Undergraduate

Duke's English Department offers a major and minor in English, and a minor in creative writing. Our program is designed to:

  • convey broad historical knowledge of English, American, and other Anglophone literatures,
  • cultivate a sophisticated habit of critically engaging literary and cultural texts,
  • create a shared understanding of major problems, trends, and methods of literary and cultural analysis, and
  • develop your ability to pose questions and organize knowledge in productive and original ways. 

Where Our Students Go

We offer clear direction on how to profit most from study within the English department, and the major also seeks to encourage our students to assume an enduring habit of questioning and intellectual self-articulation. After graduation, English majors pursue a broad variety of careers in academia, law, education, journalism, the arts, business, medicine, and other fields. For detailed accounts of current employment of a sample of 300+ our alumni.

You can also explore a Duke alumni survey on career paths at 5, 10 and 20 years after graduation.