Student and Alumni Testimonials

Below you'll find a sampling of the comments that we have had from our students and alumni. If you are an alumnus/a of either of our programs and would like to add your comments to the list, please use our comment form. We would love to hear from you.

While a Letters degree might not guide me to a specific career, there is value in studying its different fields.  There is more to history than memorizing dates, people and events; I learn about past successes and failures, as well as my own background and that of others.  By knowing the past, I can better understand the future.  Studying philosophy is also more than simply reading the ideas of others, though this too is important; philosophy helps you learn how—not what—to think and how to tackle the challenges that life presents.  Literature is more than reading books, interesting or otherwise; studying literature is important because, by reading, you see examples of language being skillfully used to express ideas—whether directly through the plot, or subtly through allusion, symbolism and other literary devices. Adding the study of languages to that of literature further increases one’s ability to communicate successfully with others.  Instead of preparing me for one job, the Letters degree—by providing me with an understanding of the past and of others, the capacity to think for myself and overcome challenges, and the ability to express myself clearly and intelligently—prepares me for life.

~Nicole Strong (Letters '08)

The various academic opportunities that I have pursued would not have been possible without the training and guidance that I received from the Classics and Letters faculty at OU. It is to their knowledge, encouragement, and patience that I must attribute any success that I have achieved.

~John Capeheart (Letters '06, MPhil Cambridge University '07)