Undergraduate Major
If you choose to major in English and Comparative Literature (ECL), you will gain myriad important skills that will prove essential in the workplace and in the public sphere more broadly. ECL majors learn to produce clear and persuasive analytical writing or creative writing that demonstrates the qualities of literature. Moreover, the major teaches research methods, critical reading skills, comparative thinking, and historical contexts. Particularly at this moment in American culture and history, we believe these skills are essential. The ECL curriculum ensures that students gain historical breadth in their discipline in the form of surveys, as well as depth, in courses that focus on a single genre, topic, or author, which allow for a sustained emphasis on close analysis.
Students majoring in English and Comparative Literature also have the opportunity to concentrate their field of study on British & American Literature; Comparative & World Literatures; Creative Writing; Film Studies; Science, Medicine, & Literature; Social Justice & Literature; Writing, Editing, & Digital Publishing.
To learn more about some of our fantastic majors, click here.
The Major Basics
The new major in English & Comparative Literature – a great choice for double majors.
British & American Literature
From Milton to Morrison, Shakespeare to Faulkner, choose your own adventure as you explore rich literary traditions. This concentration not only introduces students to a broad range of texts, but also allows room for specialization.
Comparative & World Literatures
Want to explore the world without leaving campus? Let literature be your tour guide as your imagination travels to far-away places, discovering new cultures and ideas. This concentration can take you anywhere!
Creative Writing
Our undergraduate Creative Writing program is—and has long been—among the best in the United States. The faculty and students have published widely, won many prizes, and shaped the contemporary literature of North Carolina, the South, the nation, and beyond.
Film Studies
Interested in film analysis, film archiving, or audiovisual literacy? This concentration helps students become critical thinkers, keen observers, and eloquent writers capable of navigating the many screens of our modern world.
Science, Medicine, & Literature
Interested in medical school or a career in the health sciences? This concentration helps prepare students to understand and create innovative pathways in healthcare research and treatment in the twenty-first century.
Social Justice & Literature
Passionate about human rights; economic justice; racial, gender, and sexual equality? This concentration helps build cultural literacy and provides context that inspires, informs, and supports social justice work. Learn how words and images can change (and have changed) the world!
Writing, Editing, & Digital Publishing
Interested in professional writing, editing, digital literacy, or publishing? This concentration helps students investigate how communication today moves beyond written texts to composing for a range of media.