What is the purpose of choosing a major in college?
Is it for entering students to:
a) Be trained for a particular job, career, employer, or industry
b) Discover/Realize who they are, can be or want to be
c) Follow a purpose that is relative to the student’s personal motivations and aspirations
d) All the above
e) Both “a” and “b”
Think you have the correct answer? Think about if your answer is based your values or ideals.
Members of Elon’s English Department (and the CUPID Associates) may have different stances on what is an “ideal” English major; but if you’re considering becoming (or have argued why you became) an English major I hope that you check out the following article to strengthen your argument.
The Ideal English Major is an article by Mark Edmondson who is a professor of English at the University of Virginia. This essay is adapted from his latest book, Why Teach? In Defense of a Real Education. In the article he discusses the value of the worldview an undergraduate English major gains compared to other undergraduate majors such as business administration, economics and the “hard” sciences; which seem to be in high demand by the current labor markets.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the article, and thought I should share it with those who may be on the fence about becoming/being an English major student, professor, or professional.
Here’s the link to the article: The Ideal English Major
Hope this helps!
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