Literature
Gary Saul Morson has observed, "Many disciplines can teach that we ought to empathize with others. But these disciplines do not involve actual practice in empathy. Great literature does, and in that respect its study remains unique among university-taught subjects…. Novelistic empathy gives [students] a diversity of ways of thinking and feeling. They can escape from the prison house of self." Studying literature at Union University offers opportunities for precisely this sort of empathetic and humane development, which is essential to carrying out Christ's commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Through courses in literary criticism, the Union English literature student will develop a number of critical frameworks with which to engage literature. The student will read canonical texts as defined by genre and traditional survey periods, as well as pay attention to voices from the margins. Recent courses have included race and ethnicity in American literature, women writers, Southern literature, literature and film, and literature and faith. Complementing these literary studies are courses in advanced composition, advanced grammar, professional editing, and the history of the English language. The Union University English literature graduate will be a thoughtful and sophisticated reader, possessing the highly marketable skills of critical thinking and effective writing.
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Careers
Union University Literature Track graduates have gone on to become attorneys, business best practice consultants, commercial account managers, customer service representatives, engineers, financial client services coordinators, government operation analysts, journalists, marketing coordinators, elementary, middle, and high school teachers, ministers, nonprofit coordinators, private academy directors, professional editors, web and social media developers, social workers, university professors, and, of course, writers.
Faculty Specialists
- Jay Beavers - American
- Janna Chance - Victorian
- Jason Crawford - medieval, Renaissance
- Scott Huelin - classical, medieval, and Renaissance
- David Malone - American
- John Netland - Victorian
- Gavin Richardson - classical, medieval
- Bobby Rogers - American
Notable Alumni
- Gracie Pratt - content developer for Dave Ramsey
- Brian Lea - Atlanta attorney, clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas
- Hannah Wakefield - American literature professor
- Katelyn Shelton - Special Assistant for Global Women's Health at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services