Program Overview
If literature and language pique your interest, consider studying English. Here you will embark on a literary journey across the centuries and around the globe. You will develop the ability to think analytically, appreciate different cultures and learn to express yourself both verbally and in writing. A degree in English prepares you for a lifetime of learning and a wide array of opportunities.

Learning Experiences
In the English program at AU, you will:
- Learn from expert faculty and published scholars
- Study great works of literature from a variety of critical perspectives that will enhance your own viewpoints
- Experience personalized attention in small classes meant to emphasize your individual learning
- Benefit from a flexible curriculum that lets you create an educational program to meet your career objectives
- Develop marketable skills, such as writing and analytical capabilities that will prepare you for a variety of careers
- Gain rewarding, real-world experience through internships with Ashland Poetry Press or the Ashland Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.
- Join the editorial team of the Black Fork Review, a literary journal run by students and featuring student writing

Curriculum
Learn more about the English program in the program profile, by reviewing the three-year curriculum guide, the four-year curriculum guide or the course rotation.
Graduate Outcomes
When you graduate with a degree in English, you graduate with a deeper understanding of the world around you. Reading and writing are the tenets of English, but they’re a means to achieve mastery of communication and critical thinking. The cultural foundation you build will carry you to a rewarding future on any number of paths.
Graduates of our English program work in a positions such as:
- Arts administrators
- Attorneys
- Digital marketing strategists
- Editors
- Higher education administrators

Student Testimonial

“Being in the English program at Ashland University has provided me with lifelong mentors and friends; I receive endless support from all professors in all aspects of life. Our professors create professional relationships that encourage us to branch out into different fields, knowing that we will always have someone to help us along the way. The support does not just end inside the classroom; professors I am no longer in class with have reached out and helped me with my grad school preparations.”
- Tyayia Young, English major
Contact Information
Hilary Donatini, Ph.D.
Chair, Languages and Literatures Department
306 Bixler Hall
hdonatin@ashland.edu
Angela Miller
Administrative Assistant
203 Bixler Hall
amille75@ashland.edu
419-289-5110
For questions about first-year composition, please contact Maura Grady, Ph.D. by email at mgrady3@ashland.edu.