English Department

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second,
is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”

C.S. Lewis, “Christianity and Culture”

Our purpose as an English department is to foster our students’ knowledge of and pleasure in literature broadly understood, to cultivate their writing abilities, and to help them discern the philosophical and religious assumptions that shape all uses of language. In so doing, we hope to encourage students to turn the gift of language to uses that honour the Lord who has given it to us. We consider our greatest success to be measured by students who have learned how to integrate a love of language and literature into their Christian understanding, and how their reading and writing can make a difference in the world.

We aim to teach students to participate in reading and writing through the eyes of Christian faith. We believe that each person is made in the image of God, and thus shares in God’s creativity; each person is fallen, and thus can neither read nor write in the way that God originally intended. Nevertheless, language and literature are good gifts of God. His “common grace” is present even in material that is confessedly non-Christian. Both reading and writing from a Christian perspective involve recognizing God’s saving work in the world and discovering how one can join in.

Graduates of our programs will:

• Generate a close reading of any literary work and its elements, while integrating attention to cultural and historical contexts.
• Show knowledge of British and North American literary traditions, while also demonstrating awareness of and sensitivity to traditions distinguished by race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ideology, religion, ecology, and region.
• Describe and practice major forms of literary criticism, including those within the long Christian tradition of interpretation.
• Produce creative, expository, and/or journalistic writing in a wide range of genres and modes, writing at a high standard with respect to clarity and vitality.
• Articulate and practice a Christian understanding of the reader’s and writer’s vocations in contemporary society—particularly in terms of wisdom, truthfulness, integrity, authenticity, love, and service.