English at Bates

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The Department of English allows students to develop the ability to read closely and engage in skilled textual analysis in order to gain an understanding of literary genres and diverse literary histories.

Through courses as varied as “Shakespeare and Early Modern Racialization,” “English Literature Before 1100,” and “African American Literary Criticism,” students will expand their capacity for critical reading, writing, and thinking. In addition, English majors who wish to concentrate in creative writing can focus on either fiction or poetry, culminating in a creative thesis to cap off their academic experience.

Contact Us

Peter N. Philbin, Academic Administrative Assistant
3 Andrews Road
Hathorn Hall
Phone: 207-753-6963 pphilbin@bates.edu

What You Will Learn

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To formulate original ideas about texts through discussions, reading, and coursework

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To present persuasive arguments in both speech and writing

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How to formulate and test questions about written work and compare them critically

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How to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of sources, methods, and interpretations

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To develop your capacity for reading as an intense, concerned involvement with textual expression

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To produce original work — either fiction or poetry — through the creative writing concentration

Life After Bates

Graduates from the English department go on to a wide variety of careers, including content creation, teaching, publishing, writing, and more. In addition, English majors from Bates have embarked on graduate study in literature as well as graduate programs that focus on medicine, law, business, public health, bioethics, and library science.

94%

of 2020-2024 Bates graduates are employed and/or attending graduate school — settled into their next opportunity within 6 months of graduation.

“My exploration of narrative medicine and creative writing firmly grounded me in why I want to pursue medicine, and allowed me to envision the kind of physician that I want to be: one that grounds my practice in the story.”

— Sommer Glasgow ’21

Selected Places of Employment/Service

U.S. Department of Justice
Harvard Business School
Barclays
Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services
Teach for America
King & Spalding LLP
Guidepoint
DDB Health New York
Curriculum Associates
Sotheby’s Institute of Art

Selected Graduate Schools

Columbia University
Johns Hopkins University
Northwestern University
University of Southern California
University of St Andrews
Boston University
Northeastern University
University of Denver
Harvard University
Tufts University
University of Pennsylvania

Day in the Life of Ladd Library on March 12, 2025. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

A day in the life of Pettengill Hall, featuring staff, faculty and students engaged in learning, studying, and working, with both internal and external images. This student, Pieter Cory ’22, dosing and studying in the Perry Atrium, said he was preparing for a class on PLTC 125/ “States and Markets” taught by Jason Scheideman, Assistant Dean of the Faculty for Budget and Administration and Lecturer in Politics.

Aleisha Martinez Sandoval ’26 of of Edinburg, Texas, (left) and Caroline Cassell ’24 of Woodstock, Vt., listen in rapt attention to Otis speaker Nancy Campbell in a Dana Hall classroom as Campbell explains a writing exercise. Campbell met with Director of Student Writing and Lecturer in Humanities Bridget Fullerton and the peer-writing tutors at 4:15 in Dana 204.

Fall afternoon on the historic quad features students and foliage.

Spotted at Bates: Annie Conway ’23 of South Salem, N.Y., enjoying a novel on Alumni Walk, and Ben Fasciano ’23 of Lincoln, Mass., and Andrew Hoffman ‘23 of Oak Park, Ill., playing disc golf on Lake Andrews. They’re each living in Lewiston during the summer for jobs and internships. And making the most of a beautiful, quiet campus.

Why Study English at Bates?

English at Bates is a hands-on major where students read critically, discuss their ideas passionately, and produce written work with the ability to move people. Students have the chance to meet authors and poets at Literary Arts Live, a series that has hosted readings, class visits, and residencies for over 100 authors, including Richard Russo, Colson Whitehead, and notable Bates alumni like Elizabeth Strout ’77. In addition, students can engage with Bates’ literary arts journal, Snaggletooth Magazine, to showcase their work to the broader writing community.

Featured Courses

Meet the Faculty

Faculty members hold postgraduate degrees from a variety of renowned universities and have received several prestigious teaching and research awards. In addition, they have published articles in scholarly journals and write and publish books, including many that have been long-listed for the National Book Award. Their expertise includes the British Renaissance, post-racialism and nineteenth-century British fiction, African American studies, late medieval French and Latin literatures, poetry, and disability literatures.