Opportunities Within The Major

Berry recently concluded its Spring 2008 Student Research Symposium, an annual scholarship program that is open to all students who seek an opportunity to present scholarship in a professional setting. This is the 8th year that Berry has held the symposium. It included twelve oral sessions and two poster sessions, in which 42 students gave oral presentations and 38 students gave poster presentations. Eight English majors presented their work this year. A list of their names, mentors, and research project descriptions can be found by clicking here. For more information regarding the Student Research Symposium, please visit the Berry College Provost page.

As they advance in the major, many students also earn the opportunities to work one-on-one with professors in Directed Study and Writer's Tutorial courses. Here are some of the projects students have been working on during the spring semester of 2008:

• a study of the Beat poets and their cultural influences
• a study of 20th-century American immigrant women’s autobiographies
• a study of contemporary critical theory
• tutorial in advanced writing for online environments
• tutorial in advanced poetry writing
• tutorial in play writing

Another great way to get involved as an English major is to work in the Writing Center. The Writing Center serves the students of Berry College in many ways. When students desire help in the writing process, they go see a writing tutor. These tutors work with students to help them move from “writerly” drafts (in which they invent, develop, and organize their ideas) to “readerly” drafts (in which they signpost and edit their ideas for real readers). The Writing Center may be of particular interest to English majors who wish to work there as their campus jobs.

The Writing Center also offers a Writing Associate Program. A Writing Associate is a senior tutor who is placed with a particular professor and assists students within a Writing Intensive-designated class to develop better drafts for assigned papers.  This brings the tutor to the students as opposed to the students seeking the tutor when they choose to visit the Writing Center for help.

Some students receive internship positions around Rome, in Atlanta, or elsewhere in the United States during the summer or academic school year. Listed below are some of the current and recent internships our students have achieved:

• Havana Cigars (Rome, Ga) - Electronic Newsletters and Brochures (Spring 2008)
• Vini, Vidi, Vici Magazine (Rome, Ga) - Writer
• Rome Area Council for the Arts (Fall 2007)
• Creative Loafing, an Atlanta area arts & music weekly - Writer (Summer 2007)

After senior year, many students choose to continue their education even further by attending various graduate schools throughout the country. Recently, some of the graduating seniors from the class of 2008 received acceptance letters from the following colleges and universities:

• Charles Beaucham, Boston College
• Sarah Weinreich, Boston College
• Katrina Toth, American University and Simmons University

For more information about graduate school programs our students have been accepted to,
click here.

Other opportunities that some of our students pursue include fellowships and travel abroad experiences. David Gooch has applied for an internship/fellowship with an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Washington, D.C. Fall 2007 graduate Mark Birkbek is working in an English-speaking high school in China, beginning spring 2008. Emily Massey and Charles Beaucham applied for the Austrian Fulbright program, to teach English to the German speaking students. Emily was awarded a position and Charles was awarded status as an alternate.

Do you have any news to share? You can pass it on to one of our faculty members or email us at english@berry.edu. We'd love to hear from you.