English Majors & Minors
As an English major, you will immerse yourself in the habits and practices of reading, writing, close analysis, and imaginative thought. In each of your courses, you will learn both to observe the fine details of language and to ask serious questions about life, art, history, and justice.
Wrestling with such big questions will also help you to forge a narrative of your own. An English major serves as a springboard to any career rooted in critical and creative thought. Our graduates now work in fields as varied as education, graphic design, sales, creative writing, journalism, and law.
96 percent of graduates would choose to major or minor in English again — according to the 2022 Norton Survey.
ATTENTIVE PROFESSORS AND EXCITING COURSEWORK
The average English class at Carthage has fewer than 20 students, so you will have an opportunity to build strong relationships with your English professors and with your fellow students in the program.
Many of the English courses at Carthage are interdisciplinary, allowing students to explore literature from multiple points of view. Regularly offered courses include Latinx Literature; Shakespeare; Literature, Illness, Medicine; and Jazz Literature.
English Majors: Beyond the Classroom
Carthage hosts renowned writers and scholars through our Visiting Writers Series and Maxwell Conversations Series. Through these series, invited writers and scholars visit classrooms, lead workshops, and give readings and lectures. Students have the chance to meet and ask questions of artists, makers, and researchers actively changing their respective fields.
English majors can also join Poetry Underground or the national English honor society Sigma Tau Delta; submit their work to Centrique, the College’s creative arts journal; or apply to become a writing fellow, who provides tutoring and revision help through the Brainard Writing Center.
Beyond campus, faculty and students frequently travel to Milwaukee and Chicago for readings and theatre performances. We take day trips to Spring Green for the American Players Theatre and/or travel to Ontario for a long weekend every fall to take in several plays at the acclaimed Stratford Festival. During our popular J-Term, English professors lead periodic study tours to destinations like London and Puerto Rico.
See more opportunities for Carthage English students
Multidisciplinary Pathways and Career Advancement for English Majors
It’s an increasingly multidisciplinary world, and the Carthage English major has been designed with this in mind! Students in the major may bring the study of literature together with the teaching and the writing of it by adding an emphasis in creative writing or a minor in secondary education. Or both: you decide!
English majors can also easily add a second major in many fields of study offered at Carthage, and they can minor in many more. You can follow your curiosity and put together a combination of programs that is uniquely you. And you can be confident in the knowledge that you are developing the skills and habits of mind that are the bedrock of literary studies and in high demand with employers from across the spectrum.
After Carthage: Careers for English graduates
About English and teaching licensure
Many Carthage English majors plan to teach in elementary, middle, or high school. Students who want to teach English to grades 6-12 must complete a major in English and a minor in early adolescence and adolescence education. Students who want to teach English to grades 1-9 must complete an English minor in addition to their education major. The Carthage English Department works closely with both groups of education students to ensure they meet the requirements for their career goals.