The Department of English, General Literature and Rhetoric offers students the opportunity to study literature and language in a deep and complex manner. Concentrations are available in global culture, creative writing, and rhetoric. Literature courses deal broadly with genres and themes from the past and present, and teach students how to read and analyze texts, creative writing courses foster the development of serious creativity, rhetoric courses deal with both the theory and practice of communication, as well as the history of oral and written argument. Students in the Creative Writing program at Binghamton University learn critical thinking and reading in a creative context. For students who are strong writers and interested in writing fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, the chance to be part of a community of writers while working with our internationally recognized faculty is not just an opportunity to prepare for a career - the ability to think critically and communicate well cuts across almost all jobs, and our graduates have gone on to work in almost any field you can think of - but also to understand how your own voice fits within the vital continuum of literature.