Student Opportunities
Are you passionate about words and ideas? Then there are many opportunities for you in our department.
In the classroom
Our majors know that the heart of what we do happens in the classroom. Our classes are discussion-based, engaging and focused on fostering creative and critical engagement with the subjects we discuss.
Independent Exploration
Our students do not limit themselves to the classroom. Every year, students design their own critical and creative projects and work individually with our faculty.
State and National Presentations
At Alma, we believe that literature matters, and we believe the work our students do matters. Our majors present their creative and scholarly work across the state and the nation. We encourage our students to present their work at:
- Honors Day
- the Medieval and Renaissance Consortium
- Michigan Academy Conference
- International Sigma Tau Delta Conference.
Write and Be Read
Our students write, and when they write well, we think they should be read. There are many opportunities for publication, both on and off campus, and we encourage our students to get their work in print.
- Pine River Anthology: an annual publication that showcases creative works of fine art and writing and is a collaborative product of the departments of Art & Design and English.
- See Spot Run: a monthly, student-run publication that accepts submissions from on- and off-campus.
- The Almanian: a campus news publication where students work with a seasoned journalist to learn the news cycle and explore how new media is transforming print journalism.
- The Scot: the annual yearbook, where students explore design concepts, the relationship between text and image, public relations, and many other professional writing skills.
Explore different perspectives
We think that seeing through different perspectives is a key skill every English major should have, so we want all our students to cultivate a spirit of exploration. We want them to challenge themselves to read outside their comfort zone, to travel to study in different cultural contexts for a Spring Term, or even consider spending a semester or a year abroad in England or any other of the many programs we have that offer a rich array of choices for English studies.