About the Faculty

Oxford’s English Faculty is the largest in Britain, and one of the most illustrious Schools of English in the world. Established in 1894, it has numbered among its members some of the most important critics and scholars in the field, including Julia Briggs, Terry Eagleton, Barbara Everett, Helen Gardner, Hermione Lee, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others. Graduates of the English Faculty include writers such as Caryl Churchill, Jan Morris, Jeanette Winterson and Hari Kunzru, journalists Lynn Barber and Reeta Chakrabarti, the High Court judge Deirdre Fotrell and lawyer-poet Monica Youn, actors Sam West and Emilia Fox, and activists Stuart Hall and Naseem Khan.

We are now home to nearly eighty Professors, Readers, and Lecturers, with about the same number again of Tutors and Research Fellows based in Colleges. At any one time, there are roughly nine hundred students studying within the Faculty at undergraduate level, and another three hundred at graduate level in the largest English graduate school in the country.

Traditionally, teaching and research in the Faculty has covered the entire history of literature in English from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day, along with language studies. More recent growth areas include world literature and film studies. All areas of study and research are amply provided for by the English Faculty Library.

The English Faculty works closely with the Disability Advisory Service and the Colleges to provide support for disabled students and fully supports the University's Common Framework for Supporting Disabled Students. The Faculty's Disability Lead is Professor Simon Horobin, Chair of the Faculty Board, and the Disability Coordinator is Andy Davice. Please do not hesitate to contact Andy Davice if you have any questions about disability support in the English Faculty.

The English Faculty has two harassment advisors who can offer support to staff and students who think they are being harassed in any way. Should you have any concerns about harassment, please contact Professor Rachel Burns or Professor Andrew Klevan.
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Faculty Teaching

 

Faculty students sat around coffee table informally talking