About Us
For more than a century, the Department of English has helped students read, write and think deeply and then use those skills to pursue fulfilling careers and enrich communities.
Explore Comprehensive Programs
The Department of English offers programs across creative writing, literary and cultural studies, and rhetoric and composition. Through small classes, award-winning faculty and hands-on opportunities like the Miracle Monocle journal and an active internship program, we prepare students to communicate with clarity, creativity and impact.
Connect With Us
History & Mission
For more than a century, the Department of English at UofL has built communities that read, write and think critically. The department spans creative writing, literary and cultural studies, professional and public writing, and rhetoric and composition, and it hosts two national conferences – the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture and the Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition – along with the award-winning Miracle Monocle journal and the Axton Reading Series.
The mission is straightforward: help students gather, analyze and communicate information in ways that are independent, accurate and equitable; sustain a culture where writers and artists find support and inspiration; and contribute to Louisville’s future as a literate, literary city and a hub for the information economy. The PhD program in rhetoric and composition, internationally recognized since 1978, and the University Writing Center, which logs more than 4,000 appointments a year, anchor the department’s national reputation.
Who We Serve
Nearly every UofL student takes at least one English course – through the Composition Program, an upper-division writing course or an elective in literature and culture. Our majors and minors choose among three tracks: creative writing (poetry, fiction, drama and more), literature (the traditions and craft behind what we read, plus the analysis to make sense of it), and professional and public writing (digital, technical, business and academic writing for real audiences). At the graduate level, MA students pursue literary studies with room for creative and professional writing, and PhD students in rhetoric and composition train to become the field’s next faculty, administrators and researchers. Whatever your goal, you’ll find flexible paths and faculty who know your name.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. After reviewing survey and employment data, the Modern Language Association and the Association of Departments of English concluded that English majors “land jobs, find satisfying careers, and accrue essential and marketable skills.” Employers prize the flexibility and transferable skills an English degree builds.
Yes. The department awards more than $20,000 in scholarships to its majors each year.
Yes. Our active program places students in technical and business writing, publishing, grant writing, editing, public relations, education, marketing, film, broadcasting, law, museums and libraries, and you can propose your own. If the work uses the transferable skills of English, it counts.
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for courses, events and student work.
Start with the graduate application portal. For details on the MA in English or the PhD in rhetoric and composition, contact the director of graduate studies, Hristomir Stanev, at hristomir.stanev@louisville.edu.
Master the Ultimate Transferable Skill
Ready to join the graduates who turn words into winning careers? Join the UofL Department of English and build the skills that shape how the world communicates, thinks and tells its stories.