The undergraduate programs of the Department of English at St. John's University are lively and growing. The numbers of our students and faculty have increased over the past few years. As of Spring 2011, we have twenty one (21) full-time faculty on the Queens campus and five (5) full-time faculty on the Staten Island campus. The undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) program has 216 English majors on the Queens campus, and 28 English majors on the Staten Island campus. In addition, seventy (70) students in the Education school also concentrate in English. Students may take classes on any campus as suits their convenience. The graduate programs, Bachelor of Arts / Master of Arts (B.A./M.A.), Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Arts (D.A.) have about 100 students combined.

The English department has particular strengths in American Studies faculty, and we are seeking to develop our offerings in creative writing and rhetoric. Over the past several years, the department's combined degree program, the B.A./M.A., has become a popular way for students to earn a Master's degree within five years of enrolling for their B.A. degree.

Each semester, the Queens campus offers approximately twenty (20) upper-level courses for the undergraduate major, and ten (10) courses for the graduate programs. The department also offers approximately sixty (60) expository writing, core literature, and honors classes each semester on the Queens campus. The Staten Island campus offers approximately fifteen (15) upper-level B.A. courses per semester, and about twenty (20) courses in expository writing and core English.

The English department also sponsors an active intellectual life. There are generally three department-funded colloquia a semester, in addition to lectures by department faculty and film series. For descriptions of recent students and faculty achievements, see the English Department Newsletter. The department graduate students founded a literary journal in 2003 called, The St. John's Humanities Review. The journal features book reviews, essays, and interviews by contributors on campus and from around the world.  The department also supports a literary journal of student poetry and fiction, Sequoya. Directed by the English Department's Derek Owens, the Writing Center hires qualified graduate and undergraduate students as writing tutors. Several English faculty are active in the Institute for Writing Studies. The three arms of the Institute consist of state-of-the-art Writing Centers on the Queens and Staten Island campuses, the University's innovative First-Year Writing program, and a Writing Across the Curriculum program hosting workshops and seminars on our campuses in New York and Rome. Directed by the English Department's Harry Denny, the Writing Centers hire qualified graduate and undergraduate students as writing tutors. The Writing Center also presents lectures, and faculty and student colloquia.

 For those students interested in using their B.A. toward graduate education, the department has recently placed its students in top graduate English programs such as those of Brown, Columbia, SUNY Buffalo, and CUNY. Students who major in English tend to develop very strong skills in reading comprehension and writing. They also acquire powerful habits of analytic thought, which is why most law students prepare for their future careers as English majors. Because almost every field of employment is in need of people who can read and write with skill, an English major or minor is a valuable asset. Particularly when coupled with other professional skills, a degree in English provides students with a versatile educational foundation.

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General Information
Stephen Sicari, Chair
Robert Fanuzzi, Assistant Chair
St. John Hall , Rm. B-16
Mon-Thurs: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Phone: (718) 990-6387
Fax: (718) 990-2527
sjceng@stjohns.edu