The Department of American Culture and Literature uses an interdisciplinary approach in the study of the United States, its people, and its culture.

The Graduate Program in English and American Literature at Boston University provides comprehensive training in all areas of English studies. Coursework is offered in historical periods, individual authors, important literary movements, literary theory and the history of criticism, and philology and linguistics. Students develop a broad competence in all literary periods before moving to a more specialized knowledge of a single area or topic.

Explore the richness and diversity of English Literature from a wide range of periods, cultures, and genres. Strengthen your skills, develop your specialism and expand your critical and theoretical knowledge. Immerse yourself in your chosen topics and create a bespoke course that suits your interests.

It involves the study of a single language and literature chosen from French, English, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-American and Hispanic-American. It aims to improve knowledge of languages, cultures and literatures in their geographical and cultural dimensions connected to the history of colonization and the processes of globalization.

American Studies is a branch of the study of the English language and English-speaking cultures. It deals primarily, but not exclusively, with the United States of America. Everyone has an image of America, for example, through the influence of relatives, personal travels, or the media.

The Program in PhD in British, Irish, and American Literatures in English comprises two phases, the first of which consists of three modules: core curriculum courses in the fields of literary theory, cultural studies, and a literary history stretching over the first three semesters; teaching, tutoring, mentoring, and other department-related activities (second and third semesters); individual research for the thesis (continuous) and revision for the final exam (fourth semester). Having earned the required credits and passed the final exam, students enter the second phase, wherein they are required to finish their theses with the help of their supervisors, and submit it two years after their final exam. The program is thus divided into two years of coursework and two years of research and writing, with tutors helping candidates all along on their way toward receiving their PhDs.

The English major at Aquinas prepares you for your career and for life through the study of literature and language. In our English Literature major, you will meet some of the greatest writers in the world and keep pace with current trends in such fields as women’s studies, minority literatures, world literature in English, and film studies.

Students majoring in Anglo-American literature will receive a general overview of the world of English-language literature with a central focus on Britain and America, as well as the characteristics of different genres and their formation and development from a range of cultural perspectives. This foundation serves as a basis to consider specific works, including novels, poetry, plays, and criticism. As they refine their literary sensibilities, students develop their abilities to read literary works with accuracy and precision as well as analyze the methodology of literary studies. Students are given the freedom to choose their research topics based on their interests, which they pursue as a graduate thesis.

The BA program in English and American Studies and Philosophy takes 3 years and it allows students to improve their English language, to get acquainted with the English and American history, literature and culture, to learn philosophical terminology, to explore the most important philosophical schools and problems and to develop skills of critical thinking and analysis. Graduates may continue in their MA studies or find interesting positions requiring knowledge of the English language and critical and analytical approach.

Develop strong literacy skills as you read and write critically. Build a foundation in critical thinking and communication that you can apply as a writer, teacher and in many other working environments.