The basis for this post comes from a troll who left a frothy list of accusations and assumptions about what I know, and, most importantly, what I do. As trolls are wont to do, much of what was said can be waved off as pish posh and poppycock, but it’s the attack on the English degree that, I think, stems from a much larger misunderstanding of the field. I’d like to address those misunderstandings here. What We (Don’t) Do There are a lot of myths about English majors, some of them perpetuated by films and others by people who really don’t know anything about the state of the field today. But it would be more efficient to deal with what English majors do rather than refuting the long list of things that they don’t. English is an interdisciplinary field. That means that rather than only studying literature and literary criticism, English majors also study sociology, history, science, economics, anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, and dozens of other fields — depending, of course, on individual study interests. My research, for example, requires me to be familiar with at least half of the disciplines already lists, as studying empire demands knowledge from a variety of directions. While it is true that English majors are not trained in most of these fields (in the proper sense of the term “trained”), they are also not lazy wanderers. They take interdisciplinarity seriously because they understand the value of research in other disciplines. And those disciplines bleed into one another — research from one field becomes important to another, and vice versa. In fact, much of what English majors are concerned with are the ways language has been used in the past, how it is used now, and how it will be used in the future. Recall that language has and will continue to be used for everything from propaganda to public outreach to exploration of the self. There are infinite numbers of uses for the written word, and studying such uses (what it means, what it does, how it influences the formation of nations or groups or our conception of self, etc.) is the domain of English majors. And those things are important, not least of all because understanding where we come from and how we go to where we are today will help us, as a species or culture or nation, to figure out where we are going (or how we can get somewhere else). Likewise, English majors are concerned with processes of thinking. At the same time that we teach “stuffy literature classes,” we are also attempting to foster independent thought through an almost scientific process. Learning literature is not about figuring out what hidden meanings Shakespeare put into his work, but about making hypotheses, finding evidence, and using that evidence to support an argument — rinse and repeat. And because the field is interdisciplinary, that often means examining literature in a wide range of social, political, or philosophical contexts. Not So Non-Essential As I’ve argued before (on Google+ somewhere), English is not a non-essential degree program. In fact, without English majors, civilization cannot function.* English majors teach the language to children or people in businesses in other countries. They teach adults who went to underfunded schools and were left behind, or adults who made poor choices and want to get back on their feet. They teach people to write, to read, to comprehend, and to argue. English majors are journalists — who bring the world to our doorstep — and authors — who teach us something about ourselves. They are technical writers, social workers, lawyers or legal assistants, copywriters, editors, grant writers, PR specialists, administrative assistants, etc.** They work for the various departments of the government, non-profits, schools, and businesses in a variety of fields for which their degrees qualified them. Basically, English majors are essential to the fabric of the nation, much like many other majors. Because English degrees generally require immersion in a variety of disciplines, those who acquire those degrees are not only uniquely trained for non-academic jobs, but are also uniquely trained to teach the next generation of thinkers to think from a variety of avenues. It’s not all about stuffy, ancient literature in these parts. What Others Think (Updated Periodically) Kea Worthen English majors are important because it teaches a type of observation and thinking skill set that many other disciplines don’t allow. I mean, we call ourselves English majors, but we really should be in the school of Interdisciplinary Studies. I have never met an English major that just studies English. We look at sociology, culture, gender, history, religion, etc…And we think about things in terms of what happened in the past, what happens in the present, and what will happen in the future. That is, I think, the main problem with society. Too many people have tunnel vision. And that tunnel vision limits so many possibilities. English majors are trained to look at those other possibilities–even if those possibilities makes us uncomfortable sometimes. But it is about self-improvement. And having a thought process that is not prearranged by an ideological apparatus. Sure, we suffer under our own ideologies, but at least we are cognizant of it. I think that is why the English major is so important. Because we learn to observe and think about what we are observing. That is, to me, an important thing. Paul Genesse English majors are some of my best friends. A number of them are also excellent teachers. Getting an English degree is not the best move if you want to assure yourself a high-paying job, but most English majors are very resourceful people. Jennifer Bagley Kea stole my answer! So I will just concur with her. English majors are not only interdisciplinary, but they are valuable in nearly every career field – communications, politics, law, business, even science related careers who need a bit of a hand in terms of creative thinking and expressing ideas. There’s a reason that most technical
