statement
Graduates of the English program will be life-long learners who integrate their personal faith with their English studies and their chosen careers. English graduates are skilled thinkers and communicators who understand the complexities of human experience; write proficiently using a variety of approaches and rhetorical devices; analyze, research, support, and develop effective and ethical arguments about the text; and evaluate the ideas they encounter in connection with Christian revelation.