The First- and Second-year English Program coordinates the required sequence of English courses. In general, this sequence is central to the core curriculum of the University and is designed to instruct students in techniques of careful and comprehensive reading and in the process of clear, disciplined, inventive thinking. Above all, the sequence emphasizes the competence that students need to present the products of one or both of these processes in a well-written, reasoned paper that displays skill in manipulating ideas and in using written language to communicate those ideas to an audience.

The First- and Second-year English Office provides support to the teachers of the courses in this sequence and to the students enrolled in these courses.