Skip to content

English at UC Merced

The UC Merced English Program teaches students the story of how stories are made, how they make a difference in the world, and how they form the foundation of knowledge itself.

Stories allow the marginalized to be heard by the powerful: they help humans understand each other’s past and present, and they help us imagine different futures.

At UC Merced, English majors take 24-person seminars throughout their time on campus. Our small class sizes, supportive professors, and brilliant, kind students make our program one of the most nurturing on campus, and in the UC system. There's a reason our English majors talk about our program as a "family"! (Hear from two of them in this recent panel about our program).

The skills of critical thinking, interpretation, and writing that are developed in English classes are valued by multiple professions, including law, education, medicine, business, technology,  journalism, politics, and social work.

Beginning in Fall 2023, the English program will offer two optional emphasis tracks within the major: one in Literature and Social Justice, and another in Literature and the Environment.

Click to learn more about our programs! 

Students, prospective students, and alumni: follow us on Instagram @ucmercedenglish

English program launches tracks in Lit & Social Justice and Lit & Environment
Career-focused tracks will be available beginning in Fall 2023 to all students.
UC Merced English major alumna Shavone Charles merges music, style and tech
VIBE cover story on the groundbreaking author and tech leader talks about her time as an English literature major at UC Merced, and love of books and poetry.
English Majors star in Shakespeare in Yosemite, and work behind the scenes
This year's April production featured several English majors in starring roles, and several contributing as designers, associate directors, film editors, and more
4th year English major featured in LA Times
Kaelyn Hughes ('22) discusses how her Americorps work has helped fund her education, and her dreams to become a teacher
Member of the auntie sewing squad at a red sewing machine
Professor Hong co-edits new book on COVID mask sewing squad
The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice was released by University of California press 

Upcoming Events

Apr
20
Shakespeare in Yosemite returns to the Curry Village Amphitheater in 2023 for live performances of a new 90-minute adaptation of Romeo...
Apr
16
You won’t want to miss this one-night only one-woman show by Lisa Wolpe, who has performed more male Shakespearean roles professionally than...
Mar
21

Zoom

Poetry Reading by Daniel W.K. Lee, author of Anatomy of Want (2019) Please direct questions to Professor. Mai-Linh Hong at hongm@ucmerced.edu...
Mar
10
Talks by Trisha Remetir, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Media and Cultural Studies at UC Riverside, and Julio Vega-Payne,...
Subscribe to English: Literature and Language RSS

Featured News

October 12, 2022
Career-oriented tracks focus coursework on the most pressing contemporary issues.
May 16, 2022
Cat Flores spoke of her time in the UC Merced English program and her work with Merced Shakespearefest, Shakespeare in Yosemite, and Grammy U during her commencement address to the Class of 2022 on...
March 4, 2022
Founding faculty member Dr. Jan Goggans passed in February 2022 and is sorely missed by all who knew her.