About the Department

The mission of the Department of English is to provide post-secondary education in English through courses and other opportunities in language, literature, rhetoric, creative writing, analysis, grammar, and critical thought. The department supports a diverse, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural outlook on English and its related fields and seeks to bridge the perceived gap between the status of English as an art and as a useful, multidisciplinary skill set. The department preserves the professional and educational growth of our students, our faculty, and the university at large while upholding the standards and practices of composition and literary theories, pedagogical methods, and practical application.

The purpose of the English program is to produce graduates who can think, analyze, research, and interpret information in a complex global community. A major in English helps students develop soft skills, which are always valuable in the workforce. Our English program helps students cultivate and polish skills that make them attractive in the job market after graduation. English graduates find employment in journalism, publishing, technical writing, sales, administration, education, or business. English remains the preferred undergraduate degree for law school and a variety of advanced degrees, careers in government, and other fields where critical thought is paramount.  

Top Classes:

ENGL4433: Graphic Narratives

ENGL2513: Creative Writing

ENGL3373: Multicultural literature

Minors

English for Teachers

English for Non-teachers

Creative Writing

Humanities

Speech

History of the Program

The Department of English at Panhandle State has been a staple of the university for decades. Currently, the department offers a Bachelor of Arts in English with two emphases: the academic option and the teaching option. Our blossoming department offers a minor in English for teachers and non-teachers as well as a minor in creative writing. 

The department plans to grow its university reach by developing a writing center that will provide services to all university students who need a place to talk about their writing and hone their skills. This service will benefit all departments where communication—writing, presenting, etc.—is covered. 

Our department has recently launched the annual No Man’s Land Reading Series—an evening of conversation about writing with authors from around the U.S. and abroad where students and public in general can not only listen to authors read their works but also ask questions and discuss the craft. The Department of English continues to provide activities for students to participate, such as the English Club and theatrical productions—and soon we will offer the students to participate in our student publication, Rolling Tumbleweeds.

Marketability in employment

What’s Happening & What’s Next?

Fall 2021, Mr. Aznar presented The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams at the Guymon Public Library as part of the Let’s Talk about It, Oklahoma! Program, sponsored by the Oklahoma Humanities Council.  

 
Most recently, Dr. Jarrett Kaufman’s fiction has been published in the South Dakota Review, The New Southern Fugitives, I-70 Review, Arkansas Review, Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, The Saint Ann’s Review, Fiction Southeast, Short Story America, and The Main Street Rag. His nonfiction has recently appeared in Rougarou, Another Chicago Magazine, and Eclectica Magazine. His creative work has been honored with the Terry Kay Prize, the Lakefly Writers Award, and the Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize. He was a finalist for the Kelly J. Abbott Short Story award and the Gertrude Stein Fiction Award. Kaufman has also been awarded the Writing Retreat Scholarship from Cambridge Writer’s Workshop and the Writeship Award Scholarship from the Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop. He recently presented his scholarly and creative work at the Litfist Workshop, the Modern Language Assocation Conference, and the Southern Humanities Conference. 

Daughters of the American Revolution: Dr. Marjory Hall and Dr. Julie Prior have served consecutive years as judges for the DAR Good Citizens Scholarship program, assessing applicants’ statements describing their understanding of leadership and citizenship.