Department of Language and Literature

Faculty: J. Brownlee (Chair), D. Chambers, J. Estes, S. Jensen, R. Pahlau, C. Parsons, C. Flood Ries, G. Summers, J. Villaseñor

The Department of Language and Literature houses five majors: English , Creative Writing , Integrated Language Arts , Spanish , and Spanish Education , and four minors: English , Creative Writing , Writing , and Spanish .

Language—read or written, spoken or unspoken—is among the most basic elements of our humanity. Through it we establish community, come to self-understanding, and seek divine revelation. Our students are provided many opportunities to develop their creative, interpretative, and linguistic skills. But above all, we pursue the study of language, literature, and writing because we are convinced that in cultivating our imaginations, in contemplating the world and our places within it, we please God insofar as it helps us become more fully, more realistically, human.

Students in the English , Creative Writing , and Spanish majors enter a variety of careers, particularly those valuing creativity, writing and communication skills, and critical thinking. Some graduates go directly into business and government, while others pursue graduate degrees in law, ministry, or the humanities. The Integrated Language Arts (ILA) and Spanish Education majors prepare students for teaching in grades 7-12 for ILA and K-12 for Spanish. Minors in English , Creative Writing , Writing , and Spanish provide personal enrichment and the development of language skills that complement a variety of academic programs and career aspirations.

Mission Statement

In the department of Language and Literature we cultivate the gifts of language and story. These gifts are close to the heart of our humanity; they are tools by which we process our own experiences, understand other people and other cultures, hear God’s word, and act within the world each day. By helping students grow in their facility with language and literature, we prepare them for thoughtful and effective lives, better serving Christ’s kingdom in the communities where they live, worship, and work.

English Studies Goals and Learning Outcomes

Reading

Goal: Become a reader. Study canonical and contemporary works of literature; gain facility in reading with both greater attention and pleasure. Learn to value literary and intellectual history and to attune oneself to truthfulness in everything that is read.
Outcomes: As a reader, a graduate of the English program should be able to:

Demonstrate range and competence as a literary reader: Be conversant with a broad cross-section of British, American and non-Western literatures and show an understanding of the interplay among form, history and culture, authorial innovation, and literary tradition at work in the creation of literary works.
Demonstrate proficiency with a variety of ways of responding to written texts: Recognize how the collaborative processes of interpretation and response can yield critical insight and spawn creative work.

Writing

Goal: Become a writer. Gain confidence in one’s ability to employ language that achieves the desired purpose with cogency, force, and precision. Know how to write for exploration, for artistic, and for practical ends. Experience the creative process and come to enjoy the difficulty and reward of writing well.
Outcomes: As a writer, a graduate of the English program should be able to:

Demonstrate rhetorical effectiveness across multiple situations and discourses, whether critical, exploratory, professional, or creative.
Demonstrate the skills of an independent writer: Engage multiple voices, generate ideas, organize research, experiment with form and style, and revise effectively.

Reflection

Goal: Become a more thoughtful person. Strive to better understand, to ask good questions with openness to and respect for divergent points of view. Desire to be a person who seeks—through study and meditation, through conversation and action—to challenge the self and know the world.
Outcomes: As a thoughtful person, a graduate of the English program should be able to:

Assess personal growth as a reader and writer: Reflect upon classroom experiences, personal reading, extracurricular, and professional activities; and consider how these experiences are shaping current and future character development.
Explore complex issues with increasing maturity and clarity, integrating academic ideas and critical perspectives into individual thinking.

Devotion

Goal: Be a person of commitment. Practice intelligent belief, and discover how the liberal arts can inform, widen, and strengthen personal faith. Live and work with integrity.
Outcomes: As a person of commitment, a graduate of the English program should be able to:

Develop a niche within the department and campus community: Reflect upon the ways this work, service, and play intersects with coursework and contributes to the overall educational experience.
Document experiences—both curricular and co-curricular—where personal faith has been challenged, informed, or tested in ways ultimately fruitful for both conceptual understandings and practice.

Spanish Studies Goals and Learning Outcomes

Language

Goal: To acquire/enhance proficiency in Spanish in all four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Goal: To develop competency to communicate effectively and creatively in the spoken and written word in Spanish.
Goal: To gain an understanding of the differences and commonalities in the forms and functions of the Spanish language from one community of speakers to another.
Related Outcomes:

Graduating Spanish majors will speak and write understandable Spanish, will understand oral language at normal native speed, and will be able to comprehend everyday literary written Spanish.
Graduating Spanish majors will demonstrate significantly improved speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills by the end of the program of study.
Graduating Spanish majors will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the linguistic elements of the Spanish language and how they compare/contrast with the English language.

Culture and Civilization

Goal: To gain a greater understanding of, and appreciation and respect for, the cultures and civilizations of the Spanish-speaking world through a study of representative fiction and non-fiction.
Goal: To demonstrate critical and creative thinking and an enhanced awareness of our own linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage through a cross-cultural examination of linguistic and cultural phenomena.
Goal: To develop a broader worldview and become better equipped for one’s future profession and for Christian service as an active participant in a global society.
Related Outcomes:

Graduating Spanish majors will demonstrate an understanding of and respect for other cultures and people.
Graduating Spanish majors will be able to speak and write knowledgeably about literature.
Graduating Spanish majors will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the linguistic elements of the Spanish language and how they compare/contrast with the English language.
Graduating Spanish majors will demonstrate an understanding of and respect for other cultures and people.
Graduating Spanish majors will be able to relate their faith to issues of cross-cultural understanding.

Special Programs

University Writers Series

The University Writers Series brings accomplished writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction to campus each semester to read from their work or work-in-progress and as often as possible to conduct workshops on elements of craft. Through the Writers Series Seminar (ENG 325 ) students read the works of visiting writers and have opportunities to meet with them.

Writing Center

The Writing Center @ Malone trains and employs departmental majors as peer tutors helping fellow students with their writing across the disciplines. Work in the Writing Center not only helps hone tutors’ teaching and communication skills, but has shown to make them better writers as well. Credit can be earned working at the Writing Center through ENG 397 .

Sightlines

Sightlines is the student Art and Literary Journal at Malone. The aim of this online magazine is to cultivate and showcase diverse forms of art on campus, from writing to fine art and music, to photography and multi-media. The staff hosts an Open Mic each semester as well as other special programs. Credit can be earned working for the journal through ENG 396 .

Writers Prize

Each spring the Creative Writing Program sponsors a University-wide writing contest with nationally known authors judging entries in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.

Internships and Study Abroad

Many of our students pursue off-campus academic and professional experiences. Many Off-Campus and Study Abroad Opportunities exist for students to explore, and the department assists interested students in finding local internship positions in fields aligned with their interests.

Festivals and Conferences

Many opportunities exist for students to travel to local and regional conferences. Trips are regularly planned to the Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and to see plays, films, and literary readings around the region.

Programs

Undergraduate Major

Undergraduate Minor

Courses

American Sign Language

English

Spanish

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