III: Activities, Opportunities, and Awards for English Majors
ACTIVITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES ON CAMPUS
- The Richard H. Thornton Endowment brings an array of poets, novelists, dramatists, and other writers to campus, both to teach and to discuss their writing. In the course of four years at LC, you'll have plenty of opportunities to meet with and learn from visiting writers.
- The English Club and Sigma Tau Delta bring students together to share their love of literature. The English Club welcomes all majors and minors as members, as well as anyone else with an interest in literature and writing. Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society, recognizes exceptional academic achievement by English majors and minors.
- The Writing Center lets you refine your writing and teaching skills and serve your fellow students by working as a peer tutor.
- The Prism gives you a chance to develop your editing skills and a place to publish your creative writing.
- The Agora, the journal of the LCSR Program (Lynchburg College Symposium Readings), provides a place for you to publish expository writing.
SPECIAL STUDIES AND INTERNSHIPS
Independent study courses are available in case you want to pursue a particular writer, period, or topic that is not ordinarily covered in the department's regular curriculum. In an independent study, you work closely with a faculty member who has the appropriate expertise; you'll read, reflect, write, and talk about the works you have chosen to explore.
The department also offers occasional "Special Topics" courses, in which the instructor and a group of students explore a subject or area not covered by any of the English Department's usual courses.
Study abroad programs give you the opportunity to live, study, and travel overseas. Students with a special interest in English literature will find time spent in Great Britain to be particularly valuable. But many English majors, regardless of their emphasis or interests, will find studying abroad to be a challenging and rewarding experience.
Internships The primary purpose of the internship is to allow you to work directly in an outside firm or agency that is appropriate to your major, so that you can see a relationship between the classroom and the world of work. An internship allows you to experience the working world, to explore career goals, and/or to test possible career choices.
As long as you meet the minimum qualifications, you can have an internship in publishing, journalism, technical writing, or another area related to writing or literature. Internships give you direct vocational experience, which can be invaluable in choosing a career and in searching for a first job. Internships make students look more valuable to prospective employers; in fact, they sometimes lead to a job with the organization where the student served an internship. While most internships are non-paying, there is no monetary price that can be put on the value of an internship experience.
The faculty of the English Department strongly encourage English majors to pursue internships.
You will discover that your opportunities are diverse and extensive. There are local, national, and international internships available. In the past, English majors have found their internships to be valuable, educational, and enjoyable.
In recent years, internships by English majors have included the following:
- Two English majors worked with the Robert E. Lee Soil and Water Conservation Agency writing its newsletter and doing research.
- A student worked with Alisa Sampson, a local author, doing research on women in the thirteenth century for the author's novel.
- Another English major worked at Thomas Jefferson's retreat, Poplar Forest. She did research and wrote a biographical sketch of one of Jefferson's granddaughters. This student became so interested in historical preservation as a result of her internship that she is now working on her master's degree in that field.
- One student worked with a local publisher, doing editing and learning page formatting and layout.
- A number of English majors have had internships in the Writing Center here at LC.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Departmental Honors at Graduation indicate that you have reached a high level of sophistication and achievement in your chosen field. Working for honors gives you an opportunity to build on the knowledge and skills you have already developed and to explore in depth an issue or question or creative challenge that especially interests you. This work demonstrates that you are prepared to take primary responsibility for your own learning, and to work and learn independent of the formal structure of the college course.
To be eligible for honors, a student must have a cumulative 3.5 QPA for all courses required for the major, a cumulative 3.0 QPA for all courses taken, a cumulative 3.0 QPA for all courses taken at Lynchburg College, and the senior year taken in residence at Lynchburg College.
You can earn honors in one of three ways:
- Thesis: A lengthy essay of original literary analysis and/or scholarship.
- Creative Writing Project: A sustained work of poetry, fiction, drama, or other imaginative writing.
- Comprehensive Examination: An oral or written examination that either emphasizes your breadth of knowledge or focuses on your particular area(s) of concentration.
No matter which approach you take, your work will be assisted and guided by a faculty advisor of your choosing. Work that is of appropriately high quality will receive Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors.
Application for Major Program Honors (PDF)
Application for Major Program Honors SHUSS Instructions (PDF)
The English Department's eight annual awards recognize superior achievements among our students and are announced at the College's annual Academic Awards Banquet in April. The awards are:
- The Belle M. Hill Creative Poetry Award for a student who has demonstrated a high degree of proficiency in creative poetry writing
- The Charles H. Barrett Creative Writing Award for a student who has demonstrated a high degree of proficiency in creative writing
- The Elsie E. Bock Writing Award honors outstanding students in the freshman composition course in recognition of the emphasis of Professor Bock's teaching career on promoting excellence in writing at the College
- The Floyd H. and Rowe M. Crews Memorial Award for Poetry for students who makes the best written contribution to the student publications of Lynchburg College in poetry
- The Floyd H. and Rowe M. Crews Memorial Award for Prose for students who makes the best written contribution to the student publications of Lynchburg College in prose
- The Laura Jeter Parker Award for graduating senior students who have demonstrated excellence in their studies in English
- The Libbie Keeton LaPrade Creative Writing Award for a student who has best demonstrated talent for creative writing pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in English
- The Mervyn W. Williamson Award for a full-time undergraduate student who most clearly reflects Dr. Williamson's love for literature and Christian ideals