Teaching All The “Write” Things: A Spotlight on the USF English & Foreign Languages Department
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Professor Kevin Spicer, chair of USF’s Department of English and Foreign Languages, works with his students to examine one of Shakespeare’s early poems, “Venus and Adonis.”
ometimes things don’t change much over the years, and other times, they change drastically. Take, for instance, the profile of the traditional college English major, to whom practical, prudent parents once dutifully asked, “But what will you do with an English degree?” Today’s college English majors, however, can answer that question in a flash. Their horizons are filled with a myriad of enticing career options. They become teachers and lawyers. They work in museums and libraries, in journalism, publishing, politics and in educational administration. They are poets, stand-up comics and cultural critics. Says Karen Duys, a 16-year veteran and former chair of the USF Department of English and Foreign Languages at the University of St. Francis, “The literary landscape that I learned to navigate as a student and young professional has changed radically. Back then, we dove into 19th century novels and hoped they would never end while professors gesticulated wildly about poetry in the background. But today’s students love poetry, especially when it is live and improvisational. And memoir rules.” “The dominant medium of their stories today is visual: film and television series. Classes draw students into the conversations and conflicts that current cultures are having with each other and with their pasts,” continued Duys. “Writing instruction has changed too. We now take a much more imaginative and creative route to persuasion and argument. Our new writing program includes creative writing and writing for business and industry, new media, and freelance writing. And we look forward to adding screenwriting and legal and science writing before too long. Programs like this didn’t exist when I was in school!”
A Year of Respect / 2018–2019
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