English Department - The George Washington University

a community of scholars and creative writers
Rigorous reflection on literature in a national and global context

Welcome to Our Department

GW Department of English 3 students discussing in a classroom

GW's Department of English offers seminars and lectures on poetry, drama, film, literature and theory. We are attentive to the text, with its particular style and content. And we are attentive to historical, personal and political impacts of literature upon people and culture.

From Beowulf to Derek Walcott, from Virginia Woolf to Sojourner Truth, courses in our department explore human experience in its historical and affective particularity. Expressions in English bridge cultures and shape perception, whether they are early manuscripts on parchment, hip hop lyrics or graphic novels.

As a humanities faculty, we are especially interested in the artistic exploration of identity, community, cultural conflict and history.

Our Programs

The department provides a unique learning experience for talented students to work directly with some of the nation's top scholars. Our creative writing program guides students from introductory courses to advanced seminars on poetry and novel-writing.

Our Master of Arts program provides high-level training in literature and culture, while the PhD program offers focused scholarship on American literature and culture, British and postcolonial studies, crip/queer studies and medieval and early modern studies.