English Teaching Degree (BA) | Indiana State University

Why Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in English Teaching at Indiana State?

Indiana State’s Bachelor of Arts in English Teaching combines the study of literature, writing, and language to provide comprehensive knowledge of content and teaching methods for future teachers of English or language arts at the middle school or high school levels.

Help Meet the Demand for English Teachers

With close to a 100 percent job placement rate, our English Teaching graduates are in demand across the state and are equipped to succeed thanks to hands-on experiences in their specialized English courses and in-service training in professional education classes. Optional minors are offered in creative writing and professional and public writing.

Learn from Our Excellent Faculty

As an English Teaching major at Indiana State, you will benefit from small classes taught by faculty with diverse specialties, including British and American literature, rhetoric, and creative writing. Most hold doctoral degrees, and many publish books and articles, conduct research, edit journals, and speak at national and international conferences.

The English Department has long been recognized for excellence in teaching, research, and service. Recent awards include the Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award; the Theodore Dreiser Distinguished Research and Creativity Award; the Faculty Distinguished Service Award; and the President’s Medal, the University's highest award for faculty.

Enrich Your Learning

The English Department also recognizes the need to promote a spirit of camaraderie, scholarship, and professional development. Toward that end, you will have opportunities to join student organizations sponsored by the Department, including the Sigma Tau Delta honor society and the Creative Writing Society, and to participate in the Landini Memorial Seminars.

You can also gain editing and publishing experience working on Allusions, an award-winning journal of student creative writing and visual art; and the Plane Tree, a biannual literary journal edited by creative writing students and faculty.

You will meet contemporary writers and scholars at Department events, including the Joseph S. Schick Lecture Series, the Bash Lectures in Modern American Literature Series, and the Theodore Dreiser Visiting Writer Series.

What You’ll Learn in the English Teaching Program

As an English Teaching major, you will complete coursework in the following areas:

British literature
American literature
English language
Grammar
Literary analysis
Multicultural literature
Writing
Creative writing

You will develop teaching skills through classroom and field experiences, and with a required student teaching experience.

Note: If you are considering graduate work in English, you should take substantial work in at least one foreign language.

Transfer Credit

Indiana State University accepts credit from regionally accredited colleges and universities within the United States, and from selected schools located outside the United States. Credit also may be granted for military training and experience. Previously earned college credit can be applied toward completion of the program per Indiana State's transfer guidelines.

Transfer Guidelines

Career Possibilities for English Teaching Majors

The English Teaching Program prepares students to teach English or language arts at the middle school or high school levels. In addition, the program provides valuable communication skills that are in demand for administrative and writing careers in education, business, industry, and government.

A major in English Teaching also serves as excellent preparation for advanced study in English and related areas, for research, and for law school.

White female faculty member with glasses smiling at the camera

Writing workshops lend added dimension to literary studies.

Literature is fun. Especially if you’re in one of the writing workshops offered by Emily Capettini, associate professor of English at Indiana State University.

Learn more about Professor Capettini & the Creative Writing Program