Department of English: Literature, Teaching, Pre-Law, and Creative & Professional Writing
Join Team English! Tracing our literary roots to Charles W. Chesnutt, the first great African American novelist, we are the department that helps our students to create their own destinies. Strong reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills afford English: Literature, Teaching, Pre-Law, and Creative & Professional Writing (ETLW) majors with the ability to succeed at numerous careers or advanced degree programs, including law school or at a job in education, advertising, publilc relations, human resources, sales departments, marketing, finance, journalism, publishing, editing, technical writing, the arts, in effect at an array of corporate, government, and profit/nonprofit sectors. English majors are in high demand as they are needed in every institution, organization, and company.
Students who opt for an English major may earn the English Language & Literature (BA) degree along with the possibility of three optional concentrations that offer a specific focus: Teaching Licensure Concentration (Secondary English 9-12), Pre-Law Concentration, and Creative & Professional Writing Concentration. FSU’s English online degree program allows students to complete upper-division (junior and senior level) courses online.
Announcements
Welcome to our newest English major, Cadyn Taylor! In opting for a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with a Teaching/licensure Concentration 9-12, Cadyn will be better prepared to enter the exciting world of High School English Teaching! Most graduates find a position before graduation during or shortly after their student teaching, what we now call here "clinical experience."
UNCW's Dr Meghan Sweeny is recruiting FSU English graduates for their MA program. Not only is UNC Wilmington close to the beach, the Department has some Teaching and Research assistant positions available as well as scholarships for the upcoming fall semester. At UNCW students work closely with professors to do meaningful work in classes such as digital humanities, grant writing, poetry, and more. Graduate MA English students are encouraged to do independent studies and internships too. If interested, contact Dr Sweeny - sweeneym@uncw.edu - today!
Are you a Graduating Senior? To plan to walk across the stage, shake the hand of our Dean, and receive a Diploma (the blue folder - diploma will be mailed to you), you must apply to graduate by APR 30. To be included in the commencement booklet, please apply by MAR 30. The graduation application portal will close APR 30 and reopen MAY 15 to let more students graduate who qualify.
English Department student editors are now accepting a wide variety of submissions for the Fall 2023 issue of the student publication - SPEAK. This literary and social action journal showcases a wide range of viewpoints and activities. Pieces written by FSU students between JAN 2022 and MAY 2023 are eligible for this collection. Collaborative papers are encouraged and will be considered as well. All submissions for the Fall 2023 issue must be received by MAY 20. If interested, please contact managing editor Yvonna Johnson - yjohnson1@broncos.uncfsu.edu.
Davidson College is looking for students to be a part of their 2023 Davidson Research Initiative. The Davidson Research Initiative (DRI) is a mentored summer undergraduate research experience that lasts from eight to ten weeks (mentor dependent) between the months of May and August at Davidson College. The students selected to participate are paired with a Davidson College faculty member and a Davidson College DRI scholar to engage in collaborative research. Participants receive $15.00 per hour and up to $1000 for supplies or travel related to the research project. If interested, please contact the Grants Coordinator at salangenwalter@davidson.edu, and/or Prof Nicole Snyder (DRI program director) at nisnyder@davidson.edu.
Calling all Senior English Majors who plan to graduate in May! Please visit the web site Lead for North Carolina where it is noted how many professionals would like to hire recent graduates to work on transformative community projects. Projects include hurricane recovery and resiliency, economic development, citizen engagement initiatives, affordable housing, public health, and more! Benefits include receiving a stipend of $33,000 for an eleven-month service agreement (AUG 7 – JUL 8), a SEGAL Education Grant for $6,895 to pay back student debt or cover tuition in grad school, health insurance, student loan deferment and forbearance, graduate credits from UNC-Chapel Hill, and executive coaching and training. Although it sounds too good to be true, it is not! If interested, please contact Dylan Russell at russell@sog.unc.edu with questions about this opportunity.
Senior graduates who would like to move to the Triangle area please contact Wake County School System’s Mr. Patrick Standifer, an FSU alum, who plans to hire High School English Teachers, whether certified or lateral entry. The starting salary is $41,800. Need help tweeking your current resume, contact Dr Nyman at mnyman@uncfsu.edu.
PHOTOS: Open House 2023
What does an FSU degree in English offer?
The great variety of English courses we offer prepare our students for law school and for careers in teaching, technical writing, publishing, public relations, marketing, finance, news media, and the arts. Our graduates are editors, lawyers, community organizers, entrepreneurs, and educators—some alumni even teach overseas.
An Epic Major
From Chaucer to Chesnutt, “Beowulf” to Batman, and Romanticism to rap, English is epic in variety, vitality, and versatility. Just as books are windows to the world, English opens doors to a myriad of careers. Witness English majors Clarence Thomas, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and Reese Witherspoon, the Academy Award-winning actor who played a lawyer onscreen in Legally Blonde.
Studying English can lead to law school, but strong reading, writing, speaking, analyzing, and researching skills can make a job in education, advertising, public relations, marketing, finance, journalism, publishing, editing, technical writing, the arts, or the public or non-profit sectors happen. Many English majors fashion careers that serve their abilities and proclivities, including teaching in Europe or China.
Building on the legacy of Charles Chesnutt, the first great African American novelist and former FSU leader, the Department of English offers programs and curricula that explore the relationship among language, literature, history, culture, and new media. We offer a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature, with optional concentrations in Pre-Law, Teaching Secondary English 9-12 with Licensure, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Creative & Professional Writing. Our innovative/interative classes are taught by faculty who are distinguished scholars, experienced editors, and award-winning authors.
Our Department seeks to equip students with research, communication, and critical thinking skills in preparation for diverse, innovative, and global career options in fields ranging from education and law to business and the non-profit sector. The English Department incorporates high-impact practices, such as service learning, internships in marketing and publishing, and a senior culminating experience into its curriculum in its ongoing efforts to provide our students with high-quality teaching as well as practical and innovative training within the discipline. This approach helps to ensure that students are both engaged with the field's history and with its most cutting-edge trends, while also demonstrating the value of the humanities within the wider communities of Cumberland County, the state of North Carolina, and beyond.
Through pedagogy grounded in current trends in the digital humanities and cultural studies, as well as innovative scholarship on topics ranging from political rhetoric and African-American aesthetics to medieval literature, our mission is to stress the value of the humanities and the flexibility of the English major while providing a solid liberal arts education for our students.
