University of Notre Dame - English Department

What we do In English we study and create works of imaginative literature: stories we tell each other about who we are, linguistic forms that pattern our thoughts in ways both familiar and strange. Since literary cultures are one record humans make of their attempts to live together, we read poems and novels both to investigate the past and to explore critically how our present is constructed through power, class, race, and gender. But more than mere historical evidence, literary works are also tools and resources for thinking beyond the bounds of “the best which has been thought and said.” To read and write is to open up unseen possibilities for changing the present and creating better futures. Students of English learn how to interpret their lives, respond critically to the world, and compel audiences. Our students also learn that literature itself—from the work of William Shakespeare to Jane Austen, James Baldwin, and Sally Rooney, to our own imaginative creations—is a vital laboratory for personal and collective transformation. Equity and inclusion The Department of English is committed to affirming the human dignity of all. The members of this department support and actively work to ensure the inclusion of our faculty, staff, and students regardless of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. We stand in solidarity with communities of color and indigenous people, as well as movements against racism, colonization, and violence worldwide.