English

English Adolescence Education

As an English major at Saint Rose you will complete a stimulating academic program in which you will learn how to read critically, looking beyond the words on the page to find deeper meaning and develop questions for further study. You will master a variety of writing styles, capped off during your senior year with a required writing portfolio that bridges the gap between the academic and the professional worlds. You will develop close relationships with faculty mentors who love teaching and actively engage in scholarship and creative writing. You will attend readings and lectures by renowned authors and build friendships with your peers when you participate in English Club activities. You may even decide to study English in England through the College’s program at Regents College in London.

THE SAINT ROSE DIFFERENCE
The Saint Rose programs in English offer a multi-pronged approach to English study in which both traditional and innovative works are studied, as well as creative and academic writing, drama and public speaking. Since Saint Rose offers both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English, the expertise of our distinguished faculty tends to be diverse and specialized. The Saint Rose English Department distinguishes itself from other colleges and universities by ensuring that all of our students are taught and advised by full-time faculty members—never teaching assistants.

English Honor Society
Saint Rose has a chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. Each year, English and English Adolescence Education majors who qualify are invited to join this prestigious honor society, which publishes a journal and hosts a national convention.

Study Abroad
In addition, English majors can study abroad through the College’s program with Regents College in London. This partnership offers the opportunity for students to study literature and the classics in England for the same price as Saint Rose tuition (plus airfare and personal expenses), and with all credits counting toward your degree.

English Club
Your experience as a Saint Rose English major won’t be complete until you have attended one of the English Club’s legendary Bad Poetry Readings, in which both faculty and students find the worst poems they can to read. The English Club hosts other occasional—and humorous—events, such as poetry readings on the first day of spring. In addition, the club sponsors literary readings by published authors, such as Maurice Kenny, Seamus Deane and Morris Wyszogrod.

OUR MENTORING FACULTY
English majors at Saint Rose have the opportunity to work closely with faculty members whose ongoing research and published works reflect expertise in a variety of fields. Small class sizes and student-oriented teaching allow faculty members to challenge students and to accommodate many different learning styles. Faculty members belong to numerous professional organizations including the Modern Language Association, the American Culture Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In addition, Dr. Ruth Ann Smalley is mentoring a student who aspires to be a college professor through the Hudson Mohawk Association’s Mentoring Program. The English Department values the mentoring relationships between faculty and students, so English majors serve on all search committees for English faculty.

FACILITIES
Campus Theatre: Our studio theatre is a converted carriage house built in the grand Victorian-style with an intricate wood ceiling. This intimate space seats only 100, providing close contact with the audience and flexible staging opportunities for theatre in the round, amphitheater seating, or a proscenium arch. Students not only appear in plays, but also take Drama Production and Performance for credit, learning essential backstage skills. Network Writing Lab: This classroom has 25 computers and a teaching station allowing for state-of-the-art instruction and practice in team writing and editing, Internet researching, and PowerPoint presentations.

FIELD EXPERIENCE
Since a bachelor’s degree in English prepares you for such a broad variety of career opportunities, you are encouraged to complete an internship to help you learn more about a particular field in which you are interested. Opportunities for field experience include:

• a four-credit writing internship for students
• students interested in drama may register for Drama Production and Performance in which they receive on-the-job training in all aspects of theater production;
  English Adolescence Education majors complete
  a semester of student teaching; and
• seniors may complete a Senior Writing Project in which students work closely with an English faculty member to complete an advanced-level piece of creative writing.

Companies and organizations that have hosted Saint Rose English interns include: Delmar Publishers, Elle magazine, the Hearst Corporation’s Times Union newspaper, Metroland magazine, the New York State Theatre Institute, Capital Repertory Company, Senior Services of Albany Foundation, the Hudson River Gateway Council, and the Saint Rose Office of Public Information.

CAREERS
As a graduate of the English program you will have a comprehensive background in literature and skills in analysis, writing, and public speaking that will ensure your preparedness for careers in teaching, publishing, editing, journalism, advertising, library and information science, broadcasting, technical writing, creative writing, public relations, and a wide variety of administrative positions in business, government and human service. If you graduate with a degree in English Adolescence Education, you will be provisionally certified to teach English at the secondary level.

GRADUATE STUDY
A master’s in English is necessary for professionals in publishing, technical writing, creative writing and teaching at two-year colleges. In addition, many graduates use their bachelor’s degree in English as a foundation for pursuing law school and various other fields of study including communications. Saint Rose English graduates have gone on to study at various schools including Albany Law School, Florida State University and the University at Albany. English Adolescence education graduates must complete a master’s degree within three years of teaching under certification.

Many English graduates elect to remain at Saint Rose where they may pursue their master’s degree in English with the faculty members that they have come to respect as mentors. Assistantships offering excellent experience in enhancing research skills, as well as tutoring at the Writing Center, are available to English graduate students.

COMBINED DEGREES
Since Saint Rose does offer both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English, exceptional English majors may pursue the unique combined B.A./M.A. program that allows them to finish both degrees in four years.

MODERATE PRICE AND
AGGRESSIVE FINANCIAL AID
The College of Saint Rose has one of the lowest tuitions of all New York state private colleges and we offer a variety of scholarships, including academic talent. More than 90% of our students receive several forms of financial aid.

I am proud of the high standards we hold for students in the English program, and I am equally pleased that we work individually with students to make sure that they attain these standards. We believe that students should be knowledgeable about the tradition of British and American literature, but we have also made sure that they have a wide and diverse familiarity with newer or previously overlooked writers, such as women, minorities and the previously colonized. Our portfolio requirement helps students to take responsibility and control of their writing and critical thinking so that they can present themselves for any professional position that involves these skills.

Catherine Cavanaugh,
former chair, English Department

FACULTY

Catherine Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Department Chair
454-5221
State University of New York at Binghamton:
Early Twentieth Century British and American Literature, Irish Literature, Late Eighteenth/Early Nineteenth Century British Literature, Women's Studies

Douglas Butler, Ph.D.
454-5164
The Pennsylvania State University:
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century British Literature,
The Essay

May Chan , Ph.D.
454-2824
University of Wisconsin:
Victorian Literature

Megan Fulwiler, Ph.D.
337-4324
University of New Hampshire
Composition and Rhetoric, Autobiography, and Women's Studies

Kenneth Krauss, Ph.D.
454-5242
Columbia University:
Dramatic Literature, Theatre History, Reception Theory

Kathryn Laity , Ph.D.
454-3778
University of Connecticut:
Medieval Literature, Language and Culture,
Medievalism,
Women's Studies,
Popular Culture,
Creative Writing,
Film and Visual Narrative
Website

Kim Middleton, Ph.D.
458-3647
University of Notre Dame
Contemporary Literature and Popular culture, Asian American Literature, and American Studies

David Morrow , Ph.D.
454-5157
University of California at SanDiego
Early Modern British Literature

Daniel Nester , M.F.A. 454-2812
New York University:
Creative Writing
Website

Vaneeta Palecanda, Ph.D. 454-2847
West Virginia University:
Contemporary And Postcolonial Literature, Women's Literature
and Feminist Theory

Hollis Seamon, D.A.
454-5207
State University of New York
at Albany: Click here for web page
Fiction Writing, Imaginative Writing

Anne Sheehan, D.A.
454-5240
State University of New York
at Albany:
Composition Theory

Barbara Ungar, Ph.D.
458-5385
The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY:
Click here for web page
Poetry, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Literature, Women's Studies

As an editor, I am lucky to be able to put to work daily the writing and research skills that I honed as an English major at Saint Rose. My Saint Rose degree gave me an accessible map of learning with wise guides who were interested in my learning.

Brian McCaffery ‘97,
Internet Editorial Site Coordinator, TWEC.com—The Web’s Entertainment Center, a division of Trans World Entertainment

Saint Rose prepared me well for my position as Marketing Services Editor at National Trade Publications. Its outstanding English faculty and high academic standards imbued in me the skills necessary to achieve my professional goals. I consider my time at Saint Rose to be among the most rewarding of my life experiences.

Margaret J. Aumic ’97,
Marketing Services Editor,
National Trade Publications