Programs & Majors

Overview of English Major

Through the English major, students will become familiar with the classical literary foundations as well as contemporary literary trends and literary criticism. This major values the historical and evolving literature that speaks to generations of the enduring human spirit. Students may choose one of two tracks in the English major:

English--a foundational major that prepares students for graduate or law school, or for many fields that require critical thinking and writing proficiency.
English with Secondary Education--leads to certification and provides practical experience in middle and high schools.

Overview of Communication Major

This major offers students various avenues to engage their creativity and hone their oral and written communication skills. Students develop theoretical and practical skills and participate in valuable internships. Students choose one of three tracks within the Communication major:

Organizational Communication: This track combines communication and business courses and requires an introductory course in accounting and a recommendation received from the IU Business Department. Students who choose this track are generally envisioning a career in the corporate world. Because the track overlaps with the business department offerings, students are encouraged to consider completing one of the minors in the business department: business, entrepreneurship, or marketing.
Public Relations and Journalism: The public relations track is appropriate for students with strong writing skills and outgoing personalities who enjoy the challenge of controlling company message and/or reporting. The public relations field attracts people who enjoy dealing with other people, who can represent an organization professionally, or who can deal skillfully with crisis management. Students in this track may also be interested in becoming meeting and event planners, a quickly expanding field in our global markets. In journalism, students concentrate on directing their writing skills to different forms of publications, such as web pages, newsletters, proposals and grants, and business communications. Students are encouraged to complete a minor to make their degree even more marketable. For example, the information technology or graphic arts minors would be perfect complements to this track.
Digital Communication: This track focuses on the most current technology and its applications in many fields. The myriad social networking outlets as well as the diverse media are explored. This track offers two sub-tracks, media or design, which enrich students' creative experience and develop their creative skills.

Students in all three tracks take several required courses: Advanced Composition, Communication Theory, Computer Literacy II or Multimedia Concept and Design, and two upper-level literature courses. All students also complete an internship as their capstone experience in senior year. The requirements are listed under the appropriate links.

Overview of Minors and Certificates

The English/Communication Department offers five minors: American and British Literature, Communication, Film Studies, Irish Studies, and Public Relations.

Students are encouraged to complete a minor either within the English/Communication Department or in another department. For example, a minor in Information Technology or Graphic Arts would complement the communication major. Likewise, English majors may want to complete a communication or public relations minor. Students proficient in a foreign language would benefit from completing a minor in that language. Requirements for both English and communication majors provide enough elective credits to complete a minor. Most minors require the completion of 18 credits.

Students may also be interested in completing a certificate program. The English/Communication Department offers two certificates: Irish Studies and Professional Communication.