Enhance Your Education

Distinctive Programs in English Literature

As an English literature student at Knox, you'll have unique opportunities to visit with and listen to visiting scholars and writers, and to study abroad in extraordinary off-campus programs such as the Newberry Library Program in the Humanities. You will also have the guidance, support and resources necessary to conduct quality independent research.

Student Research and Creative Projects
Knox is a leader in promoting top-notch undergraduate research. In fact, more than 90% of all Knox students complete an independent research or creative project by the time they graduate. Many students' projects are supported by an unusually rich array of Knox College funding programs that together provide students more than $200,000 each year in support of their work. These sources include: Richter Memorial Scholars Program, Ford Foundation Research Fellows Program, Ronald E. McNair Fellows Program and departmentally supported independent studies. In addition, special fellowships awarded to Knox through national competitions and through the research grants of Knox faculty make Knox a leader in promoting top-notch undergraduate research. Examples of some recent student research projects include:

• "Narrative Gaps in Shirley Jackson's 'The Tooth,'" Jordan Newsom '13, English major.
• "Masculine Identity in Updike's Rabbit, Runand Yate's Revolutionary Road," Lindsay Braddy '07, English major.
• "Hemingway and Art Criticism," Hemingway's Visual Space," and "Hemingway and Derrida", Ross Alan Barnes '06, English major.

College Honors
One of the best opportunities preparing English literature majors for graduate school is College Honors. Outstanding students may apply to take College Honors in the senior year, completing an extended research project or creative endeavor, with an oral defense before a faculty committee that includes a visiting scholar. Recent College Honors projects in English include:

• "Modernism's Illuminating Darkness : Dreaming, (Sleep) Walking and Reading the Night City," Deanna Wendel '10.
• "Hero-types and Lost Souls: Trauma, Agency and Identity in the Post-9/11 Landscape of the Young Adult Novel," Megan Molinaro '10.
• "Film Identifications and the Subversive Imagination in Manuel Puig's 'Betrayed by Rita Hayworth' and 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' Elizabeth Barrios '09.
• "Gothic Austen," Rebeccah Bechtold '05.
• "Defining Equivalent: An Examination of the Literary Portraiture of Gertrude Stein with the Photography of Alfred Stieglitz," Ruth Lane '04.
• Multimedia (English, Japanese, Art, Music, Theatre): "Between Creation and Translation: Concept to Story, English to Japanese, Story to Animation," Jasmine Jobe '04.

Off-Campus Programs
Knox offers you plenty of opportunities to begin exploring the world while still a student. Almost 50% of Knox students participate in off-campus study and consider their studies abroad to be the highlight of their college experiences. Programs of interest to students in writing and literature include:

• London and Durham Programs
• London and Florence Program
• Chicago Semester in the Arts
• Newberry Library Program in the Humanities
• Chicago Urban Studies Semester
• Study abroad in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America
• Green Oaks Term

Internships
As a English literature student at Knox, you'll have the opportunity to expand your education-to get that valuable "real world" experience you hear so much about-by completing an internship. Internships provide an opportunity to explore and test career options, to gain experiences and skills needed to succeed as a professional, to build a resume, to network and make critical connections, and to experience a work environment. More and more employers are looking for college graduates with career-related experience. Knox's Center for Career and Pre-Professional Development specializes in helping you find an internship that best matches your goals and interests. Recent internships in English literature include:

• Lab Technician Intern, Clarke Mosquito Control, Roselle, Illinois. Katherine Chi '07, English and biology major.
• Sports Instructor and Camp Counselor, Camp Winaukee, Center Harbor, New Hampshire. Jason Maclin '07, English and educational studies major.
• Summer Intern, World Book Publishing in Chicago, Illinois. Sarah Magin '07, English major.
• Summer Intern, World Book Publishing in Chicago, Illinois. Margaret Poncin '07, English major.
• Intern, Galesburg Register-Mail, Galesburg, Illinois. Cigi Ross '06, English major.