English Major or Minor Degree

English at Carroll College

What to Expect

English majors at Carroll:

Study life-changing works from Shakespeare’s plays to Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade
Write—a lot—maybe a collection of poems, an analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and/or a digital edition of a nineteenth-century short story
Produce our annual Literary Festival, featuring works by Carroll students and the community
Edit and publish our annual literary magazine, Colors
Intern at a variety of organizations—local publishing companies, the Montana Historical Society, an independent bookstore
Study abroad: everywhere from Ireland to Madrid, Chile to Italy

The major programs of study offer sound preparation for graduate study in literature, languages, or writing. In addition, it is possible for a student to design a program to prepare for studying law or for entering a career in journalism, public relations, public information, or communications. Seniors may choose to gain practical experience by completing a Career Internship in the local community.

What can you do with an English major?

Anything you want! If you want to study literature and writing, don't let others dissuade you from doing so — check out some reasons why below.

Employers want English majors

2018 study at Google showed English majors among the most desirable employees
Forbes reports “That ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Degree Is Now Tech’s Hottest Ticket” (July 29 2015)
Humanities and liberal art graduates are happily and gainfully employed (Inside Higher Ed Feb. 7 2018)
Forbes finds “It’s Not Liberal Arts and Literature Majors Who Are Most Underemployed” (May 31 2018)

Professional Schools want English majors

Of English major applicants to law school, nationally, 81.37% were admitted—higher than the percentage of political science majors, the more typical pre-law major
Business Insider states English majors have an “edge” in applying to medical school: the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that 46% of humanities applicants to US med school enrolled, compared to just 38% of biological science majors (November 16 2017). A 2018 issue of the Atlantic magazine quotes several physicians who argue that “literary exercises can expand doctors’ worldviews”: that “admissions committees should be looking for students who are imaginative and who are already reading literature.”

The Teaching Profession Needs English Majors

Teaching high school English has never been more important. How do we prepare citizens to distinguish truth from lies? Reliable sources from unreliable? Arguments based on evidence from arguments based on rhetoric? How do we teach citizens to use their voices? Carroll graduates are doing this work right now in schools all over Montana and the West.

Four Year Plans Request Information Apply Online Student Outcomes

Highlights

The 2018 Carroll College Undergraduate Literary Festival welcomed John Bryant, founder and director of the online resource the Melville Electronic Library and Professor Emeritus of English at Hofstra University. Carroll instructor Lorna Milne, whose biography Evelyn Cameron: Photographer on the Western Prairie has been selected by the The Montana Center for the Book for the National Book Festival’s “52 Great Reads” list, presented as well.

In Fall 2017, student Maddison Gail created a visual "map" for T.S. Elliot's Wasteland - check out this interesting piece of work.

Good-to-Know

The department is just the right size so that professors teach the things that interest and excite them - and often end up interesting and exciting the students, too!

Every professor encourages ideas and exploration of topics that are both interesting and valuable.

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English Major or Minor