English - BA

The English major promotes interrogation, analysis, and evaluation of a wide range of authors, characters, themes, plots, and styles in world literature. By studying and applying literary criticism, students learn to appreciate the power of written language and the ways in which literature articulates and reflects social, political, and cultural contexts. Students are encouraged to relate literary insights to their own lives as they become sensitive and ethical problem-solvers. Students reflect on their values and, ideally, discover something about what it means to be a socially responsible citizen. They are exposed to varied worldviews that help them to value diversity and to consider the opinions of others. Students learn to identify the techniques of professional writers, inculcate habits of critical thinking, and discover their own voices and styles through the written word. Literary studies are therefore crucial to a liberal arts curriculum both in the development of a student’s expressive abilities and the cultivation of intellectual inquiry. Graduates may deploy their acquired talents in a broad range of careers in law, journalism, advertising, public relations, publishing, communications, library science, technical writing, government, business, and education.