Undergraduate Concentration Tracks

English BA Degree Overview

Students can choose a variety of paths through the English major. For more detailed information on degree requirements, students should consult their DegreeWorks audit.

English, BA: Creative Writing Concentration

Students in the Creative Writing program at Binghamton University learn critical thinking and reading in a creative context. For students who are strong writers and interested in writing fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, the chance to be part of a community of writers while working with our internationally recognized faculty is not just an opportunity to prepare for a career — the ability to think critically and communicate well cuts across almost all jobs, and our graduates have gone on to work in almost any field you can think of — but also to understand how your own voice fits within the vital continuum of literature.

Creative Writing Links:

Binghamton Center for Writers


English, BA: Rhetoric Concentration

In the Rhetoric Concentration, students gain familiarity with diverse rhetorical works and traditions, focusing both on how persuasive speech and writing have been theorized and taught in different times and places and on developing their own skills in written and oral communication. The practice of writing is embedded in a range of historical and cultural contexts, and courses provide opportunities for exploring and gaining proficiency in composition across a variety of genres, including creative nonfiction, journalism, argumentation, policy debate, sports writing, research writing and the personal essay. In the process of studying and practicing these genres, students also assess how such factors as identity, power and viewpoint or prejudice shape the nature, scope and impact of language in different settings.