News

Recent news from the Department of English

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Remembering Thomas A. Keller III

The attorney became a crucial advocate for the Department of English and the renovation of Pillsbury Hall.

Alumni of Notable Achievement awardee Emily Baxter

Emily Baxter: Advocacy through Storytelling

Emily Baxter (BA ‘02, English), 2022 Alumni of Notable Achievement Award winner, puts her “hunger…to hear someone’s story” to use in her advocacy work.

Green background with text English Department, Undergraduate Course Guide, Spring 2023, The English department offers a wide variety of courses under two designators, ENGL Literature, ENGW Creative Writing

Take an English and Creative Writing class this spring!

Check out our undergraduate course guide.

Flap anatomy by Heinrich Vogtherr, 1551. Close-up of the stomach layer, labeled "stomachus". Broadsheet. Wangensteen Collections.

Announcing Spring '23 Premodern Courses

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Remembering Professor David Haley

The scholar of Early Modern literature taught U students for nearly six decades.

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English Major Spotlight: Adelle Schlensker

Majoring in English and minoring in creative writing is preparing this senior for careers in many different fields.

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Tracy K. Smith to Headline Inaugural Walter Nathan College in the Schools Literary Festival

Smith will share her Pulitzer-Prize winning collection Life on Mars with 400 area high school students.

Allison Vincent (BA ‘10, English and theatre arts), Alumni of Notable Achievement Award 2022

"I believe that theatre teaches students how to be empathetic, communicative people. Those "soft skills" I learned in my performance classes have been the most useful, and…

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The CLA Student Experience Today

Even though the liberal arts go back to the past – thousands of years – we provide the answers of the future. Learn about today’s transformative student experience.

2022 Alumni of Notable Achievement Award and Emerging Alumni Award winners

Announcement of the winners of the Alumni of Notable Achievement Award as well as the Emerging Alumni Award.

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English Major Spotlight: Munira Adan

Minoring in Insect Science, this major is aiming for a career in academic medicine.

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Professors Ganeshananthan and Todd Promoted

Creative Writing professors recognized for publications, teaching, and service.

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English Major Spotlight: Amaya Thomas

This senior, also a conservation bio major, enjoys reading ecocriticism and speculative fiction.

Two book covers side by side, both with white type over abstract color backgrounds. Text of first: The Return of Farzaz Ali, Aamina Ahmad. Text of second: The Women Could Fly, Megan Giddings

New Novels From New Faculty

Aamina Ahmad and Megan Giddings join English this fall as professors of fiction writing; both have new novels out this year.

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English Major Spotlight: Alexandra Erickson

This English major studied abroad at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England.

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Grad Studies: Writer-Reader Relationships and 19th-Century Literature

PhD student Morgan Graham received an inaugural Early Career PhD Merit Grant.

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English Major Spotlight: Claire Nelson

This aspiring novelist recommends getting to know other readers and aspiring writers through the English student group FUSE.

Rachel Koller Croft, a person with long blonde hair, light skin, wearing a sweater and blazer

Q & A with Screenwriter, Novelist and Alumna Rachel Koller Croft

Rachel Koller Croft (BA '08, English, minor in SCMC) spoke to the Minnesota Daily about finding luck in Hollywood, battling online sexism, and working toward your passions.

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Grad Studies: Questions of Empire and Transpacific Migration

PhD student Nyla Numan was awarded an inaugural Early Career PhD Merit Award from the Department of English.

The Poetry of Life

For Pulitzer Prize-winning alumnus Carl Dennis (B.A. ’61), poetry brought contentment and a connection to the arts.