We offer

Individualized Attention

Small class sizes from award-winning faculty & staff and advisors

Active Learning & Research

Classes dedicated around active learning in research, creative endeavors, and historical archives

Communities & Connections

Establishing connections through clubs, mentoring, guest speakers, and networking events

Degree Areas

english ba

Our flexible English major offers four programs of study: Literary Studies, Creative Writing, English Education, and Popular Culture.

Film Studies BA

Innovative Bachelors of Arts in Film Studies, as well as a Minor in Film Studies, & two filmmaking Minors in Fiction Filmmaking and in Documentary Production.

Creative Writing Minor

The creative writing minor offers students a program that blends foundational work in literary studies, exploration of creative writing in multiple genres, and a focused capstone experience.

Popular Culture Minor

The popular culture minor offers students opportunities for in-depth study of popular culture texts, trends, and topics across a range of media.

english Ma

Provides students with a comprehensive grounding in literature, critical theory, and a variety of research methodologies. Designed to develop the skills associated with literary and cultural criticism, as well as editorial, research, writing, and teaching skills.

English PHD

Our doctoral program offers advanced study of English, and global Anglophone literature in a range of theoretical orientations and interdisciplinary, cross-field areas of study in combination with the historical periods that have generally defined the study of national literatures.

Administrative statement: For an Antiracist English Department

As we continue to process the abhorrent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks, and witness the largest protests in the U.S. since 1968, the leadership of the MSU Department of English wishes to affirm its commitment to anti-racist action.

2021 Department of English Outstanding Senior Awards

This year, the Department of English launched a new student award—the Outstanding Senior Award. This award, sponsored by the Dianna S. Cavett Endowment for English Literature, recognizes graduating seniors who embody the mission and values of the Department of English.

english student earns marshall scholarship

Emily Steffke, an Honors College senior majoring in neuroscience in the College of Natural Science and English in the College of Arts and Letters, has been named a Marshall Scholar. The Marshall Commission provides support for up to 50 of the most outstanding undergraduates in the country …

Making History at Michigan State University

The College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University has been part of many firsts when it comes to Black history, including hiring David W.D. Dickson, who was the first Black faculty member at MSU and, more recently, establishing the Department of African American and African Studies, which launched the new African American and […]

On the Cusp: English Professor Establishes New Journal

Kristin Mahoney, Associate Professor in the Department of English at Michigan State University, has helped create a new journal that focuses on field-defining scholarship on the works, authors, artists, problems, and phenomena that defined the dynamic period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The journal, titled Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures, aims to promote interdisciplinarity scholarship on […]

College of Arts & Letters Part of National Blueprint for Advancing College Equity and Excellence

As a member of the Boyer 2030 Commission, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Digital Humanities and Professor of English at Michigan State University, participated in the development of a national blueprint for undergraduate education at U.S. research universities. This new blueprint, created to address persistent equity gaps in undergraduate educational outcomes, recently was released by the […]