ACU students visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Study abroad

Through ACU's Study Abroad program, students can take short courses during the summers in several countries or spend a semester studying in Oxford, England.

Besides Oxford, recent groups have studied in Prague, Vienna, Lucerne, and cities in Japan and China.

Courses vary but have included sociology, photography, theatre, philosophy, church history, and other topics. The English department contributes courses for both nonmajors and majors. Examples are Shakespeare, drama survey, nineteenth-century British literature, C. S. Lewis, and Eastern European fiction.

Shown here are students in the drama survey, on a day trip from Oxford to Stratford.

Departmental scholarships

Depending on the current year's investment yields, several scholarships are available to English majors each year. Rising juniors and seniors are considered for academic awards of $500-600 and for textbook scholarships of $250. These honor past faculty members--Mima Williams, Clara Mae Ellis, and Jewell Watson.

Creative writing

• Courses: "Fiction Workshop," "Poetry Workshop," and "Advanced Creative Writing"
• Visiting writers who discuss writing and perform their work
• Staff work on The Shinnery Review, campus literary magazine (learning editing and desktop publishing)
• Opportunity to perform at the annual Black Tulip coffee house on campus. Poetry Workshop students may also perform at local art galleries.
• Opportunity to study under published writers of fiction (Prof. Albert Haley, Dr. Preston Harper, Prof. Steve Weathers) and poetry (Dr. Chris Willerton). Albert Haley, winner of the John Irving First Novel Award, is Writer in Residence.

Honors Program work in English

Depending on their career aims, English majors have used Honors Program course contracts and the Senior Honors Project for either critical studies or creative works (novels, poetry, literary hypertext). Admission to the Honors Program requires a combined score of 1270 on the SAT, a cumulative score of 27 on the ACT, or other evidence of high ability and motivation.

Double majors and second degrees

Many English majors use the generous number of elective hours in the English degree to complete a second major or second degree in another field, thereby increasing their marketability. Majors that have been combined with English successfully in recent years are computer science, theatre, human communication, telecommunication, New Testament Greek, and biology.

Internships

An internship in publication is carried out with Quality Printing Company of Abilene. The intern is employed for a semester to learn editing and production. The intern keeps a journal and meets with a faculty member for discussion. Other internships may be arranged as opportunities arise.