2025-2026 Academic Catalog
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH & MODERN LANGUAGES
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Information
Bradford Haas, M.A. | Chair
Richards Hall, Room 205
301-891-4065 | bhaas@wau.edu
Washington Adventist University
7600 Flower Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912-7796
ENGLISH
BA English, Literature | Bradford Haas | bhaas@wau.edu
Writing Program | Richard Grant | rgrant@wau.edu
Mission Statement
Through the study of literature and language within an academic community, students will become lifelong learners who are skilled in critical thinking and writing, problem solving, communication, ethical use of technology and teamwork. They will be able to apply these skills in a number of settings, whether personal or professional.
Aims and Ideals for the Study of English
- To enable students to apply academic skills in the negotiation and understanding of social, cultural, business and personal events;
- To engender an understanding and experience of the power of language, with students increasing their curiosity and enthusiasm about ideas, writing and reading;
- To enable students to understand the power of skills learned in the English major to change systems and to use this power in a practical way in their personal and/or professional lives.
Learning Outcomes
A student who graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in English will be able to:
- Analyze and critique texts from various perspectives;
- Communicate ideas clearly, fairly and effectively in writing, oral communication, and other media;
- Synthesize original thought with scholarly research and data;
- Present written works verbally;
- Demonstrate knowledge of the disciplines and professions encompassed by the English major and show awareness of world literature and culture;
- Exhibit an appreciation of aesthetics and their importance in professional and private settings.
Career Opportunities
English is a highly adaptable major that leads to many career possibilities. Students graduating with English majors are successfully entering such diverse fields as law, education, advertising, public relations, library science, copy editing, technical writing, medicine, media, digital humanities, business, technology, social services, international relations, international development, and ministry.
Because the English major requires only 33 hours, it is a popular second major for many students who have chosen careers in business, communications, history, science, religion, psychology and other areas. Focusing on analysis, critical thinking and communication skills, English courses provide excellent preparation and transferable skills for success in graduate education and professional pursuits. Combined with areas such as data analysis and computer coding, English can provide a powerful combination of hard and soft skills that employers are looking for.
Honor Society and Memberships
Washington Adventist University has an active chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society. The purpose of the honor society is to recognize undergraduates, graduates and scholars who have realized accomplishments in either linguistics or the literature of the English language. The society is open to all students who have earned an overall grade-point average of 3.25 or above and have successfully completed two literature courses with an English grade-point average of 3.0 or above. The motto of the organization, “Sincerity, Truth, Design,” evidences the society’s commitment to excellence, a commitment consistent with the goals of the English program and the university. The department also participates in the university-wide Pre-Law Club, which is open to all students on campus.
The English program, which functions as one of the advisory departments for pre-law students, is a member of the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors, Inc.
Student Placement for Writing Instruction Within General Education
First-year students with scores above the 50th percentile for the verbal section of the SAT or ACT exam will be placed in Composition (ENGL 101 ).
All other students, including transfer students with 30 or fewer credits who do not have recent SAT or ACT scores, are required to take the English placement test through the Betty Howard Center for Student Success. Based on their test results, students may be placed in one of several courses specifically designed for their learning style and needs, including English as a second language, ENGL 101SA & ENGL 101SB (a composition course with extra emphasis on structuring essays), ENGL 101A (a composition course with an additional hour language support lab), ENGL 101 (regular college Composition), or ENGL 101H (an Honors section of Composition that also meets the general education Communications requirement).
Exceptions must be petitioned to and approved by director of the Writing Program, Richard Grant. Certain circumstances may also require approval from the Academic Petitions Committee.
Students whose level of English proficiency does not qualify them for placement in the courses offered by the English Program will need to receive further instruction in English elsewhere until they are capable of satisfying the entrance requirements for the any of the courses listed above.
English as a Second Language
Students whose native language is other than English, including any students who have not completed four years in an educational institution in which English is the language of instruction, may be placed in recommended ESL courses elsewhere according to examination results of the English placement test in conjunction with the TOEFL or the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency, or IELTS. See ADMISSION OF ESL STUDENTS for placement requirements.
MODERN LANGUAGES
Administered through the Honors College, and open to all WAU students
Information
Adventist Colleges Abroad
Modern Languages
Richards Hall, Room 205
Washington Adventist University
7600 Flower Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912-7796
301-891-4065
Adventist Colleges Abroad | Jonathan Scriven, D.IR. | jscriven@wau.edu
Modern Languages / testing options | Violeta Howard, Ph.D. | vdonovan@wau.edu
Introduction
Washington Adventist University offers minors in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish that give the capable, committed student the assurance of fluency in these languages, as well as understanding of the cultures they represent.
These minors require residency at overseas campuses (Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Lebanon or Spain) and are made available to interested students through the Adventist Colleges Abroad program. Modern Language courses and minors through Adventist Colleges Abroad are administered by the WAU Honors College, and are open to all WAU students.
Minors in Arabic, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish require residency at an overseas campus during a full academic year.
The minor in French can be completed without residing in France during a full academic year. It can be completed by combining the courses offered at Washington Adventist University with one semester spent at the overseas campus. In this case, students desiring to minor in French must take the beginning- and intermediate-level courses offered at Washington Adventist University before taking one semester of upper-division level courses at the overseas campus.
ALL students wishing to obtain a French or a Spanish minor are strongly advised to take all the French and Spanish courses offered at Washington Adventist University before going to the overseas campuses.
The overseas campuses in Spain and Argentina do not offer beginning-level Spanish courses.
To students not interested in obtaining a minor in French or Spanish, the university offers introductory and intermediate language courses on its campus that fulfill the foreign language requirement of certain of the university’s Bachelor of Arts programs.
Adventist Colleges Abroad
In cooperation with Adventist Colleges Abroad (ACA), a consortium of Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities in North America, the department offers to both the students minoring in language and to general university students the privilege of studying overseas without losing credits or lengthening their course of study.
Students who carefully plan their program with the department may earn full university credit for study at any of the overseas schools listed in the ACA catalog. Students enter this program for one or three quarters (three or nine months) beginning in September. A summer program is also available. To be eligible, the student must be admitted to WAU and have endorsement of the department.
Although enrolled overseas, students are registered at WAU and are considered in residence at this university. However, they are not eligible for scholarships, loans and grants offered by WAU. Credit earned overseas is recorded each semester in WAU’s Office of the Registrar.
ProgramsBachelor of ArtsMinor
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