Opportunities

Creative Writing

The English department's excellent creative writing faculty offers fiction and poetry workshops which can be counted as major electives. To be admitted to an upper division creative writing course, you must submit a writing sample. At least a week before registration begins, consult the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator about how to apply.

Internships and Community Service

You are encouraged to think about your ETS major in its broadest possible terms and to use your knowledge about textuality, interpretation, and meaning to participate in community initiatives and programs. SU students have two possible avenues for such interests. You may become an intern with a local agency, working through the SU Internship Program (235 Schine Student Center). In this capacity, you receive pass/fail credit (the terms of your contract to be decided with your advisor) for your contracted work. (Remember that pass/fail credit cannot count toward your major and minor, but can count toward your Arts and Sciences electives.) If you are interested in participating in direct-action community service, you may prefer to work with the Center for Public and Community Service (237 Schine, X3051). The CPCS arranges placements for students, faculty, and staff in service sites throughout the Syracuse Community. Most community programs ask for at least 20 hours of service per semester, and provide invaluable opportunities to use what you know and to help others in need.

Study Abroad

The department strongly encourages ETS majors to study abroad for at least one semester, particularly in the program in London. Going abroad can enrich your study of English in invaluable ways. For information on programs abroad and on courses available in the London program, consult Gail Rich at SU Abroad, 106 Walnut Place. Or you can check out the DIPA web page at http://suabroad.syr.edu/.

Topics recently or frequently offered in the London program include "Shakespearean Drama," "Formalism and the Modernist Novel," "Introduction to British Cultural Studies," "Freud, Fiction and the Uncanny," and "Reading the English Landscape." If you plan to study abroad, be sure to consider in advance how the curriculum will affect your completion of requirements for the Liberal Arts Core and for your major or minor. You should also follow carefully the instructions for registering from abroad for the courses you will need in the semester when you return to Syracuse.

ETS Undergraduate Conference

The ETS Undergraduate Conference, first held in 1997, is now an annual spring event organized by ETS majors and minors and graduate student teachers. Designed to showcase the work of undergraduates at all levels, it provides students with a public forum in which they can listen and respond to the work of their colleagues and reflect on their work in the ETS major through informal conversation and formal academic presentations.

Dual Major in English Education

If you are considering a career as an English teacher, you should consult Academic and Student Services in the School of Education (270 Huntington Hall) about state certification requirements and the program in English Education. As a dual major in English and Education, you will take a normal ETS major program, except that your upper division courses must include ETS 333 (History and Structure of the English Language), a course in Shakespeare, and one of the following: WRT 301, WRT 303, or WRT 307.

Scholarships and Awards

Each spring the department names an outstanding junior ETS major as the winner of the Joan Garfinkel Memorial Scholarship, and also nominates one or more students for the Newell W. Rossman, Jr., scholarships in the Humanities, which are awarded through an annual competition sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, the Margaret Y. Cragg Prize is awarded to the major with the highest GPA in ETS courses at the end of the junior year, and there are two prizes for graduating senior majors: the Jean Marie Richards Memorial Award for excellence in English, and the Anthony J. Pietrafesa Prize for the highest grade point average in ETS courses. The department also holds annual writing contests in fiction and poetry.

Senior Seminars

In addition to its regular courses, the department occasionally offers a senior seminar in one of the three divisions of the ETS major curriculum: ETS 529 Senior Seminar in History, ETS 549 Senior Seminar in Theory, and ETS 569 Senior Seminar in Politics. These courses provide opportunities for advanced work in a small class (normally limited to ten students) on topics of current importance in English studies.

Graduate Study in English

If you are interested in continuing your studies in English beyond the undergraduate level-especially if you are considering a career in college or university teaching-you should begin investigating M.A. and Ph.D. programs as early as the fall of your junior year. The Director of Undergraduate Studies can refer you to a faculty advisor who is informed about graduate programs and who can offer guidance on selecting courses, preparing for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), writing letters of application, and seeking financial aid. During your senior year, you are strongly encouraged to take a Senior Seminar, which will help to prepare you for the kind of work encountered in a typical graduate course.