Purposes
- To equip students with the skills to develop expository and creative writing;
- To develop interpretive, analytical, and critical skills through the close study and analysis of literary works;
- To develop competency in a foreign language as well as insight into other peoples and cultures;
- To educate students in the history and structure of the English language;
- To broaden students’ awareness and appreciation of our cultural heritage by examining masterpieces of western and world civilizations.
Tradition of Excellence
The Department of Literature, Journalism, and Modern Languages invites students to enter into the "republic of letters," to become students of the basic component of human interaction: language. The department is committed to helping students learn how to communicate themselves and their ideas effectively through the analysis and study of the written word as used in a breadth of literature—classical and modern, English and French, British and American Ethnic, etc. The faculty offer different approaches to the subject matter due to their different educational backgrounds. Professors of the department have distinguished themselves by having work published in scholarly journals like
French Studies,
The Princeton University Library Chronicle,
The New York Times, and
The Journal of Mass Media Ethics. They have given lectures and submitted papers at such places as the University of London, UCLA, Princeton University, and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in Madrid, Spain. Department faculty have also received major national grants including several from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Fellowship Grant, and the Del Amo Foundation.
Career Opportunities
Students who have graduated from the Department of Literature, Journalism, and Modern Languages have been accepted into some of the finest graduate schools in the country. In addition to careers in law, education, journalism and public relations, graduates from our department are now active in a variety of business fields, ranging from investment banking to clothing retail management, tour agency management, and personnel management. Internship programs with local newspapers and magazines are also established to create contacts and experience for our students to gain employment in technical writing, business writing, and newspaper reporting.
Majors and Minors
Majors
Journalism
Creative Writing
Literature
English Education
Minors
Courses
Faculty
Sue Crider Atkins, Ph.D.
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Keith R. Bell, Ph.D.
University of Oklahoma
Scott M. Bennett, Ph.D.
University of California, Santa Barbara
Carol A. Blessing, Ph.D.
University of California, Riverside
Philip D. Bowles, Ph.D.
Claremont Graduate School and San Diego State University
Kara S. deFreitas, M.A.
California State University, Chico
Mary Kay Harkins, M.F.A.
Bennington College
Richard Hill, Ph.D.
University of Southwestern Louisiana
Alain M. Lescart, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
Karl E. Martin, Ph.D., Chair
University of Minnesota
Melanie D. McBride, Ph.D., Visiting
McMaster University
Kathryn G. McConnell, Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
David Michael McKinney, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
Jacqueline Mitchell, M.A.
University of California, Los Angeles
Fru Festus Ndeh, Ph.D.
University of Duisburg-Essen
Dean E. Nelson, Ph.D.
Ohio University
Charlene K. Pate, M.A.
San Diego State University and California State
University, San Marcos
Bettina Tate Pedersen, Ph.D.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Campaign
Maxine E. Walker, Ph.D.
University of Kansas
Carl A. Winderl, Ph.D.
New York University
Hadley Wood, Ph.D.
Harvard University
Galen B. Yorba-Gray, Ph.D.
Texas Tech University