Texas Tech University

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Welcome!

Students in our literature program develop reading and writing skills to increase their understanding of contemporary discourse and literary heritage, and strengthen their creative and analytical abilities. Our degrees encourage students to prepare across several literary periods and genres, including:

Texas Tech Bachelor's in English ranked #6 return on investment by Online U

Early British Literature

The study of early British literature in the Department of English at Texas Tech includes those literatures written in the British Isles until approximately 1700. Faculty are experts in Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, and Early Modern drama, poetry, and prose, with particular interests in writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. Areas of expertise include medievalism, film, medieval romance, authorship studies, feminist perspectives, manuscript studies, and book history.

To read more, visit Early British Literature.

Later British Literature

The study of later British literature in the Department of English at Texas Tech includes those literatures written in England and its colonies and former colonies since 1700. Faculty are experts in eighteenth-century, Romantic, Victorian, modern, and post-modern literature, with particular interests in gender theory, women writers, gothic drama, history of the novel, twentieth-century poetry, book history, and literature and science.

To read more, visit Later British Literature.

American Literature

Marked by the transnational turn in literary studies in the late twentieth century, American literary studies today has undergone a critical reconfiguration, moving from the locus of the Americas and through the transoceanic movements that encompass the evolution of the Atlantic commercial circuit, the formation of the Black Atlantic, and the reimagining of Asia Pacific. Not only has the "New England mind" been reconsidered in relation to "the darker side of Western modernity" and indigenous experiences, but the South, the West, the Southwest, and the American Pacific have also been re-examined in light of critical regionalism, borderland discourse, environmental justice, and critiques of American exceptionalism.

To read more, visit American Literature.

Comparative Literature, Globalization, and Translation (CLGT)

CLGT offers students the opportunity to cultivate a wide range of literary interrelations including but not limited to the following: trans-Atlantic studies, trans-Pacific studies, global South studies, hemispheric studies, migration studies, gender studies, studies in religion, Vietnam War studies, translation studies, urban studies, and new media studies. In these concentrations, the aim is not only to move beyond the national framework of literary studies but also to engage global networks of aesthetic, social, cultural, and economic interactions. Moreover, students profit from our faculty specializations by extending literary studies to cultural communication in different artistic forms and literary genres.

To read more, visit CLGT.

Book History and Digital Humanities

Book History examines the creation, production, distribution, and reception of “texts,” from oral, written, and printed texts to contemporary forms of visual and digital media. Book history examines the social, cultural, economic, and political history of different types of "texts," considering the various actors in their creation, production, circulation, and reception.

To read more, visit Book History and Digital Humanities.

Film and Media Studies

Film & Media Studies (FMS) offers an innovative and interdisciplinary field of specialization for graduate students earning a doctorate or master's degree in English. Working closely with faculty, you can tailor your degree to fit your interests and professional objectives. Our curriculum fosters critical engagement with aesthetics, cultural and historical knowledge of cinematic forms, and the multiple literacies engaged in reading silent and sound moving-image texts.

To read more, visit Film and Media Studies.

Literature, Social Justice, and Environment (LSJE)

The Literature, Social Justice, and Environment (LSJE) initiative in the Department of English centers upon the most important developments in the study of the natural environment in literature.  Issues of race, regionalism, and social justice have been embedded in environmental literature from its beginnings. Most of us know Thoreau wrote Walden but sometimes forget he also wrote “Civil Disobedience.” Edward Abbey's MA thesis examined the moral implications of political violence. John Muir not only helped convince Theodore Roosevelt to found the National Park system but also wrote about the forced removal of Yosemite's Native American inhabitants in order to turn the valley into our first wilderness park--a park which would then adopt the image of the "Indian Brave" to grace its front entrance. More recently, Carolyn Merchant has written on the connections between slavery and soil degradation in the American south. Gloria Anzaldúa's metaphor of the borderlands originates in the geographic and psycho-social space of the U.S.-Mexico political boundary. Cherríe Moraga writes about the everyday experience of the environment for queer women of color and defines environment as home, work, food, and body.

To read more, visit LSJE.

Career Paths

Literature students are valuable in many fields for their writing and analytical skills. 

The following is a partial list of the different jobs available with an education in literature: 

    • Lawyer
    • Doctor/Nurse
    • Teacher
    • Publishing Assistant
    • Editorial Assistant
    • Copywriter
    • Copy Editor
    • Professor
    • Social Media Manager
    • Content Strategist

Contact

Dr. Jen Shelton
Director of Undergraduate Studies
jen.shelton@ttu.edu

Diane Johnson
Advising, Undergraduate
english.undergradadvisor@ttu.edu

Dr. Wyatt D. Phillips
Advising, Graduate
english.gradadvisor@ttu.edu