Degrees & Programs Overview

The English B.A. is comprised of four concentrations: English Education, Linguistics, Literature, Professional Writing & Rhetoric, and three minors in Literature, Linguistics, and Professional Writing & Rhetoric.

We also offer two M.A. programs, one in English Literatures and three concentrations in English: Composition, Linguistics, and TESOL.

Additionally, we have two undergraduate certificate programs in Computational Linguistics and Technical & Professional Writing as well as three graduate certificate programs in the Teaching of Composition, Teaching Post-Secondary Reading, and in Immigrant Literacies.

Student Advising

I want a Certificate in:

  • Computational Linguistics
  • Special Study Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
  • Technical & Professional Writing
  • Computational Linguistics
  • Immigrant Literacies in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
  • Teaching of Composition
  • Teaching of Post-Secondary Reading in Composition

View more about each of our Certificates.

Sutro Library

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Bachelor's Degrees

English Education

Interested in changing the world by inspiring and teaching the next generation of critical readers and writers? In the English Education program, students will develop the subject matter knowledge needed to enter credential programs and become an English language arts teacher at the secondary level.

Linguistics

Interested in human language and how we communicate with one another? In the Linguistics program, students will acquire the tools to discover how language structures the way we think and communicate with others and be well prepared for advanced graduate work and/or careers in the tech industry, government and research, translation, forensics, lexicography or advertising.

Literature

Interested in the power of literature to expand our minds, to tell us about ourselves and the collective human experience? In the Literature program, students will delve deeply into historically grounded study of English literatures from around the world and become skilled readers and thoughtful critics well prepared for advanced graduate work and/or careers in teaching, public relations, law, advertising or business.

Professional Writing & Rhetoric

Interested in how writing can be designed, produced and read to persuade, inform and enlighten? In the Professional Writing and Rhetoric major, students will master the written communication, design and editing skills for employment in almost every field of industry and public life, including technology, business, government and research, and non-profit organizations.

Master's Degrees

M.A. English: Composition

Engage with the research, theory, and practices of teaching academic reading and writing. Courses emphasize equity and success for linguistically and culturally diverse student populations. Excellent preparation for teaching in two-year colleges.

M.A. English: Linguistics

Study contemporary theory over a broad spectrum of the levels of linguistic structure: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse analysis, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics.

M.A. English Literatures

The M.A. Program serves the needs of those whose goal is teaching in junior or community colleges or private high schools, pursuing a PhD, or advancing skills and knowledge in reading and writing about literature. Our graduates work as teachers in high schools and community colleges; enter the field of publishing; write for journals, magazines, and online publications; earn PhDs; enter law school; start their own businesses; and work for non-profits, foundations, and government agencies.

M.A. English: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Engage with theoretical foundations and contemporary research in linguistics, sociolinguistics, and second-language acquisition. Learn practical classroom teaching methodology suitable for adult second-language learners.

Certificates

Undergraduate Certificates

Certificate in Computational Linguistics

Explore computational methods and their theoretical underpinnings including text processing, statistical patterns, part-of-speech tagging, text segmentation and classification, extraction of  meaning from texts and machine learning.

Certificate in Special Study in TESOL

Learn foundational skills and knowledge in language acquisition and pedagogy needed for an entry level positions as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, tutor, or instructional aide in a variety of settings in the US and language teaching contexts around the world. 

Certificate in Technical and Professional Writing

Study fundamentals of technical and professional writing. Courses emphasize technical writing, editing, document design, writing for the web, and grant writing. The certificate includes an internship. 

Graduate Certificates

Certificate in Computational Linguistics

The Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Computational Linguistics is designed to provide academic training in the study of computational approaches to language analysis. Computational tools are supported by a strong foundation in linguistic theory including natural language syntax, semantics and metaphor identification.

Certificate in Immigrant Literacies

Study language, literacies and the immigrant experience. The program integrates community service learning to enable certificate students to integrate their professional expertise and cross-disciplinary thinking with meaningful civic action.

Certificate in Teaching Composition

Engage with the research, theory, and practices of teaching academic writing. Courses emphasize ways to support developing writing, particularly in accelerated, co-requisite and integrated reading-writing classes. 

Certificate in Teaching Postsecondary Reading

Engage with the research, theory, and practices of teaching academic reading. Courses emphasize ways to support developing readers, particularly in accelerated, co-requisite and integrated reading-writing classes. 

Minors

Linguistics

At the undergraduate level, students begin to explore the patterns of sounds, words, sentences, and conversations in a variety of languages and speech communities.

Literature

The Literature in English minor allows students from any major to explore literature from British, American, and other global traditions in English.

Professional Writing & Rhetoric

The Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) concentration prepares students to be successful workplace writers in almost every field of industry and public life, including high-technology industries, business, government, and research and nonprofit organizations.