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The Dordt Difference English may be among the most versatile of majors at Dordt College. It will help you write, think, and communicate. A recent article in the New York Times, titled “Making College Relevant,” summarized an Association of American Colleges and Universities survey of employers: 89 percent said they want schools to put more emphasis on effective oral and written communication, 81 percent want to see better critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, and 70 percent were looking for employees who learned how to be innovative and creative. Those are skills you’ll learn as an English major. At Dordt, you’ll learn from dedicated professors, passionate about what they teach and write. They'll help you study language and literature in a way that prepares you to become a discerning and wise employee or leader, able to influence culture because you understand what is important in people’s lives and how you can best communicate with those around you.
HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITIES Build your résumé by writing for The Diamond (student newspaper), the Signet (yearbook), The Canon (student literary magazine), or the college Public Relations Office. Read your work at an annual student public reading and compete for cash prizes in the annual Purple Martin writing competition. Become one of a growing list of students who has won awards in the college division of the Iowa Poetry Association competition and has had poems published in the association’s annual anthology, Lyric Iowa. Get published in a professional journal for teachers, as some of our English education students have. Be part of a writing class team that composes documents to solve real problems—from an EMT training guide for the local ambulance squad to marketing materials for a women’s ministry in Cambodia. Serve as a teaching assistant working with underachieving college writers. Dig deeply into ancient, medieval, or modern literature as you sharpen your skills in reading, analyzing, and interpreting. Participate in an internship such as working in a publishing company on the Chicago Semester Program.
THE PROGRAM At Dordt College, you’ll study under professors who feel the excitement and value of literature. They’ll help you analyze and evaluate literary works from a Christian perspective, considering the moral vision and worldview of an author, along with the literary elements of his or her work. They’ll help you become both critical and charitable in the way you approach words and the world. You’ll examine how authors use language to create imagined worlds and communicate meaning. You will see how literature from a variety of time periods and cultures challenges or affirms our values and enriches our lives. Students in our program and in core classes, will be taught to • write with clarity, precision, and grace in a variety of forms and for a variety of audiences. • be independent learners, able to search for, assess, and integrate into their writing and thinking ideas on literature as well as other subjects. • perceive literature as a way of knowing truth. • read critically and charitably: we engage literature from a variety of time periods and cultures, discerning its truths, lies, and assumptions, and responding to its challenges and truths. • apply the lifelong skills of interpretation not only to literature but also to biblical studies, art, music, and film. • develop a Reformed place to stand on language and literature.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Dordt English department majors work in publishing • advertising • law • business • public relations • cultural and educational organizations • teaching • journalism • writing An English major also offers outstanding preparation for graduate school. (Please request the education flyer for more information about preparing for careers in teaching.)
THE FACULTY Robert J. De Smith, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison. Early British literature, Reformation literature, history of the English language, film Bob.DeSmith@dordt.edu Mary Dengler, Ph.D., University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Novel and 19th-century literature, especially women writers, editor of Pro Rege, Dordt’s scholarly journal, and co-directs the Kuyper Scholars Program Mary.Dengler@dordt.edu Bill Elgersma, Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Dakota. Composition, expository writing, and responding to literature Bill.Elgersma@dordt.edu Luke Hawley, M.F.A., University of Nebraska-Omaha. Creative writing, composition, fiction writing, author of The Northwoods Hymnal, a collection of short stories and songs Luke.Hawley@dordt.edu Joshua Matthews, Ph.D., University of Iowa. Colonial and 19th-century American literature, interests include American cultural studies, science fiction, and digital humanities research and writing projects Joshua.Matthews@dordt.edu Howard Schaap, M.F.A., Seattle Pacific University. Creative writing, ethnic American literature August 2015
Howard.Schaap@dordt.edu