BA English at Harvard University

Humans use stories to cope and thrive, from oral poetic traditions to novels, screenplays, and hip hop rhymes. The English Department hones your expertise as a maker and interpreter of stories. By studying English literature, you will learn how to analyze and appreciate the language of the past and to craft new narratives for the future.

Faculty: Harvard College: Arts and Humanities  |  Department: English  |  Study mode: full-time  |  Location: Cambridge, MA, United States

What you will study

A degree in English prepares students for every field that values persuasive writing, careful reading, and clear thinking. Our concentrators enter their lives and careers after Harvard able to: write and speak persuasively and with nuance in one or more literary genres, including the genres of non-fiction; enjoy literary texts aesthetically (in the body) and philosophically (in the mind); analyze texts from stylistic, generic, contextual, and theoretical perspectives; understand the difference between good and bad arguments; conduct research and present it lucidly in written and oral forms; read, perform, and write literary texts with a trained awareness of how they at once shape and are shaped by the societies in which they are written and received. Gateway courses include English 10: Literature Today English 20: Literary Forms English 10, English 20, and English 97 are concentration requirements and are designed to provide a common foundation for concentrators. If you’ve enjoyed previous coursework in English literature but.

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