Students may major in English, with the options of concentrating in literature or creative writing, or may minor in linguistics or literature.
Student Isobel Rissing in Combs Hall
What do the majors in English and English: Creative Writing do for students?
- They provide the context for intellectual maturity and enhanced creativity.
- They develop a sophisticated understanding of history, culture, and the human condition.
- They prepare students for careers that require critical thinking, communication skills, and the capacity to respond to new challenges.
What opportunities do English and English: Creative Writing students have at UMW?
In addition to coursework studying English and English: Creative Writing, ENLI students have access to such opportunities as:
- High-impact service learning credit in the community through ENGL 399,
- Honors Studies,
- Presentation experience through the annual Kemp Symposium,
- Support for professional experiential learning in internships for credit,
- Study abroad for credit,
- Working with publication of a literary journal,
- Intensive research experience and individualized learning in custom-designed individual studies,
- Experience analyzing writing and providing writing feedback as a consultant in the UMW Writing Center,
- Class field trips to literary sites,
- Department visits by renowned scholars and writers through such various programs, such as the Flywheel Reading Series and the Grellet & Dorothy C. Simpson Program in Medieval Studies.
Students may also combine their studies in English and Linguistics with other majors and minors.
Around campus, students have opportunities to meet and work with other like-minded students on major-related activities, including
- working with and publishing in the Aubade literary journal,
- working with the publication process in and writing for the The Weekly Ringer campus newspaper, or
- writing- and major-related student clubs, which provide leadership and organizational opportunities.
The department participates in and sponsors a variety of topical campus events, including Banned Books Week and the National Day on Writing.
What can graduates with a degree in English do that employers and graduate schools alike find impressive?
- They can write and speak well.
- They can think creatively and, in turn, actively create.
- They can process complex ideas and notice patterns.
- They can understand multiple perspectives.
- They can generate questions and pursue their answers through research.
- They can argue for a particular point of view and evaluate the relative merits of others.
- They can respond to, refer to, recognize, and rely on a wide array of highly regarded thinkers and artists, a body of knowledge that has organized, guided, and inspired human behavior, through narrative, theory, and critique.
UMW graduates have gone on to a variety of different placements with employers and graduate schools.