Salameno School of American and International Studies (SSAIS)

What is a Concentration?

A concentration is a focus on a more targeted field of the major. Some majors have concentrations in which you choose your course of study. These majors include Business Administration, Communication Arts, Music, and Social Science.

The Literature program at Ramapo College deals with literature as an aesthetic endeavor, cultural critique, and personal search. It is concerned, of course, with critical thinking and the reading and writing skills which are the hallmark of an educated person. The program seeks a balance between survey and seminar, American and world literature; between levels, genre, period, and themes; between reading, criticism, and creative writing.

The Literature program has as its goals the development of reading, writing, and critical skills. It emphasizes the interdisciplinary and multi-ethnic dimensions of literature and life. It seeks to fire the imagination while pragmatically preparing the student for the careers they pursue immediately after college and for graduate education when this is their preference. The program includes an impressive number of courses from world literature, from classical to contemporary periods, from short story to epic poetry.

One of the distinctive features of the Literature program is the opportunity it offers for student creativity. Students edit for course credit, the College literary magazine Trillium. They also present their work in the Poetry Club. Sigma Tau Delta is the literature honor society for gifted candidates. The faculty advisor to the yearbook, The Arch, is a professor in the Literature Major.

A Literature major offers many career choices for the talented student. The capacity to think, speak, and write well is the hallmark of the educated person and is advantageous in all professions. Publishing, journalism, and teaching are obvious possibilities for a literature major. Writing, theater, and television are further considerations. Literature graduates do well in business, government, and science where these endeavors require an articulate and creative expression of their philosophy and purpose. Literature provides impressive training for law, diplomacy, and public relations.

Literature is part and parcel of the College mission, at the very heart of its focus on liberal arts and interdisciplinarity, on multiculturalism and global connection.

Literature takes in the entire world and enables the student to encounter the complexity and cultural richness of the global village. It fosters the development of an enlightened and critical citizen of the world.

The major is offered by the School of American and International Studies and leads to a B.A. degree.

For more information about the Literature program you can visit their website.