The Study of English at Centre

English & Creative Writing

All Centre students begin reading and discussing major works of poetry and prose in their first-year Humanities courses, and most continue their studies by taking English courses.

With small classes and a caring and distinguished faculty, students learn to enter sympathetically into the worlds that writers create, from the harsh world of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf to the haunted milieu of William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and beyond.

English majors want to enjoy the play of language and to understand the ideas such works embody and the societies they reflect. The English program at Centre helps students develop the skills of thinking analytically and writing clearly and convincingly that are necessary to respond fully to poems, plays, novels and stories.

English has long been the largest major at Centre; typically, more than forty students each year graduate with an English major or minor. Most students who choose the major enjoy reading, discussing, and writing about challenging and inspiring works of the imagination. Yet English majors also have an eye to the future and find that this discipline can lead them into rewarding and profitable careers. Not surprisingly, many Centre English majors go on to graduate school in English or law. Of these students who decide to continue their formal education, many have received prestigious fellowships such as the Rotary International and the Fulbright. Some also teach elementary school or high school.

Most majors, however, find jobs in business and public service, areas where their ability to read complex prose and understand it, research and analyze problems, and clearly explain the results of their investigations orally and in writing are highly prized by employers. This preparation has enabled recent Centre English majors to find jobs in such diverse fields as social work, arts management, banking, insurance, investments, corporate communications, desktop publishing, and sales and marketing.