English

Philosophy and Goals

The department of English at Spelman College is dedicated to the goal of creating accomplished writers, critical thinkers and effective communicators. To that end, we provide all Spelman students with a core curriculum in general college-level composition as well as a variety of courses that satisfy Spelman's distributional requirements.

The English major/minor allows students to explore a variety of literature from different periods. The writing minor allows students from other disciplines to enhance their writing skills and flexibility.

Overview of Courses

Spelman College, seeking to develop well-rounded graduates who are prepared to move into a variety of academic and professional roles, recognizes the need for high standards of written expression and reading comprehension. The first year composition course provides a strong grounding in core-curricular writing. More advanced students can take more specialized writing courses, geared toward particular professional areas.

Literature

Literary courses such as World Literature, Twentieth-Century Black Women Writers and Images of Women in non-Western Literature ask students to acquire skills in the critical reading and analysis of diverse forms of literature from fiction and drama to poetry, autobiography, and historical texts.

The Major | The Minor | Creative Writing Sequence

Areas of Faculty Expertise

• African American Literature
• American Literature 
• Creative Writing
• Technical and Business Writing
• Journalism
• Folklore
• Literary Theory
• Medieval Literature
• Modern British Literature
• Neoclassic Literature
• The Novel
• Postcolonial Literature
• Renaissance Literature
• Rhetoric and Composition
• The Romantics
• Victorian Literature
• Women's Studies