Why English?
Concentrations
- Publishing and Printing Arts
- Literature (See also Childrens Literature)
- Writing
Written works preserve our history, describe our current reality and color our future beyond imagination. Whether you aspire to analyze literature or write it, the study of English offers a versatile and challenging major. Through reading we have the opportunity to live a thousand lives, while writing with care and imagination can reveal new self-truths. A disciplined experience with the written word develops broad vision, fresh insight, and the more sophisticated skills of analysis, interpretation and communication.
Why PLU?
PLU's English program offers emphases in literature and writing, as well as concentrations in children's literature and publishing. English offers excellent preparation for any future requiring integrative thinking, skill in writing, discernment in reading, appreciation of human experience and aesthetic values, or the mastery of critical and creative expression. There are three areas of concentration:
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Publishing and Printing Arts
For more than twenty years Pacific Lutheran University’s Department of English has offered a way to help students translate a love of books into an exciting professional career in publishing. One of only a few such programs in the country, PLU’s distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum in Publishing and Printing Arts (PPA) is highly respected by employers. It combines pre-professional skills and experience, with the solid foundation of a liberal arts education. PPA is a six-course minor that gives students with talent and interest in writing, graphic design, communication or business a head start into the world of publishing and a broad variety of related professions.The Publishing and Printing Arts program is an especially valuable complement to majors concerned with language and the written word, majors such as English, other languages, education, public relations, journalism, marketing and graphic design. Students majoring in a wide spectrum of disciplines—from biology to music to religion—have also discovered the value of a PPA minor. It helps to connect them to publishing career opportunities in their field, and provides a richer understanding of the complex roles that written communication plays in our modern world. Go to www.plu.edu/~ppa/Alumni.html to find out what jobs recent PPA graduates have.
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Literature
The PLU literature program introduces students to the great literary traditions of Britain, North America and the English-speaking world, as well as courses in ethnic American, women’s and world literature. At the heart of the program are courses organized by historical period, allowing students to read the great works that define the periods and explore the ways in which cultural contexts have an impact on the literary imagination.Students who select the emphasis on literature can expect to learn how educated readers engage texts through their own speaking and writing. They will develop confidence in their insights and grow more sophisticated in constructing effective literary arguments. Students also are introduced to the ways in which major critical traditions frame our approaches to literature, and define the issues that keep literature meaningful and relevant in our lives.
The Children’s Literature Program is a special feature of the English Department. By taking three Children’s Literature classes, a student can receive a Special Proficiency in Children’s Literature certificate and a notation on their transcript. PLU’s Mortvedt Library houses a special research collection of children’s books. For more information about Children's Literature at PLU, contact Suzanne Rahn at 253-535-7313.
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Writing
The Writing Emphasis offers English majors an opportunity for intensive practice in imaginative, analytical and pragmatic modes of writing. Students learn to shape their writing for particular audiences and settings, as well as expand their own creative, stylistic and interpretive gifts. Students develop writing skills in several genres, extensively and carefully read great writers and reflect on theoretical and practical issues raised by the making of meaning.Studies in poetry and fiction writing are complemented by courses in autobiographical writing, the personal essay, writing for children and freelance writing. The inspiration for this program came directly from a group of past PLU English majors. The unique program design addresses the interests and ambitions of students past and present.
By completing the English major with a Writing Emphasis, undergraduates learn to integrate their thinking, inquiry, and writing skills in order to adapt to a large range of creative and professional settings. After graduation, some will produce imaginative writing through freelance work. Some will move into writing positions in science, law, business, or industry, and others will find themselves well prepared to pursue advanced degrees in English studies and Master of Fine Arts programs.
What Careers Await When I Graduate?
A major in English lays the foundation for many endeavors. PLU English majors have gone on to be practicing writers, pursue Ph.D. programs in literature and composition, follow careers in business and law, and become educators in both the private and public sectors.
The pursuits of recent graduates attest to this:
- Marc Boyer - graphic designer, Warfield Creatives, Tacoma, Wash.
- Kevin Kay - graduate student, Seattle University School of Law, Seattle, Wash.
- Emily Larson - online marketing manager, Alexandria Digital Literature, Seattle, Wash.
- Ingrid Lindeblad - graduate student, writing and publishing program, Emerson College, Boston, Mass.
- Heidi Robinson - editor, Amazon.com, Seattle, Wash.
- Maggie Santolla - publicity agent, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, Wash.
- Kevin Schultz - technical writer, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash.
- Candice Ulam - technical writer, Intel Corporation, Portland, Ore.
- Heidi Zimmer - informational literature production, Trustees for Alaska, Anchorage.
Majors and Minors in English
Pacific Lutheran University offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in literature or an emphasis in writing. Students may also want to major in English and combine their B.A. degree with teacher certification.
Students may also minor in writing, literature or Publishing and Printing Arts and earn special certification in Children's Literature.
For details of the requirements for these major and minor programs, please consult the current PLU catalog. Go to www.plu.edu/catalog/degrees-courses/engl.html to read the catalog listing.
Are There Fellowships or Scholarships?
Each year the English Department awards the following talent scholarships to current PLU students: the Music and Art Scholarship and the Jimmy Knudsen Scholarship.
The English Department also regularly appoints a Student Fellow, an English major planning to teach at the college level. This student attends department meetings, works with faculty on projects of special interest and has the opportunity to plan classroom projects and presentations.
What If I Want an Internship or a Campus Job?
PLU's Publishing and Printing Arts program sets the standard for academic departments offering internships to their students. The PLU Writing Center (253-535-8709) is another potential employer for the skilled student writer. While helping PLU students improve their writing as a peer writing consultant, you can gain experience in reviewing and revising texts — valuable preparation for students thinking of teaching or graduate school.
Visit www.plu.edu/~english to learn about English faculty, specific program contacts, courses, the department's commitment to international education and what kind of jobs graduates are getting.
Faculty
James Albrecht, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Rutgers University
American literature, pragmatism
Charles Bergman, Professor
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Environmental writing, environmental literature, freelance writing, Shakespeare
Thomas Campbell, Professor and Chair
Ph.D., University of Oregon
Eighteenth- century British literature, Romanticism, Bloomsbury Group
Susan Brown Carlton, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Purdue University
Composition, rhetorical theory, literacy
Audrey Eyler, Professor
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Victorian literature, Anglo-Irish literature
Sharon Jansen, Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington
Medieval and Renaissance literature, women's literature
Richard Jones, Associate Professor
M.A., M.F.A., University of Massachusetts
Poetry writing, Renaissance literature
Rona Kaufman, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Composition, rhetoric and writing, literacy, pedagogy, the English language
Earl Lovelace, Associate Professor
and Distinguished Writer in Residence
M.A., Johns Hopkins University,
Fiction writing, Caribbean literature
Lisa Marcus, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Rutgers University
American ethnic literature, women's literature, feminist theory, cultural studies
Dennis Martin, Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
American and contemporary literature
Deborah Miranda, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington
Creative writing, women's literature, Native American & American ethnic literature
Suzanne Rahn, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington
Children's literature, medieval and Renaissance literature
Solveig Robinson, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Publishing studies, editing, Victorian literature, writing, criticism
David Seal, Professor
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Psychological criticism, narrative writing
Barbara Temple-Thurston, Professor
Ph.D., Southern Illinois University
Post-colonial literature, Caribbean literature, African literature
Visit www.plu.edu/coth for more about Communication & Theatre faculty, programs, student media and organizations.
