The School of English and American Studies consists of five Departments, which jointly teach the knowledge and skills to be acquired by English major students; of these, at the Department of English Studies (DES) we offer courses in the fields of British literary, cultural and political history. Beside our classes in the BA program, our Department participates in the Institute’s MA programmes: we run a specialization in English Literature and participate in the Postcolonial Literatures and Cultures and the British Culture and Society specializations. We run two programmes in the university's Doctoral School of Literary Studies (Modern English and American Literature and Culture; Medieval and Early Modern English Literature and Culture).

As English has become a global language, English Studies has an important role in mediating between international scholarship and the teaching and practicing of the humanities in Hungary. It is perhaps no wonder that numerous important Hungarian writers and literary scholars have been among the students and teachers of our Department  nd of the institutions of its predecessors.

The Department of English Studies stands in a tradition for which literature has a significant role in training students in the humanities; the profile of our Department is therefore determined by the study of literature that aims to develop critical thinking and interpretive skills.

Our students are acquainted with the world of texts, but our perspective is not restricted to English literary history: we practice and teach English philology in a number of other terrains as well, from the cultures of countries with a British colonial past, to the fine arts, the cinematography or the popular culture of the English-speaking world.  

Our faculty has a wide expertise, both with regard to the periods studies (from the Renaissance to the present) and in terms of disciplinary and theoretical approaches (which include philosophical, cultural-historical or political perspectives just as much as traditional philological practices and interpretive methods). Many members of our faculty have published books with leading Hungarian and international publishers and all have a wealth of experience in university teaching. We also seek to involve in our syllabus courses offered by young researchers, and to organize various events that aid talent and enhance a vibrant student life. 

Knowledge about English-language culture has a significant role in finding one’s way in our increasingly globalized world. Our mission is to ensure that our students acquire this knowledge in the spirit and with the philological skills of the culturally literate intellectual.