Best English Language and Literature colleges in North Carolina 2024

English Degree Program

Study among 15,000 others at Duke University. Natural beauty surrounds the university, like the Duke Forest that covers 7,000 acres or the Sarah P. Duke Gardens where you can stroll with a good book in your hand — or one of your book assignments. At one of the top English departments in the country, you’ll learn to read, think, and write, and the interconnectivity of those activities. The department’s website states, “To explore these literatures in this department then is to pay the most precise and rigorous attention to forms of address: who is saying what to whom? Why just this word, right there, right now?” The program includes critical reading, inquiry, thought, and debate. According to the website, “English ‘labs’ are libraries, museums, classrooms, conference rooms, even hallways, cafes, and campus quads — any place where thinking or conversation occurs.” They emphasize conferences, working groups, seminars, speaker series, and literary readings. In the program, you’ll practice your judgment, because responses to literature is personal, and you’ll explore aesthetic and ethical judgments. When you’re finished, you’ll be more articulate and more self-aware.

English and Comparative Literature Degree Program

The University of North Carolina was the first educational institution in the nation to open its doors as a public university. You can join 29,000 other “Tar Heels” by walking through its doors, and leave with a world-class education. The university has a great study abroad program, a rich history, and deep southern roots. The university’s literary influences started with drama professor Frederick Koch (known for folk plays), novelist Thomas Wolfe, and English professor Louis Rubin. Today, the English and comparative literature major (or minor) trains students in reading, writing, and critical thinking while exploring texts “ranging from Beowulf to Bon Iver.” The program also hosts an annual People, Ideas, and Things conference in the spring where you and your fellow book-loving peers can showcase your scholarship and view others’. In that same vain, the college is publishing a new People, Ideas, and Things (PIT) Journal. Who says you couldn’t be the next editor? There are many things to do at the University of North Carolina. You can join a top student-run organization, like the newspaper or radio station. Or you can get off campus for a while and explore Chapel Hill, considered one of the top college cities in the U.S. The city keeps the population entertained with music, restaurants, and shopping.