The Department of English affords students a rich undergraduate education in the liberal arts centered on literature, cultural studies, and writing. Critical, professional, or creative writing projects are integral to every course in the English major. Students and faculty in the English Department discuss and write about British, American, and global literatures, rhetoric, technical and professional communication, new media, and film. A range of theoretical approaches are used, sometimes with a focus on visual rhetoric and cultural studies. The department also offers the Creative Writing Program, which provides students with a coherent course of study in the writing of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction and the Professional Writing Program, which focuses on the theories, ethics, and practice of writing in industry and public contexts. The English major prepares students to read and write critically, to bring intellectual flexibility to academic and professional problems, and to enter the workforce as individuals with trained skills in analysis and self-expression.