Department of English Literature and Linguistics

The Bar-Ilan Department of English Literature and Linguistics is composed of two independent, structurally related divisions: English & American Literature and Linguistics. Both divisions value critical thinking in a warm multi-cultural environment that emphasizes diversity and the free exchange of ideas.

About the two divisions

The literature division offers a chance to study English and American literature, both classic and contemporary. In addition to a broad introduction to the great works of literature in English, we offer an array of specialized seminars on such topics as literature and film, literature and gender, the graphic novel, or Jewish American literature. The Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing is part of the English literature MA program and offers an MA degree for writers of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and literary translation. 

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The linguistics division provides students with a thorough training both in theoretical fields, such as syntax, semantics and phonology, and in applied and experimental fields, such as language acquisition, bilingualism, neurolinguistics, reading acquisition, and discourse analysis. Research in the department emphasizes an interdisciplinary and open minded approach to language, and we encourage students from a variety of academic backgrounds to apply to our MA and PhD program: our unique program in Linguistics in Clinical Research allows students coming from a background in fields such as communication disorders to deepen their understanding of the mechanisms involved in human language use; students from backgrounds as diverse as computer science, education or English are welcome to apply to our regular MA and PhD programs in Linguistics.