Message from the Chair
As a research-driven, student-centered Department, KSU’s Department of English promotes the study of what is unique regarding human expression in order to empower students to understand who they are and how they live, while also helping students cultivate and articulate skillsets that will enable them to thrive in viable career pathways.
The Department elevates KSU’s national profile through adhering to the highest standards in research and creative activity. We invest in the work of internationally known scholars in both theoretical areas as well as applied areas such as scholarship of teaching and learning. Clusters of research strength among faculty include educational linguistics, digital and community writing, and health humanities. The Department also fosters poets, fiction and nonfiction writers, playwriters, and script writers for film and television whose work has been read and viewed widely, elevating KSU’s profile for impacting culture both locally and more broadly.
In our teaching, the Department’s degree programs in English (BA), English Education (BS), and Professional Writing (MA) pride themselves on engagement with high-impact practices that foster personal and career well-being. Faculty provide students with internship, undergraduate research, community-engaged, and global learning opportunities. Exemplary achievements include fostering student publications and national conference presentations through mentored research as well as international employment.
Each program has unique strengths: The recently revised English BA involves a strong core in literary study while enabling students to complete career-facing concentrations in literary and culture studies, film and screen studies, or writing and linguistics; the English Education BS is nationally recognized for its NCTE Student Affiliate, stellar placement rate, and collaborative partnerships with local area schools; and the MA in Professional Writing boasts an impressive record placing graduates in Atlanta’s communications and creative industries by leveraging a rigorous deliverables-based writing education.
In addition to supporting thriving degree programs, the Department is home to two areas of KSU’s General Education curriculum, First-Year Composition and General Education Literature, that are essential to KSU’s undergraduate student success ecosystem. These crucial courses support the ability of all KSU students to think and write clearly and to better understand their cultures, thus ensuring their ability to meet the demands of subsequent coursework as well as to thrive in their civic and professional lives.
In the area of service, KSU English is exemplary in leading through strategic partnership. Through our community engagement strategies, including fostering relationships with local employers to provide internships for students, to partnering with Cobb County Schools to provide curated student-teaching experiences for teacher candidates as well as research opportunities for faculty, we leverage collaborative relationships to enhance our impact.
John Havard
Chair, Department of English
