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ACADEMIC PROGRAMSAbout this Program
We offer engaging, unique courses that will ask you to think harder, write better and read more widely than you ever have before as you encounter works across genders, genres, cultures and ethnicities that will expand your mind and your world.
Our New Concentrations
Why should I choose this concentration?
You are interested in:
- Writing creatively in genres such as fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama, and screenwriting
- Having 1:1 interactions with Faculty
- Workshopping in a collaborative environment with faculty and peers
- Getting real-world publication experience
Featured Courses:
Why should I choose this concentration?
You are interested in:
- American, British, and World literatures and film media
- Examining how film and media record and influence the complex interactions between people and cultures in history
- Examining content from different times and places
- Building your cultural knowledge
- Understanding and navigating multiple points of view
Featured Courses:
Why should I choose this concentration?
You are interested in:
- How language and writing are connected and shape our world
- Expanding your perspective and learning from others perspectives
- Conducting original research
- Interpreting texts
- Learning and teaching others the art of written or spoken communication
Featured Courses:
Why should I choose this concentration?
You are interested in:
- Becoming a high school teacher
- Teaching subjects like English, writing, language, and/or literature
- Transforming and molding the minds of our future leaders
- Producing writing in a variety of genres
- Understanding ways in which texts can shape historical and cultural contexts
- Examining world-views, power structures, and experiences of individuals, groups, communities, and/or cultures
- Getting real-world teaching experiences through student teaching
Featured Courses:
- LING 3011 – Analyzing English
- LING 3020 – History of the English Language
- ENG 3475 – Literature of the Oppressed
- ENG 4130 – Writers and Their Worlds
- ENG 4600 – Teaching Literature, Communication, and Visual Literacy, 7-12
- EDS 3150 – Issues in Multicultural Education in Urban Secondary Schools
- SED 3600 – Exceptional Learners in the Classroom
- CLD 3510 – Perspectives in Education for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners
Start your journey in...1, 2, 3!
Declare your English Major and Pick your Concentration
The Department of English offers real-world, relevant courses and new concentrations to match.
Get Started on your Declaration form
Get Rowdy Ready
Follow the semester-by-semester steps outlined in the CLAS Student Success Roadmap to ensure your success at MSU Denver.
Take me to the CLAS Student Success RoadmapExplore the Degree
Creative writing concentration four-year plan
English Major, B.A. with Creative Writing concentration
Literature, film & media concen. four-year plan
English Major, B.A. with Literature, Film and Media Studies concentration
Prof writing & rhetoric concen. four-year plan
English Major, B.A. with Professional Writing and Rhetoric concentration
Secondary education concentration four-year plan
English Major, B.A. with Secondary English Teacher Licensure concentration
Benefits of Earning Your Degree at MSU Denver
The English degree program at MSU Denver offers you opportunities to stretch intellectually, creatively and professionally through internships, student teaching, and much more!
Four reasons to choose us:
1) Flexible Program Options
Flexible program options that meet your needs and get you to graduation sooner! Whether you want to be fully in-person or online or have a combination of the two, we have a program that’s right for you.
2) Exclusive Scholarships
MSU Denver is among the most affordable four-year universities in the nation. Not only do we offer a high quality education at a low cost, the Department of English offers four exclusive scholarships for $1,000 toward 2024-25 tuition.
Learn more about our scholarship application and process.
3) Opportunities to Get Involved
Join our active student organizations to meet peers, make friends, gain leadership skills and find where you belong! The Department of English has four student-led organizations, MSU Denver FiLM Club, Creative Writing Club, MSU Denver Linguistics Club, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Learn more about our student organizations.
4) Hands-on Experience
Complete an internship at a local magazine. Present your research at a national conference. Publish your original work. Let your creativity flourish while you build your resume to land that dream job!
Career Opportunities for Our Graduates
An MSU Denver Bachelor of Arts in English can take you to graduate school, law school and springboard your career from writing and teaching to law and public service.
Your Career Starts Here!
- Adult Literacy Instructor
- Advertising
- Author
- Announcer, TV/Radio
- Consumer Public Relations
- Desktop Publisher
- Digital Media/Web Content Editor
- Editor
- Interpreter/Translator
- Lawyer
- Librarian
- Linguist
- Media Specialist
- News Reporter
- Public Relations
- Playwright
- Promotions Manager
- Proofreader
- Public Relations
- Researcher
- Sales Manager
- Social Media Search Strategist
- Speech Writer
- Teacher
- Technical Writer
- Textbook Editor
- University Administrator
- Writer
Featured Faculty
Dr. Chereka Dickerson, Assistant Professor
Critical race, feminist and gender studies scholar with a particular interest in American and multi ethnic women’s writing focusing specifically on literature, poetry and life writing.
Teaching Interests/Philosophy
American Literature, African American Literature, African American Women Writers, Women’s Literature, Hip-Hop and Literature, Composition, US Women of Color Literature, Life Writing and Auto/biography Studies
Research
African American Studies, American Studies, Popular Culture Studies, Critical Race Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Hip-hop Studies, Life Writing Studies, Feminist Studies
Dr. Cynthia Kuhn, Professor
Professor Cynthia Kuhn teaches creative writing, literature, and film. She aims to offer student-centered courses that invite energetic and meaningful engagement with different texts, viewpoints, and voices.
Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern; Copper Nickel; Literary Mama; Prick of the Spindle; Muddy River Poetry Review; The Edge; Mystery Most Diabolical; Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life; Reflective Activities: Helping Students Connect with Texts; and other publications.
Scholarly books include Self-Fashioning in Margaret Atwood’s Fiction: Dress, Culture, and Identity; Styling Texts: Dress and Fashion in Literature; and Reading Chuck Palahniuk: American Monsters and Literary Mayhem.
Novels include The Semester of Our Discontent, The Art of Vanishing, The Spirit in Question, The Subject of Malice, The Study of Secrets, and How to Book a Murder.
Dr. J Eric Miller, Professor
J Eric Miller grew up in the mountains of Colorado and Montana. Educated at the University of Montana (Bachelor’s degree), the University of Southern California (Master’s degree), and the University of Denver (Doctoral degree), he has been a professor of Creative Writing since 2000.
He is a faculty advisor for the university literary journals, The MSU Denver Roadrunner Review.
He believes in comfort of nostalgia, life choices that take animal welfare into account, the hypnotic effect of a good film or a book, second reads of everything, and the way a liberal arts centered education sets one up for success not just in a variety of career paths, but to be a thoughtful and thus useful citizen of the world.
Publications
His book length publications include Animal Rights and Pornography; Bloodletting and Fruits of Lebanon; and Decomposition. Decomposition. Animal Right and Pornography and Decomposition have been published in a variety of languages, including, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, and Russian. Several short stories from the collection Animal Rights and Pornography as well as Decomposition have been optioned for film development. His short fiction has appeared in: American Short Fiction, Eclectica, decomP, Semaphore, Starry Night Review, Clementine Unbound, The The/tEmz/Review, Litbreak, The Scarlet Leaf Review, eFiction, and others. His short story “Invisible Fish” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Featured Alumni
Natalie Gramer, MSU Denver ’23, Aviation & Aerospace B.S. and English, B.A., is the graduate honoree for the English Department and the winner of the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Achievement for Fall 2023.
Alumni at Work
MSU Denver English program alumni work in numerous organizations in Colorado and across the nation, and they continue their studies across the globe!
MSU Denver English alumni have been...
- Advertising Agencies
- Bookstores
- Colleges/Universities
- Communication Firms
- Film Companies
- Fund-Raising Firms
- Government Agencies
- Insurance Companies
- Internet companies
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Personnel Departments
- Professional Journals
- Public Relations Firms
- Publishing Firms
- Radio/TV Industry
- Research/Development Firms
- Travel Agencies
- Colorado Office of the Attorney General
- Servicios de la Raza
- Brain Balance Achievement Center
- Aurora Public Schools Foundation
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Colorado Historical Society
- Cesar Chavez Academy
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
- California Department of Justice
- Colorado Office of the Governor
- Neighborhood Solutions
- University of Chicago Press
- Aurora Central High School
- Bear Creek High School
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- University of Denver
- Regis University
- University of London
- University of Oregon
- New York University
- University of California, Los Angeles
- McGill University
Websites Related to English
Why Choose MSU Denver
Hispanic Serving Institution
MSU Denver has 35.7% Hispanic/Latinx students which the highest number of Hispanic/Latinx students among institutions of higher education in the state of Colorado.
Learn more about MSU Denver's Designation
Transfer Student Leader
MSU Denver is the #1 school for transfer students in the state of Colorado. We've been on the Phi Theta Kappa's Transfer Honor Roll for 7 consecutive years.
Learn more about MSU Denver's Excellence
Diversity Matters
MSU Denver is dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion and has been named one of the Top Colleges for Diversity by Insight Into Diversity for 9 consecutive years.
Learn more about DEI at MSU DenverContact the Department of English
Campus Location:
King Center
4th floor
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 173362
Campus Box 32
Denver, Colorado 80217-3362
Phone:
303-615-1800
Fax:
720-778-5760