Interested in becoming an English major? Watch a video about why you should major in English at Georgetown, and learn more about our program requirements.
Want to know where our outstanding faculty received their degrees? Or what field(s) their research and teaching interests are in? Click below to find out more.
After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in English, you could go into legal work, academia, health care, or even work on the Late Show with Seth Meyers! Read more about what our undergrad alumni are doing.
Interested in earning your Master's in English at Georgetown? Discover more about the M.A. program curriculum, available funding packages, and the admissions process.
Beyond the M.A. English Degree
After graduating with a Master's degree in English, alumni have gone on to diverse careers including academic administration, journalism, publishing, and top-tier doctoral programs. Click to explore and see what some of our recent Master's alumni are doing!
Welcome to the English Department!
The English Department at Georgetown University has one of the largest undergraduate majors in the College of Arts and Sciences and houses one of the few stand-alone English Masters programs at a nationally ranked university.
Statement of Principles from the Faculty of English, Georgetown University
The Department of English at Georgetown University stands united in its commitment to the fundamental equality and inherent dignity of all human beings. These values are the foundation of our work in the humanities and transcend political affiliation. They are also embedded in our University’s mission and the Jesuit tradition of seeking social justice.
As humanists we are committed to the practices of principled argumentation, free inquiry, careful consideration of evidence and fact, and sustained, contemplative engagement. A prerequisite for those practices is respect.
We join together in opposition to those who would ignore, reject, or recast as debatable the principles of equality and justice that are the foundation of our work as educators.
We affirm this shared commitment publicly because the values of equality and human dignity continue to be under threat. Instances of racist, misogynist, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, homophobic, and anti-Semitic harassment, coupled with hate crimes and acts of racial terrorism, are on the rise nationally. They also occur at Georgetown.
The climate for these acts has been substantively shaped by a rhetoric of divisive bigotry that has come to dominate our political discourse, even at the highest levels of our government. As teachers of English we know that words are powerful. We reject the language of division and affirm publicly our shared commitment to justice.
To our students: we stand in solidarity with you. We acknowledge your fears and affirm your right to pursue knowledge regardless of your identity or origin. Our task is to support, to encourage, and to challenge all of you. We commit to that task now and always.
With its small classes, the English Department at Georgetown University emphasizes close work with students and teaching excellence. Our faculty boasts a robust and diverse record of publication, and many have won major university teaching prizes. Reflecting a broadening of the field in recent years, our department offers courses in canonical and non-canonical literature and film in English. The Department is the home of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and the University Writing Program.
Many courses are interdisciplinary and our faculty have played a major role in founding the African American Studies Department and interdisciplinary programs of the College:
Department Leadership
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Daniel Shore
Director of Honors & Awards: Kathryn Temple
Director of Creative Writing: David Gewanter
Director of Graduate Studies: Pamela Fox
Department Chair: Ricardo Ortíz
If you are seeking information on English language courses, please contact the Center for Language Education and Development.