English

Students who study in the Yeshiva College English Department gain direct, intimate access to other cultures and time periods, through encounters with works from classical Greece, medieval Europe, and with Victorian Britain to the U.S. and world literature of the present. At the same time, students develop both analytically and creatively as writers and thinkers, learning to express themselves with clarity and power. In engaging with a range of forms — poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, film, analog and digital — students learn to enlarge their vision of the complexity and richness of human achievements and how we might contribute to them ourselves.

The skills and modes of thinking and interpreting offered by the English major are strengths prized in a wide variety of professions. Skills developed in literature and writing courses yield advantages not only in the fields of teaching, publishing, and journalism but also in any profession in which critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to communicate effectively are vital. YC English majors have gone on to careers in business, medicine, and law as well as screenwriting, television production, filmmaking, teaching English and creative writing, and urban planning.

At YC English majors and minors join a community. They choose either a Literary Studies or a Creative Writing focus. From their initial work together in ENG 2010 Interpreting Texts, our gateway course, each cohort of majors (Literary Studies and Creative Writing) embarks on a shared intellectual journey that culminates in a rewarding senior year capstone experience where students join with and are mentored by English Department faculty members, and where students and faculty continue to learn from each other. Whether students pursue an English major, an English minor, or a Writing or Media Studies minor, they will develop and mature as interpreters of various sorts of texts and they will cultivate the critical skills and aesthetic appreciation they have honed in relation to poetic, visual, and oral texts throughout their lives.

Please click here for the mission of and goals for the Writing Minor and here for information about the Media Studies minor.

Mission Statement

"For what is it that culture offers us? In relation to art - profound expressions of the
creative spirit, an awareness of structure and its interaction with substance and,
consequently, the ability to organize and present ideas; in relation to life - the ability
to understand, appreciate, and confront our personal, communal and cosmic context,
sensitivity to the human condition and some assistance in coping with it; in relation to
both - a literary consciousness which enables us to transcend our own milieu and place
it in a broader perspective. Above all, culture instills in us a sense of the moral,
psychological and metaphysical complexity of human life."

These are the words of Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, an English major and graduate of Yeshiva College who went on to earn a Ph.D. in English Literature from Harvard University. Our departmental mission is rooted in the same principle: that instruction in the arts and humanities is the foundation of a rigorous undergraduate education. Our faculty’s diverse interests and areas of expertise are reflected in the wide array of courses we offer, both within the major and throughout the larger YC curriculum. Those who study in our program—as English majors (Literary Studies Concentration or Creative Writing Concentration), as English/Literary Studies or English/Creative Writing minors, or as Media Studies minors—join a discussion that has persisted over generations among students of great books, and which has in recent decades evolved to include exciting new areas of cultural and interdisciplinary inquiry. The Department’s teaching of traditional matters like language and form regularly engages developments in economic history, human rights discourse, linguistics, rhetoric, political theory, medicine, religious thought, and media culture, across their relevant time periods and social contexts: classical Greece, medieval Europe, early modern England, Victorian Britain, colonial America and the transatlantic, twentieth-century Britain and the U.S., the post-colonial Caribbean, and world literatures of the present. We value collaboration with faculty colleagues from related disciplines in designing and teaching courses that appeal to an intellectually diverse student audience. Such courses have recently been offered in conjunction with Philosophy, Psychology, History, and Jewish Studies.
II. Literary Studies Focus:

Along with an appreciation for the richness of English as a modern academic discipline, our students acquire a sophisticated set of interpretive skills. YC English majors embark on their post-college years equipped with strengths prized in a range of careers. Skills developed in literature and writing courses yield advantages not only in the fields of teaching, publishing, and journalism, but also in any profession where critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to communicate effectively are vital. Our graduates have found success in law, business, information technologies, and medicine, as well as television production and filmmaking. What all those who have thrived in these pursuits share is the ability to think creatively and incisively and to express themselves with clarity and imaginative power.

Literary Studies Learning Objectives:

Hone reasoned and compelling critical analysis skills

2. Learn a wide range of literary traditions and forms, and build awareness of the changing contexts of literary production.

3. Reflect meaningfully upon their own cultural histories and values, as well as the cultures and values of others.

4. Connect with others effectively through written and verbal communication.

II. Creative Writing Focus:

Creative writing courses in the YC English Department invite students to develop their imaginative voices while strengthening their critical skills. Through practice, reflection, and revision across genres including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama, and screenwriting, students learn to read as writers and write as interpreters of culture and self. Literary readings are an essential component of the curriculum, exposing students to a wide range of voices, traditions, and innovations that inform their own creative development. Across the two focuses and the minor, the goal is to cultivate flexible, articulate communicators who think critically, write with clarity and expressive power, and respond empathetically to the human experience.
The structure of the Creative Writing Focus combines guided, peer-reviewed study in multiple genres with the broader resources of the English major. In addition to developing their own craft, students study and take classes within literary and film traditions, gaining historical, cultural, and theoretical perspectives that inform and inspire their writing. This balance of imaginative ambition and critical depth nurtures unique voices, inventive forms, and intellectual agility. Graduates of the concentration are prepared to navigate the complexity of the modern world creatively and ethically, whether in advanced study, artistic pursuits, or professional fields.

Creative Writing Learning Objectives:

By the end of their creative writing coursework, students will be able to
1. Integrate Creativity and Critical Inquiry

2. Develop a Reflective Artistic Practice

3. Engage with Literary Traditions and Innovation

4. Practice Ethical and Empathetic Communication

5. Synthesize Analytical and Creative Modes of Thinking

For more information about the English Department at Yeshiva College, please contact Professor Elizabeth Stewart at estewart.yu.edu.