Student Internships and Independent Study
Through internships and independent study, students gain professional experience in their area of concentration. Students have opportunities to apply their study in institutions, organizations and with journals and newspapers.
Student Life
A niche of the department’s BA Program in English is that all students are given a mentor upon declaring themselves to be English majors. The department encourages English majors to attend special performances and literary or writing extra-curricular events, to write for the Adafi, the College’s newspaper and to write for the department’s literary magazine. Students also participate in the department by assisting with co-curricular programs such as the National Black Writers Conferences and Symposia sponsored by the Center for Black Literature, author readings and other literary programs.
Student Literary Journal
The student literary journal, The Crown Heights Review, is rooted in the idea that creative expression is vital to the life of a community. Its goal is to create a literary landscape that connects the College to its diverse community. In keeping with the mission of Medgar Evers College, the journal publishes Medgar Evers alumni and current student artists and writers.
Possible Careers
The strong writing skills and critical thinking skills required of the English major make them attractive to employers. MEC English BA graduates have enrolled, for example in Ph.D. programs and in schools of journalism. English majors will be able to gain employment in diverse fields such as teaching, publishing, professional writing and public relations and will also be prepared to undertake graduate studies in a range of professions including law, business, and medicine. They can become journalists for print media, copywriters for advertising agencies, writers for radio, television and film, as well as novelists, non-fiction writers, poets and playwrights. Opportunities are open to them as editors and literary agents and in the related fields of distribution and marketing.
Links to Professional Affiliations & Partners
Association of Writing Programs, https://www.awpwriter.org/
National Council of Teachers of English, http://www.ncte.org/
College Conference on Composition, http://www.ncte.org/cccc
Modern Language Association, https://www.mla.org/
College Language Association, https://www.clascholars.org/
The Society of the Study of the Multiethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS) http://www.melus.org/
Center for Black Literature, http://centerforblackliterature.org/
Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC),
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Centers-and-Institutes/Institute-for-Research-on-the-African-Diaspora-in-the-Ameri