Honors College Thesis
 

What is an English Major?: A Comparative Exploration of Perceptions of English Studies at OSU

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/honors_college_theses/jm214q846

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  • My project is designed to determine how the English major and English Studies exist at OSU, through the collection of perceptions and opinions about English Studies at OSU from students and faculty (both inside and outside of the English department) via email surveys. I used secondary research to determine how the English major and English Studies exist nationally, with a full discussion of the sources of crisis and hope that attend the profession generally. I also researched how English studies exist locally through the collection of relevant statistics concerning university financing, salaries, enrollment, student credit hours, and faculty tenure status, in order to contextualize, explain, and anaylze the opinions presented by my survey respondents. Overall, through my surveys, I found that English studies and students face many of the same situations as English departments nationally. This means that English studies are deeply integral to and appreciated by the OSU community, particularly by English majors, while English majors and faculty face the perceptual and material crises that go along with a lack of publicity and visibility, a disassociation between English studies and research, low faculty pay, rising service course loads, the decline in tenure-track faculty, a lack of outside funding, and negative perceptions about what English majors study and the material benefits of English studies. My conclusion is that the department, along with the OSU administration and students, should focus on continuing tenure track hires; strengthening ties to outside donors in the private sector; creating more visible department events; publicizing its goals, benefits, and research orientation; creating a visible alumni network or advisory board for faculty and student needs; and increasing the awareness of career trends and possibilitie
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