As an English major, you will increase your understanding of the ways in which the study of literature helps to make sense of the complexity of human experience. You will enhance your appreciation of a literary work by considering it from a variety of angles, including its aesthetic quality, its ethical dimensions, and its cultural context.

As an English major, you will develop the writing, analytical, and organizational abilities that will increase your job prospects. Studies have shown that the skills most valued by employers—the ability to analyze and synthesize information and to communicate clearly—are precisely the skills for which English majors are known. The English major prepares you for a variety of rewarding professional careers, including teaching, publishing, law, editing, reporting, advertising, public relations, business writing, library science, and human resources, to name a few.

As an English major, you will have the opportunity to acquire valuable work experience as part of the internship program. For example, English majors have interned at a range of publications in New York City and Westchester County, and on campus at The Shakespeare Newsletter, a journal of Shakespeare and Renaissance studies with subscribers in 37 countries. English majors have interned in corporations, in classrooms, in theater companies, and in television. There is no better way to develop your interest in a career than by direct exposure to it.