When I initially read the first chapter of Interdisciplinarity and Moran described English as being an “autonomous” area of study, I mostly agreed and was interested by the idea of English being something separate and unique from other disciplines. However, a few days ago my friends and I engaged in a conversation regarding my possible declaration of the English major – with which I was met with much criticism and friendly harassment – and after much deliberation, it was decided that continuing to study English was actually a good idea. My roommate, a biology major, worried about losing some of her ability to write, which was echoed by our neighbor, also a biology major. We agreed that while frequently dismissed as a serious discipline, studying the English language and its conventions, specifically writing, is actually pertinent to all areas of study, and even important outside of the classroom.
Being well-versed in English doesn’t just mean having exceptional analytical skills, or being über-perceptive about an author’s purpose behind writing a text; it’s about being able to communicate your own feelings and thoughts to other people, whether that be on the page, verbally, formally, or informally. These communication skills are not exclusive to English classes; nearly every other academic class I’ve been in has required some form of writing – the most challenging being in my science and math classes, where I have had to explain, with detail and clarity, step-by-step what calculations I did, why I chose said calculations, and why I followed a certain procedure. So to Moran, and my friends who are majors in math and science, English is certainly not an “autonomous” subject, but rather the complete opposite. It is indefinitely intertwined with all disciplines, and allows us to effectively communicate both inside and outside of academic settings.