5 classes every English major should take at Mount Holyoke College

As a senior going into my last semester at Mount Holyoke, I took a look back at my transcript and chose the five most influential classes that helped me not only decide on a major, but that I know will continue to shape my decisions in choosing a field to work in the future.  Looking for a last minute class to crash?  Look no further.

Gods and Mortals with Paula Debnar.  Not a class offered in or for the English department; however, the material covered in this class provides an excellent basis for understanding any reference to Greek or Roman myths that a lot of English literature references.   Professor Debnar is engaging and a wonderful source of information about Ancient Greek and Roman mythology.  The class is generally open to freshmen and sophomores.

Intro to Creative Writing  with London, Albarelli, or Shaw.  This class is definitely a tough one, so don’t go in thinking that you’ll get an easy grade.  The upside, however, is that this class will open doors for you to completely enhance your writing style.  It can be a little bit competitive to get into a creative writing class; however, Mount Holyoke is offering more of these classes for the English department as interest grows.

African Literature with John Lemly.  Not commonly offered, so keep an eye out for a class with Professor Lemly on this topic.  It’s an eye-opening class that takes you away from the typical “Old Dead White Guy” classes (Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, etc.)  and into a completely different world of literature.

In-depth Foreign Language.  Mount Holyoke’s language requirement means that you must take at least two semesters (or one intensive semester) class in a foreign language already.  However, if you want to strengthen your own skills as a writer, consider pursuing a foreign language into a higher level class, where you will study literature in its original language.  You’ll see grammatical improvements in your own work, as the flexibility of the English language grammar structure will become more coherent.

Intro to Gender Studies.  You love it, you hate it, you think it’s overplayed or it’s not important enough.  Take it.  This is one of those “I wish I had done it” or “I’m so glad I took it” classes.  Gender is a complex issue that pervades almost every piece of literature, and having just one course under your belt in Gender Studies will give you tools to formulate much stronger arguments  about gender.  Yes, you will have to read Judith Butler.  You’ll be glad you did…even if it’s not until three years later that you recover from it.

We can’t all be Hermione. But we can try. (image from http://bunburyinthestacks.com)