Why UMKC?
Kansas City has a vibrant community of writers and publishers, and UMKC’s English department encourages real-world experience for majors through internal and external internships. Through the resources of the metropolitan media and publishing houses, as well as the on-campus facilities of the national literary journal New Letters and literary publisher BkMk Press, students may gain experience in writing and editing.
Fast Facts
- UMKC graduates in English are admitted to some of the strongest graduate programs and professional schools in the country.
- Some English graduates elect to attend M.F.A. programs in creative writing and others to enter Ph.D. programs in literature or composition and rhetoric.
- Many graduates in English also go directly into careers such as publishing, editing, education, communications, and public relations.
- Others use the skills and knowledge they have gained in English in professional fields such as law and business.
- Several graduates of the program are currently teaching at American colleges and universities.
Student Organizations
- The Undergraduate English Council offers students the opportunity to design and participate in many campus events related to English study. Recent events include the Banned Book Week display and public readings, a barbecue and literacy charity raffle, open mic nights, Literature for Life week, and an annual symposium for public presentation of student writing and research.
- Students can also contribute writing or assist in the production of the undergraduate literary journal,
Number One. - The department also produces The Sosland Journal, which publishes and offers awards to the best student essays from UMKC composition courses that have been entered in the Ilus W. Davis Writing Contest.
Real World Experience
Careers
Possible career paths for English majors:
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Salaries
Admission Requirements
- Transfer students should enter the English major with good reading and writing skills and a general familiarity with literature.
- There are no formal admission requirements beyond those required by UMKC and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Prerequisite Courses
- Students should complete Eng 110 and Eng 225, and may also take other 200-level English courses, before enrolling in 300-level English courses. While individual courses may have specific prerequisites, most do not.
- Students must complete all College of Arts and Sciences general education requirements, as well as the English major requirements, to receive their degrees.
Major Courses
Required Courses
There are two programs of study in English:
Language and Literature majors take:
- Survey courses in English and American Literature
- Shakespeare (323)
- One three-hour course in rhetoric or linguistics
- Four 300- or 400-level electives (including two that cover periods before 1900)
- A capstone course in linguistics or literature
Creative Writing majors take:
- An introductory course in drama, fiction, or poetry
- A survey sequence in British, American,
or African-American literature - Shakespeare (323)
- One three-hour course in rhetoric or linguistics
- A two-course sequence in fiction or poetry writing
- One literature course at the 300 or 400 level
- Two writing course electives at the 300 or 400 level
- A capstone course in creative writing
While fiction and poetry are emphasized within the creative writing major, students also have opportunities to take courses in screenwriting and playwriting.
Other popular courses include:
- Myth and Literature (319)
- Arthurian Legends (325)
- Radical Changes Since 1945 (300CE)
- Black Women Writers (410)
- Modern and Contemporary Irish Literature (326)
- Postcolonial Literature (434)
- Girls and Print Culture (441)
- African-American Novel (332WI)
- Writing in Cultural Contexts (403WI)
- Women and Rhetoric (342WI).
Other Programs Available
- B.A. minors in writing, creative writing, or language and literature.
- M.A. in literature, language and literature, or creative writing.
- Interdisciplinary Ph.D.
Faculty
- Faculty have a broad range of professional competencies in the study of literature and language and are trained to teach courses in British and American literature, linguistics, rhetoric, American culture, film, creative writing, and composition.
- The department believes the study and teaching of literature and language to be an important means of preserving and vitalizing our humanistic tradition.
- The department serves every student in the College of Arts and Sciences by offering courses in composition, language and linguistics, literature, film, and creative writing. Some of the most popular cluster courses at UMKC are team-taught by members of the English department faculty and faculty from
other disciplines. - In the past five years, English faculty have published 17 books at an average rate of over three books per year, while also publishing between 10 and 20 peer-reviewed articles or creative works every year.
- Many of our faculty have also successfully attracted research funding from a variety of regional and national sources.
Department of English
816-235-1305
http://cas.umkc.edu/english
Contact us
UMKC Office of Admissions
120 Administrative Center
University of Missouri-Kansas City
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
(816) 235-1111
www.umkc.edu
Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may
call Relay Missouri at:
1-800-735-2966 (TT)
1-800-735-2466 (voice)
Visit us
Contact the UMKC Welcome Center at 816-235-UMKC (8652), or toll-free at 1-800-775-UMKC (8652), and we'll arrange a guided campus tour and a meeting with faculty and staff.
