English Literature / English Writing

Loras offers majors in English writing and English literature. Many students choose to double major in both. We also offer minors in English and in rhetoric and public writing.

The Loras English courses promote active learning through activities as writing workshops, collaborative research projects, and the use of the library’s Special Collections. Field experiences in classes include trips to outdoor spaces or museums and our program encourages study-abroad.

English Literature BA

Develop strong writing and reading skills so that you can participate effectively in public life. Immerse yourself in various literary traditions and develop cultural awareness along with critical and creative thinking. Gain practical skills in communication, collaboration, and research that open doors to professional and community roles. Turn your passion for literature into a career that matters.

English Writing BA

Study writing to develop strong creative and professional skills. Immerse yourself in various literary genres including poetry, fiction, screenwriting, creative nonfiction, and professional writing. Develop cultural awareness along with critical and creative thinking. Gain practical skills in communication, content-creation, editing, and collaboration. Turn your passion for writing into a career that matters.

Explore Internships & Careers

Internship opportunities offer real-world experiences. You can complete internships for academic credit or non-credit. Many students choose to complete both and intern at places such as:

  • McGraw-Hill
  • Kendall Hunt
  • St. Mark’s Youth Enrichment
  • United Way
  • City of Dubuque Economic Development
  • Black Earth Institute
  • Telegraph-Herald
  • Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
  • Presentation Lantern Center
  • Archdiocese of Dubuque
  • YMCA
  • State Farm Insurance
  • St. John’s Episcopal Church
  • Dubuque County Early Childcare

You will be prepared for a variety of rewarding careers. Our alumni work in many of the following fields:

  • Journalism
  • Library Science
  • Content Creation
  • Digital Communication
  • Business
  • Nonprofit Leadership and Development
  • Education
  • Editing
  • Publishing
  • Screenwriting
  • Creative Writing
  • Social Media Management
  • Public Relations
  • Advertising
  • Law
  • Counseling
  • Public Policy
  • Grant Writing
  • Technology Services
  • Marketing & Media

English Secondary Teaching

Learn to lead a middle and high school classroom and be an effective teacher. For licensure, you must complete a double major in secondary education as well as English literature or English writing.

Secondary Education

Course Highlights

Single Text/Deep Read

Courses focused on a single major text and surrounding literature, including influences, author revisions, authorial biography, reviews, scholarly criticism. Examples include but are not limited to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Oscar Wilde’s Portrait of Dorian Gray, Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

Fiction Genre Workshop

An creative writing class focused on the short story. The class is conducted as a workshop/seminar with heavy emphasis on student-composed fiction. To complete the course, students must write three short stories for a cumulative total of at least twenty-five final pages, participate actively in class, and critique other students’ work in writing.

Interdisciplinary Connections

Courses with an interdisciplinary focus that aim to bring literary voices in conversation with other aesthetic categories and disciplines. Examples include but are not limited to Literature and Film, Non-Fiction and Fiction, Adaptations of Classic Texts, Shakespeare’s Influence in Contemporary Literature, Literary Modernism and Visual Art.

graduate degree Opportunities

Loras offers a variety of graduate, dual degree & accelerated pathways to pursue both your undergraduate and graduate degrees efficiently and economically.

Loras College Student

Clubs & Orgs

We have a variety of opportunities for you to get involved from the moment you set foot on campus.

Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society
Loras Literary Society
The Limestone Review literary journal
The Lorian student newspaper
The Loras Players

Straight Talk from a Duhawk

I majored in both English Literature and Secondary Education. I remember most about my professors. Their support, encouragement and overall care for their students still impacts me today in the work that I do with my own students. They had a passion for teaching and their subject area, but an overall desire to impact and care for their students.

— Kelsey (’16)

Naomi Clark  PhD

Associate Professor of English
Director of Writing Center

William Jablonsky  MFA

Associate Professor of English

William (Will) Kanyusik  PhD

Associate Professor of English

Dr. Kevin Koch, Professor of English

Kevin Koch  PhD

Professor of English

James (Jim) Pollock  PhD

Professor of English

Susan Stone  PhD

Professor of English

Erin VanLaningham  PhD

Professor of English