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English Department
Mission Statement
The English Department serves all students at the university through extensive general education offerings designed to improve writing skills, expand liberal learning, and focus critical and analytic thinking. In addition, its three-track major supports the university’s areas of emphasis in teacher education (English-Education Track), public and private sector development and service (Writing Concentration), and liberal education (Liberal Education/Literature Track). The department’s graduate program in Professional Writing, unique in Maryland and paralleled by only six other programs nationwide, graduates expert writers who meet the needs of government, social, and commercial organizations which rely on expert and efficient writing.
 Teacher-scholars of the department pursue not only scholarship in literature but also in new pedagogies for teaching and in evaluating and improving writing. In addition, the faculty plays key roles in shaping and sustaining university programs in Women’s Studies, American Studies, Afro-American Studies, Multicultural Studies, and English Education. It also actively serves the needs of the region, the state, and the nation through consultations, contracted research and instruction, conferences, publications, and presentations concerning writing improvement and educational reform.
Learning Outcomes of
the Towson University Bachelor of English
The undergraduate program in English at Towson University is designed to achieve a number
of learning outcomes. Upon graduation, the successful degree candidate will have developed
qualities and skills listed below with knowledge and abilities specific to the discipline.
General Outcomes
Upon graduation, Towson
University
English majors can
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Use their strong
communication and organizational skills to compete successfully for professional careers as
well as further academic pursuits, social development and personal satisfaction.
-
Employ the
rhetorical principles necessary to adapt their communicative skills
to the changing demands of an information-driven society and
workplace.
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Be reflective
and life-long learners.
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Experience the
intrinsic wonder and delight of imaginative literature and
experiment with the writing
of it.
-
Interpret
written text and, thus, learn about themselves, the text, and the
culture it reflects while applying their interpretations to the
world beyond the text.
-
Communicate a
critical perspective drawn from informed choices among a diversity
of opinions and interpretations.
-
Move from being
novice to expert learners and develop an identity within communities
of learners.
-
Make connections
between ideas and fields of knowledge.
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Learn from, and
contribute to, their culture.
Knowledge
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At graduation,
English majors will have a demonstrable broad and deep knowledge of
the principal areas of the discipline and its terminology:
-
Criticism:
principal schools and history
-
Literature:
genres and history
-
Rhetoric and
writing: conventions, genres, and history
-
Language and
linguistics: awareness of the structure, organic nature, and
social implications of language.
-
English majors
can also demonstrate knowledge of the historical, social, and
psychological contexts (as well as the cultural implications) of the
discipline, including awareness of race, class, and gender.
Abilities
At graduation,
English majors demonstrate instrumental knowledge of reading and writing
in the discipline. They can
-
Grasp and
interpret metaphor.
-
Conduct
purposeful analysis of literary discourse, including discussion of
the history, forms, and conventions of the different periods and
genres.
-
Read literary
works with understanding of their background, structure, meanings,
implications, and relevance.
-
Read scholarly
works with understanding of their contexts, concerns, and
terminology.
-
Interpret
written materials flexibly, understanding how multiple meanings are
possible and, conversely, how individual interpretations sometimes
can be wrong.
-
Understand and
use evidence to support interpretations.
They can use their
understanding of the discipline and its contexts to
-
Apply knowledge
of the history, theory, and methodologies of the discipline and its
contexts in thoughtful discourse.
-
Apply the
knowledge gained from literary, rhetorical, and linguistic study to
everyday life.
-
Integrate or
synthesize knowledge from a range of disciplines as a means to
interpret the text.
And they can
communicate effectively in speech and writing:
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Speak and write
academic discourse competently.
-
Recognize a
range of social, academic, and professional situations and adapt
language accordingly.
-
Write in a
variety of forms (expository, argumentative, imaginative, academic,
business/technical, literary, etc.) as appropriate to audience,
purpose, and occasion.
-
Comprehend the
grammatical and syntactical patterns of the English language and use
them as a tool in writing and revising.
They can also
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Use traditional
and electronic research methods competently.
-
Use information
technology effectively, understand the history of technology in
relation to the discipline, and recognize how technology changes
English studies.
-
Pursue
scholarship and other intellectual activities both collaboratively
and individually.
-
Apply ways of
understanding within the discipline (e.g., sensitivity to metaphor,
interpretation of symbols, awareness of thematic development and of
underlying structures) to other media (e.g., film, television, news,
advertising, and the like).
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Ask informed
questions about language, literature, and rhetoric.
Linthicum
Hall 218K
Phone:
410-704-2871
Fax:
410-704-3999
engl@towson.edu
This document is
largely the result of a QUE (Quality in University Education) workshop,
a collaborative project to establish standard learning outcomes for
American universities. Sponsored by the Exxon Corporation and held at
the University of Nevada in July 1999, the workshop was attended by
professors from Towson as well as other institutions.
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