Majors & Minors

The Department of English offers two 36 credit majors in English and Creative Writing and Writing Studies.

Drake University’s English major exposes you to literary and cultural representations across genres and media, including literature, linguistics, film, drama, comics, and digital forms. Centering around discussion, classes explore five distinct areas: Topics and Genres, History and Tradition, Culture and Identity, Theory and Criticism, and Rhetoric and Media Studies. You’ll begin studying the first three of these in lower-level core classes, while upper-level courses provide an opportunity to contemplate these themes in greater depth.

English majors learn to read and write critically, analytically, and creatively from award-winning writers, researchers, critics, and editors who have received regional, national, and international recognition. Through their guidance, you’ll examine centuries of works in historical and cultural contexts and start to understand how language can drive change.

 Drake University’s Creative Writing and Writing Studies major helps you to cultivate your curiosity, your imagination, and your analytical powers.  You’ll tap each of these skills while also developing a passion for literature and media. While this major can position you for a life in letters, it also sharpens how you observe and communicate in ways that will pay dividends in.

For students who entered before Fall 2023, click below for prior catalog requirements:

Prior Catalog Requirements