In the English Department, we cultivate visionary thinkers by allowing students to chart their own course of study through a variety of classes in writing, film, literature, new media, and rhetoric. Students of SU English engage with important questions about the human condition, especially where issues of race, gender, ethnicity, identity, and class are concerned.
Curious about our English MA? Come learn more about our tracks in Literature, TESOL and Rhetoric & Composition! Information about funding through our TA program will also be covered!
“I love English majors. I love how smart they are. I love their intellectual curiosity. Most of all, I love to hire them.”
This is what accomplished entrepreneur, best-selling author, and USA TODAY columnist Steve Strauss says in his Huffington Post article, “Why I Hire English Majors.” Strauss advocates for English Majors because “they know how to think, to think for themselves, and how to analyze a problem,” and they do so boldly. English majors, he says, are the teammates “that can make us all better.” Similarly, Jeffrey Dorfman from Forbes magazine names the English major a “great return on investment.”
Following Salisbury University’s mission and values, SU English strives to empower students with intellectual curiosity, critical and analytical thinking, exceptionally-crafted writing and rhetorical skills, and appreciation of linguistic diversity. SU English emphasizes innovative thinking, which prepares students not only for the workplace of today, but the workplace of tomorrow, graduate school, and life-long-learning. The faculty of English all champion values of diversity, empathy, and integrity as we educate our students with a view to their lifelong journey as people who understand the value of human expression.
Thinking about majoring in English? Josey Zeunges, one of our amazing SU students, is here to spill the tea on what it’s really like — answering your top questions with honesty and heart (and a few outtakes).
Our Academic Programs
We focus on providing as wide-ranging a curriculum as possible: from analyzing Medieval literature to the rhetorical strategies of digital media, and from contemporary cinema to linguistic study that stretches into the distant past. We offer students creative opportunities to contribute to and edit a literary magazine (The Scarab), to attend numerous on-campus events featuring world-renowned writers, to study abroad in disparate places including Ghana and Iceland, to participate in the SU Student Film Festival, and to take up a wide variety of internships. Our department may be housed in a relatively small city, but our outreach is truly international: our linguistics/TESOL graduates have taught English abroad in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America; and we are home to one of the most distinguished academic journals worldwide, Literature/Film Quarterly, which holds subscriptions in over 30 countries.
I have received communications from many graduate programs expressing how impressed they were with the quality of the students coming out of Salisbury. I am deeply moved to be associated with such fine young writers as their careers continue to move forward and as their talents spread across the country.
Dr. John NievesEnglish Department Faculty
In Our Own Words
For more information on our collective vision and strength, check out the videos featuring our faculty discussing:
Hear how Jane is able to pursue her love of reading, gain teaching experience and receive guidance from her professors to work towards a career in publishing.
The Creative Writing Track of the English Department is proud to offer:
A workshop-based curriculum, where students get to write and share creative work with each other.
An opportunity to grow with a cohort of peer authors who know each others' work intimately.
A chance to respond thoughtfully and critically to each others' creative work.
The opportunity to study a diverse range of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by writers who represent a wide range of formal styles, genres, and world views.
A chance to engage in the contemporary critical conversations in all the major genres.
Writers on the Shore reading events with visiting contemporary authors.
Editorial and publishing experience through work on Scarab, the Salisbury University literary journal.
Hands-on critical evaluation by well-published faculty with a range of editorial and publishing experience.
Small class sizes. Our courses cap at 15 students, which allows the faculty to work one-on-one with all creative writing students.
A creative community that extends beyond the borders of the classroom.
A faculty committed to helping students explore regional, national and international opportunities.
Experienced, international faculty spanning a diversity of continents, countries, institutions and linguistic backgrounds
Award-recipients of the prestigious Henry C. Welcome Fellowship (Maryland Higher Education Commission); and finalists of the USM Board of Regents Awards
National linguist-experts serving on competitive, specially-convened panels For: non-profit, private, and governmental agencies such as: Native American and Alaskan Children in School Program, The Office of English Language Acquisition, The Early Childhood Education Program, The Pearson Education Services Consortium, Educational Testing Service; TESOL, and AAQEP accreditation bodies
Professional service on International Editorial Boards to include: The Linguistics Journal, Asian EFL Journal, The Qualitative Report, and The International Journal of World Englishes
Boast a research record in a range of subfields to include: TESOL curriculum and development, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), visual semiotics, critical multilingualism and film, pedagogical linguistics, second language teacher education, and critical discourse analysis respectively
Spearheaded specially designed and innovative graduate-level TESOL programs for the surrounding rural region
Initiated and expanded international TEFL education initiatives
Garnered large-scale external multi-million-dollar grant-funding for cutting-edge programmatic visions
Curriculum:
Unique curricular offerings in the areas of Linguistics, TESOL/ESOL, ESL, as well as teacher certification programs in TESOL/ESOL
Graduate and undergraduate program.
Wide range, depth and breadth of graduate and undergraduate curricular options in TESOL/Applied Linguistics spanning over 15 different course titles
Multiple, innovative, educator-responsive National Professional Development Initiatives designed to enhance rural TESOL educational accessibility
Teamed-collaborations with interdisciplinary faculty from other departments and institutions in STEM-discourse training
Program Design:
A variety of ESOL programs designed to meet diverse interests, e.g., B.A. ESOL with certification; ESOL Minor; M.A. in English- TESOL track; M.A. English with ESOL certification, and a Post Baccalaureate in ESOL
Courses offered as both face-to-face and online formats
All programs aligned with TESOL Professional Standards for Teacher Preparation
Coursework strategically designed to enable candidates to develop knowledge and skills to successfully teach in the U.S.A. (ESL) and/or abroad (EFL)
Embedded field experiences throughout all facets of the programs, e.g., field observation, and internship opportunities
Field placements at professional development sites which permit for close collaboration and mentoring with highly qualified school personnel and/or university-based adult English instruction programs
Possible opportunities to complete internships abroad, e.g., China, Ecuador, as part of graduate programs
Program Outcomes – Local, National, and International:
We have the largest number of continuously funded, externally-sponsored, federal discretionary projects in the Fulton School at Salisbury University
Projects in TESOL: National Professional Development include:
2011: (SAIL-STEM Seminars): of 236 proposals submitted nation-wide, we were the sole project to be funded for the state of Maryland
2007: (TARGET-Project): of 430 proposals submitted nation-wide, we were successfully funded.
2002: (ACE-Project): of 130 projects sponsored nationwide, only two were sponsored in Maryland, and we were one of them
2000: (TAT-Project) and (Bilingual Career Ladder Initiative)
Our NPD projects are designed to offer cutting-edge professional development opportunities for area-teachers spanning a geographical radius of over 100 miles and spanning 8 independent school districts
Our programs are designed to serve Maryland’s 55,000 and rising newcomer students
In the past decade alone, over 200 area-professionals have improved the educational access of approximately 2,000 newcomer learners from approximately 140 linguistic backgrounds in Maryland’s Eastern Shore schools as a consequence of our programs
Our Linguistics/TESOL graduates have taught English abroad in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America respectively
The Film Concentration is an option for Salisbury English majors who wish to learn more about the medium of film. In these courses, students study the history of the medium, from its invention to the present day; international cinemas, from New Zealand to Hong Kong to Russia to France; the origins of the Classic Hollywood studio system and its evolution into its present-day incarnation; independent film; the genres that have shaped film; the relationship between literature and film; and many critical and theoretical approaches to film, such as psychoanalytic theories, gender-based approaches, considerations of race, postcolonial theories, realist theories, and the idea of the auteur. Students write regular essays, attend weekly screenings, and engage in lively class discussions about the cinema. When you graduate, you should have a much broader appreciation for the various histories, cultures, and ideas that have inflected the development of film as we know it today. (Learn the answers to the question: Why Study Film?)
We are proud of the ambition, range, rigor, and depth of our film program which allows students to:
Develop specific skills that apply to virtually any workplace: audio-visual literacy, highly developed analytical and critical thinking, the ability to creatively apply a huge range of concepts, an understanding of many different audiences and cultures, and innovative approaches to research, writing, and communication
Explore the world through at least 90 films over the course of their degree, all of which allow us to understand humanity from various perspectives
Enjoy a wide range of courses that span various films genres (including science fiction, westerns, musicals, gangster films, films noir, independent movies, blockbusters, silent film, documentaries and everything else that defies definition!)
Learn about the entire history of film analysis and production from multiple points of view—artistic, industrial, cultural, and personal
Strike a balance between studying the work of well-known directors (such as Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford) alongside the work of numerous other filmmakers who represent important challenges to the mainstream (including Spike Lee and Jane Campion)
Experience a full range of American and international cinema, traveling the globe through wildly different filmic representations of reality
Study film sound tracks as well as their visual elements
Develop a greater capacity for empathy and compassion for all humanity through understanding different points of view through film
Other highlights of our program include:
Superb resources for film analysis, including a large library collection of DVDs and a fully equipped media viewing room for independent study, the second largest collection of press kits in the United States, and a newly refurbished auditorium for outstanding film screenings
The stimulus of numerous campus events that revolve around film, as showcased on our Film at Salisbury University Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FilmatSalisburyUniversity)
The opportunity to join a friendly and close-knit community of film students at Salisbury University who share each other’s passion for the medium
Relatively small class sizes (usually 20-25 students per class), allowing for plenty of one-to-one time with professors
Many valuable learning opportunities outside the classroom, including participation in our annual Salisbury University undergraduate research conference and internships with local arts organizations, television stations and publications
Learning from internationally-distinguished faculty with strong records of publication
Joining a program with superb track records for students graduating on time and finding gainful employment after graduation
Our being home to Literature/Film Quarterly, a journal in production for more than 40 years, and with subscriptions in over 30 countries
According to the Linguistic Society of America, students of linguistics: “are researchers dedicated to the systematic study of language who apply the scientific method by making observations, testing hypotheses, and developing theories. The science of language encompasses more than sounds, grammar, and meaning. When you study linguistics, you are at the crossroads of every discipline.”
Introductory and advanced courses in fiction, poetry and drama as genres, including workshops
Study abroad possibilities, which have included past Spring Break trips to Ghana, Iceland, and London
Foundational British, American, and African-American literature survey courses from the beginning to the present
American literature courses that provide intensive studies in the following periods: Colonial, Transcendentalism, Naturalism, Harlem Renaissance, Southern, Modern, Contemporary
British Literature courses ranging from Romantic to Medieval literature, with period and genre courses covering the entire span of centuries of great works
Opportunity for the comprehensive study of a range of ethnic and global literatures, including the Native American, Latino/a, African-American, South Asian, and African traditions
Exploration of the human condition as it relates to the phenomena of gender and sexuality, manifest in major works of literature from the Classics to the contemporary
Courses on foundational works by masters of English literature like Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton
Examination of the literary tradition extending back into the Middle Ages, giving one an understanding of the history of the English language from its beginnings among the Anglo-Saxons
In-depth single-author courses, focusing on a wide range of writers including Jane Austen, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie, and J. K. Rowling
New special topics courses that are often introduced by faculty: an ever-growing curriculum
Program Design
An emphasis on discussion-based, student-centered learning, combined with lectures
Small class sizes (usually 20-25 students)
Courses that develop research, writing, and critical thinking skills and an understanding of diversity required of the global job market
Courses that prepare students for graduate study and a range of professions, including but not limited to, journalism, publishing, editing, law, business, education, non-profit management, lobbying, government, and social justice advocacy
The opportunity to study a range of texts from antiquity through the Renaissance to the present, and thus understand patterns of literary and cultural influence that spread across wide spans of time
Historical approaches to studies of literature that help students understand how language shapes and creates culture, all of which help students think more creatively about how to use language to shape and create the world
Opportunities to meet published creative writers and well-known critics through the Writers-on-the-Shore readings series
Courses that include experiential learning activities, such as field trips to Harlem, NY; the Harriet Tubman Freedom Trail; and Pemberton Hall
Some interdisciplinary courses, and some that feature online components
Publishing experience offered through Scarab literary journal
Faculty
Recognized for teaching excellence by Salisbury University and other colleges and universities
Authors of important publications in the fields of poetry, fiction, American literature, British literature, Global literature: many books and articles of our faculty being featured in distinguished, peer-reviewed journals
Recipients of competitive awards, such as Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities Institute fellowships, and Mellon Foundation Honorable Mentions
Professional service with national organizations—for instance, the Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society
International faculty with experience in a range of fields, the publishing industry, non-profits, and innovate pedagogy
Along with fulfilling many goals of the Literature Track (and please refer to that track for professional highlights), the Secondary Education English concentration will provide students with:
A strong mix of elements of both our Literature and our Writing and Rhetoric tracks, including theoretical and practical approaches to both disciplines;
Opportunities for travel similar to those in other concentrations;
An opportunity to explore literature and writing, as well as consider strategies for presenting this material to 7-12 graders;
Development of the breadth and depth of literary and rhetorical study necessary to teach the full range of middle and high-school curricula in English;
Advising from both English and education faculty interested in moving students toward graduation in a timely manner;
Field experiences from the beginning of the professional program through the final internship (student teaching).
The undergraduate concentration in Writing and Rhetoric will provide students with:
In-depth training in writing and rhetorical studies
Teachers and scholars committed to making writing central to undergraduate education
Guidance in shaping writers’ ideas in a variety of contexts: academic, civic, professional, and personal
Opportunities to participate in collaborative projects, such as co-authored papers and group presentations, which develop writing, listening, and interpersonal skills that are vital for career success
Preparation for a range of writing-focused jobs that involve the analysis, creation, and editing of texts, including digital and multimedia ones
Preparation for graduate/professional study and jobs across a variety of sectors (e.g., publishing and media, education, marketing and public relations, civic organizations)
For more than 30 years the Writers on the Shore series has showcased emerging and established writers on the Delmarva Peninsula and has provided a venue for spirited and entertaining celebrations of fiction and poetry with an occasional scholarly lecture tailored to a general audience. We have been honored over the years to have presented such writers as Raymond Carver, Robert Bly, Mary Oliver, David Bradley, Robert Stone, Lee K. Abbott, John T. Irwin, Milton R. Stern, Richard Ford, Hershel Parker, Grace Paley, Tama Janowitz, Elizabeth Spires, Madison Smartt Bell, Nyla Ali Khan, Carol Frost, James Welch, Jeffrey Skinner, Sarah Gorham, Richard Peabody, Carlos Fuentes, and John Barth, among many others.
Guest writers for fall 2018 include:
Creative Writing Festival Featuring Christine Spillson: Wednesday, September 5; Perdue Hall 156, 8 p.m
Stephanie Kartalopoulos: Wednesday, September 26; Commons, Montgomery Room, 8 p.m.
John Hoppenthaler: Wednesday, October 17; Commons, Montgomery Room, 8 p.m.
Zach Powers: Wednesday, November 14; Commons, Montgomery Room, 8 p.m.
The University Writing Center is a place where you can meet with trained peer consultants to work on your papers and projects at any stage of the writing process.
Established in 1973, Literature/Film Quarterly focuses upon problems of adapting and transforming fiction and drama into film. It has also covered film genre, theory, and criticism and has featured interviews with screenwriters (such as Daniel Taradash, Horton Foote, and Joan Tewkesbury) and directors (such as Robert Altman, Robert Wise, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Louis Malle, and others). It circulates coast-to-coast in the United States and Canada and has nearly 200 subscribers in nearly 30 foreign countries beyond North America.
The English Department and Fulton School of Liberal Arts strongly encourages all of its majors and minors to become global learners in their SU education in order to better prepare themselves for life, work and citizenship in the global 21st century. Here are two ways to do that:
Area Studies Minors. Each of these programs focuses on a region of the world—Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America or South Asia – via course work from multiple disciplines and perspectives. They also feature a study abroad requirement that may be fulfilled, in most cases, via a Salisbury Abroad Semester Program (highly recommended; see below) or an appropriate SU winter or summer study abroad program (non-SU study abroad programs may be used to fulfill this requirement as well, with prior approval). They also have a modest – 102-level – foreign language requirement. For detailed information on these exciting minors and related study abroad opportunities, please visit the Area Studies Minors website.
Salisbury Abroad Semester Programs. These programs allow SU students to spend a semester of study abroad at one of the University's many foreign partner institutions (in, for example, China, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Ghana, Scotland and Spain) for about the same cost as studying on campus at SU. The course work taken on these programs may apply to one's major, an Area Studies Minor, or both. To search for Salisbury Abroad programs around the world that will enhance your SU experience, as well as your life and work thereafter, please visit SU’s Education Abroad Office website.
Here are some recent English programs:
Salisbury Abroad: England
Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
Shakespeare and his Age
Post-Colonial Writing
Popular Fictions
Women’s Movement
Modernism
Salisbury Abroad: Ghana
Introduction to African Literature
Critical Issues in African Literature
Introduction to Oral Literature
Salisbury Abroad: Scotland
Meaning and Representation
Global Cinema
Language and Society
For more information on how you may incorporate one or more of the international opportunities mentioned above into your Fulton major, please talk to your advisor or department chair or contact the Center for International Education.
