English

Majors and Minors

Faculty and professional interests
Robert Smith, chair
  American literature, literary theory, film studies
Robin Metz, Director, Program in Creative Writing
   Creative writing, modern and contemporary literature, Hemingway, Woolf, Beckett, multidisciplinary arts, environmental literature and arts
Emily Anderson
  Enlightenment literature, Romantic literature, Victorian prose, literary theory, film studies, the gothic
Monica Berlin
  Creative writing, modern and contemporary literature, composition
Claire Falck
  Early modern literature, Shakespeare, Milton
Gina Franco
  Creative writing, British Romantic poetry and prose, Victorian literature, modern and contemporary American poetry, Chicana/Chicano writing, translation
Lori Haslem
  Shakespeare, Renaissance literature and culture, early modern literature and gender studies, Chaucer, literary theory, fairy tale
Sherwood Kiraly
  Creative writing
Cyn Kitchen
  Creative writing
Beth Marzoni
  Modern and contemporary poetry, creative writing
Nick Regiacorte (on leave, Fall 2011)
  Creative writing, modern and contemporary poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, prosody
Katya Reno
  Creative writing
Natania Rosenfeld (on leave, Winter-Spring 2012)
  Modern and contemporary literature, Woolf, postcolonial literature, Jewish literature, poetry, creative writing
Chad Simpson
  Creative writing
Barbara Tannert-Smith (on leave, Fall 2011)
  Creative writing, fiction, creative non-fiction, children's and young adult literature

Distinguished Writer-in-Residence
Robert R. Hellenga

Distinguished Affiliated Scholar
Alex Kuo

Cooperating faculty from other programs
Neil Blackadder, Theatre
John Haslem, Center for Teaching and Learning
Frederick Hord, Black Studies
Paul Marasa, TRIO Achievement Program
Elizabeth Carlin Metz, Theatre
Magali Roy-Féquière, Gender and Women's Studies
Marilyn Webb, Journalism

The study of literature and writing is essential to a liberal arts education. Introductory courses in the English department, with their emphasis on analytical skills, close reading, and literary theory, prepare students to become active interpreters of the world rather than passive consumers of the interpretations of others. Period courses offer students an opportunity to look at the world through other eyes, to imagine their way into modes of thought and understanding very different from those of our own age. Courses in modern and contemporary literature help students articulate and clarify their own responses to the world in which they live. Creative writing courses and workshops challenge students to investigate and explore their place in literary traditions. Skills that are emphasized in all these courses— interpretation, analysis, the ability to look at the world from different perspectives, the ability to articulate feelings and ideas clearly and forcefully—are becoming increasingly rare, and therefore increasingly valuable.

The departmental courses are supported by (a) multiple venues for recognizing outstanding student work, including Catch, a national award-winning literary and art journal devoted to student work, edited by students and published twice a year; the "Writers’ Forum," which provides an opportunity for students to read their own work; and the Caxton Club, which provides a similar forum for visiting scholars and writers and for faculty in English; (b) strong library holdings, including the Hughes Collection of works by Ernest Hemingway and the Lost Generation; and (c) a long tradition (strengthened by the creation of the John and Elaine Fellowes Fund for English Literature and Writing) of bringing to campus scholars and writers of the first rank, including several U.S. poet laureates.

Students may major or minor in either literature or creative writing.

The departmental curriculum contributes to the College's Key Competency Requirements as follows:

• Writing Key Competency - ENG 120, 123, 206, 207, 208, 270, 306, 307, 308, 311, 320, 330, 335, 336, 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 352, 370, 371, and 398 serve as writing-intensive courses for majors
• Speaking Key Competency - For Creative Writing majors: ENG 306, 307, 308 or 311 accompanied by a Writers' Forum reading; and for Literature majors: ENG 398
• Information Literacy and Informed Use of Technology - All 300-level literature courses in the department require students to master informed use of technology, including information retrieval, MLA database use and the critical evaluation of internet resources.

Requirements for the Majors and Minors

English Course Descriptions