There are a number of factors that make the English Program special. Like all HPU programs, we benefit from the diversity of our community, and from small class size, but there are three factors that make us unique:

FACULTY EXPERTISE

Students in HPU’s English program learn from experienced faculty who are experts in their fields. Many of the English faculty members are practicing creative writers; each term, a reading showcases their poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama.

IMAGINATIVE AND DIVERSE APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

Students can choose from offerings in literature, writing, or film, and the curriculum includes works by British, American, Asian, local, and post-colonial writers. Recent popular courses include Monsters in Literature and Popular Culture; Sex, Power, & Narrative; Theoretical Perspectives on Video Games, Shakespeare on Screen, and Woman and Madness.

HANDS-ON APPROACH

The English program offers many opportunities for creative writing, editorial experience, and teaching/tutoring students in composition. Students who want to work even more extensively on their writing can also complete the Writing Minor by taking only four additional courses. In addition, HPU provides students the option to move directly into the Master’s in Education Program at HPU. Students who choose this option are able to obtain both their BA in English and a Master of Education degree in teaching English in just five years by enrolling in the School of Education’s 4 + 1 Program.

MISSION

Hawai‘i Pacific University is an international learning community set in the rich cultural context of Hawai‘i. Students from around the world join us for an American education built on a liberal arts foundation. Our innovative undergraduate and graduate programs anticipate the changing needs of the community and prepare our graduates to live, work, and learn as active members of a global society.

VISION

Hawai‘i Pacific University’s highly personalized, student-centered approach offering applied, experiential, and innovative educational programs will prepare our graduates to make a positive impact in their workplaces and their communities.

VALUES

The faculty, staff, students, and overall university community of Hawai‘i Pacific embrace the following values as representative of the spiritual, ethical, and philosophical principles that support our community, as well as of the aspirational ideals to which we collectively aspire.

PONO, meaning righteous, honest and moral, and an energy of necessity.

KULEANA, meaning responsibility and rights, and concern for all interests, property, and people.

ALOHA, meaning hello, goodbye, love, kindness and grace, unity, humility, patience, and waiting for the right moment.