Loras College
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English: Literature
Dubuque, USA
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Aug 2024
TUITION FEES
USD 33,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* annual full-time rate
Introduction
Students are introduced to the major in Literary Studies, sharpen their analytical skills in Literary Criticism, and complete a scholarly Senior Literature Capstone project mentored by two members of the English Literature faculty. They also choose courses from the whole history of English and American literature, in all genres, along with selected courses in Irish, Canadian, Russian, and World literature.
Student Experience
English majors are actively engaged on campus and beyond. A student editorial staff edits and publishes Catfish Creek: A National Undergraduate Literary Journal. Our students present their scholarly and creative writing on campus at the college’s annual Legacy Symposium, and, along with students from other colleges, at the annual Streamlines Undergraduate Language & Literature Conference. Many of our students also publish their writing in The Limestone Review, the college’s annual journal of scholarship and creative writing.
Several courses get students involved in the community in a variety of ways, such as teaching Shakespeare at after-school community centers or partnering with the Dubuque Historical Society in Victorian Studies. Experience-oriented January-term courses provide special opportunities for students to enliven their literary interests. Our students present their scholarly research on campus at the college’s annual Legacy Symposium, and, along with students from other colleges, at the annual Streamlines Undergraduate Language & Literature Conference. Our students also publish their scholarship in The Limestone Review, the college’s annual journal of scholarship and creative writing.
Many Loras English and Creative Writing students also land internships at local newspapers and publishing houses, including McGraw-Hill and Kendall Hunt. Many study abroad in Ireland for a semester in connection with the Irish Studies program, or write for and edit The Lorian (the Loras College newspaper). And many participate in the Loras Players theater troupe, including their annual performance of student-written one-act plays.
Every student will have an opportunity to have their work published in The Limestone Review. The top submissions are granted a $100 Alpha Award and entered in the Delta Epsilon Sigma national undergraduate writing competition.
Program Outcome
Alumni Careers and Accomplishments
English is a valuable and marketable major. Students learn to write and speak well, to think critically, to collaborate with others, and to understand diversity. These skills are important in any career, and Loras English graduates work in a wide range of fields.
Career preparation flexibility is also enhanced by the ability to combine English with other majors and minors in a four-year program. Loras English graduates’ accomplishments include the following:
- Nationally acclaimed, Tony-Award winning playwright
- Correspondent for Los Angeles Times; head of National Public Radio News; Dean of Columbia Journalism
- School Founder and executive director of Posada Community Center, Pueblo, Colorado
- Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, John Carroll University
- Nationally acclaimed, Shelley Memorial Award-winning poet
- Vice President for Advancement, Lewis University
- Principal, Johnsburg High School, Johnsburg, Illinois
- Head of Legal Services, Dubuque, IA
- Science Editor for msnbc.com
- Earthforce, a nonprofit devoted to environmental education
- Professor of English, Marietta College
- Public Relations and Social Media Manager, Loras College
- Content Producer at NogginLabs; Founder and Fiction Editor of Knee-Jerk literary magazine
- Production Director and Managing Editor with Guerrero Howe Custom Media; Contributing Writer for
- Paste Magazine and Alarm Press
- National Fulbright Scholar; International Student and Scholar Advisor, UW-Platteville
- Developmental Editor, McGraw-Hill
Other common careers: Law, business, advertising, teaching, academia, publishing, journalism, magazine writing and editing, public relations, library science, technical writing, and many more.
Student Learning Outcomes – English: Literature
- Demonstrate critical reading skills required to articulate a persuasive and insightful close reading, and a persuasive and insightful formal or structural analysis of a literary text (Goal #1 common to all Literature/Writing majors).
- Demonstrate the rhetorical skills required to make a persuasive and insightful written argument using evidence from a literary text. (Goal #2 common to all Literature/Writing majors).
- Integrate source material from literary research accurately, smoothly, and usefully into an argument, citing sources according to prevailing conventions.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the elements of literature, including plot, structure, character, setting, ideas, point of view, imagery, metaphor, symbolism, allegory, and prosody.
- Articulate how a work of literature may be understood in its social context, including such contexts as biography, psychology, gender, ethnicity, race, class, religion, nationality, or sexuality, as well as political, social, religious, intellectual or cultural history.
- Articulate how a work of literature may be understood in the context of literary history (including such concepts as the Renaissance, Romanticism, or Modernism), as well as the context of the history of aesthetic movements (including such concepts as classicism, romanticism, realism, naturalism, or surrealism), and the context of literary traditions (including such concepts as genre, sub-genre, myth, archetype, or mode).
- Orally articulate their composition and revision processes, and explain how the study of literature and individual authors provides them with models and an understanding of literary conventions and traditions which informs their own writing.
Career Opportunities
“What can you do with an English Literature degree?”
As an English Literature major, you will be prepared for a variety of interesting careers.
- Academia
- Law
- Publishing
- Editing
- Teaching
- Journalism
- Research
- Advertising
- Consulting
- Public Relations
- Library Science