English

Degree Type Bachelor of Arts
Department English
Academic Division The College
Offerings Major
Working closely with dedicated faculty members, students in this department hone their ability to think and read critically, reason persuasively and write eloquently through the exploration of a constantly evolving range of course offerings.

About the Department

English majors at W&L learn methodologies and vocabularies for literary study; contemplate forms and purposes of literary art in a variety of periods and cultures; and investigate intersections between English and many other disciplines.

The department fosters a culture of curiosity and intellectual endeavor, as well as respect for a variety of cultures and intellectual approaches, through advising, internships and service-learning, study abroad, and extracurricular programming. Students who pursue optional creative writing courses balance critical study with creative endeavor, learning the history and forms of literary art as apprentice practitioners.

Why Study English at W&L?

This 11-course major makes it easy for students to study abroad, double major or complete a minor. The major is also compatible with pre-med or health professions preparation. English majors have access to frequent readings and lectures by visiting writers and scholars.

Opportunities for Students

Study Abroad: English majors who plan ahead can take Spring Term, one of the long terms, or even the whole junior year abroad. Summer study can also be arranged. Study abroad usually takes the form of year-long or semester-long study at a foreign university in an English-speaking country. English majors have had good experiences at Advanced Studies in England in Bath; University College, Oxford; The Virginia Program at Oxford (summer); University College, London; York University; Melbourne; and other universities abroad.

Prizes and Awards: The department offers several scholarships, as well as awards for both creative and critical writing.

Shenandoah Magazine: Internship opportunities are available at W&L’s celebrated literary magazine, Shenandoah. Students gain hands-on experience in editing, project management, design and publicity.

Senior Honors Theses: Each English major has the option of writing a senior honors thesis that fulfills the Senior Capstone Writing Requirement for English majors.

After W&L

Of the members of the Class of 2017, 100 percent were employed six months after graduation. Our majors, who frequently pair English with another major, go on to graduate school, prestigious fellowships, and careers in law, teaching, publishing, marketing and communications, finance, government and much more. Having a strong alumni network means our alumni frequently step in to provide personal guidance and connect current students with potential employers. 

Genelle Gertz

Department Head
P: 540-458-8763
E: gertzg@wlu.edu

Sandra H. O'Connell

Administrative Assistant
P: 540-458-8756
E: oconnells@wlu.edu

Sample Courses

At W&L, we believe education and experience go hand-in-hand. You'll be encouraged to dive in, explore and discover connections that will broaden your perspective.
ENGL 252

Shakespeare

A study of the major genres of Shakespeare's plays, employing analysis shaped by formal, historical and performance-based questions. Emphasis is given to tracing how Shakespeare's work engages early modern cultural concerns, such as the nature of political rule, gender, religion and sexuality. A variety of skills are developed in order to assist students with interpretation, which may include verse analysis, study of early modern dramatic forms, performance workshops, two medium-length papers, reviews of live play productions, and a final, student-directed performance of a selected play.

ENGL 230

Poetry & Music

An introduction to the study of poetry in English with an emphasis on music. After starting with a consideration of how poems in print can be said to have rhythm and sound effects, students then investigate a series of questions about poetry and music, including: What's the relationship between lyric poetry and song lyrics? What makes a poem musical? What kinds of music have most influenced poetry during the last hundred years, and in what ways?

ENGL 240

Arthurian Legend

This course surveys the origins and histories of Arthurian literature, beginning with Celtic myths, Welsh tales and Latin chronicles. We then examine medieval French and English traditions that include Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the lais of Marie de France, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, and Malory's Le Morte Darthur. Finally, we investigate Arthurian medievalisms in Victorian England and in American (post)modernity through Tennyson, Twain, Barthelme and Ishiguro.

ENGL 293

Films of Alfred Hitchcock

This course presents an intensive survey of the films of Alfred Hitchcock: it covers all of his major and many of his less well-known films. It supplements that central work by introducing students to several approaches to film analysis that are particularly appropriate for studying Hitchcock. These include biographical interpretation (Spoto's dark thesis), auteur and genre-based interpretation (Truffaut), psychological analyses (Zizek & Freud), and dominant form theory (hands-on study of novel to film adaptations).

ENGL 393

Jane Austen's Fan Culture & Afterlives

In the 20th and 21st centuries, Jane Austen has attained a celebrity that far exceeds the recognition she enjoyed during her lifetime. How did Austen transform from biting social satirist to patron saint of chick lit? Beginning with three of Austen's novels, and then turning to the fan cultures surrounding "Pride and Prejudice," this course examines the nature of fandom, especially its propensity to change and adapt the very thing it celebrates.

ENGL 387

Visions & Beliefs of the West of Ireland

This course immerses the student in the literature, religious traditions, history and culture of Ireland. The primary focus of the course is on Irish literary expressions and religious beliefs and traditions, from the pre-historic period to the modem day, with a particular emphasis on the modem (early 20th-century) Irish world. Readings are coordinated with site visits, which range from prehistoric and Celtic sites to early and medieval Christian sites to modem Irish life.

Meet the Faculty

At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
Genelle Gertz Professor of English and Chair, English Department
Gertz teaches courses on Milton, the Tudors and the Bible. She is currently working on methods of social network analysis as they apply to our understanding of the rise and fall of women mystics in English literary history.
Marc Conner Provost; Jo M. and James Ballengee Professor of English
Conner teaches courses on Shakespeare, Irish literature and African-American literature. His research interests include modernity and modern narrative, 20th-century American fiction and African-American literature.
Chris Gavaler Associate Professor of English
Gavaler teaches courses on creative writing, contemporary fiction and comics, which are also his main areas of research.
Lena Hill Dean of the College; Professor of English
In addition to her duties as Dean of the College, Hill researches and teaches courses primarily in 19th- and 20th-century African-American literature. She has written a number of books and articles on the subject.
Wan-Chuan Kao Associate Professor of English
Professor Kao’s teaching and research interests include medieval literature, especially Chaucer; whiteness studies; critical theory; race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; queer studies; hotel theory; affect; and cute studies.
Diego Millan Assistant Professor of English
Millan teaches upper-level courses in black diasporic literature. He has researched 19th- and 20th-century American and African-American literature and culture, black studies, performance studies, and theories of laughter and comedy.
Deborah A. Miranda Thomas H. Broadus Professor of English
Miranda primarily teaches courses on creative writing (poetry and memoir) and contemporary American literature by authors from the margins of U.S. culture. Her research pertains to Native American and Chicana/o poetry and fiction, women’s literature and LGBTQ literature.
Holly Pickett Associate Professor of English
Pickett teaches courses on Shakespeare, early modern drama and contemporary drama. Her research interests include religion and drama, history of the senses, and early modern religious identities and controversies.
Taylor Walle Assistant Professor of English
Walle is a W&L alumna who teaches courses on Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and other topics in British literature. Her research interests include orality and literacy in the 18th century, women’s writing, and women’s and gender studies.
Lesley Wheeler Henry S. Fox Professor of English
Wheeler teaches courses in poetry, creative writing and speculative fiction. Her research interests include 20th- and 21st-century poetry in English, especially as it involves sound, gender, politics and world-building.
Edward Adams Professor of English
Adams teaches courses such as Victorian poetry, Hitchcock and 19th century British novel. His research interests include history and fiction, novel and epic, and high culture and pop culture.
Kary Smout Associate Professor of English
Smout teaches courses on the literature of the American South, American West and business in American literature. His research interests include language and culture, writing instruction and the politics of higher education.
Gordon Ball Visiting Associate Professor of English
Ball teaches courses in creative writing and American literature. His research interests include poetry, literature of the beat generation, Allen Ginsberg, Walt Whitman and the history and theory of film.
Laura Fairchild Brodie Visiting Associate Professor of English
Brodie teaches courses in creative writing and 18th through 21st-century literature. Her books include novels and nonfiction, and her scholarship has focused on the representation of widows in British literature.
Sydney Bufkin Mellon Digital Humanities Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Bufkin teaches a course on creating digital scholarships as well as courses in entry level writing, children’s literature and the American gilded ages. Her research pertains to late 19th and early 20th century American literature.
Freddy Fuentes Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Fuentes teaches entry level writing courses as well as topics in creative writing. He has researched Spanish-American literature and privilege in America.
Leah Green Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Green’s courses include Eco-Writing, Arthurian Legend and other topics for first-year writing seminars. She has researched environmental literature, creative writing, and Buddhist ecology and community.
Jane Harrington Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Harrington teaches British Literature, creative writing and children's literature. She has researched the Great Hunger of Ireland (folk narratives and history), 19th Century poet/activist Lady Wilde, fairy tales by 17th Century French salon women and issues in contemporary children's literature
Bill Oliver Director of the Williams School Communication Center, Director of the Writing Center, and Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Oliver has served as the CommCenter director since 2015 and now directs the Writing Center as well. He teaches first-year writing seminars and courses in American literature and fiction writing. His research interest is fiction.
Florinda Ruiz Director of the Writing Program and Visiting Associate Professor of Writing
Ruiz teaches courses in writing/composition as well as visual art and poetry in world literature. She has researched the transmission of classical Greek and Roman cultures, Spanish Islam, Spanish culture, and writing pedagogy.
Beth A. Staples Visiting Assistant Professor and Editor, Shenandoah
Staples supervises internships in editing and publishing for Shenandoah, W&L’s literary magazine, and teaches creative writing courses and first-year writing seminars.