Department of English and Modern Languages
Haven-Warren Hall, Room 100
Telephone: (404) 880-8169

Overview

The Department of English and Modern Languages offers courses that satisfy the University's core requirements in English, French, Spanish, and the humanities and prepares graduate students for the Master of Arts Degrees in English, French, or Spanish. Courses for the M.A. in English include History of the English Language or linguistics along with a variety of literature courses, including British, American, Africana, African American, and ethnic American as well as special topics in the following: creative writing, seminars specific to authors, and synergetic courses. Courses for the M.A. in French include Advanced French Grammar and Composition, Advanced French Prose, History of French Civilization, Francophone Literature, Seminar in Comparative Black Literature. Courses for the M.A. in Spanish include Advanced Spanish Grammar and Composition, Advanced Spanish Prose, Afro- Hispanic Literature, Hispanic Minorities in the United States, Seminar in Comparative Black Literature, The Twentieth Century Latin American Novel.

The Department of English and Modern Languages graduate students may also earn a Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities with a concentration in English, French, or Spanish. Furthermore, the Department of English and Modern Languages, in support of traditional liberal arts education, offers graduate degrees in French and Spanish with a focus in language and literature. The faculty engages in developing students’ communicative abilities in their chosen language of study and promotes an understanding of and appreciation for other cultures through the study of language, linguistics, civilization, literature, and cultural expressions.

In addition, the Department of English and Modern Languages sponsors extracurricular activities and organizations that enhance the cultural and academic climate of Clark Atlanta University and the Atlanta community. Among them is the Annual Writers Workshop, a conference that includes a writing competition among the University students as well as the larger Atlanta University Center community. Clark Atlanta University is the home of the Charles Waddell Chesnutt Association (an affiliate of the American Literature Association), a venue to which outstanding graduate students may gain membership and submit papers for inclusion in sessions at the annual international American Literature Conference. Graduate students may also be selected for membership in the English department’s Alpha Beta Beta Chapter of the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society as well as the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Our graduate students are offered the opportunity to teach English composition and/or world literature courses once they have earned an M.A. in English or 18 graduate credit hours in English at the Ph.D. level.

Mission

The mission of the Department of English and Modern Languages is to prepare students to transform intellectually, culturally, and professionally through innovative methods of teaching and learning that enhance their abilities in writing, literary appreciation and analysis, and research. Additionally, the mission of the Department of English and Modern Languages is to prepare and expose language majors and nonmajors to the languages and cultures of different societies and to achieve functional proficiency and communicative competency in the target language—Spanish and French—through immersion and varied enrichment experiences.