English
The English program prepares you for a versatile professional life and/or graduate school by refining skills in communication, critical thinking, and comprehension and analysis, accomplished through a balance of writing and literature coursework.
After graduating from this program, you will be able to identify and discuss the main genres of literature using the basic terminology of literary analysis, make valid arguments assessing the aesthetic merit of works of literature, both formally and informally, distinguish work from the traditional and non-traditional literary canons. You will also demonstrate a mastery of the English language through written projects reflecting sophistication in content, organization, style, and research. Above all, you will gain a deeper understanding of not only yourself and your own world, but the perspectives of many other individuals, past and present, who have immortalized their own experiences in writing.
What You'll Study
Beyond the Classroom
Internships:
Staff writer and photographer, Avery Journal-Times, Newland, North Carolina
Staff writer and photographer, Avery Post, Newland, North Carolina
Intern, Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Regional Library System
Intern, Galax Public Library, Galax, Virginia
Administrative Assistant, New Opportunity School for Women, Banner Elk, North Carolina
Assistant Student Director, Burton Center, Lees-McRae College, Banner Elk, North Carolina
Intern, The Hickory Ridge Living History Museum, Boone, North Carolina
After Graduation
When you graduate from Lees-McRae with a degree in English, you are ready for lifelong learning and continued enjoyment of literature as well as being in prime position to pursue a variety of careers or graduate programs. Employers consistently report that they desire students with well-developed communications skills and the ability to tackle new ideas and tasks with a critical eye. Job candidates with an English major can offer these benefits in a variety of fields. English majors work as editors and technical writers or as educators, in human resources, in sales, or in the advertising field, for example. For students not entering the workforce directly out of college, the English major provides good preparation for graduate work. The most obvious option is an MA or PhD program in English or other humanities field, but English majors are particularly successful in law school or medical school.
Possible career paths for English majors include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Communications—Creative Writer, Editor and Content Manager, Marketing, Journalism, Public Relations
- Education—Professor, Secondary Education, Librarian
- Law—Lawyer, Paralegal
- Business—Human Resources, Grant Writer
Career information is provided through Vault and O'Net. Current Lees-McRae students can see the full results on Vault using their student email and password.
Alumni Success
Creative Writing Pine Manor College
Education Liberty University, Virginia
Law School University of Tennessee
Library School University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Novelist Boone, North Carolina
Graphic Designer The Erwin Record, Erwin, Tennessee
Assistant Managing Editor Solstice Literary Magazine
Tennis Coach Parkside Tennis Club, Windsor, Ontario
Sales Manager Goodwill Industries, Asheville, North Carolina
Manager Lowe’s Hardware, Hampton, Virginia
Independent Sales Consultant Norwex
Snowboard Instructor Beech Mountain Ski Resort, Beech Mountain, North Carolina
Meet the Faculty
Catherine Childress, MA
Program Coordinator of Rhetoric, Director of the Stephenson Center, Instructor
Abby Arnold-Patti, PhD
Associate Instructor of Communications and Media Studies
Rachel Ewing
Assistant Professor of English
Silas "Sy" Heying, PhD
Assistant Professor of English