English

It is the mission of the UC Merced English Program to teach students the story of how stories are made, how they make a difference in the world, and how they form the foundation of knowledge itself. Stories allow the marginalized to be heard by the powerful: they help humans understand each other’s past and present, and they help us imagine different futures.  

The skills of critical thinking, interpretation, and writing that are developed in English classes are valued by multiple professions, including law, education, medicine, business, technology, journalism, politics, and social work. 

Employers and graduate schools of all types hire English majors and admit English majors into their programs because they know that English majors know how to:

• Write orally and effectively and persuasively
• Empathetically value other perspectives
• Comprehend the connections of a global world
• Communicate orally effectively and persuasively.
• Read texts closely and critically, and synthesize complex ideas
• Evaluate how we know what we know
• Interpret and evaluate culture

Programs

• English, B.A.  
• English Minor  

English Program Learning Outcomes

The program learning outcomes of the major seek to articulate, in specific ways, how the successful student majoring in English will be able participate in this larger intellectual, historical, and aesthetic conversation. Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Interpret texts with due sensitivity to both textual and contextual cues.
2. Articulate an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of texts by the standards of their times and places.
3. Articulate an appreciation of the rich diversity of literatures and literary discourses in all their cultural, historical, and generic variety.
4. Prepare and deliver clear and confident oral presentations.
5. Write cogently and with sensitivity to audience.