English
Thinking of teaching English overseas? Eager to improve the persuasive power of your writing? Looking for a flexible major to equip you for a career in law, publishing, library science, or education? Love discussing good books or hoping to write one yourself?
MVNU’s English programs offer rigorous training in writing, reading, and analytical thinking from Christian teacher-scholars, equipping students for personal growth and professional flourishing in a changing world.
- Pursue the Publishing Pathway or the Pre-Law Pathway by combining an English major with strategic minors to prepare for careers in publishing or law.
- Experience one-on-one academic mentoring and small seminar-style classes.
- Discuss compelling literary works while exploring perennial human questions.
- Hone your writing, presentation, research, and argumentation skills with professors who offer personalized feedback.
- Develop real-world experience through on-campus practicums like editing Penmarks, MVNU’s literary magazine, or tutoring in our Writing Lab, or through internships at local institutions.
- Study abroad through the Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) program for CCCU students (see Travel).
- Create a signature senior project that showcases your literary interests and serves as a graduate program essay, conference paper, or interview highlight.
- Prepare for diverse careers by acquiring transferrable skillsets and dispositions desired by employers.
- Discover your vocation while growing as a Christian thinker and word-steward.
Why English?
- Majoring in English cultivates the skillsets sought by future employers, including facility in writing, oral communication, research, self-directed learning, collegiality, empathy, and problem-solving.
- Majoring in English gives you rich access to “the best that has been thought and said” (in Matthew Arnold’s famous phrase), ensuring your grounding in literature that has stood the test of time.
- MVNU English majors have been accepted into the following competitive graduate programs in law, library science, education, business, and literature/writing: American University, University of Buffalo, University of Toledo, Kent State University, Bowling Green University, Ohio State University, and Swansea University in Wales.
- Dr. Dorothea Hawthorne, Professor of English, Department Chair
- Dr. Yvonne Schultz, Professor of English, School Dean, Associate Vice President for Academic Administration, and Director of GPS General Studies
- Dr. W Brett Wiley, Professor of English; Director of the Honors Program, Director of Traditional General Education
- Dr. David Wilkes, Professor of English
- Professor John Ballenger, Assistant Professor of English
Check out the catalog for a complete list of the requirements, courses, and objectives for the English program!
Ireland, England, Scotland
MVNU’s very own United Kingdom travel course. Dive into city life as you explore three different European capitals that each have their own unique personality. Walk along the famous cobblestones at Dublin’s Temple Bar, marvel at London’s iconic Big Ben, and fall in love with Scotland’s historic Edinburgh Castle. Visit our website for more information and to register.
This trip is open to students, alumni, pastors, and friends of MVNU.
Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford (SCIO)
Apply to study literature and culture for a summer or a semester abroad in the city of dreaming spires with the CCCU’s GlobalEd program. Contact your advisor and see their website for more information.
For other service learning and academic travel possibilities, visit mvnu.edu/travel.
MVNU has many endowed scholarships available for students of a wide variety of backgrounds and majors.
Penmarks is MVNU’s own student-produced literary magazine that features original poems, artwork, short stories, and creative non-fiction written by MVNU students. The magazine is published annually, during the spring semester.
Penmarks exists to showcase and encourage the rich creative life of the MVNU community. The magazine has three main purposes: to provide an aesthetically-pleasing and accessible platform for student writing and visual art; to give students the valuable real-world experience of producing a literary magazine; and to enrich campus culture through quality student writing and visual art.
-
Submissions — Current MVNU students may submit original poems, short stories, creative non-fiction essays, or other short pieces of creative writing. Penmarks also accepts photographs of visual art.
-
Editing committee — The Penmarks selection committee is composed of the Penmarks faculty advisor and students taking the spring Practicum in Creative Writing course.
-
Faculty — Kelly Fig Smith, Adjunct Instructor of English
- English and ILA majors become lawyers, high school teachers, research librarians, editors, freelance writers, legal assistants, public relations strategists, international educators, non-profit leaders, and professors. English and ILA majors also become story-tellers and book group hosts, writers and poets, ambassadors of words and of the Word.
- Majoring in English hones your writing, research, and thinking skills and offers broad preparation for a host of future careers. To prepare for careers in publishing or law, choose the Publishing Pathway or the Pre-Law Pathway. To earn licensure for teaching English at the secondary level, combine English with Education for an Integrated Language Arts degree. To equip yourself for writing positions in the non-profit sector, major in English and minor in Strategic Communication or Business. The choice is yours.
MVNU ENGLISH: GROW… smarter, wiser, clearer, deeper, ready.
- American University Washington College of Law
- University of Buffalo
- University of Toledo
- Kent State University
- Bowling Green State University
- The Ohio State University