Literature

DISCOVER THE LIBERATING WISDOM OF WESTERN THOUGHT

Pursue the advancement of human culture, the promotion of dialogue between faith and reason and formation in the intellectual and moral virtues. In this program, you’ll dive into the greatest writers of Western tradition and explore life’s biggest questions: man’s purpose, the foundations of his knowledge, the basis of human community and man’s relationship with God.

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DISCOVER THE LIBERATING WISDOM OF WESTERN THOUGHT

Pursue the advancement of human culture, the promotion of dialogue between faith and reason and formation in the intellectual and moral virtues. In this program, you’ll dive into the greatest writers of Western tradition and explore life’s biggest questions: man’s purpose, the foundations of his knowledge, the basis of human community and man’s relationship with God.

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Skills You will Gain

1. Sharpen your intellect. Read insightfully, appreciate deeply, understand clearly and appreciate the complexity and richness of human experience.

2. Refine your expression. Learn to write skillfully to express, explain and argue your ideas clearly and thoroughly, and to persuade your listeners.

3. Discover a more complete perspective. Learn to better understand yourself and the world by reading what the best authors have thought about the most important questions.

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MEET THE FACULTY

Instructor of Communications and Literature

Email:

maria.boersma@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 304-7142

Office:

Henkels 3003

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Chair of the Humanities Department; Professor of Humanities and Literature; Director of Shakespeare in Performance

Email:

travis.curtright@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 280-1612

Office:

Canizaro Library 219

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Assistant Professor of Literature; Director of Literature Program

Email:

william.gonch@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 304-7035

Office:

Henkels 3038

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Associate Professor of Communications and Literature; Director of the Writing Program; Director of Composition Program

Email:

gavin.hurley@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 280-1662

Office:

Henkels 2052

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Associate Professor of Communications; Director of Communications Program

Email:

john.jasso@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 304-7936

Office:

Henkels 2054

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Assistant Professor of Literature and Modern Languages

Email:

deana.kelly@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 304-7188

Office:

Canizaro Library 254

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Assistant Professor of Literature

Email:

jessica.schnepp@avemaria.edu

Phone:

(239) 304-7072

Office:

Canizaro Library 250

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FAST FACTS

  1. With the best human minds, journey through time from the Iliad and the Odyssey through Medieval Literature, Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Performance, Eighteenth Century, Romanticism, Early Modern Literature, Modern Literature to 20th Century Literature.
  2. Present and former Literature majors and minors fill many important posts at Ave Maria, including resident advisor and newspaper editor. Many appear in the annual Shakespeare in Performance production on Campus.

INTERNSHIPS & CAREERS

Literature is a great program for those who love the classics and want to spend their college years studying great works of literature and the language behind them. Students who have earned a degree in Literature might end up working in many different careers, from writing to teaching to academia.

Literature Majors and Minors understand life and express themselves clearly so others will understand. These abilities come from confronting the literary efforts of the best human minds from across the centuries. No Major or Minor other than Literature brings the full range of human experience so clearly into focus. In every field of endeavor, these qualities of understanding and expression bring Literature Majors and Minors to the front where they can be heard.

Examples of career possibilities include the professions where understanding and expression are most useful, such as business, law, teaching, and many others.

Click on the following link to view the top ten careers with a Literature or English degree http://www.catalogs.com/info/bestof/top-10-careers-with-an-english-degree

REQUIRED COURSES

Required Courses for the Major

LITR 206 Shakespeare

LITR 223 How to Read Poetry: Form and Meaning

LITR 224 How to Read a Novel: Form and Meaning

LITR 230 Survey of American Literature

LITR 360 Survey of English Literature

LITR 491 Capstone in Literature

Three electives (including at least one elective in Medieval or Renaissance Literature, one elective in 18th-Century or Modern Literature, and one free elective)

Accepted Free Electives

Any Literature Elective

COMM 200 Media, Society, and the Church

COMM 303 Classical and Medieval Rhetoric

HUMS 325 Jane Austen and Samuel Johnson

HUMS 370 C.S. Lewis: Theological Apologetics

HUMS 490 Thomas More

Other courses may be accepted with the approval of the Director of Literature.

Minor in Literature

To earn a minor in Literature, students must complete LITR 223 How to Read Poetry and four Literature electives.

DEPARTMENTAL MESSAGE

The Literature Department seeks the advancement of human culture, the promotion of dialogue between faith and reason, the formation of men and women in the intellectual and moral virtues of the Catholic faith. The Department seeks to aid in the formation of men and women who can read insightfully, appreciate deeply, understand clearly, and write skillfully to express, explain, argue, and persuade.

The University courses in literature introduce students to the classics of the West so that they may better understand themselves and their world by reading what the best authors have thought about the most important questions—questions about human purpose, the relationship between God and the human person and between man and woman, the foundations of knowledge, and the basis of human community.“One writes only half the book; the other half is with the reader.”

-Joseph Conrad

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Literature

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Sunny skies, warm temperatures, a beautiful campus. What more could you want? How about a community-like atmosphere, quality instructors who care about your success, a wealth of spiritual activities, expert career guidance… and that’s only the beginning. Imagine your future at AMU. It all starts by filling out our free application today.

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