Williams College: A move from English to Comparative Literature

[Anonymous]

In this article, you can see the significant shift towards stem and social sciences by undergraduate students, but there is also hope! Students are increasingly interested in new humanities majors, and important faculty members are joining the college.

Article: https://williamsrecord.com/470012/news/major-declaration-data-shows-decline-in-english-increase-in-comparative-literature/

[Anonymous]

Reflection towards the move of LAC to Science and Math Arts Colleges. These lacs should be embarrassed that their top majors are math, Econ, and Chemistry.

[Anonymous]

Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

What a gross misstatement about students' interests. If anything, they should be reading more classics such as Wordsworth and Shakespeare., which takes effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

What a gross misstatement about students' interests. If anything, they should be reading more classics such as Wordsworth and Shakespeare., which takes effort.

Archaic Fetishist.

Wordsworth and Shakespeare didn't spend their time studying 400 year old literature. They wrote in the common language of their time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In this article, you can see the significant shift towards stem and social sciences by undergraduate students, but there is also hope! Students are increasingly interested in new humanities majors, and important faculty members are joining the college.

Article: https://williamsrecord.com/470012/news/major-declaration-data-shows-decline-in-english-increase-in-comparative-literature/

Why did you write a title that has nothing to do with your content?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this article, you can see the significant shift towards stem and social sciences by undergraduate students, but there is also hope! Students are increasingly interested in new humanities majors, and important faculty members are joining the college.

Article: https://williamsrecord.com/470012/news/major-declaration-data-shows-decline-in-english-increase-in-comparative-literature/

Why did you write a title that has nothing to do with your content?

They didn’t?

[Anonymous]

For the life of me...why does psychology continue to be such a popular major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the life of me...why does psychology continue to be such a popular major?

It’s versatile. Org psych is turning into an Econ/management degree for those who don’t actually like business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

What a gross misstatement about students' interests. If anything, they should be reading more classics such as Wordsworth and Shakespeare., which takes effort.

Archaic Fetishist.

Wordsworth and Shakespeare didn't spend their time studying 400 year old literature. They wrote in the common language of their time.

Shakespeare's favorite author was probably Ovid had been dead for 1500 years when he was reading him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reflection towards the move of LAC to Science and Math Arts Colleges. These lacs should be embarrassed that their top majors are math, Econ, and Chemistry.

The traditional meaning of liberal arts includes science and math. It doesn't just mean humanities and fine arts. Math and chemistry are liberal arts programs, and they're both very strong and have been popular at Williams for decades Business and engineering are pre-professional, which is why you don't find them at LACs (except in engineering partnership programs). Also what is embarrassing about students studying math?!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

What a gross misstatement about students' interests. If anything, they should be reading more classics such as Wordsworth and Shakespeare., which takes effort.

This type of narrow minded speaking is killing English as a major area of study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

What a gross misstatement about students' interests. If anything, they should be reading more classics such as Wordsworth and Shakespeare., which takes effort.

This type of narrow minded speaking is killing English as a major area of study.

+1, DS loves literature, but his college’s English department is all-out Hostile against offering non Renaissance/victorian or medieval literature. In a given semester, less than 3 American English courses are offered but British writers can’t be escaped.

English is bleeding students to other humanities social sciences, because it simply hasn’t adapted with the time. It used to be a fun radical study in close reading, but those students are leaving to black/queer/American studies. Comparative literature requires you to engage with international audiences in a way that English simply refuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students are bored by reading nothing but Wordsworth and Shakespeare, and I don't blame them. There's more depth and research in literature.

God our society could use some talent outside Shakespeare. He’s simply over studied and destroying students’ desire to read more advanced literature. DD has had required Shakespeare since 6th grade every year and has gained absolutely nothing from it.

[Anonymous]

Have English professors tried not being insufferable and begun comprehending that there’s worthy literature outside of the same 10 writers all born on the same island.