Professor Laura Severin is set to take over as the new head of the Department of English at NC State beginning on Jan. 1. Severin has been with NC State as an administrator and faculty member for 33 years, and teaches 20th and 21st century British literature along with researching multimedia Scottish poetry.
“It’s important to support the humanities since they teach so many of the subject areas that are important to our world right now such as history, critical reading, visual interpretation, communicating in a nuanced manner and communicating and solving problems with dialogue,” Severin said.
Department head will not be the first major administrative role Severin has held at NC State. She has previously served as associate head of the English department, as well as associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“There are maintenance things and some things to move the department forward focusing on students,” Severin said, when asked about what plans she has as department head.
Severin says that she plans to focus on supporting the English club and internship programs available for students. The internship program through the English department has a well-known reputation, according to Severin.
There is also a review of English curriculum underway, which will be published soon. Another potential change may deal with concentrations within English, as Severin plans to look at concentrations to ensure they are best accommodating students interests and preparing them for a career after they graduate.
Severin says she considered applying to become head of the department for some time, but wanted to make sure that she was ready to provide the best support to the department that she could.
“English has always been a college that prides itself on its teaching, and when evaluating faculty for tenure we look at their teaching, not just their research,” Severin said. “It’s not that research isn’t as important, but we find teaching to be equally important.”
Lucy Marcum, a second-year studying English, hopes that the English department will strengthen its curriculum and provide more career readiness resources to students.
“If Dr. Severin can help English majors secure more internships and jobs, and has a plan to provide stronger curriculum, I think it would help the department be stronger,” Marcum said.
Marcum feels that humanities tend to feel overlooked at NC State, and hopes that Severin can change this.
“The English department is fantastic for the resources they’ve provided, but when I hear of all the opportunities the engineer majors and science majors have, I feel a little left out,” Marcum said.
Reily Fay, a third-year studying English, shares Marcum’s point of view towards humanities at NC State.
“Going to a math-based school, having a new head that values the underdog virtues of the school could potentially get people in other programs to see how things such as sociology, communication and writing is just as important as engineering and biology,” Fay said. “It’s truly refreshing.”
