English


Your Future In English


Do you enjoy reading or writing? Do you have strong communication skills? Are you self-motivated? You should pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the University of North Texas.

Majoring in English prepares you for any career that requires strong skills in writing, communication and analytical thinking. Graduates can choose careers in law, writing, publishing, education, advertising, journalism or public relations.

Many of our alumni teach English composition, British or American literature, or English as a second language in public and private schools. Other alumni include:

  • Two tenure-track professors in our own department
  • An editor with Rolling Stone magazine
  • The head of the Rare Books Division at the New York Public Library
  • A member of the public relations staff of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Novelists Karleen Koen, David Lindsey and Larry McMurtry
  • Poets Chad Davidson and John Poch
  • Screenplay writer and director Ken Harrison
  • Various employees of government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Government Printing Office

What we offer

While pursuing your bachelor's degree, you can choose from concentrations in literature, writing and rhetoric, creative writing, and language arts with secondary teacher certification.

Our faculty members are publishing scholars and writers in every field of English and American literature. Faculty members have published books with the Cambridge, Oxford and Michigan presses; had essays featured in prestigious journals such as the English Literary Renaissance and Philological Quarterly; and published creative work in The New York Times, The Paris Review and TriQuarterly. Their research and writing have been funded by institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

You can participate in a number of student organizations in the field, including an international honor society. Some students help faculty with research projects or with one of the department's journals, the American Literary Review, Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies and Studies in the Novel. Students also can submit their work for publication in the North Texas Review.

We have several scholarships available to help you pay for your education. Information about these scholarships is at English: Undergraduate Scholarships.

A wide range of opportunities are available to cultivate your literary education. For example, students taking creative writing classes receive feedback from published writers. The Visiting Writers Series also provides a forum to meet engaging and accomplished contemporary writers. The Early British Literature Colloquium features the best scholars of early English literature, including Shakespeare and Chaucer. If you plan to teach English as a second language, you can work directly with international students to learn effective teaching strategies.

What to expect

Our curriculum challenges your writing, critical thinking and analytical skills while at the same time honing them. You also gain knowledge about American, British and world literatures.

You will take 15 semester hours of required English classes and another 24 hours in your area of concentration. We offer a wide variety of courses ranging from survey and specialized classes to innovative special topics classes that focus on the research interests of our faculty members.

Our Career Center and professional academic advisors are among the many valuable resources that are available to you at UNT. The Career Center can provide advice about internships, future employment opportunities and getting hands-on experience in your major. Academic advisors will help you plan your class schedule each semester.

How to enroll at Unt

High school students

We encourage you to fulfill the graduation requirements for the Recommended Program or the Distinguished Achievement Program in high school. In your junior year, take the SAT or the ACT and have your scores sent to UNT.

In your senior year, apply for admission at www.applytexas.org by March 1 and request that your high school transcript be sent to the UNT admissions office.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses can count toward college credit at UNT. For details, visit www.unt.edu/credit.

Transfer students

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult our Transfer Articulation web page, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor/advisor to review your degree plan. Proper planning allows you to receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Our Transfer Center will help you make a successful transition to college life at UNT by connecting you to a peer mentor and other campus resources. Each year, we welcome more transfer students than any other institution in the state. The center is in the University Union, Room 320. More information is at transition.unt.edu.