Mission Statement

The English Department at Bowling Green State University is dedicated to providing students with a comprehensive education in literacy—that is, reading and writing in all forms—and to promoting research and creative activities by faculty and students that generate valuable creative products and contributions to knowledge and serve as catalysts for innovative teaching. The Department strives to familiarize students with a full range of literacies—written, digital, oral, and visual—so that they may become active and well-equipped citizens.

Along with the traditional role of providing education in literary studies, the Department also emphasizes cultural understanding and skills in textual analysis, critical thinking, and the effective use of language in academic, civic, and workplace contexts, areas of emphasis that are fundamental both to the maintenance of an active democracy and to success in any career. Our six programs (Creative Writing, English as a Second Language, Linguistics, Literature, Rhetoric and Writing Studies, and Scientific and Technical Communication) teach these skills to our undergraduate majors, our Masters and Ph.D. students, and hundreds of other students across the University, including international students and future middle- and high-school teachers of language arts.

The English Department is dedicated as well to promoting in students and society at large an enhanced knowledge of the benefits of diversity and inclusion, and to instilling an increased appreciation for the crucial role of the arts and humanities in promoting a healthy, humane, and peaceful world.