English English majors may opt for either the English program, with emphasis on literature, or the English and Creative Writing program, which focuses on creative writing. Both programs teach students to write with clarity, strength, and precision, and to examine and interpret literary texts with understanding and insight. Faculty research interests include Restoration women playwrights, women's studies, Renaissance poetry, the English novel, medieval drama, literary theory, and literature of the South and of South America. Students may also study Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Language classes use a language laboratory, videos, and computers to improve comprehension and conversational ability.
Study abroad is encouraged for all majors.
The distinguished Modern Language faculty, which includes several native speakers, is composed of professors who engage in a wide variety of research activities as well as extensive study and travel abroad. Philosophy Sweet Briar students study philosophy by being philosophers. The department encourages the exploration and development of ideas through thoughtful encounter with faculty and other students, and through the study of important philosophical texts. Classes address the basic philosophical questions of objective truth, the nature and extent of moral obligation, and the aspects of good critical and creative reasoning, classes approach topics such as the relationship between philosophy and religion, philosophy and the arts, and philosophy and the sciences. The Lynchburg Area Philosophical Association enables students to hear lectures by guest speakers at other local colleges, to invite groups to campus for such lectures, and to meet informally to discuss philosophy with other students and professors.