English (new)

"The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions hidden by the answers."
– James Baldwin

From the classics to the contemporary, we offer students a broad range of courses in literature, creative writing, and journalism. Our students read expansively and critically, talking through competing interpretations and varying perspectives in small seminars and writing workshops. They write thoughtfully and with intention, developing skills that serve them throughout their education and in the careers that follow. 

• Career Development in Core Classes
  • At the sophomore, junior, and senior levels, English majors take workshops in career exploration, including internship applications; work with our alumni network; and prep for grad school and fellowships.
• Internships
  • Students in English have access to a huge variety of internships in publishing, communications, journalism, and more at Memphis businesses, arts organizations, and nonprofits.
• Opportunities in Writing and Publishing  
  • Our Literary New York summer program allows you to study and work in New York City, immersing you in the literary and publishing scene.
  • Our Creative Publishing course teaches you how to design, edit, and publish The Southwestern Review, the Rhodes College literary magazine. 
  • The Department of English offers a Journalism certificate to enhance practical skills in communication.
• What can you do with an English Major?
  • Career Paths:  Our majors go on to careers in publishing, law, journalism, communications, medical humanities, fine and performing arts, business, marketing, human resources, social work, and many other fields. 
  • Grad School:  Rhodes English majors go on to complete graduate degrees in law or medicine, MFAs or PhDs in literature or creative writing, or degrees in other fields like information sciences, education, and social work. 
  • Follow this link to see What Rhodes English Majors Are Doing Now!

Department of English Diversity Statement

The Rhodes College English Department seeks to foster a vibrant academic community where students and faculty with a diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, and lived experiences can thrive. The English literature classroom at Rhodes is a place where diversity and difference are not only welcomed, but also creatively interrogated and collaboratively discussed. In this effort, the Department recognizes that the discipline of English has traditionally been a site of the reproduction of ideologies of normativity and exclusion. The Department thus seeks to understand literary works as enabling the interrogation of those ideologies and fostering an acute social consciousness, an expansive imagination, and the provisions for building a more equitable world.