As an English major at NSU, you'll learn valuable skills that transfer easily across disciplines and careers.
About The Program
As an NSU English major, you'll learn to write clearly, read critically, connect ideas meaningfully, understand diversity, relate historical context to human interactions, and see others empathetically. Northern's English program is structured to help students tailor their major to suit their needs. Each student chooses from several program emphases, each of which prioritizes different skill sets and content to suit students’ own career goals.
NSU's English degree pairs well with other specializations, and students are encouraged to take minors, or even to double major in areas such as history, business, political science, and art design.
Many English majors earn master's degrees in education or business. Explore NSU's graduate programs to learn more.
Emphasis
Literature (BA)
Students interested in an English B.A. with literature emphasis prepare themselves for post-graduate ambitions that include law school and graduate study in English (in pursuit of the M.A. or Ph.D. in English). At Northern, this emphasis includes extra surveys in British and American literature as well as training in literary theory and an elective literature course.
English Literature Emphasis (BA) Course Requirements and Student Learning Outcomes
English Literature Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
English Minor Course Requirements
Creative Writing (BA)
Students interested in an English B.A. with a creative writing emphasis may focus on at least two of three creative genres: non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. This emphasis also includes instruction in literary criticism and an additional survey of British literature.
English Creative Writing Emphasis (BA) Course Requirements and Student Learning Outcomes
English Creative Writing Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
Teaching (BA)
Students interested in the Teaching Emphasis within the BA degree in English prepare themselves either for the teaching they are likely to be called upon to do as graduate students in English (in pursuit of the BA or PhD) or for tutoring or teaching that does not require state certification. This emphasis includes coursework in linguistics (modern grammar), rhetorical theory, and additional surveys of British and American literature.
Students wishing to earn a state-certified teaching degree should consider the English B.S.Ed. degree instead of the B.A.
English with Teaching Emphasis (BA) Course Requirements and Student Learning Outcomes
English with Teaching Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
Teaching English as a Second Language (BA)
Students interested in the Teaching English as a Second Language Emphasis within the BA degree in English prepare themselves for teaching English either in the U.S. or abroad to students coming to English as their second language. This emphasis includes linguistics coursework (modern grammar, second-language development, and methods of teaching English as a second language) and cultural anthropology. Students preparing for careers in this area may also wish to pursue NSU’s twelve-credit Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Teaching English as a Second Language Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
Professional Writing (BA)
Students interested in an English B.A. with professional writing emphasis prepare themselves for business-oriented careers that include advertising, publicity, and grant writing. This emphasis includes coursework in graphic design, HTML, grant writing, and rhetorical theory. Students wishing to pursue a career in professional writing may wish to consider NSU’s minor in Professional Writing and Rhetoric, which may be taken along with the B.A. in English or any other four-year program.
English Professional Writing Emphasis (BA) Course Requirements and Student Learning Outcomes
English Professional Writing Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
Professional Writing and Rhetoric Minor Course Requirements
Media Studies (BA)
Students interested in an English B.A. with media studies emphasis receive interdisciplinary instruction in writing, design, programming, and marketing - skills that are in demand in the evolving world of media and media production. Courses offer theory and hands-on practice, teaching students to create content and reflect upon media while acquiring skills in communication, problem solving, planning, designing, writing, editing, producing, and collaborating. Career options include journalist, web content manager, advertising or public relations representative, art designer, news analyst/producer, production assistant, broadcast programmer, editor, publisher, and teacher.
English Media Studies Emphasis (BA) Course Requirements and Student Learning Outcomes
English Media Studies Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study
Literature
News reporter, writer, editor, lawyer, marketing and public relations specialist, business owner, human resource specialist, web designer, university admissions consultant, sales representative, academic adviser, librarian, teacher, and college instructor
Creative Writing
News reporter, writer, editor, lawyer, marketing and public relations specialist, business owner, human resource specialist, web designer, university admissions consultant, sales representative, academic adviser, librarian, teacher, college instructor, artist, broadcaster, entertainer, administration and sales
Teaching
Educator, teaching English as a second language in the U.S. or abroad, employee development or training specialist, interviewer, education administrator, personnel specialist, public relations specialist, sales representative, media relations representative, non-profit administrator or educational consultant - Students wishing to earn a state-certified teaching degree should consider the English B.S.Ed. degree instead of the B.A.
Teaching English as a Second Language
School educator, adult educator, employee development or training specialist, interviewer, education administrator, personnel specialist, public relations specialist, sales representative, media relations representative, non-profit administrator or educational consultant
Professional Writing
- Technical writer and/or editor, medical writer, science writer, publications specialist, media and marketing associate, editorial assistant, copywriter, research assistant, reporter
Media Studies
- News reporter, writer, editor, lawyer, marketing and public relations specialist, creative writer/copywriter and editor, fiction and nonfiction writer/editor
For more information on careers in your major or help choosing a major, contact NSU Career Services.
NSU's English program supports career readiness through internships that require students to apply their skills in the workplace. A three-credit internship is required of all English majors.
Internship requirements vary based on the chosen emphasis.
Potential internships include tutoring in the Student Success Center; co-editing the English Department’s student-run literary publication, Northern Lights, or The Exponent student newspaper; assisting in communications and publicity at an area business or volunteer agency; working with regional marketing firms; helping an English faculty member deliver a literature or writing course; writer or copy editor for your hometown news organization; grants assistance at the university; public relations for a community theater; or web design and archival work in a museum.
For more information about this degree, contact Jessica Ness, or call 605-626-2272 or 605-626-7900. Or, contact NSU Admissions at 605-626-2544 or admissions@northern.edu.
Our Faculty
Kiera Ball is an Instructor of English, having joined Northern’s faculty in 2023. She holds a master’s degree in English literature from the University of South Dakota and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sioux Falls in English and theology/philosophy.
Her research interests focus on regional literature and gender and theology in 19th- and 20th-century American and British literature.
Dr. Lysbeth Em Benkert arrived at Northern State University in the fall of 1995, one year after receiving her Ph.D from Washington State University.
Her specializations include rhetorical theory and early modern literature, including Shakespeare. She also teaches creative writing. In addition to her academic scholarship, she has published original poems in a variety of literary magazines and a chapbook titled #girl stuff (Dancing Girl Press, 2018). A second chapbook of poems, Please thank you but why, is forthcoming in February of 2023.
Ph.D. in English and American Literature, University of South Carolina, 2020
M.A. in English, Gannon University, 2009
B.S. in English/Secondary Education Track, Towson University, 2001
After teaching in the eastern and southwestern U.S., Dr. Kristen Brown joined Northern's faculty in 2022. While earning her Ph.D. in English and American Literature at The University of South Carolina, she taught composition, literature, and ethics courses while designing her own minor in indigenous studies with emphasis on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her research was funded in part by the national Bilinski Dissertation Fellowship.
Dr. Brown’s teaching and research often focus on indigenous perspectives and environmental themes. In addition to recent…
M.S. English Education, Northern State University
B.A. English, Northern State University
Vicki Evans, a Northern graduate, teaches English and directs NSU Tutoring Services. Her graduate thesis focused on composition and rhetoric, and she holds an emphasis in teaching English as a second language.
Research Interests
Developmental writing
Composition
First-generation students
Second language learners
Courses Taught
ENGL 033
Dr. Pen Pearson is a professor of English at Northern. Pearson also advises Northern Lights, Northern’s student literary magazine, and mentors high school English teachers in Northern’s Rising Scholar program.
Her novel about Edwardian poet Charlotte Mew, Bloomsbury’s Late Rose, was published in 2019 (Chickadee Prince Books). Dr. Pearson has also published two books of poetry: Trespass to Chattel (Atomic Press) and Poetry as Liturgy (Mellen Poetry Press). Her current project is a memoir about her late father.
Publications
“Crafting Strangeness: Wonder Terminology in the Exeter Book Riddles and the Anglo-Latin Enigmata.” Review of English Studies 69.289 (2017): 201-15.
“The Riddle of Beauty: The Aesthetics of Wrætlic in Old English Verse.” Modern Philology 114.3 (2017): 457-81.
“The…