News
Voorhees re-instates English as a major
June 17, 2009
Voorhees College will reinstate English as a major beginning this upcoming 2009-2010 academic year.“The new English major has been formally approved by all institutional bodies and the board of trustees for implementation in the fall of 2009,” said Dr. Don L. Powell, coordinator of the new major.
Powell said the purpose of adding the major is to continue developing vital programs at the institution.
“Voorhees College is a well-established liberal arts institution. At this point, a significant void exists in its academic offerings because it is without an English major program, which is a core program in the liberal arts curricula,” he said. “Offering the new English major will rectify this current situation.”
Some of the classes that make up the curriculum for the English major are American Literature I and II, Romantic Literature, World Literature, African-American Literature, History of the English Language, Shakespeare and Milton. Students will also be able to minor in English by completing 18 hours.
“In the first year of the new English major, the desire is to reestablish the importance of the English major in the academic curriculum at Voorhees, acquaint students with the broad career opportunities available to English majors and immediately impact the higher-order critical thinking skills of students in general, and English majors in particular, through the processes of reading, writing and speaking,” Powell said.
Powell went on to say that the addition of the English major was the result of interest expressed by current students. “When I conducted a survey to determine student interest, more than 300 forms were distributed to freshmen, sophomores, juniors and undeclared majors. The survey forms returned indicated a definite interest in the new English major on the part of some students.”
With the addition of the new major, Voorhees will recruit one additional faculty member at the assistant or associate professor level.
“Reinstating English as a major was a great milestone for the institution,” Voorhees President Cleveland L. Sellers Jr. said. “English is a critical major because it is an invaluable preparation for many different career paths.”
For more information, please contact Teesa Brunson, director of communications, at 803-780-1194 or at tbrunson@voorhees.edu.