Take a closer look at the research and thought-processes behind our majors’ critical distinction projects and learn what inspires students to pursue creative distinction projects in fiction, poetry and nonfiction.
Undergraduate research is one of the cornerstones of a Duke education. More than half of the undergraduates leave Duke after doing an honors project, independent study or other faculty-mentored research.“At Duke, undergraduate research is more than an opportunity — it’s part of our culture,” said Deb Reisinger, dean of undergraduate education. “From their very first year on campus, students are encouraged to explore big questions, test ideas, and engage directly with faculty mentors across every discipline. Whether in an… read more about Class of 2025 Honors: Exploring the Big Questions »
Each year, the Duke English Department proudly showcases the exceptional work of its graduating seniors during Undergraduate Distinction Day. This special event honors students who have gone the extra mile to graduate with distinction—through completing a senior honors thesis crafted with tireless dedication, insight, and creativity. Here is a glimpse into the works presented by the first panel:Drew Temel "The detective simply asked about Eric's history. Keegan had no… read more about A Celebration of Senior Theses at Undergraduate Distinction Day »
Duke English would like to share a review of our 2023-24 Academic Year with you. Please click here to access our annual e-newsletter. read more about 2024 Duke English e-Newsletter »
Duke English would like to share a review of our 2022-23 Academic Year with you. Please click here to access our annual e-newsletter. read more about 2023 Duke English e-Newsletter »
Cliff Haley’s “Stuck on the Spectrum” is a queer analysis of male heterosexuality within mid-20th-century American literature. Haley’s thesis begins with Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, then moves to Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises before returning to Baldwin’s Another Country. Within these texts, Haley explores the dilemmas of sexuality—and he argues that while we as modern readers better understand the sexual spectrum, we embrace… read more about What's in a Thesis? We Ask Undergrads What It Takes »
2020 English alum Valerie Muensterman was one of the recipients of a 2020 Benenson Award in the Arts for her one-actor play titled God’s Last Name, a piece written for one actor and a series of recorded voices. The funding that Muensterman received from the Benenson afforded her the opportunity to write a full-length play over the summer. read more about English Alum Valerie Muensterman’s (’20) Benenson Award Project »
Jay Arora is a senior pursuing an interdisciplinary major in English and Public Policy. While he has enjoyed English since a young age, he came into Duke planning to major in Public Policy because he questioned the viability of majoring in English. But after taking Public Policy 155, Jay realized that his interest lay more in the stories than the data. He wanted to focus on “the narratives in policy and the political realities that shape English texts.” In his English thesis, he does just that by using English texts to… read more about Jay Arora: From Slop to Soul »
In his last few days of class as an undergraduate at Duke University, senior Aaron VanSteinberg has a lot to reflect on. The Kansas native, studying English with a German minor, sat down to share his work on his thesis, experience as a DJ at WXDU, and his plans for the future.VanSteinberg chose to study English as a lens for literary analysis after growing close to the Department’s faculty. “I haven’t had a bad English professor,” VanSteinberg explains. Through his studies and interactions with professors, he realized that… read more about WXDU DJ Breaks His Thesis Down »
In my quest to report on the most interesting events, courses, and people of the Duke University English Department, it was impossible for me to miss Alex Sim. Sim, a senior from California, studies English and Pre-Med. The English Department Ambassador finished his senior thesis last semester, and now awaits responses on his Medical School applications.Sim knew he wanted to study English going into college. He grew up loving to read, and spent much of his early summers at his local library reading books. As a Pre-Med… read more about Alex Sim Finds Beauty in Film and Medical Humanities »
Going into school, many people have heard of a thesis and usually understand that it is a long independent project. However, because very few people really get the chance to have complete control over the subject, form, deadlines, and all the other things that come with a class, it is hard to fathom for many where to even begin or how.I know personally as I enter my Senior year that I am nervous to start my thesis. It just sounds daunting and it is so hard for me to just zero in on something I am extremely passionate about… read more about The Process and Writing of a Thesis with Jasmin Jin »
Talking to Catherine Ward, a recent 2018 English major graduate, it is easy to see how her time at Duke created opportunities and influenced her life post graduation. Now, Ward is pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Education (Globalization and International Development) as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar at the University of Cambridge. In the future, Catherine plans on attending law school. It is also easy to credit Catherine Ward’s success to her own intellect and merit, but she acknowledges the… read more about Alumnae Academic Adventures with Catherine Ward »
Anna Mukamal (T’17) speaks of T. S. Eliot as a writer who wrote into words the anxiety of his time even while mired in his own anxiety. Eliot was a poet—a seer contributing acts of charity. But in the tense years surrounding World War I in Europe, he was a poet in the lost and lonely spaces of this charity, steeped in and yet prescient of the neuroses of his time, acutely feeling the malaise that gripped much of Europe but also objectifying it in verse—a detachment exemplified as he rose above the silence of the post-WWI… read more about In Anxious and Thoughtful Rose-Leaves: Formalistic Thesis Searches for Eliot »
The woman of the green grass, imbued with the green grass’s charm. The woman who, like a field sowed in the fallow of a Jane Eyre summer, carries her fertility within her. The woman who is a bird, a fig leaf, our idea of hard seeds and each of the hard-sunned seasons. Entrenched in the Victorian English tradition, we find these associations: women as the natural embodiments of nature; associations that seem as natural as the venerability of the Victorian literary tradition itself.In starting her thesis, senior… read more about Eco-Feminism Thesis Pushes for Activist Focus »