We think the best way to answer that question is to illustrate with some examples of where people have taken their English majors. What can you do with an English major? Well, perhaps you can become a governor, like Mario Cuomo (NY) or Pete Wilson (CA). Or a Supreme Court Justice, like Clarence Thomas. If you have a social conscience you can direct the EPA, like Carol Browner, or the World Wildlife Fund, like Kathryn Fuller. You want to act? Join Jodie Foster, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Signourney Weaver, Paul Newman, and Julia Stiles. Or you would prefer to direct, like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcese, and James Cameron. Maybe news is your thing, like Barbara Walters, Bob Woodward, and Diana Sawyer. Are you thinking of medicine? Win the Nobel Prize in Medicine, like Harold Varmus. Or run Disney, like Michael Eisner. Or go where no woman has gone before, like Sally Ride. You like to write songs? So do Kris Kristofferson, Paul Simon, Chris Isaak, and Don Henley. If all else fails, you can always fall back onto football, like Joe Paterno and Marty Shottenheimer. And we haven't even gotten to writers. What can you do with an English major?
Douglas Adams –
novelist |
Stephen King – novelist Kris Kristofferson – singer, songwriter Arthur Miller – playwrite Toni Morrison – novelist Paul Newman – actor Conan O’Brien – talk show host Joe Paterno – football coach David Hyde Pierce – actor Sally Ride – astronaut Susan Sarandon – actress Diane Sawyer – broadcast journalist Martin Scorcese – film director Paul Simon – songwriter, singer Steven Spielberg – filmmaker Marty Shottenheimer – NFL coach Julia Stiles – actress Superman (Christopher Reeve) Amy Tan – novelist Brandon Tartikoff – tv executive Clarence Thomas – Supreme Court Justice Grant Tinker – tv executive Harold Varmus – Nobel laureate medicine Barbara Walters – broadcast journalist Sigourney Weaver – actress Eudora Welty – writer Pete Wilson – former Governor of CA Reese Witherspoon – actress Bob Woodward – journalist, writer |
And check out some of our recent alumni