Department of English

Dr. Dabney A. Bankert, Department Head
Phone: (540) 568-6170
Email: bankerda@jmu.edu
Location: Keezell Hall, Room 215
Website: http://www.jmu.edu/english

Professors
D. Bankert, M. Favila, A. Federico, J. Gabbin, B. Johnson, L. Kutchins, R. Majors, D. Mookerjea-Leonard, A. Morey, M. Parker, M. Rebhorn

Associate Professors
P. Bogard, K. Castellano, E. Cavanagh, S. Cote, A. Fagan, R. Gaughran, D. Goode, B. Hefner, L. Henigman, M. Rankin, M. Thompson, S. White

Assistant Professors
D. Babcock, M. Godfrey, D. Lo, S. Samatar, G. Wrenn

Mission

The Department of English offers to all students, wherever their professional and vocational interests lie, skills in critical thinking, analysis and writing along with an appreciation of the great literary heritage of Western civilization, with particular emphasis upon British and American literature. The program also promotes global awareness and the appreciation of cultural diversity through numerous opportunities for world or multicultural studies.

Our goal is that, through the humanistic study of a variety of literature, students will obtain a better understanding of themselves, their culture and other cultures with which they must invariably come into contact.

A senior requirement ensures that each major will have a final capstone experience through courses designed to integrate earlier training and focus it toward postgraduate needs and opportunities.

Goals

To build upon the skills introduced in the General Education program, the Department of English strives to:

Provide students advanced instruction in writing styles ranging from expository and creative writing to literary criticism.
Help students master advanced skills in analytical and critical thinking.
Develop skills in research and information access.

Career Opportunities

Careers that involve critical thinking, document analysis or oral and written communication such as:

Career counseling
Corporate recruiting
Consulting
Editing
Educational administration
Film and food critic
Graduate school in English, creative writing, law and library science
Human resources
Insurance underwriting
Intelligence analyst
Law school
Library science (librarian, archivist, preservationist)
Literary agent
Literacy instructor
Lobbyist
Magazine writing and editing (print and online)
Marketing
Newspaper reporting/foreign correspondent
Non-profit advocacy and administration
Public relations and public affairs officer
Publishing
Research
Speech writer
Stockbroker
Teaching

Co-curricular Activities and Organizations

Sigma Tau Delta (the National English Honor Society)
gardy loo! (a literary magazine)
Sister Speak (JMU’s feminist journal)
MacGuffin Film Journal
Cinemuse Film Club
Hopscotch (children’s literature magazine)

Cross Disciplinary Minors

English participates in the following cross disciplinary minors: