School navigation
More in English

English

About Us

  • We are a community of scholars, artists, and students dedicated to the study and creation of literature in English. We choose to immerse ourselves in the language’s rich and varied literary tradition, its long history and expansive present, because we believe literature is synonymous with good—ethical and pleasurable—living. Reading, we encounter other people and ideas across time and space. Writing, we give clarity and shape to the world and our experiences of it. These intellectual values are reflected in how we teach and learn. Our faculty devote individual attention to each and every student, and our consistently small classes become intimate intellectual communities in their own right. Join us!


  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/81036_TEX_Acrylic2_detail1_2000x1000px.rev.1572366016.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>
  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/81035_TEX_Acrylic1_detail1_2000x1000px.rev.1572366015.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>
  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/81037_TEX_Acrylic3_detail1_2000x1000px.rev.1572366016.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>
  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/80517_dept_texture-H-1897_1.rev.1569519653.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>
  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/81038_TEX_Acrylic4_detail1_2000x1000px.rev.1572366017.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>
  • <img class="hero_image_placeholder" src="/live/image/gid/296/width/1600/height/470/crop/1/81040_TEX_Chalk1_detail2_2000x1000px.rev.1572366017.jpg" alt="Hero image"/>

  • No one can give you a better sense of what it’s really like to study English at Lewis & Clark than our current students and recent alumni.

  • <div class="flexbox"><div class="student_profile_image item"><a href="/live/profiles/9526-sydney-owada"><img src="/live/image/gid/7/width/310/height/310/crop/1/src_region/0,0,799,559/72910_sydneyowada.rev.1529097737.jpg" alt=""/></a></div><div class="student_profile_content item"><h4><a href="/live/profiles/9526-sydney-owada">Sydney Owada</a></h4><div class="student_profile_details"><div class="student_profile_class">BA ’19</div><div class="student_profile_hometown"><strong>Hometown:</strong> Fresno, California</div><div class="student_profile_extracurriculars"><strong>Extracurriculars:</strong> Pioneer Log opinions editor, LC Dance Company president, Dance X and Y participant/choreographer</div><div class="student_profile_overseas"><strong>Overseas program:</strong> London, England</div><div class="student_profile_quote"><em><p> My favorite class was Medieval Manuscripts with Karen Gross, in which we studied the history of manuscript production and paleography. The practical aspect of this class stands out in my mind as a unique aspect of the type of education Lewis & Clark facilitates: unconventional and widely applicable. </p></em></div></div></div></div>
  • <div class="flexbox"><div class="student_profile_image item"><a href="/live/profiles/9441-arista-engineer"><img src="/live/image/gid/7/width/310/height/310/crop/1/src_region/0,0,800,534/72455_aristaengineer.rev.1527699588.jpg" alt=""/></a></div><div class="student_profile_content item"><h4><a href="/live/profiles/9441-arista-engineer">Arista Engineer</a></h4><div class="student_profile_details"><div class="student_profile_class">BA ’19</div><div class="student_profile_hometown"><strong>Hometown:</strong> Pune, India</div><div class="student_profile_extracurriculars"><strong>Extracurriculars:</strong> Bollywood Club, International Fair, Lunch Host for Admissions, works in the AES Department and Watzek Library</div><div class="student_profile_overseas"><strong>Overseas program:</strong> London, England</div><div class="student_profile_quote"><em><p> The classes on my overseas program in London provided me with opportunities to explore English literature in more varied ways, such as through the study of contemporary works and linguistics.</p></em></div></div></div></div>
  • <div class="flexbox"><div class="student_profile_image item"><a href="/live/profiles/10557-yash-bisht"><img src="/live/image/gid/186/width/310/height/310/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2136/78702_CAS-0419-SPP-Bisht-009.rev.1559249267.jpg" alt=""/></a></div><div class="student_profile_content item"><h4><a href="/live/profiles/10557-yash-bisht">Yash Bisht</a></h4><div class="student_profile_details"><div class="student_profile_class">BA ’21</div><div class="student_profile_hometown"><strong>Hometown:</strong> Dehradun, India, and Singapore</div><div class="student_profile_extracurriculars"><strong>Extracurriculars:</strong> Bollywood Club, Pause Journal, PioLog, Cochair of South Asia for International Fair</div><div class="student_profile_overseas"><strong>Overseas program:</strong> Australia 2020</div><div class="student_profile_quote"><em><p> Eventually, you will find your people and your people will find you.</p></em></div></div></div></div>
  • <div class="flexbox"><div class="student_profile_image item"><a href="/live/profiles/10667-tuse-mahenya"><img src="/live/image/gid/186/width/310/height/310/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2136/78752_CAS-0419-SPP-Mahenya-009.rev.1559686203.jpg" alt=""/></a></div><div class="student_profile_content item"><h4><a href="/live/profiles/10667-tuse-mahenya">Tuse Mahenya</a></h4><div class="student_profile_details"><div class="student_profile_class">BA ’21</div><div class="student_profile_hometown"><strong>Hometown:</strong> Dar es Salaam, Tanzania</div><div class="student_profile_extracurriculars"><strong>Extracurriculars:</strong> Theatre, Student Philanthropy Council, Editorial Meridian Journal, Auditor (ASLC), Student Advisory Board (Career Center), Overnight Host, International Fair, Senior Experience, Literary Review</div><div class="student_profile_overseas"><strong>Overseas program:</strong> South Korea (spring 2020)</div><div class="student_profile_quote"><em><p> No matter what happens, things will always work out for you in the end. It may take time, and I cannot guarantee that it will work out the way you expected, but if there’s anything college has taught me thus far, it’s that you will be just fine.</p></em></div></div></div></div>
  • <div class="flexbox"><div class="student_profile_image item"><a href="/live/profiles/9451-brynn-rova"><img src="/live/image/gid/7/width/310/height/310/crop/1/src_region/0,0,800,534/72468_brynnrova.rev.1527710116.jpg" alt=""/></a></div><div class="student_profile_content item"><h4><a href="/live/profiles/9451-brynn-rova">Brynn Rova</a></h4><div class="student_profile_details"><div class="student_profile_class">BA ’19</div><div class="student_profile_hometown"><strong>Hometown:</strong> Saint Michael, Minnesota</div><div class="student_profile_extracurriculars"><strong>Extracurriculars:</strong> Anything in the theatre department, a cappella, L&C Quidditch Club, Admissions Ambassadors program, Writing Center</div><div class="student_profile_overseas"><strong>Overseas program:</strong> Dublin, Ireland</div><div class="student_profile_quote"><em><p> I’ve always been in love with writing and reading. Books are such an essential part of my past and who I am that I can’t imagine not being an English major.</p></em></div></div></div></div>
Visit Apply to L&C
We welcome your questions.

News and Events

  • The 2020-2021 Dixon Award Application

    The Lewis & Clark College English Department is pleased to announce this year’s application process for the Dixon Award.  Through the efforts of two of our alumni, Hillary and Adam Dixon, this $2,500.00 award was established in 2002 by the Dixon Family Foundation. It is given to one junior English major each year.

  • Letter to majors and minors

    We write today with updates about the fall semester. To borrow from Chaucer, “This world is now ful tikel, sikerly.” We’ve been working through the summer to prepare for the upcoming term, which, as you know, will be an unusually ticklish one due to the pandemic. The situation remains fluid, but we want to give you a sense of how we are currently envisioning our classes. No matter what form our instruction takes, we are committed to preserving your experience of the major.
More  English News and Events »