2019 English Department Graduation Ceremony in Review

May 20, 2019

Quantá Holden, Digital Communications Specialist

On Sunday, May 12, 2019, at the 12:30 p.m., the Duke English Department said good-bye to the Class of 2019 and honored them along with family and friends who filed into Reynolds Theater to celebrate with Duke’s graduating English majors as they received their degrees.

The graduates and their guests were welcomed by Duke English Department Chair Robert Mitchell, who challenged the 2019 graduates to use the knowledge obtained from their studies in English and beyond to make a difference in the world. Professor Mitchell assured family and friends in attendance that their graduates’ English degrees will lead to promising careers, as is evident by the long list of successful Duke English alums around the world, many who are featured in the “Alumni” section of english.duke.edu.

Photo of Student Speaker Glenn Huang — Student Speaker: Glenn Huang

Glenn Huang, a member of the 2019 English graduating class and an English Department Ambassador, spoke to his fellow graduates and the audience with suggestions on how to respond to the masses who ask the question, “What are you going to do with your English degree?” Glenn's refrain of, “This is what I talk about when I talk about English,” gave the speech a lyrical momentum, and similar to Professor Mitchell in his welcoming speech, Glenn referenced the variety of professions held by Duke English alums and noted that the members of the class of 2019 will follow suit.

Professor Thomas Ferraro presented Jack Alexander Bradford with the "Award for the Most Original Honors Thesis" after quizzing the audience about a variety of diverse authors, all of which were part of Jack’s thesis.

Professor Taylor Black followed Professor Ferraro with the presentation of the "Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Criticism or Theory" to Alex Sim. During Professor Black’s presentation he acknowledged how he not only had the pleasure of teaching Alex, but he also learned from Alex, who has an uncanny ability to see different aspects of literary works that are not always perceived by others.

Right before the moment everyone had been waiting for—the Announcement of Graduates and Presentation of Graduates—Professor Corina Stan presented Robin Wang with the "Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature."

Photos of Awards Presented During the 2019 English Department Ceremony

Photo of Professor Ferraro and Jack Bradford — Prof. Ferraro presenting Jack Bradford with "Award
for the Most Original Honors Thesis"

Photo of Professor Black and Alex Sim — Prof. Black presenting Alex Sim with
"Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award"

Photo of Professor Corina Stan and Robin Wang — Prof. Stan presenting Robin Wing with the "Stanley E. Fish Award"

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Professor Dominika Baran, and Professor Kathy Psomiades, Director of Graduate Studies assisted Department Chair Mitchell with the presentation of degrees to the 2019 Duke English graduates.