The Department of English is a community of learners who bring different backgrounds and knowledge to their exploration of texts, in both words and images. Together, we work to understand how these texts respond to and shape their cultures and societies, explore ethical issues, and provide aesthetic and intellectual experiences for their audiences.
The Department helps students develop their abilities in interpretation and communication, reading and writing. It fosters their understanding of and respect for both individual and cultural commonalities and differences. It helps future English teachers develop the ideas and practices that will make them effective in the classrooms of an increasingly complex and diverse society.
In our courses, Fredonia’s English Department helps students develop skills in a variety of forms (written, cinematic, electronic, for example) and in different contexts (aesthetic, cultural, historical, journalistic, philosophical, and political).
Our graduates work for schools, journals, publishers, business firms, advertising and marketing firms, newspapers, non-profit and arts organizations and government agencies. They go on to graduate programs in English, Education, Business, American Studies, Journalism, Law, Library Science, Fine Arts, Women’s Studies and Social Work. Every year, many choose to pursue our Master of Arts degree in English or our Master of Science in Education (English) degree.
English Department Program Goals/Objectives
The Department of English has structured its undergraduate and graduate programs to provide students with opportunities to develop critical reading, writing and thinking strategies. In accordance with principles articulated by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and other professional organizations, English majors will:
- a. read attentively, closely, and critically;
- b. write thoughtfully, coherently, and persuasively;
- c. develop and challenge their own thinking through scholarly research.
Candidates seeking initial and permanent/professional certification will also meet NCTE standards for the preparation of teachers of English Language Arts.
For the English major, the department offers a varied exposure to literature and criticism through a core of required courses. Internships in English-related fields are also available.
For the English minor, the department offers courses that can easily be organized to complement any major or pre-professional study.
Awards and Scholarships
The department awards several scholarships and prizes recognizing both financial need and superior achievement:
Fall Awards
- Laura D. Foster/Florence Jeanetta Dick Literature Award
- Mary Louise White Book Awards for First-Year Students
Spring Awards
- John and Eleanor Courts Memorial Scholarship
- Crescence Ehmke Graham Scholarship
- The Howard Herkimer & Hildegard Maytum Strong Scholarship
- Henry F. Salerno Scholarship for a Graduating Senior
- Undergraduate Writing Beyond First Year Award
- Graduate Writing Award
- Mary Louise White Poetry Award
- Mary Louise White Fiction Award
- Mary Louise White Creative Writing Award
Department of English Honors Program
Honors in English consists of writing a thesis during the senior year on a topic related to the study of literature, language, or English pedagogy.
Students can be nominated by a faculty member or may nominate themselves, including a brief recommendation from a faculty member. Nominations should be made to the department’s Honors Coordinator.
Students writing an English Honors Thesis should enroll in HONR 400. Students who choose to write the thesis in the fall semester should use the preceding summer for research. Students who choose to write the thesis in the spring semester should use the fall semester for research by taking ENGL 490, Independent Study.
Before beginning work on the thesis, the student should identify a faculty member who will be willing to serve as the thesis director. The completed thesis should be read by the director and one other reader, who will usually be a member of the English department but who can, if the topic so requires, be from another department.
Requirements for Transfer Credit
The Department of English at Fredonia requires majors in English to complete at Fredonia a minimum of 24 credit hours of courses applied to the major. Thus, students transferring to Fredonia should normally expect no more than 12 credit hours earned elsewhere to apply to the major in English. Additional hours earned in English may be used as general electives or may be applied, under prescribed conditions, to the College Core Curriculum.
As a rule, the department will not accept credits earned at two-year colleges as equivalents for upper-level courses.
Advising
An assigned faculty advisor will aid each student majoring in English or English-Adolescence Education in completing his or her portfolio. Advisors also help both major and minor advisees in preparing course schedules, understanding requirements, making broad educational decisions, and solving other academic problems. As a further aid, the department regularly publishes a pre-registration Course Description Booklet that contains details not found in this Undergraduate Catalog – required readings, papers, exams – about courses scheduled each semester.
Course Numbering:
All courses are open to majors and non-majors alike (except for specialized prerequisites or core courses as indicated); however, allowing for correction through advisement and the Course Description Booklet, the student may generally assume the following:
100 level courses are introductory;
200 level courses are survey-introductory;
300 level courses focus on education, theory, literary history, and writing;
400 level courses are specialized studies of major authors, works and advanced writing;
500 level courses are open to undergraduate majors with senior standing (89 credit hours of academic course work) and with permission of the instructor and the chairperson.