GENERAL INFORMATIONIn an increasingly global environment where the ebb and flow of information courses instantaneously around the world, the disciplines devoted to the human word, to human communication, to the world’s languages and literatures, its philosophies and religions remain vital. It is the mission of the English and Humanities Department to prepare its students to interface with this global, information society by providing them with the critical, questioning, imaginative, and interpretive abilities they will need to succeed as students and in their chosen career paths.
Pursuing a major in the English and Humanities Department provides students with an opportunity to develop an awareness of foreign language and culture, the rhetorical dimension of language and the media, text performance and presentation, philosophical, and religious analysis. The department’s goal is to provide the active learning experiences which promote the development of higher level reading and analytical abilities and the refinement of oral and written skills. Majors in the department accept the invitation to intellectual adventure and self-exploration, thus developing the skills and acquiring the knowledge essential for understanding tomorrow’s challenges.
PROGRAMS OF STUDY
The English and Humanities Department is a multidisciplinary department that embraces the language-centered disciplines of literature and the dramatic arts, rhetoric and writing, philosophy, religion, and foreign languages. The department offers a number of programs of study.
English
Students majoring in English can choose to concentrate in either Literary Studies or Theatre. The Literary Studies concentration focuses on developing a core set of competencies while choosing elective literature courses in four key literary modes, while the Theatre concentration centers around the craft of bringing dramatic literature to performance on the stage.
Professional Writing
The major in professional writing is designed to prepare students for a wide range of careers. It combines a broad-based liberal arts education with the practical skills and career opportunities that can lead to a fulfilling and successful future.
Philosophy
Students majoring in philosophy develop a comprehensive knowledge of the history of philosophy and the representative philosophical problems and issues of the discipline. The study of philosophy further enhances the student’s capacity to apply philosophical methods to intellectual problems across academic fields of study.
Spanish
The Spanish major is an applied language major that allows the student an opportunity to become proficient in the language and to select an area of concentration from a wide range of disciplines.
Theatre
The Theatre major offers students the opportunity to pursue study of drama in its literary, aesthetic, social, and historical contexts. The program provides a thorough academic experience of drama as a humanistic discipline via a curriculum which integrates acting, theatre history, and directing, with a particular emphasis on dramatic literature.
The department also offers minors in these areas, as well as in French, German, creative writing, and religious studies. In addition to these programs of study, the department offers, in conjunction with the Department of Education, degree programs which qualify secondary education majors for Pennsylvania certification to teach either English or Communications in secondary schools.
COURSES OFFERED
From Shakespeare to Tarantino, Socrates to Stephen King, the English and Humanities Department course offerings open up a world of literature, rhetoric and writing, theatre, language, philosophy, and religion. Students majoring in our department have the opportunity to study the great traditions of Western philosophy, American, British, and European literature, the languages and literatures of ancient and modern cultures. In previous semesters, students have explored the intrigues of Renaissance culture and society through a study of Shakespeare, thought about complex metaphysical issues as they arise in science fiction, exercised their creative talents in acting, text performance, and creative writing courses, and explored the Hispanic culture through its representative literary works. A sampling of some of the department’s more popular courses includes:
| Africa-American Literature Acting The Short Story Creative Writing Writing for the Web Editing Rhetorical Theory Shakespeare The Comic Tradition Love and Sex in Literature Literature and Psychology The Literature of Terror |
Women in Literature Modern Drama French Literature Spanish Literature Ethics Philosophy and Human Nature Environmental Ethics Philosophy of Law Women and Religion World Religions Religion and Science |
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Employers have long recognized that majors in the liberal arts develop the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. This is especially true in today’s downsized work environment where employees are expected to perform multiple tasks and exhibit the kind of creativity and flexibility liberal arts students acquire through their studies. This may be why more than 38% of Fortune 500 CEOs are liberal arts graduates. Students who major in English, Professional Writing, Philosophy, and Spanish at York College develop their oral and written communication skills while honing their ability to formulate and solve problems, generate ideas, formulate and defend controversial policies or claims, and adapt to new and unfamiliar positions. A major in the liberal arts has long been recognized as excellent preparation for students interested in law, medicine, and ministry. Other representative career paths for majors from the English and Humanities Department include:
- Business
Advertising
Corporate Communications
Publishing
Executive/Management Trainee
Market Analyst
Federal Government
Administrative Assistant
CIA Staff Member
Congressional Staff Member
Policy Analyst
Postal Service
Education
Teaching
College Professor
Admissions Officer
Alumni Relations
Educational Tester
Development Officer
The Arts
Acting
Stage Manager
Arts Administrator
Museum Administrator
Writing
Technical Writing
Freelance Writer
Magazine Editor
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES & FACILITIES
The English and Humanities Department offers a number of scholarships to its majors, including the Trevethan Fellowship for students demonstrating excellence in their academic studies, the Carraway Scholarship for professional writing majors, and the Helen McNitt Scholarship for students majoring in English.
Students in the department enjoy many opportunities to work closely with one another and with departmental faculty. The department publishes an annual student journal, The York Review, which includes poetry, fiction, essays, photography, and art. The journal is staffed by a student editorial board under the guidance of a faculty member. Students in advanced composition annually produce a departmental newsletter and gain invaluable experience in all aspects of professional writing. The department sponsors an annual creative writing contest, funded by the Bob Hoffman Foundation, providing awards for poetry, short fiction, and short nonfiction.
Students interested in the dramatic arts have a number of opportunities to become involved in the theatre at York College. The department’s theatre troupe, The Players, mounts numerous productions annually, many of them directed by students. From set-design and construction, lighting, costume, and direction, students play a large role in the department’s theatre productions. The annual Student One-Acts give students an opportunity to submit their own scripts and direct one-act productions. In addition to its mainstage in the DeMeester Theater, an experimental theatre space has been developed for small performances and student theatrical efforts called "The Playpen."
Many students initiate independent study and individual research projects under faculty direction as part of their major in all areas of the department. Students have also worked with faculty as research assistants, gaining experience in the process of conducting research. Faculty members also work closely with students to develop opportunities for internships and students have benefited from successfully being placed in a number of agencies and offices, including:
The York Area Chamber of Commerce
The York Literacy Council
Access York
United Way of York
The York Historical Society
March of Dimes
The Baltimore Zoo
The National Aquarium in Baltimore
The Hartford Stage Company
The York Dispatch
York Arts
The Pennsylvania State Legislature
The department organizes the annual "Humanities Lecture Series," which brings noted scholars, writers, and performers to campus to meet with students, conduct special lectures and discussions in the classroom, and speak to the campus community. The department also regularly sponsors student socials, poetry readings, panel discussions, workshops on careers for liberal arts majors and for students interested in graduate school.
Students interested in study abroad opportunities are encouraged to develop their interests in the department. The study abroad program offered at The University College of Ripon and York St. John in Yorkshire, England, is popular with majors in the department. Students in Spanish often participate in language institutes in Mexico through association with York College or study abroad in Spain. From time to time, members of the department take students abroad for academic credit.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The ability to write and speak with clarity and grace, to understand times and cultures other than our own, to appreciate the sources not only of institutions but also values and beliefs, and to explore the human experience in all its richness and ambiguity: these are the objectives of the English and Humanities Department, and they may be applied not to a single profession or vocation but to the whole range of human endeavor.
FACULTY
Gabriel Abudu, B.A., University of Ghana; Ph.D., Temple University, an authority on twentieth-century Afro-Cuban poetry, frequently publishes on Nancy Morejon, a major literary figure of our time.
Julie S. Amberg, B.A., Boston University; Ph.D., Tulane University, is a frequent presenter at national conferences on women’s issues in eighteenth-century British and Colonial American Literature.
Dominic DelliCarpini, B.A., University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D., Penn State University, is coordinator of the writing program and a frequent presenter at national conferences on writing program administration and pedagogy as well as on the English Renaissance poet Edmund Spenser.
James McGhee, A.B., Montclair State College, Ph.D.; Bowling Green State University, recently published a critical study of the American playwright Sam Shepard. He is the theatre director.
Cindy Medina, B.A. and Ph.D., Penn State University, is coordinator for Foreign Languages and author of the McGraw-Hill text, NUEVOS DESTINOS (New Destinations), now in its second edition.
William R. Miller, B.A., Eckerd College; Ph.D., State University of New York (Binghamton), is a nationally-known poet and award-winning author of multicultural children’s books.
Alexander Ian Olney, B.A., Rhodes College; Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is a film studies scholar who is interested in Euro-horror cinema, film and literature, and dramatic literature.
Paul M. Puccio, A.B., St. Joseph's University; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is a Victorian specialist who has also published on composition theory and pedagogy and Stephen Sondheim.
Gerald Siegel, B.A., Western Maryland College; Ph.D., George Washington University, a former Fulbright lecturer in Macedonia and more recently in Belgium, is an authority on Middle-European tales of terror, the subject of one of his frequent publications.
Victor Taylor, B.A., Lemoyne College; Ph.D., Syracuse University, is widely published in post modernism. He is the author of (Para) Inquiry: Postmodern Literature, Culture, and Theology (Routledge 1999).
Deborah Vause, B.A., North Carolina State University; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has published on the medieval monster and writer Stephen King.
Dennis Weiss, B.A., Emory University; Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, has done major research in metaphysics, the philosophy of human nature, and the digital culture. He is department chair.
Randi Rashkover, B.A., Barnard College; Ph.D., University of Virginia, specializes in Jewish-Christian relations and post-modern Jewish thought.
Janet Zepernick, B.A., Bowling Green State University; Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, is a rhetoric and composition specialist with an interest in the discourse of public policy-making.
Michael J. Zerbe, B.A., James Madison University; Ph.D., Purdue University, is a specialist in rhetoric and composition and has a research interest in the application of rhetorical theory to medical and scientific writing.
ALUMNI RECORD
Todd Aikens (1986), Full-time actor, appearing regionally and nationally on stage, television, and film.
William J. Balmer (1975), Senior Vice President, Tinton Falls State Bank in NJ.
Steven Barnhart (1996), Morse and Non-Morse Systems Operator, Senior Airman, U.S. Air Force.
Caryl M. Clarke (1988), Reporter and feature writer for The York Daily Record, York, PA.
James J. McIntyre (1979), District Attorney's Office, Portland, OR.
Heath Mensher (1995), Made his acting debut in YCP's world-premiere production of Don Nigro’s "Ardy Fafirsin"; is a member of the New York City based improv comedy group, Static; and has co-written a play produced in New York during the summer of 1997.
Sharon Pavlosky Mitzel (1979), Vice President, Human Resources, York Graphic Services, York, PA.
Sandra Pacholok Moyer (1981), Teacher and award-winning advisor of student newspaper, Dallastown Area High School, Dallastown, PA.
Amy Danielle Price (1993), Senior Account Executive, GCI Group.
Debbie Noel (1996), Community Editor, York Dispatch/York Sunday News, York, PA.
Todd V. Oakley (1988), Assistant professor of English, Case-Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
George R. Rhodes (1973), Vice President, Corporate Communications, Dentsply International, York, PA.
Margaret Staunton (1994), A humanities graduate with a publishing position at Routledge in NY.
