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English Language and Literature, BA

Location
  • New York City
Associated College
Dyson College of Arts and Sciences
Other Study Options
Creative Writing (Minor)
Journalism and Digital Storytelling (Minor)
Translation Studies (Minor)
Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies (Minor)
Language and Linguistics (Minor)
American Studies (Minor)

Writing Success Starts Here

Whether your interest lies in journalism, creative writing, literature, linguistics, publishing, teaching, or law, the BA in English Language and Literature at Pace University offers three concentrations and several combined degree options to develop your specific interests. Choose a concentration in creative writing, literature, or linguistics and consider adding a double major in related fields. This program will open doors in virtually any field, such as journalism, publishing, communications, business, the arts, law, and education.

View Curriculum

Make Main Character Moves

  • Beyond the classroom, you will have the opportunity to learn from prominent poets and authors who visit campus, publish your own work in Aphros, our literary magazine, and gain hands-on experience working on The Pace Press, our undergraduate student newspaper.
  • You will be guided by our outstanding faculty of authors, editors, and world-renowned scholars with diverse research interests and expertise.
  • You will develop the in-demand skills you need for success in today’s competitive job market: top-notch writing, insightful critical analysis, and clear, organized thinking.

Take Courses Like…

Courses in this major are wide-ranging and will challenge your intellect. Our curriculum is unique and innovative in how it combines creative and analytic skills and traditions. Our fun and rigorous coursework prepares you to collaborate and think creatively in whatever you go on to do.

“Be sure to consider one of our accelerated programs, all of which give you the opportunity to earn a BA and a graduate degree in fewer years than doing each program separately.”

Add Opportunities And Experiences

As an English major, you’ll join a rich and vibrant community of writers, scholars, and activists. Together with faculty, you might attend plays and performances, learn from visiting luminary writers and poets such as Wayne Koestenbaum, Rumaan Alam, and Patricia Spears Jones, present your creative work at open-mic nights, or help edit and publish our longstanding literary journal, Aphros. You might go on field trips with faculty to archives like the Interference Archive—a trove of materials related to social and political activism—or learn how to write and publish your own ‘zine or graphic novel. Or you might work closely with faculty as a part of the university’s Undergraduate Research Programs on topics as diverse as “The Origins of Black Theatre in Downtown NYC” or “Linguistic Features in Contemporary Women’s Language.” Every spring, the department awards up to $15,000 to the best student writing produced by our majors and minors in multiple genres. And, our courses are all capped at 15, 20, or 25 students, so you get a real chance to know one another and your faculty. We look forward to having you join our community!

"As an English major, I was able to combine the opportunities of the big, bustling city with a more intimate classroom setting”—Jordan Little ’18, Elementary School Art Teacher

Choose Your Career

What are you going to do with a degree in English? The sky’s the limit! English majors have the opportunity to combine a rigorous and rewarding academic experience with all New York City has to offer to burgeoning creative professionals. Recent English majors have landed prestigious internships with:

  • The National Book Foundation
  • Penguin Random House
  • Macmillan-St. Martin’s Press
  • David Black Literary Agency
  • The PEN America Foundation

in areas such as:

  • Editorial
  • Marketing
  • Journalism
  • Social Media
  • Fundraising
  • Copywriting
  • Digital Content Management
  • … and more.

For three years running, English majors have won multiple spots in Pace University’s prestigious Storytelling Fellowship for Equity and Inclusion program, funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Career Options

Our recent alumni are currently employed at:

  • Bantam Books
  • HBO
  • Simon and Schuster
  • Nancy Yost Agency
  • The Morgan Library
  • NBC
  • Fox Sports
  • Weill-Cornell

While other recent graduates have gone on to earn Master’s degrees and PhDs from schools such as Northwestern University, The New School, Georgetown University, Fordham University, UCLA, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Virginia.

Stats

  • English majors earn comparable median salaries to STEM majors (Source: HumanitiesWorks.org)
  • English majors have a lower probability of being underemployed than business majors (Source: HumanitiesWorks.org)
  • English majors have among the highest average scores on the GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, and GRE (Source: HumanitiesWorks.org)
  • Hunting for Soft Skills, Companies Scoop Up English Majors” Wall Street Journal