Undergraduate Studies
New Advising Resources
Please take note of two new ways to recieve advising information regaring the English major and minor. Professor Joanne Tidwell is available to speak with majors about requirements, career paths, or any other aspect of English stuides. You can also get in touch with our student peer advisors, John Davis and Emily Serkedakis.
The English major fosters:
Knowledge of major works of English and American literature, which range in marvelous variety from traditional classics like Beowulf, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's plays, Wordsworth's poetry, novels by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, to exciting works of authors in our own time -- like Toni Morrison and Tom Stoppard. Collateral knowledge of many other fields -- African American studies, anthropology, art history, biography, folklore, economics, social and intellectual history, religious studies, classical and modern languages, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, women's studies, and others -- that help to recover and reveal the significance of great literary works. Persistent training in the techniques by which cultural phenomena of all kinds can be fruitfully studied. Constant attention to the development of students' skills in reasoning and in oral and written communication. The English major offers students an opportunity to develop and enhance reading, writing, creative, and critical abilities which prepare majors for entry into the areas of work, graduate school, and professional school. The program offers a varied and comprehensive curriculum in literature, rhetoric, composition, folklore, language study, film, poetry, critical theory, women's studies, and creative writing. This curriculum structure requires students to enroll in courses that teach them how to analyze and interpret, determine the best outcome, convey thoughts and feelings clearly and effectively in speech and writing.
A degree in English provides a solid academic background with which to begin the career of your choice. It is also excellent preparation for entrance into a variety of graduate school programs. The type of program entered will depend upon your chosen career goals.