English

Overview

A strong background in English and writing will prepare you for almost any profession. As an English major at Barton, you’ll have the option of selecting a Creative Writing or traditional literature track that will help you develop a broad knowledge of literature and writing that will give you the ability to express your ideas, giving you the edge in whatever career field you choose—whether that’s teaching, writing and editing, law, public service, religious and counseling vocations, or business.

Special Features

Barton’s English faculty are experienced professionals who believe in challenging and developing students. Many have received the Jefferson- Pilot Faculty Member of the Year Award, the highest award for teaching at the college.

By majoring in English, you’ll have opportunities for active participation in your learning in classes and in extracurricular activities. Our students have recently studied in London and China, and you’ll be able to follow your own interests through special internships and independent studies. In addition, you can choose to participate in one of the frequent travel courses to England, Ireland, Italy or Greece sponsored by the English and Theatre programs.

Along with bringing visiting writers to campus each semester through our Boone Southern Authors Series and Victor R Small Writers Series, we sponsor special programs such as Writing Center tutoring and the English Club, which produces its own literary publication, LifeLines. Classes participate in field trips to plays and other cultural events in nearby cities.

The department occasionally publishes an international literary magazine, Crucible.

English Course Information

The English major offers two tracks: Creative Writing or Literature. The literature track provides a strong foundation in literature, covering all major areas of British and American literature as well as women writers, African-American literature, and non-western works. We’ve also just introduced a focus in Literature of the American South to complement the various writing series we sponsor.

If you’re interested in writing, our recently revamped creative writing track is a great option. Here you’ll find courses on writing for many different genres, from creative writing to journalism to technical writing. We’ve recently added Poetry writing, Fiction writing, as well as a course on publishing to our offerings.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

The department has four scholarships for English majors:

The Mildred E. Hartsock Scholarship
The Ted C. Foy Scholarship
The Mamie Jennings Lucas Endowed Scholarship, and
The Willy Parker Endowed Scholarship.

All are awarded to students in the program based upon their academic progress.

English Major Internships

Department majors have interned with many organizations, including:

The Wilson Daily Times
The Arts Council of Wilson
The Kenly News
Duke University Press
Nash General Hospital
Barton College Scope
The Roanoke-Chowan News Herald

All English with licensure students intern in local schools.

English Major Career Opportunities

While the opportunities for employment with an English major are numerous, many Barton English majors choose to pursue graduate degrees in English. They’ve gone on to study at these universities:

East Carolina University
North Carolina Central University Law School
North Carolina State University
Radford University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Wake Forest University
University of South Carolina

But the versatility of an English major means you have many choices in terms of graduate school. Some of our graduates have earned advanced degrees in counseling at Radford University, in divinity at Duke University, and in library science at UNC – Chapel Hill.

Clubs and Organizations

The English Club is open to all students interested in literature and writing, but the officers are generally English majors. The Club produces the student literary magazine LifeLines and hosts coffee houses.

Many English majors contribute to the college newspaper, The Collegiate.

Barton College Academic Programs