Elizabethtown College English Department

by Carly Miller Hi! My name is Carly Miller and I am a junior Professional Writing major. Over the summer of 2021, I had the opportunity to participate in SCARP here at Elizabethtown College. If you’re unfamiliar with SCARP – don’t worry. So was I! The Summer Scholarship Creative Arts and Research Project, or SCARP, […]

One of the most memorable student presentations I have ever heard was given atop Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England.  My class sat in the grass in the shadow of St. Michael’s Tower munching on crunchy snacks called flapjacks while a student explained the literary significance of the region—the legendary Avalon—to the famous Arthurian legend. It […]

The Elizabethtown College English Department holds an Alumni Networking Banquet once every spring. As alums stand up and share their career paths, they demonstrate the vast possibilities of the English degree. Professor of English Louis Martin has organized this free event for many years. “Alumni come and share information about their jobs. This allows students […]

When walking by one of Dr. Rohrkemper’s classes, you might hear the sound of student’s voices acting out their assigned readings. Students of Dr. Rohrkemper often recall being prodded to speak a line with more vigor or to capture the emotion of a speech more clearly. This is unfamiliar territory for most English students. To […]

As ice caps melt and the world warms, you might wonder how Elizabethtown College integrates principles of sustainability into their English curriculum. E-town’s list of “Green Courses” reflects the College’s sustainable education commitment, and no course blends a love for nature and for writing better than Ecology in Short Fiction. Ecology in Short Fiction pairs […]

“I love that the credit requirements [of the English major] are not too intense, so I can pursue multiple major options,” said Anna Sorrentino, professional writing major and 2019 E-town graduate.  Sorrentino is not alone in this discovery.  Since students can complete the major with twelve courses, they can often schedule an additional major or […]

Jesse Waters designs his Advanced Fiction course as a workshop.  Here students work on building and revising their own original work. The course gives students complete freedom to bring in any pieces that they wish to develop.  This course offers students a great opportunity to hone valuable copy-editing and basic revision skills. Since many Elizabethtown […]

Matt Skillen, Associate Professor of English and English Department Chair, loves to talk about the widespread career opportunities English majors have.  “If a workplace is struggling with a task of collaboration, critical thinking, or communication, the English major in the room will be the expert.” English majors can excel in many fields, resulting in employment […]

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn often appears on the American Library Association’s “Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books” list.  Not only that, but this nineteenth-century classic is known for being one of the most difficult novels to teach. This spring semester, Dr. John Rohrkemper, instructor of American Literature: Realism, rose to the challenge. Addressing Misconceptions Rohrkemper […]

For many students, giving a presentation can be a pretty daunting task. A good presentation often requires a fair amount of preparation, practice, and of course a successful execution. At Elizabethtown College The Scholarship and Creative Arts Days (SCAD) is offered every spring to give students a chance to hone their skills in presenting their […]