English

Reading, Writing and Critical Thinking

At Assumption, you will be encouraged to find your voice and make it heard. Our dedicated faculty members enjoy working with students to discover what they are passionate about and to help them map a course for the future. Our courses in writing and literature will push you to develop as a confident and persuasive writer and as a critical thinker able to read between the lines, detecting unstated assumptions, tracing the logic and implications of an argument. Our New York Media Experience, international internships, and opportunities in Worcester and on-campus provide an array of options for gaining valuable real-world experience.

The English Department provides extra-curricular opportunities for students across the University, from TV and radio production to acting and performance, to writing and editing.  And Alpha Zeta Beta, Assumption’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society (for majors and minors), invites and inducts new students each year.

Features and Benefits of an Assumption English Degree

• Study English with the flexibility to pursue your passions in literature or communication and media, or pursue a double major in English and education;
• Spend a semester engaged in an exciting internship for leading television networks, public relations agencies and sports teams in Boston, Worcester, or New York City;
• Intern at your choice of over 70 locations in Worcester and beyond
• Gain practical experience right on-campus, writing for Le Provocateur, the student newspaper, Thoreau’s Rooster or MUSE, student literary journals, or producing a television show for ACTV, the on-campus television station.
• Travel through Ireland or England over spring break with other English majors and enjoy having your professors as tour guides.
• 96% of Assumption’s 2018 English majors were employed, pursuing additional education or participating in post-graduate service opportunities within six months of graduation.
• Enjoy post-graduate success at companies like MLB.com, NBC, The Washington Times, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and more.

Department Mission Statement

Literature addresses profound and enduring questions about what it means to be a human being, while challenging us to recognize complexity and ambiguity in our exploration of those questions. The study and creation of literature in all its written, performative, auditory, and visual forms is an enlightening quest of self-discovery that exposes us to a wide range of aesthetic sensibilities and reveals our strengths, vulnerabilities, and potential for change. Experiencing literature leads us to ask deeper questions about our spiritual, intellectual, personal, and cultural assumptions, so that we can come to know ourselves and our larger world more fully. 
 
Through their engagement with literature, students learn to pose questions and employ methods specific to the field of literary studies and to explore the implications of these ways of knowing. They learn to read critically and empathetically and to recognize the significance, quality, and consequences of language. Students learn the value of writing as a means of discovery, as well as to learn to write and speak effectively, exhibiting an awareness of audience. Our courses challenge students to ask ethical questions about literature and its consequences for their values and ways of being in the world. Students also gain a more informed and global understanding of cultural and historical differences. The department seeks to inspire students to take intellectual risks, to synthesize the questions and approaches of the discipline they have learned, and to take responsibility for their continued learning. The department’s programs of study prepare students to become active and engaged learners in both their personal and their professional lives.