Best English Language and Literature colleges in New Haven 2024

English Language and Literature Degree Program

Five thousand of America’s finest students fill their need for higher education at Yale University. Tucked outside of New Haven, Yale’s campus sprawls across 343 acres and brings together a diverse student body, of whom you’ll spend hours debating, learning from, and making friends. The university even has cultural houses to help foster a sense of community and identity for its diverse student population. The English language and literature program at Yale University “allows students to address fundamental questions about the nature, function, and value of literature in a broadly comparative context.” Students have the freedom to craft their major to fit with their interests. For example, you could pick African American courses or film and media courses or a variety of all the above. Yale’s literature program doesn’t solely limit readings to English language, though you can choose to limit yourself if English is your native tongue. Instead, they encourage bilinguals to read texts in other languages. The program states, “The experience of reading a foreign literature in the original language enables us to understand the nature of both language and literature more fully.”

When you study in these ivy-covered buildings, you’ll get to enjoy world-renowned drama and musical performances since the university is well known for its fine arts programs. You’ll also most likely discuss the Yale Record at least once in one of your literature courses, as it is the oldest college humor magazine in the nation. And if you’re looking for an extracurricular, join one of Yale’s coveted societies, like Skull and Bone — but don’t plan on putting it on your resume; they’re kind of a secret.