Undergraduate Programs
When graduates leave SHSU with a degree in English, they are prepared for career opportunities or advanced study in teaching, technical and professional communication, journalism, government service, editing, scholarly and trade publishing, law, and business.
Bachelor of Arts, Major in English
A degree in English from Sam Houston State University can open the door to a number of career possibilities. Most professions and professional schools stress the need to read well, speak well, write well, and think critically. The SHSU Department of English faculty includes award-winning, internationally-published professors. Class sizes are small, so that students may receive personal attention from faculty, have opportunities to interact with nationally-recognized writers, and have opportunities to publish and present papers at conferences and enter writing contests. Students may also work with faculty members editing The Beacon, The Texas Review, or Intertexts.
Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Education and English
Undergraduate Certificate in Technical Communication
The Undergraduate Certificate in Technical Communication provides students with an overview of the essential knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to communicate in ever-changing industries and professions. This undergraduate certificate allows students who are already pursuing a minor in a different field to acquire vital communication abilities through concentrated study in the field of technical and professional writing. This Undergraduate Certificate is not eligible to receive Title IV funding -- Direct Loans, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, SEOG Grant, or Federal Work Study. Students enrolled in this program should explore alternative funding options and are encouraged to contact the financial aid office for assistance.
Minor in American Studies
The American Studies Minor explores aspects of the American experience locally, nationally, and within the global community from various perspectives and disciplines, including literature, history, political science, psychology, sociology, communication studies, and criminal justice. Minors will complete 18 semester credit hours of study.
Minor in Applied Ethics and Critical Thinking
The minor in Applied Ethics and Critical Thinking departs significantly from tradition. Rather than a concentration of content in a specific discipline, it provides students with a cross-disciplinary intellectual experience. The courses constituting the minor are designed to foster evaluation of competing discourses surrounding complex societal issues through various disciplinary lenses. To give a more concrete example of what this means, a student might complete a Philosophy course focused on racial disparities in environmental policy, an English course focused on literary treatments of economic inequality, and a Sociology course focused on water scarcity. Thus, the student would have the opportunity to think critically about three distinct, ethically fraught issues in three disciplinary milieus. The courses in the minor may be focused on disparate topics and discourses, but they are united in their method of instruction, which is uniquely suited to serving the minor’s aim. This minor is comprised of courses that incorporate Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) on the Ethics, Western Civilization, and American Traditions (EWCAT) model. Each course in the sequence is designed to encourage student ownership of learning and engagement with original texts. EWCAT courses are currently taught in various departments in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS).