Alumni testimonials

“Grad school gives you opportunities to work much more closely with faculty than you usually get to do during undergrad. And it’s often from these working relationships that you learn the skills and ways of thinking that really stay with you long after you finish your program, like how to explore and develop complicated ideas, how to give and receive meaningful feedback and how to collaborate with others on ambitious projects.” 

- Rory Tanner (Ph.D., 2014), Technical Writer, Shopify

“I feel that I get to have the best of both worlds as a student-facing staff member who also gets to teach. This is often also true for careers in academic advising. English MAs and MFAs are highly represented in these sorts of higher education staff positions where empathy, flexibility, and creativity are valued.”

- Laura Nelson, (M.A., 2015), Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

“The PhD writing process gave me the opportunity to refine the research and writing skills that are central to my current position, as well as many less obvious skills that nevertheless form an essential part of my job—skills such as collaborating with colleagues from different disciplines, identifying research gaps, and communicating research findings with the broader public.”

- Krista Murchison, (Ph.D., 2017), Assistant Professor of Medieval English, Leiden University

“My current job requires the application of advanced critical thinking and clear and concise writing, skills that were certainly honed during my time in the graduate program in the Department of English.”

- Murray MacDonald (B.A., 1992), Senior Director of Public Affairs at BCE and Bell Canada