The English major at Wheaton reflects the dynamic nature of English studies today. The traditional canon of British and American literature is being challenged and expanded, popular culture is vying for attention with classic literature, and new theoretical perspectives are changing the ways we read. The English curriculum at Wheaton has changed with the discipline, featuring literary theory and cultural studies and widening course offerings to include film; romance; African, Caribbean, and Irish literature; and fantasy, among other exciting new topics. Wheaton faculty research, often undertaken with student collaboration, is in the forefront of the changes in the field of English studies.

The English department allows students to take a 10-course major, with minimal distribution requirements, or to pursue an 11-course concentration. The concentrations currently being offered include:

Drama Poetry Creative Writing Popular Culture Colonial/Postcolonial Literature Medieval/Renaissance Studies Literature, Film and Race

 

Students are welcome to propose their own concentrations as well. For more information on the new concentrations within the English major, see the course catalog.

The department offers a major in dramatic literature and theatre, administered jointly by the Theatre and English departments. It includes a minimum of eleven courses, at least four from the offerings of the English Department and seven from the Theatre Department, some of which bring together the work taken in the two departments. Courses in dramatic writing and writing for performance allow students to bring the creative writing offerings of the English department into the performance focus of the Theatre department.

Courses in creative writing, Renaissance theatre, film studies, contemporary poetry , and Chaucer (to name but a few) bring literature and culture to life through dynamic teaching. Many faculty members in the department have published articles about teaching, and all are committed to the lively sharing that marks the best kind of classroom. We all teach first-year writing as well as literature, culture, and theory, and graduates leave the department with writing and analytical skills honed to their sharpest.

Our graduates go on to law school, graduate programs in creative writing and literature, and training in such graduate professional programs as social work. They can be found working as literary agents, television producers, editors, web designers, public relations professionals, and officers in nonprofit organizations, to name just a few professions. Wheaton's Filene Center for Work and Learning keeps track of our grads and helps current students make links with alums for internships.

The study of English prepares our students to write and to read, to analyze and to critique, to argue and to come to consensus. Working with literary and cultural theory, in specialist courses and in the department curriculum as a whole, helps to make students better readers of their world, more educated consumers of popular culture, and better interpreters of literary texts. In short, English studies makes students ready to listen, to learn, and to write with conviction about what matters most to them.

The English Department strongly supports writing in all its many forms. Every member of our faculty teaches first-year writing in limited-enrollment classes of sixteen. We offer additional support to writing through our peer-tutoring program and the College Learning Center Writing Associates. Click on this link for more information on the New Model of Writing at Wheaton.

 

 

Design by: Academic Computing
Content by: Paula Krebs, (Paula_Krebs@wheatonma.edu)
Last update: 9/13/02