Instead of Career Week, the English department will host monthly career workshops all year long.

You know you need this, right?

Right.

The first one is coming up fast and we want to tell you all about it. Let us know if you’re coming!

Put these dates on your calendar right now, people.

Fall 2016

Tuesday, August 30 at 6:30 PM in RB 290

“Stars to Steer By: Finding Your Way with a Humanities Degree”

To kick off our “Stars to Steer By” series, we’ll talk about both personal and professional development and help you discover your passions.

Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30 PM in 104 Bracken Library

“You Don’t Have to be a College Professor to Work at a University”

This session is about alternative paths to a career in academia. It’s important to consider these possibilities because there has been a 450% increase in PhDs since 1970 but a decline in the number of available tenure-track teaching positions. Participants on this panel will share their journey as undergraduate humanities majors into the professional academic lives. Special guests will include humanities majors who now work in student affairs, career services, annual giving, and digital archives. 

Speakers include:

Michael King, Residence Hall Director, who majored in English at Ball State and earned a masters in College Student Affairs at Eastern Illinois

Lola Mauer, Associate VP of Annual Giving, who majored in English and TCOM and earned an MA in Creative Writing at Ball State

Jim Mitchell, Associate Director of the Career Center, who majored in English and earned a Master of Science in Adult Education at Northern Illinois University

Brandon Pieczko, Digital Archivist for Manuscript Collections, who majored in Religious Studies at the University of Evansville and earned an MA in East Asian Language and Culture and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Monica-Scalf

Monica Scalf

Wednesday October 26 at 6:30 PM in 104 Bracken Library

Monica Scalf (Playground Group), a #bsuenglish department alum!

“Personal Branding: Uncovering Your Authentic Self”

Whether you know it or not, you already have a brand. Make sure you’re consciously expressing the right one to get you where you want to go. Bring your computer! After this session, we’ll work together on creating professional LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. 

Tuesday November 29 at 6:30 PM in 104 Bracken Library

“Innocents Abroad: Discovering the World with Linguistics/TESOL”

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing the world, this session is for you. You’ll learn about how to apply for an English language teaching Fulbright assistantship and about ESL/EFL teaching opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. To prepare, check out the English department’s minors in linguistics and TESOL.

Also!

“Building Relationships and Widening your Circles”

Humanities majors tend to be introverts, which can make building professional relationships really stressful. We’ll talk about the importance of widening your circles and how to do it with a minimum of stress.

Spring 2017

The series will continue on the last Tuesday of every month at 5 PM.

We’re focusing on graduate school, careers (library science, communications, law, marketing, and event planning), and hands-on workshops.

Goals

Personal development: Figure out who you are, what you’re good at, what you’re passionate about.

Professional development: Preparing for what’s next in your life, choosing major/s and minor/s, seeking out transformative experiences, learning how to make use of the resources available at Ball State.

Incentives

  • Each time you attend a session, you win a chance for a great prize given away at the end of the term. Attend as many sessions as possible to win!
  • Some faculty will offer extra credit for attendance at Stars to Steer By. Ask your prof!
  • Food. Food. Food.

Audience

  • All English faculty and students (majors and minors, first-year students to grad students).
  • We’re also happy to welcome faculty and students from the departments of Philosophy & Religious Studies, History, and Modern Languages & Classics.