The study of literature is a noble and life-changing pursuit that explores what it means to be human. When properly undertaken, literary studies should lead you to pivotal sites like empathy, intellectual curiosity, a heightened apprehension of beauty, and a healthy re-evaluation of self. As an English major, you will be invited to develop critical-thinking skills as you ask questions like, “What is ‘literary’ text?” or “How do communities influence meaning-making?” With a B.A. in English from Multnomah University, you will be prepared for teaching, graduate school, or other pursuits that you will be able to confront thoughtfully and insightfully.

Ways to study

Undergraduate (Major or Minor) | On-campus

Course plan

4-year

Application deadlines

Intellectual Curiosity and the Power of Literary Study

You will develop intellectual curiosity and a personal model for literary interpretation that takes into account the significant role of literary theory in literary practices. This program encourages you to understand the creative impulse that is at the heart of how God made us as human beings, to become more informed and skilled readers of literary texts, and to realize the power that literary study has to transform the individual self in terms of empathy and compassion.

Male Professor Teaching Students in Class

Example Courses

The courses listed below are some of our featured core classes that will be a part of your educational journey here at MU. Take a look at each course for a small preview.

A chronological study of major works of American literature. Selected readings introduce students to influential writers, a variety of literary forms, and significant currents of (largely Western) thought. An introduction to literature, these courses include practice in analytical writing and offers students a background in the humanities. Selections from the beginning of the American colonial period in the early 17th century through the Romantic period in the late 19th century, including works by Bradstreet, Edwards, Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, and Whitman.

Explore the creative act, approaching writing as a means for discovering and experiencing both the created world and ourselves as created beings within it. This Course has an emphasis on original work in one or more major genres- for example, fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, drama. Offered alternate years.

This course studies a selection of twentieth-century novels organized around a specific theme, topic, or period. May be repeated for credit one time. Offered alternate years.

A study of selected plays by writers from a variety of cultures, including American, British, and European. Attention will be given to how cultural considerations influence a playwright’s use of theme, tone, character, setting, staging, etc. Plays will be studies comparatively while retaining an emphasis on the individual expressing of each writer. Offered alternate years.

Degree Requirements

Here you will find everything you need to know about what is required to successfully complete your degree. Whether you are beginning college for the first time or are a transfer student, we’ve got you covered.

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Meet Your Professors

Faculty Headshot Domani Pothen
Domani Hintze-Pothen, D.A.
Assistant Professor, English
Faculty Headshot Dough Schaak
Doug Schaak, D.A.
Associate Professor and Chair, English

Career Placement

Graduates from Multnomah’s English program find employment in many different careers. With your B.A. in English, you will be prepared for roles, such as:

• Author • Literary Agent • Freelance Writer
• Copywriter • Copy Editor • Corporate Communications Specialist
• Researcher • Marketing Specialist

“I love that my English professors see God in everything. When we're talking about British politics in the 1920s, we're seeing God in the way people are acting. Every time we study literature it comes back to man's relationship with God.”

Cori Murray '20, English and Bible and Theology