Want to immerse yourself in other cultures, other times, and other peoples' lives?

From Chaucer to Shakespeare to the Harlem Renaissance, Oakton's English department provides the opportunity for students to explore and understand human relationships and motivations while developing critical reading, thinking, and writing skills -- essential tools for personal and professional success.

In Oakton's small classes, students can expect individual attention and feedback as they develop as writers, readers, and thinkers.

College composition courses are required for an associate's degree in any field, for professional programs like nursing, and for transferring to a four-year college or university. Other courses include creative, technical, and screenwriting as well as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama from the major literary periods. Each semester the department also offers special topics classes such as Studies in Shakespeare; Caribbean Literature; or Gender, Identity, and Literature. 

Courses in developmental reading and writing prepare students to succeed in all their college courses -- and to take college writing and reading classes. If English is not your native language, Oakton's English as a Second Language program (limited to 20 students per class) provides in-depth instruction in reading, writing, and speaking for both credit and non-credit students. The College also prepares teachers of ESL through courses in linguistics, theory, and methods.

Outside of class, students can take advantage of diverse programs such as the Chicago Writers Series that brings celebrated authors and poets to campus for a season of readings and discussions. Recent visitors have included Kevin Coval, Stuart Dybek, Idris Goodwin, and Aleksandar Hemon.  

Most English classes have prerequisites, either the English Placement Test or an ACT score. 

To find out more about the opportunities in English at Oakton, please see English Department Contacts, or contact Lynn Woodbury, department chair, at 847.635.1953 or woodbury@oakton.edu.