Our M.A. and Ph.D. Degrees

Our programs promote innovative approaches to the study of literature, culture, and film that cut across traditional periods and national and disciplinary boundaries. Comprised of a diverse faculty who publish in literary, cultural, visual, and ethnic studies, the Department of English fosters rigorous intellectual exchange in and out of the classroom, as well as with scholars from other universities through our Research Workshops.

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Our Graduate Programs Offer:

  • A critical understanding of the various methods and theoretical approaches to the field, as well as thorough knowledge of literary canons and traditions
  • Opportunities to interpret and analyze texts, genres, and media
  • Training in research and writing for expert audiences
  • Training in the teaching of college literature and critical thinking
  • Training in the Digital Humanities

Current Research

Chromatic Modernity: Color, Cinema, and Media of the 1920s

CHROMATIC MODERNITY

Professor Joshua Yumibe publishes Chromatic Modernity, a groundbreaking new study of color cinema, media, and culture in the 1920s, with Columbia University Press.

Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University

Generous Thinking

Dr. Kathleen Fitzpatrick proposes a radical rethinking of the university in her new book, Generous Thinking, with Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Critical Comics Studies

English PhD candidate Sean Guynes launches cutting-edge new book series on comics with the University of Nebraska Press.

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MOUTHS OF RAIN

“I am lustful now for my own name.” Audre Lorde, “Outside”

Doctoral candidate Briona Jones receives an advance contract from the New Press for Mouths of Rain, an edited collection devoted to the long history of Black Lesbian intellectual production. 

The Lemonade Reader book cover

The Lemonade Reader

Dr. Kinitra Brooks, the Leslie Endowed Chair of African American Literature, publishes The Lemonade Reader, an edited collection exploring Beyoncé’s groundbreaking visual album.

Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams: Success and Self-Discovery on the Hight-Stakes Path to the Classroom book cover

Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams

Dr. Emery Petchauer, Associate professor and coordinator of the English Education program, recently published Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams, with Routledge. The book explores the high-stakes exams that aspiring educators must pass to become licensed teachers and the range of experiences students have with these exams.

OUr Grad students

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Present at Conferences

Recieve Grants & Awards

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Publish Books and Articles

Doctoral Placements

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CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE & COMPUTATIONAL CRITIQUE

In the fall of 2018, Dr. Laura McGrath (PhD 2018) was appointed Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, and Assistant Director of the Literary Lab. Next fall, she will begin her new job as Assistant Professor of English at Temple University

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ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES AND POSTCOLONIAL ECOCRITICISM

In the fall of 2019, Dr. Cajetan Iheka (PhD 2015) was appointed Associate Professor at Yale University, moving from his prior position as Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama.

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VIDEO GAMES, NARRATIVE, & SEXUALITY

In the fall of 2019, Dr. Cody Mejeur (PhD 2019) was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Game Studies in the Department of Media Study at the University of Buffalo.

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Early modern literature and sexuality studies

In the fall of 2018, Dr. Abdulhamit Arvas was appointed Assistant Professor of Theater in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is also affiliated with the English Department.

Certifications & Specializations

Certifications &
Specializations

  • New in 2019: Certificate in Film Studies
  • Certificate in College Teaching
  • Certificate in the Digital Humanities
  • Certificate in Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities
  • Interdisciplinary Graduate Specialization in Women and Gender
  • Specialization in Animal Studies: Social Science and Humanities Perspectives

In-House Journals

CR: The New Centennial Review is devoted to comparative studies of the Americas that suggest possibilities for a different future. 

The Journal of Popular Culture continues to break down the barriers between so-called “low” and “high” culture and focuses on filling in the gaps that a neglect of popular culture has left in our understanding of the workings of society.

American Indian Studies series seeks to form an understanding of American Indian cultures and identities, the place of American Indian/Indigenous people in today’s world, and the changing demands of American Indian/Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of cross-cultural diversity.   

Contagion is the journal of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R), an international association of scholars founded in 1990 and dedicated to the exploration, criticism, and development of René Girard’s mimetic model of the relationship between violence and religion in the genesis and maintenance of culture.