The primary mission of the English Department is to create communities of learning in which students can enter into the power of language. Through the study of literature in English across global and historical cultures, the study of film and critical theory, the discipline of writing in a variety of genres, and the constant practice of collaboration, we lead students toward a comprehension of the complexity of their world, of themselves, and of the way word and image shape reality. Throughout history, writers and readers have acted as witnesses to the human situation, never more so than in the twenty-first century. Ultimately, we aim for our students to become witnesses in and for the word.