The Department of English offers a curriculum that traverses historical eras and global boundaries to explore various literatures and critical approaches to them. The Department has reimagined what it means to teach the humanities by integrating eight multidisciplinary research centers into its courses and programs. These research clusters provide an innovative complement to the classroom, allowing undergraduate students to collaborate with faculty and post-doctoral and visiting scholars.

Our undergraduate programs are research-intensive and production-based. As part of our research-hub model, we encourage students to choose from seven specializations: American Cultures; Early Modern Studies; Literatures & Cultures of Information; Literature & the Environment; Literature & the Mind; Medieval Literature; and Modern Literature and Critical Theory. On all these fronts, we prepare our students to study, write, design, and perform the imaginative arts to transform everyday worlds.

Ben Olguín, a professor in UC Santa Barbara's English Department, discusses the department's interdisciplinary studies in art and politics across time and place. This video was produced by UCSB Instructional Development.

The UCSB Department of English is proud to foster an inclusive, interdisciplinary culture that challenges students to do their best work with the support and guidance of stellar faculty mentors. Watch our impressive students in action as they explain what they love about UCSB English.

The English Broadside Ballad Archive has digitized over 7000 Broadside Ballads that were produced between the 16th and 19th centuries. Not only do they transcribe and photograph the artwork, they also record the ballads as they would have been sung during the time of their mass popularity.

Follow these links to the work of our undergraduates in two publications: Emergence, a journal associated with a research fellowship, and the student-run zine The Catalyst.

Related Programs

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Early Modern Center
Early Modern Center

The Early Modern Center is the English Department's locus for students and faculty working in sixteenth- through eighteenth-century studies, offering courses, conferences, and special events, and supporting collaborative on-line projects, including EBBA.

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American Cultures & Global Contexts Center
American Cultures & Global Contexts Center

The Center builds upon our campus’s considerable strengths in American Studies by offering an interdisciplinary setting for new research and teaching initiatives.

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English News & Features

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Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Beyond the Technology
Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Beyond the Technology

Nowadays, machines are so technologically advanced that they can handle problems humans are ordinarily responsible for. But, we should view artificial intelligence in cultural rather than technological terms, French AI researcher Alexandre Gefen recently told a UC Santa Barbara audience at an event sponsored by the Comparative Literature Program and the English Department’s Transcriptions Center.

Race in the Literature of the American Dream
Race in the Literature of the American Dream

The American Dream promises idealistic notions of upward mobility and economic prosperity, but is this narrative really accessible for all? In a recent Zoom event hosted by UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, English professor Swati Rana discussed her new book, “Race Characters: Ethnic Literature and the American Dream.” The event was part of the IHC Humanities Decanted series, which highlights faculty members’ new work in an online interview/dialogue format.

HFA Speaks: An Earth Day Agenda
HFA Speaks: An Earth Day Agenda

Each of us can take meaningful steps to lower our carbon footprint and help the planet, Humanities and Fine Arts faculty members told a UC Santa Barbara audience at HFA Speaks: An Earth Day Agenda. English professor Ken Hiltner and Film and Media Studies professor Alenda Chang shared their vast knowledge and interdisciplinary insights with students to honor Earth Day.

A Contemporary Take on Classics
A Contemporary Take on Classics

Classics departments often struggle against the perception that they are stuck in the past. Focusing on ancient stories has nothing to do with us today, right? Visiting professor Stephen Trzaskoma argues otherwise, and his efforts are among the many ways UCSB Classics is engaging with contemporary life.

Student Spotlight: Hannah George Gets Creative at the Newspaper
Student Spotlight: Hannah George Gets Creative at the Newspaper

Hannah George is a third-year English major at UCSB. After three years of working for The Daily Nexus as an Artsweek writer, she is now working towards becoming a professional journalist.

Student Spotlight: Molly McAnany Shares Her Passion for Ireland
Student Spotlight: Molly McAnany Shares Her Passion for Ireland

A Student Spotlight on Molly McAnany, a fourth-year double major in political science and english. McAnany shares her passion for music, classic literature, and educating others. She is able to combine all of these passions in her radio show on KCSB, “Shamrocked,“ where she airs Irish music and poetry.

A Literary Approach to Mental Illness
A Literary Approach to Mental Illness

Jesse Miller, a postdoctoral fellow of English and medical humanities at UCSB, is teaching an English course this spring called U.S. Cultures of Mental Illness. In a recent interview, Miller discussed his goals in designing the course and its relevance in the current social climate that has resulted from the coronavirus pandemic.

How Medieval Literature Briefed Me for a Pandemic
How Medieval Literature Briefed Me for a Pandemic

While social media can turn the COVID-19 pandemic into a creativity contest, UCSB English major Sarah Danielzadeh learned from Shakespeare’s “King Lear” that it’s normal to feel unmotivated during this period of chaos.

Finding Faulkner Facsimiles For UCSB Students
Finding Faulkner Facsimiles For UCSB Students

To celebrate the recent addition of facsimiles of original William Faulkner manuscripts, the UC Santa Barbara library last week displayed a few of the volumes at an event where five undergraduate scholars in the English department presented their research, all of whom utilized the literary papers.

The 44 volumes of facsimiles — exact or high-quality copies — of original hand-written and typed manuscripts from renowned author William Faulkner, are now housed in the library’s Special Research Collections.

Writing the Future: UCSB Leads a Climate Initiative for Educators
Writing the Future: UCSB Leads a Climate Initiative for Educators

UC Santa Barbara English professor Ken Hiltner sat down to discuss NXTerra, an online archive with tools for educators to teach climate change.

English Major Aims to Share Her Love for Literature
English Major Aims to Share Her Love for Literature

In an interview, fourth-year English major and Education minor Cynthia Montes discusses her pursuit of a career teaching high school English. As president of the UCSB Literature Club, she is already showing leadership in her chosen field.

Salomón Huerta Paints to Make Chicanx Life Visible
Salomón Huerta Paints to Make Chicanx Life Visible

Los Angeles painter Salomón Huerta presented UCSB students, staff, and community members with artworks that were deeply influenced by his personal life. His paintings are on display at the Art, Design, and Architecture Museum as part of the ¡Chicanismo! collection, which was mounted in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Chicano/a Studies Department at UCSB.

Finding Purpose as a Writing Tutor
Finding Purpose as a Writing Tutor

Fourth-year English major and writing minor William Kang reflects on his writing experience at UCSB, including his position as a tutor at Campus Learning Assistance Services.

The Risks and Rewards of Environmental Journalism
The Risks and Rewards of Environmental Journalism

The job of an environmental journalists is to take the scientific language of research studies and clarify it in a concise manner for the general public. It is their responsibility to inform the public on the current state of the environment. 

In a recent interview, Kayla Curtis-Evans shared what drew her to pursue this field and what she plans to achieve in the future.

A Rewarding Collaboration: The Arnhold Research Program Brings Students Together
A Rewarding Collaboration: The Arnhold Research Program Brings Students Together

As a transfer student spending his first year at UC Santa Barbara Omar Reyes is still figuring what he wants to do during his time at college. Through a project in the English Department’s Arnhold Undergraduate Research Fellow Program, Reyes has learned to balance his individual work with finding community and seeking knowledge from his colleagues.