Why Major?

Yes, because a Literature and Language degree provides you with transferable skills, skills that are essential in the 21st century job market. It would be nice if you could simply graduate college and start a great job that will last a lifetime. But that’s not the reality of the 21st century economy. Yesterday’s careers will be replaced by jobs that haven’t been invented yet. That’s why transferable skills are so important, and that’s why a Literature and Language degree is a great investment. It also prepares students for a wide range of teaching and educational administration careers, in the United States and abroad, as well as the opportunity to practice law, medicine, or business with the transferable communication and thinking skill needed to excel.  

A Literature and Language degree will help you master written and verbal communication in traditional and digital media. You will learn how to read complex texts critically as well as research and complete time intensive projects, just like those demanded in the modern workplace. Along with transferable communication skill, you will develop a creative and cultural aptitude that will help you write successful job letters, develop projects, and build a meaningful professional life. The transferable skills you will learn are why the Princeton Review rates Literature and Language degrees in the “Top Ten College Majors,” higher than biology, nursing, and chemical engineering.

As Jenny Blake puts it in Life after College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want, “personal growth means learning about what makes you feel most happy and fulfilled, discovering more about the core of who you are and connecting with your life’s big picture” (250). A degree in Literature and Language offers the opportunity to put your life and your values in a global, historical context, and it gives you an opportunity to sharpen your identity against the greatest thinkers about human life and its meaning. Not only will a Literature and Language degree give you the skills needed to succeed, it will help you find a passion that will make success matter!