Home / Academics / Departments / English Department
English Department
Strong communication skills are essential in every field, and Bradley’s English programs prepare you to be a versatile writer and critical thinker. With undergraduate concentrations, including teacher education, and a graduate program focused on literature and writing, you can tailor your studies to your career goals.
Through diverse readings, research projects, internships, and a career-focused senior research project, you’ll gain real-world experience that connects classroom learning to professional opportunities. English pairs well with majors like psychology and political science, as well as minors in marketing, philosophy, and sociology, making it a valuable foundation for a wide range of careers.
Majors
English
Gear your learning towards a personal passion with degree concentrations or minors available in Creative Writing, Literary Studies, or Professional Writing.
Learn More
English Education
Build skills to bring literature to life for students and enhance your learning with minors available in Creative Writing, Literary Studies, or Professional Writing.
Learn More
Graduate Program
English (MA)
Deepen your understanding and gain mastery through a flexible program that tailors your studies to your passions.
Learn More
Minors
The creative writing concentration prepares you to be a versatile writer in a variety of business or nonprofit careers. You’ll explore authors from the past to sharpen your analysis of the present and future.
Courses give you a foundation in fiction, poetry, nonfiction and screenwriting. This major is structured to enable you to add another major or minor of your choice.
The literary studies concentration prepares you for graduate school and a career in an academic or professional setting. You’ll explore courses focused on analyzing texts’ culture and history.
Small class sizes foster intellectually challenging conversations with faculty mentors and classmates. This program is structured to enable you to add another major or minor of your choice.
The professional writing concentration prepares you for a career in business, nonprofit, technical and related professions. Professional writing courses focus on business and technical communication, with opportunities to learn argumentative, grant and travel writing.
This program is structured to enable you to add another major or minor of your choice.
Departmental Resources
Students can submit their best work to four competitions on campus.
- Dr. Robert DeGise Professional Writing Award
Dr. DeGise, a long-time member of the professional writing faculty, established the endowment in 1996 as a memorial tribute to the brave Americans who served in the battle of Iwo Jima in February of 1945. This award is presented annually to the best professional/business writing proposal submitted during the academic year. The award comes with a $1000 cash prize. - The Kevin Stein Academy of American Poets Prize
The Kevin Stein Academy of American Poets Prize recognizes the best single poem written by a Bradley University student. Administered by the Academy of American Poets in New York at nearly two hundred colleges and universities, the prize has been awarded to some of our country’s finest poets during their collegiate years. This award comes with a cash prize. - The Chester Sipple Poetry Award
The award acknowledges student achievement in creating a larger body of poetry. Students submit five original poems for consideration. This award comes with a cash prize. - Edgar L. Chapman Critical Essay Award
Student essays written for undergraduate literature courses are nominated by faculty. The award comes with a $1,000 cash prize.
Broadside
Broadside is Bradley University’s student-run literary arts journal. It features written work (poetry, fiction, plays, screenplays, creative non-fiction) and visual artwork (photography, paintings, drawings). Each spring they publish a 100+ page four-color journal showcasing creative work by Bradley students. They produce a smaller full-color 16-page journal for distribution in the fall. Broadside also holds public readings and publishes Broadsheets (11″x17″ posters) three times a year highlighting student writing and art. The organization and staff positions are open to any current Bradley student.
CW Directory of Undergraduate Journals
Working closely with students, the faculty encourage and assist them in gathering national publications. Each year, English majors collaborate with creative writing faculty and use this directory during their creative writing submission process.