English Major

WELCOME

Dear English Major:

Welcome! We are in the process of revamping our website so that you may access information about our major, its requirements, and our course offerings online. During this transition, we will continue to offer our Major’s Packet, a document that we hope will assist you in progressing toward graduation.

In order to help you during the pre-registration and advisement periods, this packet includes the following:

• a list of English courses to be offered in the current semester
• a list of English Major advisors and their email addresses
• information on Graduation with Honors in English
• information on English major requirements 

We have also included worksheets for each concentration at the end of the booklet, so that you can document your progress toward graduation as an English major. Please fill in the relevant concentration worksheet before you speak with your advisor.  
Please note that each English major is assigned an English major advisor. If you are an English major, you will see on your CUNYfirst account which advisor was assigned to you. You will see this on the right-hand side of your “student center” screen, as illustrated here:

Please reach out to your advisor, so that she or he can help you devise a semester schedule that will help you with progress towards your degree.

If you are nearing graduation, have a 3.0 average, and are thinking about graduate school, you should consider our M.A. in English. This thirty-four-credit degree offers options in Literature and Rhetoric. The English office has copies of a brochure describing the program. Professor Rosanne Carlo, Graduate Coordinator, would be glad to talk with you about it.

On behalf of the Department of English,
Professor Lee Papa, Chairperson

Why Choose English as Your Major?

• The English Major is great preparation for a number of careers. Teaching is only one possibility among many. If you are interested in teaching English at the high school level, you should talk with someone in the Education Department as well as with your English Department advisor.

• If you want to pursue a non teaching career, here are some things to do:
  • Examine your personal interests and skills, and then examine careers which place the highest value on these interests and skills. The Counseling Center at CSI can help you with Academic Counseling, and so can an English advisor.
    • It is best to contact the Counseling Center for academic counseling as early in your college career as possible, and to contact an English advisor as early in your college career as possible, too. You can arrange an appointment with the Center by phone (718.982.2391) or by email at counseling@csi.cuny.edu, and you can arrange an appointment with an English advisor by contacting us.
    • The Center for Career and Professional Development can also help you develop job search techniques, and they can prepare you to write your resume and get set for employment interviews. Appointments can be arranged by phone (718.982.2300) or by email at careers@csi.cuny.edu.

• Pursue the invaluable understanding and appreciation of the humanities that comes through the breadth and depth of the literature concentration, including dramatic literature. Or consider a concentration in writing or linguistics, or a minor in Speech-Language Pathology. Focus especially on analyzing, interpreting, research, reorganization, rephrasing, and on presenting arguments logically, succinctly, and clearly.

• Choose a minor or a number of electives that relate closely to the field in which you plan to seek employment. Do everything possible to gain “field experience” in this area. Participate in a non teaching internship. Contact businesses and industries personally about management training, and be willing to start at the bottom while learning.