English teaches essential skills like empathy, persuasion, and creative thinking…
UT English majors who have worked in the business and non-profit worlds talk about how important writing and storytelling are to their success. They draw on a range of literature classes, like Women in American Literature (332), Shakespeare’s Early and Late Plays (404 and 405), The International Novel (454), and writing classes like Creative Non-Fiction Writing (369), or Technical and Professional Writing (360) to put together a range of strategies that help them tell their stories to customers and clients.
Interviews with Alumni in the Field
English Majors Don’t Have Limits: Ashley Barker and ORNL
Former English Major Flourishes as Section Head for Operations at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility
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Catching up with COO and English Major David Corts
How Literary Reading and Expository Writing Helped Corts become a Successful Entrepreneur
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English Major to Business: Sarah Rainey’s Career Path
Sarah Rainey uses skills she learned in her English courses to thrive in different business sectors.
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English Alum Camille Renshaw’s Path from Literature to Real Estate
A background in English has been a key to this CEO’s competitive edge.
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With a Little Help from My Friends
Nowadays, $5 won’t get you much—let alone change someone’s life. But Keith Taylor (’98) and his Modest Needs Foundation beg to differ.
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“It’s all about telling stories. I was fundamentally drawn to English Literature because of the storytelling. I tell stories every day . . . If I need to say “go in that direction,” I can only say that so many times before it falls on deaf ears. People want to know why their work matters. And using story gives their lives, gives my life meaning.”
—from an article highlighting business woman and English Major Camille Renshaw (’94)