Dwight Tanner truly embodies the idea of challenging the norm. He initially started his college experience at Northern Arizona University studying economics but left before completing his degree to pursue a career at J.P. Morgan Chase Investment Services. After trying out a few different career options in finance and software, Tanner decided to enroll at UVU because he said he felt a strong desire to finish his economics degree.

“I had always enjoyed reading and writing, so I took a few English classes to full a few lingering general education requirements,” said Tanner. “And, largely thanks to a handful of amazing professors, I decided I didn’t want to stop taking English classes, so I became an English major.”

Tanner said that he had great experiences with all of his professors, but that Brian Whaley, Kate McPherson, and Josh Goshert were instrumental in his education and that they fostered his desire to become a Ph.D. student and, eventually, a professor.

“During my time at UVU, I became passionate about being a lifelong learner,” said Dwight Tanner, a UVU English alum. “I realized the value of continually striving to learn more and challenge my own established ideas and beliefs. Which isn’t to say that education is only about drastically changing your viewpoint, but, it should be about, at the very least, gaining insight and understanding into the basis of your own views and ideas — and perhaps revising those ideologies when you learn new things.”

After graduating from Utah Valley University in English, Tanner worked as a technical writer at Symantec for a time while he applied to graduate school. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He says he teaches a couple of courses every semester while he continues to work on his doctoral dissertation.

Because of the work he does on his dissertation, titled In the End: Apocalyptic Literature, Minoritarian Identity, and Hopeless Futurity, Tanner recently received the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Each year, winners of this prestigious award receive a 12-month award of $25,000 to support their final year of dissertation writing. This award is given to doctoral candidates in the humanities and social sciences to help encourage interesting, original, and significant study of ethical and religious values.

“Thanks to the funding I received from the Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship, I will be able to focus exclusively on my researching and writing for the next year,” said Tanner. “I am currently scheduled to finalize and defend my dissertation in the spring. After I graduate with my Ph.D., I hope to find a teaching job at another university.”

Tanner thanks the UVU English Department for giving him writing, critical thinking, and research skills that have helped him pursue his Ph.D. “I think a lot of students, even those who feel passionate about reading and writing, worry about majoring in English,” said Tanner. “There is a sense that students should ‘play it safe’ and major in more overtly business-oriented majors. While I certainly understand these fears, I think that students underestimate the valuable skills that can be gained from an English degree — critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and an ability to effectively communicate, particularly in writing, and the ways that these skills are highly sought in the business world.”

 

There is a sense that students should ‘play it safe’ and major in more overtly business-oriented majors. While I certainly understand these fears, I think that students underestimate the valuable skills that can be gained from an English degree — critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and an ability to effectively communicate, particularly in writing, and the ways that these skills are highly sought in the business world.