Language and Literature Department
English Deparment (2 Tracks)
Students who choose to major in English at Bethel have three basic options: English Education, English with a Literature Track and English with a Writing Track.
The Bethel College English Education major is designed to prepare students to teach English in secondary schools. In addition to the General Studies courses taken by all Bethel students, English Ed. majors take required courses in Adolescent Literature, World or Multicultural Literature, Literary Criticism, Shakespeare, Advanced Composition and History of the English Language. Students also select courses from options in literature, media, writing, linguistics and communication.
The English Major with a Literature Track includes courses in writing and linguistics but emphasizes the study of literature of all varieties. This is an ideal program for people who simply love to read. Beyond that, it prepares students for further study in graduate school or for careers in those fields that have traditionally attracted people with a strong Liberal Arts background, including public relations, the publishing industry, library science and law.
Rapidly gaining in popularity, the English Major with a Writing Track trains writers. While providing a strong background in literature and grammar, the Writing Track exposes students to the theory and practice of as many kinds of writing as possible—creative, persuasive, journalistic. Many graduates and even current students are actively publishing as both staff and free-lance writers in a variety of fields.
The six current full-time faculty in the English department include three Ph.D.s and a Writer-in-Residence, with specialties in a range of fields of literature, rhetoric and writing.
