And you will work with faculty who are interested in you and the quality of your work. At least four courses in creative writing are offered each year. Because Grinnell is dedicated to the principle of interdisciplinary study, you will explore the relationships between literature and music, art, philosophy, science, linguistics, and history. Most English courses lend themselves to individual freedom and initiative in exploring areas of interest within a particular topic. In recent years, students have developed independent projects in African American women writers, 17th-century drama, and autobiography.
Many English majors study abroad or do an internshipmany do both.
English majors have arranged internships at the International Center for Community Journalism, the Alzheimer's Association, the Czech Union for Public Services, KGRN Radio, the Des Moines Art Center, and Naiad Press. For practical writing experience, Grinnell offers the opportunity to work at one of the oldest college newspapers west of the Mississippi, The Scarlet and Black , as well as the annual yearbook, the literary magazine The Grinnell Review, the radio station KDIC-FM, The Freehand Press , The Gum , and The Human Rights Journal . Grinnell also is home to many student-run and organized groups that may be of interest to English majors, including the Science Fiction Club and the Student Publications and Radio Committee. Each year two to four prominent guest writers are invited to Grinnell to read from their work, to consult with student writers, and to judge student writing that is submitted in Grinnell's annual poetry and fiction contests. Previous campus visitors have included Bharati Mukherjee, Ray Young Bear '76, Jamaica Kincaid, Robert Dana, Amy Clampitt '41, and Pulitzer-prize winners Jane Smiley, Philip Levine, and Jorie Graham.