Christensen: English majors have prospects yet

Anyone who doubts that being an English major is a worthy pursuit should take note —… Anyone who doubts that being an English major is a worthy pursuit should take note — those artsy-fartsy liberal arts classes might be as helpful in understanding the way the brain works as neurochemistry.

The New York Times reported that a new study, which examines readers’ underlying mental processes as they become invested in multiple characters, gives literature new clout as a reputable insight into the human psyche.

In other words, works by traditional literary figures such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf could offer insight into human evolution.

In “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Joyce wrote painstakingly about the development of perception and the way people understand symbols. “Odysseus” and “Don Quixote” examine evolutionary characteristics like human altruism.

Addressing one’s mental state is both a common literary device and a trait to human survival.

According to the Times, researchers found that humans can easily keep track of three mental states at once.

The sentence “Peter said and Paul believed that Mary liked chocolate” is easy to follow. A fourth mental state complicates things, and a fifth is even more difficult to understand.

But authors like Woolf, a modernist, require readers to trace the perceptions and actions of up to six characters at once, sometimes mingling the character’s mindset with the author’s voice.

Through studying brain patterns in subjects while they read Woolf, scientists will understand how humans process other people’s perceptions.

The number of American English majors dropped from 7.6 percent in the 1970s to only 3.9 percent in 2004, because English is no longer viewed as a “practical” application, according to AmericanScholar.org.

A link to science doesn’t mean the English major will suddenly become more practical, but perhaps it can attract students back to the field.

Literature can be relevant, and can reveal the truth behind life like a biology class attempts to do. It could also help extend English into other core curricula, such as cognitive psychology.

Whereas researchers in the fields of economics, chemistry, biology and computer and medical science can find sponsors for research and federal funding, humanists usually do not. Incorporating science and English could spark new revenue.

Still, financial incentive could limit the array of topics available to the English major.

Whereas not all literature can relate to human evolution, subsequent research could examine why people read fiction in the first place, and how readers become invested in the lives of imaginary characters.

A blending of science and English will only open new avenues into both departments. Science could be the next big trend in literary study and could lead to whole new courses.

It’s an exciting idea, but it will take some time for the trend to manifest itself in the college curriculum.

Still, the potential for a renewed financial interest in the arts is news in which all unpractical English students and professors should take heart.

E-mail Caitlyn your thoughts at cac141@pitt.edu.