About the Program
Dive into global literature and cultural texts in the Literary Studies program. Explore diverse eras and genres while building skills in writing, analysis, and critical thinking. Prepare for careers in writing, media, publishing, or graduate study.
The Polytechnic Experience
Study modern dramas, classic mythologies, and epics across time. Prepare for your career through service and activity courses applying your knowledge. Analyze literature and texts in collaborative projects, engage with diverse media, and create interpretations through writing and research. Hands-on learning deepens your connection and prepares you for creative, analytical careers.
Career Outcomes
Courses
Cal Poly Pomona’s Literary Studies option in the Bachelor of Arts in English provides students with a diverse background in literature, creative writing, and linguistics. Students explore a decentered canon of literature across space and time, and cutting across genres as diverse as film, poetry, comics, drama, and novels. Over the course of the program, students complete a “polytechnic experience” course that provides hands-on experiences and professional development skills. Graduates are equipped with strong critical thinking, research, and communication skills that are suited for a variety of professions.
Scholarships and Contests
The Lillian Wilds Scholarship
The Lillian Wilds Scholarship honors Professor Lillian Wilds (1926-1985) and provides $1500 support to full-time English and Modern Languages majors in the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. Applicants must be involved in Shakespeare. Professor Wilds was a deeply admired teacher who was especially noted for her work as a major proponent of using performance approaches in literature classrooms to explore Shakespeare's plays and Renaissance drama in general. The extraordinary quality of her work was recognized when she was selected as Cal Poly Pomona's Outstanding Professor and its nominee for the 1982-1983 CSU Outstanding Professor award. Shortly after her death, the Lillian Wilds Scholarship was established with funds donated by her husband, Lee Wilds, and by colleagues and students who wanted to honor her pioneering work. Since its inception, her son Daniel Wilds and his wife, Linda, have generously made further contributions to the endowment.
Professor, English medieval literature Recipient of the 2014 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Alison Baker
“I teach literature. More than that, I teach reading — reading for depth and understanding, reading for appreciation and enjoyment, reading that provides a way to take in the world and decide thoughtfully what, if anything, to do with it. Not only has this helped my students become readers, but also helped them become teachers of reading."