The University of Idaho’s Department of English

. . . is one of the largest departments on campus, with twenty-three full-time professors and fifteen lecturers. The lecturers are generally writing specialists who also teach introductory literature classes. All upper-division literature and linguistics courses are taught by professors. Because our faculty members’ backgrounds are both geographically and educationally diverse, English majors experience a wealth of cultural differences and a variety of critical perspectives. Our professors hold degrees from Chicago, Michigan, Texas, Duke, Iowa, Stanford, Indiana, Harvard, Illinois, Cal-Irvine, Claremont, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Berkeley, Missouri, and Cornell. All professors hold either a Ph.D. or an M.F.A.

The department offers one undergraduate degree, the B.A.; three minors, the English minor and the Teaching English as a Second Language minor (click here for the catalog listing as a PDF file, which requires the Adobe Acrobat reader, which you can download here); and four graduate degrees: the M.A., the M.A.T., the M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language, and the M.F.A. in Creative Writing.

Effective advising, small classes, and a sense of community . . .

It’s easy to get to know us. We have a highly effective advising system, which allows us to guide you in selecting the courses most beneficial to your career goals. Our upper-level classes are small, rarely exceeding twenty-five students, with an average of about 15 students per class.

Our offices are in Brink Hall, right next to the main classroom building, and once you master the intricacies of Brink’s floor plan, you’ll find that we’re usually there, ready to talk about your concerns. Together, faculty, staff, and students form a unique social community. Poetry and fiction readings, lectures and presentations by other students and faculty members, events sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, receptions and book signings for visiting authors—all help draw us together as a department. Moscow is in the rolling wheat country of the Palouse, but it is only a short distance from some of the most spectacular scenery in the U.S.—from Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains, Idaho’s Bitterroots, to the spectacular Hell’s Canyon only a few hours’ drive away. Like the rest of the Pacific Northwest, winters in Moscow are generally mild.

Generous scholarships . . .

While we believe that our faculty is our greatest asset, the department also boasts generous scholarship funds.

The department can support promising majors with income from combined bequests of well over a million dollars—a phenomenal resource which makes us financially competitive with the best-endowed private schools in the country. The Grace V. Nixon Scholarships provide especially generous support for students committed to the teaching of English.

A flexible curriculum for a changing world . . .

The department offers three different emphases leading to the B.A. in English.  Click here for more information about the undergraduate programs.

Our M.A. program is also exceptionally flexible.  Click here for more information about graduate studies in English at the University of Idaho.

Active, involved faculty enhance the classroom . . .

The professors in the Department of English believe that maintaining excellence in the classroom requires participation in professional activities outside the classroom. Our professors regularly travel to regional, national, and international conferences where they present papers and exchange information with other scholars. They are actively engaged in publishing essays, reviews, poems, fiction, and books in their areas of expertise. The faculty members are also frequent and avid participants in university and community activities: theatre, choral groups, symphonic orchestra, human rights groups, environmental organizations and a variety of discussion groups.

These activities enhance the classroom experience and help to insure that our graduates are well prepared to meet the challenges of whatever profession they enter when they leave the university. Our graduates have successfully competed for employment in a number of areas requiring strong writing and critical thinking skills—including careers in teaching, publishing, and business. A number have entered excellent graduate schools not only in English but in other programs such as law. The UI Department of English provides its students with more than job training—it provides an excellent foundation for lifetime learning and growth.

Click here for a list of faculty.

Excellent faculty and facilities, plentiful scholarship opportunities . . .

A large, well-prepared, accessible faculty; up-to-date computer labs; the best library in Idaho (and easy access to the even larger one at Washington State University, eight miles away); plentiful financial support from two sizable scholarship endowments, the Nixon and David Scholarship Programs; a beautiful, attractive college town . . .

We hope you will join us.