Fort Valley State University

The Department of English and Foreign Languages at Fort Valley State University is meeting change head on as we prepare students for various careers by providing them with skills and degrees we describe as their passport to success.
—Dr. Joyce Jenkins, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

The Department of English and Foreign Languages offers a number of majors and minors to meet your intellectual and vocational needs. We offer a traditional Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in English. Students pursuing this B.A. degree track in English may choose from either the literature track or the technical and professional writing track. Most courses for the writing track are available online. Students in these tracks would be able to pursue a number of exciting future possibilities ranging from graduate school, to teaching, to law or medical school, the publishing field, journalism, or professional writing. An English degree can also be your ticket into nearly any aspect of the rapidly growing field of either traditional or electronic communication. Additionally, graduates are prepared to teach in public schools, and for careers in government, business, and industry.

The Department also offers a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in secondary education with a major in French. This degree would prepare a student to either teach, go on to graduate school, or enter into any career where being a poly-linguist is essential.

Minors in Spanish and English are also available. A minor in Rhetoric is currently in the works. A minor is an important tool for an undergraduate student as it serves to broaden your body of working knowledge as you enter the work force and it can also sharpen your focus of study if you are preparing for graduate school. For instance, a Business major who minors in English makes themselves more marketable simply because, assuming they received good grades in their classes, it shows a potential employer that this individual has trained to become a better communicator. It can also sharpen one’s focus in that if you are a history major who wishes to spend their research time studying the ancient Greeks; then being an English minor might give you that chance to bone up on one’s understanding of Homer and Hesiod.

In conjunction with other programs, the department also offers a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Creative Arts, Spanish, International Studies, African World Studies and Environmental Science.

The department also provides “Core courses,” these are required courses which are taken by students in all other academic units. Courses in writing, literature, philosophy, French, Spanish, and Japanese assist students in meeting their general education outcomes as required by the University and the University System of Georgia. The English and Foreign Languages curricula are designed to provide the communication, critical thinking, cultural, creative, service and philosophical components of traditional liberal arts.

Courses offered by the department are designated as ENGL, FREN, JAPN, SPAN, SEDL, GRMN, or PHIL.

Individual degree requirements are outlined in the FVSU catalog which is available online. Or, contact us and we will be happy to send you more information. Click the links below for PDF versions of the individual degree requirements for the Majors and Minors offered by the Department.

Contact Us

If you have any additional questions or would like more information, feel free to contact us using the information below:

Phone: (478) 825-6392
Fax: (478) 825-6110
E-mail: pittsb@fvsu.edu

Dr. Berlethia J. Pitts
Interim Department Head
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, GA 31030

Student Activities

In addition to a dynamic curriculum which includes the opportunity to study overseas, practica, and internships, our students have the opportunity to round out their academic lives through participation in extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
* The English Club
* The Creative Writing Club
* The Language Club
* Alpha Mu Gamma (foreign language honor society)
* The Creative Writing Club
* Student publications such as “The Englishear”

The W.I.N. Lab

Located in room 124 of the Bond Building, the WIN lab provides tutors, computers, network support, software, and hands-on assistance all designed to assist Fort Valley State University students with the development of their critical communication skills. The WIN lab offers peer-tutoring for composition, literature, and language classes. The lab is also open to assist the entire student body with composition and communication needs.