Award-winning author Valerie Laken will read at Ripon College Sept. 27
Valerie Laken, author of the novel Dream House and the story collection Separate Kingdoms will read from her work at Ripon College Wednesday, Sept. 27, […]
The study of literature is an extended, varied, continuous conversation among students, faculty, writers and their texts. It is concerned not only with how you read and write, but also how you feel and think.
The study of literature requires the involvement of the whole person, engages you in highly personal ways and asks you to respond fully and honestly to the most complex and complete human experiences. Students’ critical understanding of the discipline helps them to express their own ideas and respond to those of others, and to help them to formulate and engage in critical argument.
Achieve More
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Faculty
Gannon, Megan
Associate Professor of English, Chair of English Department
Pleiss Morris, Ann
Associate Professor of English
Unger, Mary
Associate Professor of English and Director of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Advising
Ripon College faculty and professional staff are dedicated to helping you reach your goals, whatever they may be and however often they may change along the way. It’s part of our value statement to you.
As a student at Ripon, you will be assigned a faculty adviser based on your area(s) of interest. You will meet with your faculty adviser throughout your time as a student to discuss your current aspirations, plan your course schedule and plot a future trajectory. We also work collaboratively with Ripon College Career and Professional Development to help match your interests and skills to concrete goals and construct a plan for professional success offering personalized career counseling, off-campus learning opportunities and an online job board with potential to connect with local, national and international employers.
Advising at RiponRequirements
| Requirements for a Major in English | |
|---|---|
| Total Credits | 36 credits |
| Core Courses | ENG 101 Introduction to the Literary Conversation, 450 Literary Theory Pleiss, and 530 Senior Seminar as well as one British literature survey (either ENG 251 Early British Literature or ENG 255 Later British Literature) and one American literature survey (either ENG 246 Early American Literature or ENG 250 Later American Literature). |
| Elective Courses | At least eight credits of electives must be taken at the 300-level, and at least four credits of electives must satisfy the department’s Diversity, Equity and Justice requirement (see below). One course outside the English department, if approved by the chair, may substitute for up to four credit hours of electives. The chair of the English department will determine how the off-campus courses will substitute in the major. Grades earned in all English courses are counted in computing departmental honors. |
|
classes |
101 Introduction to the Literary Conversation, 112 Introduction to Creative Writing, 200 Topics in Literature, 211 Creative Writing: Poetry, 213 Creative writing: Fiction, 231 Theatre and Drama I: Ancient through Renaissance, 232 Theatre and Drama II: Restoration through Contemporary, 243 Literature, Gender, and Sexuality, 246 Early American Literature, 250 Later American Literature, 251 Early British Literature, 260 Topics in Cultural Identity, 300 Departmental Studies, 310 Advanced Creative Writing:Poetry, 312 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction, 320 Period Studies, 360 Shakespeare, 380 Major Author, 402 English Teaching Methods, 450 Literary Theory Pleiss, 530 Senior Seminar |
| Additional Criteria | Students completing licensure: Students interested in teaching English should complete the secondary education major and the English Language Arts licensure requirements which include: an English major, ENG 402 English Teaching Methods, CMM 215 or THE 248 The Actor’s Voice for Stage and Media. The following courses are recommended: LIN 332 Introduction to Linguistics Poncelet or LAT 111 Elementary Latin I Poncelet. |
| Diversity, Equity, and Justice (DEJ) Requirement | The English department supports the College’s mission of preparing students for “socially responsible citizenship” by requiring majors and minors to take at least four credits of English dedicated to the study of underrepresented authors, voices and literary traditions. Courses that count toward the DEJ requirement will be noted in the Schedule of Courses. |
| Requirements for a Minor in English | |
|---|---|
| Total Credits | 20 credits |
| Core Courses | ENG 101 Introduction to the Literary Conversation as well as one British literature survey (either ENG 251 Early British Literature or ENG 255 Later British Literature) and one American literature survey (either ENG 246 Early American Literature or ENG 250 Later American Literature). |
| Elective Courses | At least four credits of electives must be taken at the 300 level, and at least four credits of electives must satisfy the department’s Diversity, Equity and Justice requirements |
|
classes |
101 Introduction to the Literary Conversation, 112 Introduction to Creative Writing, 200 Topics in Literature, 211 Creative Writing:Poetry, 213 Creative Writing: Fiction, 231 Theatre and Drama I: Ancient through Renaissance, 232 Theatre and Drama II: Restoration through Contemporary, 243 Literature, Gender, and Sexuality, 246 Early American Literature, 250 Later American Literature, 251 Early British Literature, 255 Later British Literature, 260 Topics in Cultural Identity, 300 Departmental Studies, 310 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry, 312 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction, 320 Period Studies, 360 Shakespeare, 380 Major Author, 402 English Teaching Methods, 450 Literary Theory Pleiss, 530 Senior Seminar |
| Diversity, Equity, and Justice (DEJ) Requirement | The English department supports the College’s mission of preparing students for “socially responsible citizenship” by requiring majors and minors to take at least four credits of English dedicated to the study of underrepresented authors, voices and literary traditions. Courses that count toward the DEJ requirement will be noted in the Schedule of Courses. |
| Requirements for a Minor in Creative Writing | |
|---|---|
| Total Credits | 20 credits |
| Core Courses | ENG 112 Introduction to Creative Writing and ENG 380 Major Author, as well as one of the following two-course sequences: ENG 211 Creative Writing: Poetry and ENG 310 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry; or ENG 213 Creative Writing: Fiction and ENG 312 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction; or ENG 211 Creative Writing: Poetry and ENG 213 Creative Writing: Fiction. |
| Elective Courses | Four credits of electives must come from another ENG course or a practical course in another creative process such as ART, MUS, or THE. No more than four credits may count toward the Creative Writing minor and the English major or minor. |
Career Tracks
The English major at Ripon prepares students for successful careers in law, journalism, theatre and teaching at every level. Many graduates go directly into careers in public relations, politics, industry, medical and health professions, library science, and publishing and writing.
Recent graduates are working as educators at all levels, communications associates and specialists, editors, content writers, executive assistants, reference librarians and senior coaches.
Unique Opportunities
- Our courses offer a wide selection of elective and experiential learning opportunities including archival research on African American writers, visual poetry projects, video game narrative studies, and field trips to American Players Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and special collections libraries.
- The creative writing journal Parallax offers writers, artists, and editors publishing experience.
- English students have presented at national conferences such as the Blackfriars Shakespeare Conference at the American Shakespeare Center and the Sigma Tau Delta and the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention.
- The In-Focus course Potter to Potter: The Landscapes and Streets of Modern British Fantasy Literature allows students to travel to the British Isles and experiences its landscapes, art and architecture, and the culture and their influence on British literature.
- Through the Department of Educational Studies, certification in English is available in Early Adolescence/Adolescence (grades 6-12).
- The ACM Newberry Library program in Chicago allows students to tap into the millions of books in the collection of this leading center of research.
Alumni Profiles
Michael Timm ’04 was a double major in English and anthropology. He was heavily involved in the College Days newspaper, first as a writer and then as its editor. Under his leadership, the paper won numerous awards for excellence, but, Timm says, “The greatest reward was the camaraderie forged deadline after deadline.” Between his sophomore and junior years, he traveled to Peru, where he worked with an archaeological field team from UCLA surveying the Lake Titicaca basin.
As a free-lance writer in Milwaukee, Timm has written a book about the history of the Robertson-Ryan Insurance Agency; now he’s writing a book about the history of the Coakley Brothers moving company. He edits an independent newspaper, Bay View Compass. During the summer of 2009, he studied creative writing at the University of Oxford in England. He has written and directed two interactive murder mystery plays, with a third soon to be performed at Milwaukee’s Alchemist Theatre. The next stage in Timm’s multifaceted career path will be pursuing a master’s degree with an emphasis in environmental journalism at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
Kristen McCullough ’04, who double majored in English and communication, considers literature to be the most revealing study of life, people and history. She says, “Working with the English faculty at Ripon, I dabbled in creative writing, brought prose to life on film, coauthored an independent study course in Native American literature with Professor Kate Sontag and, most importantly, explored the workings of my own mind.” Outside of class, she was on the editorial board of College Days, and she presented original research at three national conferences, including a paper on the effect Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club had on her audiences.
After Ripon, Kristen spent five years in nonprofit management consulting, helping mission-driven organizations craft compelling messages about the value they bring to constituents and to the world. Finding herself drawn to the individuals she met along the way, she returned to school and pursued a master’s degree in clinical social work, emphasizing the psychological, economic and political forces at play in the lives of individuals. “I am now a therapist in child welfare,” she says, “I work alongside vulnerable children, parents and families to uncover and re-author the story of their lives and the lives of their communities.”