Writing website copy for software and eCommerce companies, producing blog content and email copy, and running a self-established freelance business might not be what comes to mind when you imagine English students post-graduation. In today’s market, however, the skills learned in English classes are in growing demand.

Kaleigh Moore, a UIS graduate with a minor in English and a major in Communication, is one of many students capitalizing on her writing abilities.

The very first class our MA students are required to take is ENG 501—Digital Humanities. As a core class, it is required for both students in the Digital Pedagogy track and the Digital Publishing track. More than a requirement, the class serves as an introduction to the overall program. While it is founded on traditional graduate-level research, it also asks students to engage with texts in new ways. More specifically, it asks students to engage in literary/rhetorical analysis and criticism with the help of technology and interdisciplinary research methods.

As the position [at the University of Virginia] is unique to both the university and in academia, it makes the work I create all the more meaningful that people have taken its challenges seriously.

UIS English alum Courtney Cox is helping students find their voices in the composition classroom.

Cox is a doctoral student at Illinois State University’s PhD in English Studies with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. While taking graduate classes Cox also teaches two sections of English 101: Composition as Critical Inquiry, the program’s first-year composition class.

Katie Brethorst loves history and theatre! The University of Illinois Springfield junior recently wrote her own play about the life Susan Lawrence Dana, who commissioned Springfield’s famous Frank Lloyd Wright home, and performed it on campus. Brethorst is also involved in the UIS Theatre Program, works for the Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office, and is a staff writer for the student newspaper.