The First Year English courses at Stetson University are set up so that every student, no matter the level of preparation, acquires the writing skills necessary for academic success. Each course prepares students for the next by steadily practicing the skills of effective writing, research, argument, and analysis. Each course takes a slightly different approach to teaching the skills we think are the most important: critical thinking, rhetorical dexterity, audience analysis, research skills, and so forth.

Our faculty have years of experience in the classroom, teaching the principles of composition in both composition and literature. Among our distinguished teaching faculty are winners of awards for teaching excellence, authors of textbooks and handbooks, creative writers, and non-fiction authors. We bring a lot to the classroom.

The Department of English also houses the Stetson University Writing Center. This tutoring lab is one of the most popular on campus, because the tutors are well trained and have often been students themselves of the same faculty assigning First Year English essays.