The CMU English Department features three distinct but intellectually cohesive areas of study: Rhetoric, Creative Writing, and Literary and Cultural Studies. For undergraduates, we offer four majors, each quite different from the offerings of traditional English Departments. We are, for example, one of only a handful of universities in the country where undergraduates can major in Creative Writing or earn a BS in Technical Writing. Our degrees in Professional Writing and in English are equally distinctive, and all English majors have the option of combining two of the four degrees for an interesting mix.

At the graduate level, we offer MA and PhD degrees in Rhetoric and in Literary and Cultural Theory as well as an MA in Professional Writing and an innovative program in which Rhetoric teams with CMU's School of Design to offer an MDes in Communication Planning and Design.