We hope that you’ll find our website helpful, whether you are a current major, a graduate of our program, or a student who’s thinking about majoring or minoring in English or minoring in Writing. Our website has information about current and future course offerings, scholarships, program descriptions and major requirements, work opportunities and faculty news and notes, as well as alumni news.

English is one of the largest departments at Berry, both in terms of number of majors and number of faculty, yet our classes are small (no more than 15, typically, in an upper division course) and interactive. This means that your experience as a major or minor in programs offered by the department will give you a chance to get to know your fellow students and our faculty very well, while also giving you exposure to a wide range of scholarly and extra-curricular interests in which our community participates. Those interested in teaching will get a firsthand opportunity to experience classroom teaching; those who enjoy creative writing will not only have opportunities to hone their craft but to share their work with the Berry community; those who love to read and analyze literature will have many means by which to do so. We believe in active, not passive, learning!

In addition to their studies, our majors are involved in a wide range of activities, intercollegiate athletics and campus leadership opportunities. English majors are Bonner Scholars, Resident Assistants, First-Year Mentors, Presidential Scholars, musicians, actors and leaders across campus. They also work on campus, often as research assistants for our faculty, office assistants in the Department office, or as student tutors at Berry's Writing Center.

Our faculty are not only excellent classroom teachers (several of whom have won campus-wide teaching awards in recent years), but also active scholars and writers in their various disciplines. In the past few years, our faculty have published or edited scholarly books, collections of poetry, short fiction and many articles in scholarly publications, not to mention regularly presenting papers at various conferences nationally and internationally. Just one example of our faculty’s excellence: Dr. Sandra Meek, Dana Professor of English, Rhetoric and Writing, was recently awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry to support her continued work; her most recent collection, "Road Scatter," has received excellent reviews as well.

In sum, we are a vibrant community of active and engaged participants in a close-knit community not only of the mind, but of campus and civic life as well. We hope you will read on and learn more about us, or come for a visit. Should you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email: lwhelan@berry.edu

Dr. Lara Whelan, Associate Professor
Chair, English, Rhetoric and Writing

Do you have any news to share? You can pass it on to one of our faculty members or email us at english@berry.edu. We'd love to hear from you.