About

So why English?

An English degree can give you the critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills you’ll need for success in this quick and quickly-changing world.

Our program is flexible, so you can pursue a wide range of interests. What’s in it for you? Literature? Film? Linguistics? Primary education? A strong foundation? Creative writing? Check. Our courses give you the ability to think differently, to expand on and augment the ideas and work made in all fields, not just literature. Where you go from here’s up to you (though we’ve got some ideas for you). But our courses are designed to not just hone your writing, but your thinking skills, too. Our faculty and staff are dedicated. All this to say, really, we plan on preparing you for a successful professional life as well as an invaluable way of thinking, about everything. Just ask our alumni.

Our students have gone on to graduate from programs in law, literary studies, linguistics, creative writing, medicine, music, business, and plenty more. Our grads are professional and technical writers, editors, Silicon-Valley-style techies, business owners, health professionals, lawyers, broadcast journalists, highly praised authors and poets, and award-winning educators at all teaching levels.

And we also sponsor a number of events, publications, and organizations, giving you opportunities in professionalization and exploration beyond the classroom and into the community.

Come be part of the things we’ve got going on.

The A. E. Stringer Visiting Writers Series invites noted authors to campus for monthly readings and Q&As, both Fall and Spring semesters. We’ve had Eula Biss, Jayne Anne Phillips, Donald Ray Pollock, and Afaa Michael Weaver to name just a few.

Our chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honors Society, a vibrant presence in our department, provides English majors with publication and presentation opportunities at the national level.

Et Cetera, Marshall University’s literary journal, annually produced since 1953, is written by students and made by students. Every year it showcases the fantastic creative work of Marshall writers, essayists, photographers, artists, and poets. Editorial positions are available every year, too, so it could soon be you picking the best prose or poems for publication. And the magazine sponsors many events, like open-mic readings, launch parties, and community service activities, that are always popular with our majors and the community.

Last but not least, thanks to the immense generosity of the Maier Foundation, the William J. Maier Writing Awards are given annually, a cash prize, to those students in English classes who excel in freshman composition, upper-division and graduate research and exposition, as well as poetry, non-fiction, or fiction.

But there’s more than that, you’ll find. We look forward to meeting you.

Contact Us

Department of English
Marshall University
1 John Marshall Drive
Huntington WV 25755

english@marshall.edu

Corbly Hall 346
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday
304-696-6600

College of Liberal Arts
Digital Humanities
Et Cetera
Good News
Humans of the English Department
Visiting Writers Series
Writing Center