A Message from English Leadership

Dear friends,

In our recent survey of English majors, one respondent wrote, “An English degree is essentially a Swiss Army knife.... If you want to be ready for anything, study English.” At a time when universities and the humanities are facing unprecedented challenges, this student offers a powerful reminder of the value of earning a degree in English. By making a gift to the English Language and Literature Strategic Fund, you can play a significant role in enabling our diverse body of students to become well-prepared and thoughtful citizens of our democracy.
 
When students study English at U‑M, they hone their capacity to question, and to dwell with uncertainty, complexity, contradiction, and unfamiliar ideas and experiences. They reflect on the many ways in which narratives enable us to explore our own and others’ processes of meaning-making, to make sense of complex histories and current events, and to approach pressing problems with a sense of curiosity and possibility. English majors develop the patience to parse complex texts, formulate nuanced arguments, and meticulously craft poems, stories, and essays that expand our imaginations. They analyze the violence, damage, and occlusion wrought by language as well as humans’ endlessly varied uses of language to create beauty, cultivate life-sustaining connections, and imagine other ways of being and engaging with the world around us. As our students experience the joys of reading, writing, and discussing ideas, they also learn to listen carefully and thoughtfully, to offer rigorous feedback that helps others to clarify their thinking, and to find compelling ways to share their own ideas and passions with a broad range of interlocutors.
 
Your gift to the English Language and Literature Strategic Fund will help each of our students to develop their own toolkit as they earn their degree. Your generosity will enable students to find meaning and fulfillment in their work lives and personal lives, and it will prepare them to invent new tools, as needed, for facing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
 
Please join our efforts by visiting: lsa.umich.edu/english/alumni.
 
With gratitude and best wishes,

 

Megan Sweeney
Chair, Department of English Language and Literature