English

Students develop and practice these skills by reading, analyzing, and critiquing, in both oral and written formats, a wide variety of texts: literature; literary criticism and theory; business communication; Web-based writing; and other professional and creative works. 

In consultation with advisors, students may decide on specific career-path development. These focal areas add to or reinforce competencies sought after by postgraduate degree programs in fields such as law, business, and education; by corporate and professional employers; and by graduate English and education programs, including leading to New York state initial certification in English grades K-6 and 7-12 in cooperation with the College of Education.

In addition to majors and minors in English and writing studies, the English department teaches WRT 100 (Writing and Rhetoric) and ENG 110 (Literary Perspectives), required for all students at Niagara University. We also offer a variety of electives in literature and writing that can fulfill general education requirements. 

The English major at NU integrates literary and writing studies, from courses in comparative literatures to courses in style and professional and creative writing. Course topics range across a variety of research areas, including disability studies; teen Shakespeare on film; postcolonial literatures; the American west; graphic novels; women and “madness” in the 19th C; ethnography and travel writing; writing for the Web; environmental studies; the literature of Niagara Falls; and much more. 

The department concentrates on helping students to analyze and interpret written texts in various genres from diverse historical periods; communicate effectively in appropriate genres to solve rhetorical problems; ethically engage with and attribute sources; and access and contribute to traditional and emerging forms of media.