English Literature

Program Overview

The English department believes that the study of literature, language, and writing elevates our minds, enlarges our capacity to understand and communicate, and integrates liberal learning. Our curriculum includes courses in British, Irish, American, and postcolonial literatures; film, the history and structure of the language; and creative writing.

Good readers make good writers, creative thinkers, and responsible citizens. Students in the English Department participate in incisive, well-researched, and thoughtful study of literature as well as reflective, innovative, and skillful development of critical and creative writing. Our courses are characterized by frequent discussion, prioritize original analysis, and emphasize independent research.

The English literature major exposes students to a variety of ways of reading, understanding, and writing about literature. Our courses are characterized by frequent discussion and emphasize original analysis and independent research. The requirements for the major ensure that each student will have a grounding in literary history, as well as many opportunities to choose courses that reflect and develop their own particular interests. interests. Students majoring in English Literature choose from an array of courses organized into three central domains:

• Literary Tradition & Aesthetics (e.g. Shakespeare and the Folktale, Modernism)
• Identity & Difference (e.g. Human and Divine in World Literature, Life Writing)
• Place & Power (e.g. Postcolonial Literature, Narratives of Empire)

A system of rotating course topics assures that students have a wide variety of courses to choose from during their four years at Agnes Scott. All English majors take a foundation course, Perspectives on Literature (ENG 280), and a capstone course, Senior Research Seminar (ENG 480), in which they produce a substantial original work of literary criticism. Prospective English majors should enroll in ENG 280 during their second or third year; the prerequisite is one 200-level literature course. A major in English literature prepares students for almost any career in which analysis, writing, reading, research, and communication skills are important. Many of our former students go on to do graduate work in English, journalism, library and information science, film and media studies, and publishing; some recent admissions have included:

• Boston University
• Case Western University
• Emerson College
• Johns Hopkins University
• University of North Georgia

In addition, our students have worked as interns with a wide variety of organizations, including: CNN, the Atlanta History Center, the Smithsonian Institution, the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, the digital publishing venue Her Campus, the scholarly journal a/b: Auto/Biography Studies, the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, and Charis Books & More. Our English majors have also gone on to law school, medical school, journalism school, business school, and other professional programs, or into careers as diverse as teaching secondary English, marketing & communications, data science, publishing, and working for nonprofits, to name only a few. Notable Alums:

• Delaney (Lane) Porter (publishing)
• Claire Romine (publishing)
• Shalima Wellington (finishing PhD at Johns Hopkins)
• Elizabeth Wolfe (reporter with CNN)

What You'll Learn

Students majoring in English Literature take courses emphasizing both breadth and depth of knowledge and addressing a variety of literary periods, genres, and creative approaches. In addition, students hone their skills in literary and cultural analysis, performing original research, and writing for a variety of purposes and audiences. You'll learn to:

• analyze literary works and demonstrate knowledge of major texts and literary traditions, style and convention, and historical, social, and cultural contexts of literatures written in English;
• engage in a writing process that promotes thoughtful, well-researched, and original interpretation and argument about literature and its contexts, in written and oral forms, and for various audiences;
• evaluate works of literary criticism and theory and employ them in analysis of literary and cultural production; and
• apply understanding and knowledge gained from the study of literature to other disciplines, problems, and contexts.