Learn more about the English program.
The English major at Siena Heights attracts students willing to be challenged by such literary giants as Shakespeare and Chaucer, Austin and Wordsworth, Faulkner and Browning, Dryden and Dickenson, as well as more contemporary voices.
Enriching the classroom work is a number of exciting options for English majors. They may wish to write for the school paper (Spectra) or the literary magazine (Eclipse), or even apply for an internship with the university marketing/communications office. Many English majors tutor in the Writing Lab.
Periodically, English forums bring in guest speakers to lecture or read from their work. In addition, English majors who maintain a high GPA are also eligible for membership in Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society.
Annually, the English and Theater departments host a campus-wide birthday party for William Shakespeare, complete with games, prizes, “cakes and ale,” skits and recitations. You can do a dramatic reading of a favorite scene or sonnet, compete in the Bardic Thespian contest, or just sit back and be entertained!
Great literature is the textbook of human behavior, the diary of humanity. It has the power to delight, move, stimulate reflection, inform and broaden you. It opens you to, in Matthew Arnold’s words, “the best that has been thought and said.” It nourishes the mind, the heart and the emotions. Choosing to be an English major is making a matchless choice.
Meet the faculty members of the English program.
Associate Professor of Englishdheckman@sienaheights.edu517-264-7685 
Associate Professor of Englishpschnapp@sienaheights.edu517-264-7677 
Assistant Professor of Englishmbarbee1@sienaheights.edu517-264-7611 
Assistant Professor of Englishjbarst@sienaheights.edu517-264-7678 
Assistant Professor of Englishcmesaros@sienaheights.edu517-264-7669 
Assistant Professor of English/Writing Center Coordinatorkbarbee@sienaheights.edu517-264-7698 Learn about the career opportunities you can have with a degree English.
Students who don’t plan to teach often wonder what they will be doing once they complete a degree in English. Just a few of the possibilities are:
- Advertising copy writer
- Announcer
- Archivist
- Author
- Biographer
- Bookstore manager
- Court reporter
- Editor
- Journalist
- Lawyer
- Librarian
- Linguist
- Lobbyist
- Proofreader
- Public relations director
- Publisher
- Researcher
- Reporter
- Speech writer
- Technical writer
- Professional reviewer of books or dramas
Learn more about clubs and organizations associated with the English program.
Sigma Tau Delta is Siena Heights University’s English Honors Society and is open to English majors in Literature, Creative Writing and Communications. The club exists to prepare students for professional life and advanced study, while cultivating leadership skills and raising awareness of English studies on campus.
Spectra is Siena Heights University’s student newspaper. Written, designed, edited and managed by Siena students, the paper provides service Siena’s student body while giving newspaper staff valuable opportunities to develop the skills that can be used in a wide range of professional fields, from business to journalism, from graphic design to photography.
Eclipse is Siena Heights University’s student-run literary and arts magazine. Students write manuscripts, solicit submissions, raise funds, edit, design and publish Eclipse bi-annually.