Creative Writing, English, Philosophy/Religion, Women's and Gender Studies

English & The Humanities
The University of Maine at Farmington’s English & The Humanities area incorporates many different academic areas: Creative Writing, English, Philosophy/Religion, and Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as Foreign Languages.

Farmington’s English program is a traditional and widely respected Arts and Sciences degree, in which students work their way through a series of increasingly sophisticated and complex approaches to English and American literature. It features small classes, in which students develop important skills in writing, critical thinking, and detailed text analysis.

Our renowned Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program is the only such degree program in Maine and one of only three in New England. Classes are typically no larger than 15 students and our Creative Writing majors enjoy a close working relationship with their professors. Farmington’s Creative Writing program truly treats writing as an art form and each student improves and grows as a true writer of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, while learning skills valuable to journalism, technical writing, publishing, advertising, and public relations.

Together, Philosophy and Religion comprise the study of humanity's efforts to arrive at answers to life's most fundamental questions. Philosophy/Religion majors study well-reasoned arguments, the history and subfields of philosophy, and the world's great religions. Students might go from a discussion of Buddhism — to an examination of Nietzsche's analysis of morality — to a lecture on Plato's theory of the soul.

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program at UMF uses gender as a lens for enhancing our perspective on all fields of knowledge, and focuses on how women around the world live and tell their lives. Our Women’s and Gender Studies program supports events throughout the year that highlight issues of importance to women, including: the annual Nordica Celebration of Women in the Arts, the Maine Women’s Studies conference, Ripple, a feminist magazine designed and written by UMF students, and more.

UMF also offers numerous possibilities for those wishing to expand their foreign language skills. Courses in French, German, and Spanish are taught by continuing faculty, and visiting international scholars teach Chinese and Russian each year.