Requiring a career course for English majors

Written By Jeffrey Cohen

“I don’t envy this dean with the bull he’s got to peddle.”

So read an email accidentally sent to me, its author, rather than the colleague or friend to whom this faculty member had apparently intended to forward my note. The email in question, addressed to the large community of faculty and staff I oversee at Arizona State University, was about how the Humanities division of our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences would be taking a lead in the college’s new degree integrated career readiness initiative.

My initial impulse was to respond with a terse statement like “I don’t think I’m the intended recipient.” Maybe I would even sign it “The Unenviable Dean.” But I knew that what my colleague was revealing was likely on the minds of many who received my message. The manifold disciplines we place under the designation “Humanities” have an enduring and well earned reputation for floating above everyday concerns like obtaining jobs at the end of study or alleviating worries over future financial security. Yet having served many years as the chair of a department of English at George Washington University and now as dean of humanities at one of the largest higher education institutions in the United States, I know that the humanities should be a natural leader for integrating career readiness into programs of study. I needed to provide for my community a better rationale for why.

In a typical year the three interdisciplinary schools I oversee serve about 4,000 Humanities majors. A little more than half of them are in English. We are well into a degree redesign piloted by that department that will be adapted in some version across our schools and departments. The experiment is part of a “Future Forward” initiative, brainchild of many faculty and staff working together across fields to ensure liberal arts and sciences students are ready at graduation to succeed, no matter how challenging the job market.

The seven undergraduate programs housed in the Department of English are now structured around communalizing anchors spaced over the course of the degree. Students begin with a large and vibrant introductory course, team taught by our best teachers. Focused on a topic of wide interest like wonder or the relation of language to identity, this energetic class showcases the diversity of study we offer, from linguistics to creative writing to media studies to literature. The class also integrates a career thinking module so that students have a roadmap for future years. Several of our degrees require an internship and all encourage one, so we have embedded a full time Internship Director into the department. She and her staff ensure all students have meaningful work experience before they graduate — and know how to narrate the skills they have learned on a resume. Internships can be for credit, for pay, or a combination of both. Philanthropy ensures that students of limited means can take an unpaid internship and still receive funding they may need for paying bills (that is, we eliminated the work penalty). Students may also substitute a directed research experience for the internship. Most programs integrate a senior year capstone that includes reflection on ground covered and path ahead, as well as experiential learning.

But here is the most profound change: during their sophomore or junior year all English majors must take a mandated career course. Requiring this class seemed to be what was annoying the faculty member in question, the bull that I was peddling. But it didn’t come out of nowhere.

When I arrived at ASU in 2018, I was asked to ensure that our national reputation for humanities research and creativity was as strong as it deserves. I was also charged with revitalizing a dispirited community. As at many institutions, the humanities had experienced a downturn in enrollment, despite the overall growth of the institution.  How could we welcome more students into lively engagement with humanistic study? To better understand the challenges, I worked with our Marketing and Communications team to survey 1000 students university wide. We received 826 responses, and some good news: 90% of those responding stated that they considered humanities study to be important, even if they could not always articulate what “humanities” designates (222 respondents, for example, placed biology in the category). Three quarters of the students stated that the history, English, philosophy and language courses they had taken were among the best they had experienced. But then some sobering news: a large number of undergraduates had considered majoring in the humanities, but could not connect such study with marketable career skills, the ability to succeed in a global market, effective leadership development, or any particular jobs beyond teacher, civil servant, human resources (we think because it has the word “human” in it), or lawyer. That’s it.

And maybe that is fine. Maybe the humanities should soar above the job market and train students to lead a good life in the philosophical sense. But why choose between a well examined existence and a satisfying professional trajectory? Most young people want both. Isn’t it possible to accomplish good in the world, strengthen a sense of self and community, while also enjoying a career where success is defined on your own terms? And: the skills employers most need are precisely the skills humanities students practice every day in our classrooms.

I had not yet been at ASU long, but I had already met alumni become entrepreneurs, politicians, leaders of nonprofits and corporations who spoke eloquently about how their study of English or History or Philosophy or Spanish had allowed them to thrive. A vice president at the driverless car company Waymo is a graduate of English, and likes to say that her degree gave her the skills she needed to thrive in a career that had not been invented when she was an undergraduate. An alum of our Film and Media Studies program narrates a tale of becoming a VC exec. His studies gave him exactly what he needed to create compelling narratives and understand complexities with attention and care. The new CEO of Fender International is an ASU English grad who used his degree and study of Japanese to transform the company, first in Asia and now worldwide. The former president of Fogo de Chao studied Portuguese at ASU and used his intercultural competence to ensure that restaurant’s meteoric success. He tells our students not to study business because language and culture will serve you so much better.

In response to the concerns expressed in the survey, I started teaching a course called “Making a Career with a Humanities Major.” I brought alumni to speak with the class, and they assured students that their studies were preparing them well for moving through the eight to twelve jobs that will make up their careers. With some dedicated colleagues I piloted the newly required career course in English that annoyed the faculty member. This fall semester will mark my third time at the head of English 300: Your Degree in the World. I’ve been teaching for thirty years, and it’s my favorite class.

When I walk into the room on the first day, the 36 students are inevitably on their phones or laptops, the room disconcertingly quiet. I start handing out notebooks and pens and ask them to turn off their electronics. I announce that I never want to enter a silent room again. “It’s a destructive fiction,” I say, “to believe that if you are seated next to someone and staring at a screen, a wall has been erected between you and them. Your future may be enabled by your colleagues in this room. This semester you’ll be meeting many alumni, and you’ll hear a repeated theme: at key moments in their lives, those who went to college with them steered possibilities their way. It’s your job to do that for each other – but you won’t if you miss the chance to get to know the wonderful people who are in community in this course with you.” I am told that I radiate dad energy with this kind of haranguing, and that is fine by me. (I happen to have a daughter about to enter her last year here at ASU so I am familiar with haranguing students in a good way.) I notice that the room is never quiet again when I walk in to class.

We use notebooks and pens in the class, but it’s not because I’m against AI. Students need to know how to use that tool ethically and effectively for many possible careers. But I believe that a quiet superpower that humanities study fosters is sustained attentiveness: the ability in a world full of distractions to read a novel from beginning to end, to place a text in its complicated historical context, navigate an archive (in person or online), immerse oneself fully in creating an effective argument, listening with care to classmates so that discussion is vibrant. The notebooks are for the students’ eyes only. I tell them they are writing letters to their future selves. The frequent reflection exercises we do as class warm-up will be a gift to whoever they are in 5, 10, 15 years. Focusing on who they might be long after graduation seems like a revelation to them, as does the idea of multiplying options and strengths for that time ahead. They embrace making their own future luck by gifting themselves possibilities to choose from.   

“Your Degree in the World” combines pragmatic skills like resume writing, effective interviewing, strengths articulation, social media profile management and networking with visits from humanities majors who have graduated to a variety of careers. Some of these alumni are later in life and highly successful. When they visit, they tell me that they love the energy and optimism of my students. Often they are so moved by the experience they want to give something back: scholarships, internship opportunities, mentoring possibilities. The visitors whose experience really resonates, though, are alumni who have graduated within the past five years. These young men and women have had the same professors as my students, the same hallowed college experiences. They describe how almost everything they experienced as part of their study became useful over time for building the life they’ve now launched, often to their surprise. An internship that included changing lightbulbs above a stage becomes a narrative about learning to become a confident public speaker. Failing a paper on Richard III becomes a lesson in resilience and a professor’s deep care. These young alumni inevitably state that they wish they had had a career class like this one.

ASU is an access-based university that serves a diverse population of students. We’re Hispanic serving institution rooted in the Southwest, welcoming a large number of Native American students. Many of those we enroll are first generation. Many more arrive from economically challenged families. I remind my faculty that our students arrive in our classrooms with the hopes of a community on their shoulders, and that can be heavy to carry. Is it any wonder then that most are attracted to majors that have a clear professional path? If we choose not to explain to them the actual value of humanities study, if we do not share the success stories of those who have passed through our classrooms in the past, then we also cannot complain when students choose business or biomedical sciences over religious studies, linguistics, media studies, philosophy, Spanish or English.

Student feedback for “Your Degree in the World” affirms its value. Many note that they end the semester with a better sense of their own agency to shape their future. Quite a few note that they leave the class far less certain of what career exactly they will pursue – but more certain that they will succeed.

As to that faculty member, when I sent him an overly long email about why we do what we do, he responded that he appreciated my thoughts. Not long afterwards he left ASU to take a position elsewhere, in a department that has been teaching the humanities in the same way for decades and seems to me unlikely to change. That’s a fine choice for some students. Most will no doubt find a way to succeed on their own. But why not empower rather than leave to find a way?

My own career did not lead me to become a dean at a large and ambitious university only because I was trained to be good medievalist or environmental humanist. If I have succeeded in this or any other administrative position, it is because deep humanities study has shown me how to better understand the world, to value what I can do to make it better, and to pass an affirmative vision that the future remains to be built to the humanities majors of tomorrow. The least I can do for my students is to pass that confidence in the humanities as a career shaping force for good along.

Your Degree in the World: How to Restructure the English Major without Yielding on its Value

Way back in 2019, not too long before the pandemic struck, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University gathered groups of faculty and staff to design what we called a Future Forward structure — and mentality — on behalf of our students.

The effort resulted in some immediate, easy wins: redesigning a program ensuring success for at risk first year students; creating classes within every major that provide a sense of community and build a cohort (with a special section for transfer students); and rechristening the career hub as the Futures Center, thereby centralizing advising on every possible path students might take after graduation. We placed this new center directly across from a space at the heart of the College’s main building where all first year advising takes place, signaling to students not to wait until senior year to utilize its resources. The purpose of the Futures initiative is to ensure that no one hesitates to study what they love because they fear that such study could lead to a career cul de sac.

The three interdisciplinary schools within the Humanities (schools I oversee: if you know me, you know career readiness is a passion of mine) helped to lead the effort, with the Department of English volunteering to be an early integrator and test bed. A few years along, we’ve seen some impressive results. English was the first of The College’s 18 schools to embed a Director of Internships and Career Readiness, an endeavor so successful that we have hired a second staff member to support her work and prevent burn out. About two hundred students make use of this office each semester. Of those who obtain an internship through the program 92% graduate with a job in hand (we know because we track). That first job may or may not be directly connected to their internship: the Director of Internships assists students in framing their experience on their resume and in interviews to ensure career connections and a sense of confidence no matter what work they eventually pursue. Although we try to place students in paid internships since most of our students work and cannot forgo their wage, we also have had good success raising philanthropic funding to pay a stipend to students who take an unpaid internship that will advance their ambitions.

English majors get jobs and we have the data to prove it. But also: humanities majors deserve robust support networks that will enable them to articulate how what they have studied correlates to career possibilities. It’s not enough to imagine that a campus career center is going to be well prepared to handle humanities majors, nor should we expect that humanities professors (many of whom have ever had only one kind of job, and they composed a CV rather than a resume for it) can effectively assist undergraduates who are not headed towards advanced study in the discipline.

But an internship office embedded within every school or department is not enough. The Department of English also requires a one credit course called Your Degree in the World. Created by a team of faculty members and staff with the assistance an instructional designer, ENG 300 exists as a shared Canvas shell that those of us who teach the course can adapt each semester. The Canvas shell is deep with resources and represents the best of what faculty can achieve when they collaborate with colleagues as well as staff. I’ve taught Your Degree in the World several times, moving some of its pieces around to best suit the particular audience. Last year, for example, had quite a few aspiring lawyers so I arranged for an alumna who is a partner in a local firm to visit along with our prelaw advisor, while this year has quite a few writers and I will fine tuned accordingly. We offer two sections of the class every semester and they always fill at 36 students each. I sometimes have to ask students from the business school to drop so that humanities majors have enough seats. Last spring we added a very successful version for our online students.

I love teaching the careers course because students find it a space to let their guard down a bit, embrace thinking about their own agency when it comes to forging the future they want and determining what it means for them to lead a good life. Inevitably they seem to find the confidence that they deserve to possess in their own ability to shape their career. In general students tell me that they leave the course less certain of what they will do upon graduation, but more convinced that something satisfying will work out. What could be better?

Below I offer a version of the fall semester 2025 syllabus and a quick overview of the assignments. These varied exercises are well designed with clear directions and lucid rubrics for how they are scored: we aim to make this a class without mysteries (but also with plenty of surprises and self-discoveries). Students know from the start how to excel in this class and for the most part, they do: typically the only students who encounter trouble in Your Degree in the World are those for whom family or health challenges have inhibited their ability to undertake the required work (we always work with them to get them the extracurricular support they deserve).

Let me know your thoughts: this is very much a class that must keep changing. I’ll give the course objectives, the roadmap of the first three meetings, and a synopsis of the rest of the class. Curating and coordinating the large number of visitors takes quite a bit of time but is always worth it. Students connect with resources inside the university by meeting the staff who are there to help them forge their way forward, and over the course of the semester typically connect with ten or twelve alumni who visit.

Welcome to Your Degree in the World 🌏

This class helps you develop a deeper sense of the value of the humanities in society, and the relation of humanities study to living a good life. You will engage with other English majors, faculty, alumni, and industry professionals to explore the types of work that various concentrations of the English degree enable you to undertake.  Through a range of reflective and interactive projects, you will strengthen your own ability to articulate how skills learned in the English major apply to various creative, real-world, and professional settings.

Overall Course Objectives

This course seeks to:

  • Foster an understanding of the relationships among completing an English degree in any concentration, humanities study more broadly, and success at various careers.

  • Foster an understanding of different fits between skill sets and professional work.

  • Prepare students to pursue internship and employment opportunities.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Recognize real-world examples of how the English degree fits within larger humanities and professional contexts.

  • Identify possible internship and job opportunities.

  • Collaborate with faculty, students, and working professionals to explore critical or creative questions in the humanities. 

  • Articulate how skills you have developed in the English degree (for example: critical thinking, cultural literacy, problem-solving, collaboration, and experiential knowledge) prepare you for multiple pathways in your life and career.

Texts and Required Purchases

You will not need to purchase texts for this class. Links to assigned readings and resources that can be accessed free of charge are posted on Canvas.

Assignments

The major assignments for the course are a series of seven short developmental inquiries and a two part informational interview. All assignments are due at 12:00 pm (noon) on Mondays before class, but you are encouraged to complete them well in advance.

1. Class Overview and Introductions

Today you will learn about the course, your classmates, and your instructor. I’ll also give you a sturdy notebook and good pen for you to use to jot down your thoughts on the course as it progresses and to spend some time filling with your reflections. You will not hand this in and I will never look at it, but I will ask you to spend at least half an hour each week with the notebook, composing what I hope will be a letter to your future self. Think of it as an archive of your 2025 hopes, aspirations, and big plans. Please also explore the Canvas course site as much as you can beforehand and bring questions to class.

Your Success Story

We will watch this YouTube video featuring alumni who were Humanities majors here at ASU not that long ago. Then you will think twelve years into the future and imagine what you will be doing and why that matters to you -- and to current ASU English majors. What personal goals will have you obtained, and how might your career inspire students at ASU to create their own success stories?

2. "What will you do with an English degree!?"

"What will you do with it?" is a question we get asked a little too often, and we may struggle to respond clearly and confidently -- perhaps because the correct answer is EVERYTHING. The question of career futures is at this week's heart.

Special Guest: Cassie Blue, Project Manager at Rivian and ASU English (Film and Media Studies) alum from 2010, will talk about their winding yet satisfying road to career success. Bonus fact: their dad just graduated from ASU’s MA in WWII Studies in the spring.

Please read the following articles before the class: 

Preview also Inquiry 1 so that you can ask questions if you have any. 

[Inquiry 1, “Getting to Know You,” is a three part assignment designed for students to learn more about each other and ground themselves in the goals of the course. The exercise includes utilizing one of four career planning tools (Career Values Matcher; O*Net Interest Profiler; Career One Stop Skills Matcher; 80,000 Hours Career Planning Tool); writing a 250 word response on on what the chosen inventory advertises as its goal and what its actual operating assumptions seem to be (e.g. students are asked to “consider what world or way-in-the-world does it seem to uphold” and what is resonant and what is not within that world); doing the same for ASU Career and Professional Development Services or Roadtrip Nation; and then writing out “what excites you about thinking about preparing for a career? What are you thinking about doing after graduation? What impact would you like to have? How do you see the skills you’re developing as an English major in relation to those plans? What might you be a little hesitant about regarding preparing for a career?” The first assignment is lot but really does anchor the course’s launch.]

3. Internships and Thinking Strategically as an English Major

This week, we will learn about the internship programs available for English majors as well as various online resources available for ASU students. Please watch this video ahead of time.

Our guest speakers are Ruby Macksoud, Director of the Internship Programs and Career Readiness, and Mark LaRubio, Internship Coordinator, Department of English. And keep in mind this essential resource: Department of English Scholarship for Students with Unpaid Internships.

***

The classes above get us well launched. We also in corporate frequent warm up writing exercises, to the moment conversations on topics of sudden concern relevant to the class, and informal advising sessions. The rest of the semester looks something like this:

Then we go deep into what has proven to be the course’s most valuable exercise: students find someone who is doing exactly what they can imagine doing themselves some day, interview that person, and report back to the class. I approve both their contact email and list of questions in advance, so we can have a conversation about professional self presentation.

The class ends with a self reflection on ground covered and vistas opened. Students always submit powerful, joyful work — this course affirms for me every semester that the best way to get a job AND lead a good life is to major in the humanities.

Jeffrey Cohen
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