The founding of the English Department at Rutgers College coincided with the beginning of a revolutionary era in the development of the discipline itself. Although Rutgers was founded in 1766 (as Queen's College), nearly a century was to pass before the study of English language and literature was to gain recognition and legitimacy in the academic world. Still, despite its gradual beginnings, the formal program of English at Rutgers was one of the first to be established in American universities.
Up until the late nineteenth century, most academic activity related to what we now know as English was centered largely on rhetoric rather than the study of literature. Learning classical languages and practicing public speaking were the main goals of humanistic education, reflecting rhetoric's link to institutional religion. Students were trained to debate, make speeches, and give sermons as part of their ecclesiastical preparation... read more
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The founding of the English Department at Rutgers College coincided with the beginning of a revolutionary era in the development of the discipline itself. Although Rutgers was founded in 1766 (as Queen's College), nearly a century was to pass before the study of English language and literature was to gain recognition and legitimacy in the academic world. Still, despite its gradual beginnings, the formal program of English at Rutgers was one of the first to be established in American universities. 
