Why Wooster?

Teaching at Wooster focuses on helping students develop their own analytical and writing abilities, as well as on disseminating information. Students in English classes discuss issues raised in their reading, work on their writing independently and in small groups, and embark on projects that apply their knowledge and sharpen their analytical skills. The English faculty represents various areas of expertise and teaches a range of courses, from several perspectives. These courses include ones that focus on the writings of a specific author, such as Charlotte Brontë, Virginia Woolf, or Shakespeare; some that are organized around a theme or issue, such as Conventions of the Short Story; others that study British and American texts of a specific time period or the writings of African Americans; and courses in journalism and creative writing. The smallcollege atmosphere enables close contact with faculty and students in this department and adds a rich dimension to the college experience.

Life After Wooster

A few years ago, a graduate of Wooster’s English department returned to campus to discuss the Pulitzer Prize for journalism that he and several colleagues had won. He just missed crossing paths with another English graduate who received an honorary degree in recognition of his best selling novels.

Of course, not all Wooster English majors win a Pulitzer or write a bestseller. But they do go on to successful careers in a myriad of fields. Just to suggest the variety among our English graduates, there are a television news producer, a city planner, a film editor at a Hollywood studio (his dream job as an Independent Study student), and an orthopedic surgeon. Many majors have become attorneys, reporters (print and broadcast), bankers (one is a vice-president at Morgan Stanley), and editors. The department is also quite proud of those who have become teachers in our schools or gone on to graduate work and become English professors at colleges and universities throughout the country.