Academics
The undergraduate major in English prepares students for careers that put a premium on critical thinking and literacy. While many majors become teachers, many more enter business, government service, law, medicine or other professions after further schooling.
Undergraduate majors can choose courses in creative writing, professional writing, British literature, American literature, world literature, film studies, interdisciplinary studies, language and critical theory, and gender studies, just to name a few. Given the flexibility of the English major, many students within the university choose to double major in English. The department also offers a minor in English and writing for students committed to a different academic major.
Upper-division courses (those numbered 100 or above) are more specialized or applied than lower-division courses. These specialized courses often presume prior training in the subject and explore authors like Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare and William Faulkner, or specific topics such as war, poetics, medievalism and how literature and other arts intersect ("Blues, Jazz and Literature").
Single Subject Credential in English
While meeting the requirements for the English major, students can also meet the requirements for a “single subject teaching credential,” which allows them to teach English at the secondary school level.
Pacific’s Benerd School of Education has partnered with the English department to offer the Teaching Professions minor, which covers the coursework and student teaching required for the credential.
The English Department’s adviser for students interested in this option is Professor Cynthia Dobbs. Students considering teaching English at the secondary school level can reach out to Professor Dobbs at cdobbs@pacific.edu.