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BYU Home Route Y Admissions Services College & Student Profiles Jennifer Shakespear

College & Student Profiles

Meet Jennifer Shakespear

Humanities

Jennifer Shakespear

HOMETOWN: Leander, Texas
MAJOR: Linguistics
FAVORITE HOBBY: Watercolor
PET: Little black dog named Corkie

Upon meeting a person with the last name Shakespear, you'd be more inclined to think of Elizabethan England rather than Texas—in particular, Leander, Texas. (Unless, perhaps, you're conversant with the poignant "Hero and Leander," penned by the Bard's famous contemporary Christopher Marlow.) Nor would you think of a person inclined to take a technical approach to the English language. But that's precisely what Jennifer Shakespear did.

As an honor student with a linguistics major, Jennifer enjoys studying the language "in a scientific way. I like the balance of science and humanities." Her honor's thesis, an 80-page effort, clearly demonstrates her ability to grapple with the rigors of her discipline. Specifically, she focused on a dialogue analysis of Catherine and Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

The Honors Program also gave Jennifer the chance to indulge in one of her favorite passions: reading. She finds the program's Great Works List stimulating. "I read a lot of literature that I wouldn't have otherwise." The list also includes music, art, and movies, all of which have rounded out Jennifer's experience in the College of Humanities. And the International Cinema? She loves it. The same holds true for creative writing as well as experience with American Sign Language.

Jennifer assigns high value to her job as a teaching and research assistant in the Linguistics Department. During her two-year teaching stint, she had the opportunity to work closely with Professor Cynthia Hallen, a caring mentor as well as her thesis advisor.

Jennifer plans to pursue a master's degree at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing specifically on literacy and the evolution of writing systems. Eventually, she'd like to earn a doctoral degree and teach at a university, continuing her love affair with the science and art of language.

College of Humanities

UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS
(Specific emphases are indented)

• CHINESE


• CLASSICAL STUDIES
  • CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION
  • CLASSICS
  • GREEK
  • LATIN


• COMPARATIVE LITERATURE


• ENGLISH


• ENGLISH TEACHING*


• FRENCH


• FRENCH TEACHING*


• GERMAN


• GERMAN TEACHING


• HUMANITIES
  • ART HISTORY
  • CLASSICAL STUDIES
  • COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
  • ENGLISH
  • FOREIGN LITERATURE
  • HISTORY
  • MEDIA ARTS (FILM)
  • MUSIC
  • PHILOSOPHY


• HUMANITIES COMPOSITE TEACHING
  • ENGLISH
  • FRENCH
  • GERMAN
  • HISTORY
  • JAPANESE
  • LATIN
  • SPANISH


• ITALIAN


• JAPANESE


• JAPANESE TEACHING


• KOREAN


• LATIN TEACHING


• LINGUISTICS


• PHILOSOPHY


• PORTUGUESE


• RUSSIAN


• SPANISH


• SPANISH TEACHING*


• SPANISH TRANSLATION*

* Limited enrollment major. Students who select these majors must make application and/or complete prerequisite courses to be admitted into the specific major program.

The emphasis is on language, for language is the distinguishing mark of our humanity and the power that enables us to create a cumulative symbolic record of our experience.

A knowledge of the humanities enables students to understand the present and the future from a historical perspective that includes the most profound original works of the men and women who have helped to shape our civilizations. Students also develop skills in critical reading and interpretation, analytical thinking, and writing. These insights and skills provide a foundation for careers in many different professions and for productive and rewarding lives as educated citizens.

More than 70 percent of BYU students are fluent in a second language. With instruction in 66 languages, the College of Humanities offers the country's largest and most diverse foreign language study program. To extend the exceptional foreign language capabilities of BYU to a large audience, the Center for Language Studies offers a variety of intensive language courses during the summer term and regular courses in less commonly taught languages during the academic year. Students who desire a more in-depth language study experience, combined with practical application of the language, may apply to live in the Foreign Language Student Residence. All activities in the individual apartments in the residence are conducted in the foreign language. Opportunities are available for men and women in French, Russian, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, and Scandinavian languages. Additionally, during spring or summer term the College of Humanities offers an intensive program that allows total immersion in a foreign language.

The humanities incorporate the study of the central expressions of human values: language, literature, philosophy, and artistic culture.