Welcome to the English House!

English is one of the most popular majors at Illinois Wesleyan. Our curriculum prepares majors for graduate study, for the teaching of English in secondary schools, and for entry into professional fields that stress education in the humanities and verbal skills—fields such as law, journalism, publishing, government, and business.

But students find that whatever field they enter, employers value the skills that an English major develops. To study English literature and language is to understand their power, their possibilities, and their pleasures. As an English major at Illinois Wesleyan, you’ll learn to research and to write with clarity and imagination, and you will gain a greater appreciation of literature’s influence on our culture.

The department offers two sequences for majors: a Literature sequence and a Writing sequence that includes journalism and/or creative writing. It all starts at the English House, one of the oldest buildings on campus. Since the Seventies this 1904 Prairie-style brick residence has been home to the English department, and students have found it a great place to hang out. Faculty offices are located in the house, but there’s also a seminar room in the basement and a big wraparound front porch with a swing that’s popular with students.

The English department consists of approximately 180 majors and minors and 12 full-time faculty members who put teaching first. Half of our faculty have received the University’s highest teaching award, and another was named Student Senate Professor of the Year. Walk through the English House and you’ll usually find faculty in their offices working one-on-one with students or just chatting. Whether it’s helping you find the right graduate school and study-abroad program or just giving you a sounding board to talk about concerns, faculty spend time with you not because they have to, but because they want to.

Our faculty members bring a wealth of experience to the classroom. Half of our faculty have published books, and all are active professionally. We attend conferences, we serve on boards, we write creatively, and we work with community organizations. Among our faculty are playwrights, film critics, songwriters, desktop publishers, award-winning writers, and literary scholars. Whatever your interest, there’s a good chance it will be shared by someone on the English department faculty.