The National Humanities Center is pleased to announce the appointment of 33 Fellows for the academic year 2020–21. read more about Congratulations to Professor Aarthi Vadde, 2020-21 NHC M.H Abrams Fellow »
Three new websites provide links to the resources that can assist faculty, staff and students to continue their work no matter where they are located for the remainder of the Spring semester. read more about Resources for Learning, Teaching and Working Remotely »
As a biology and English double major, I’ve found the intersection between STEM and English interesting but lonely. The increasing push for interdisciplinarity in academia has helped shrink the chasm that divides humanities and STEM; however, the chasm remains. I’ve joked with friends that if I had two personas, one for my biology classmates and one for my English classmates, there wouldn’t be any complications. However, as rare as the combination can appear at first glance, this combination exists all across Duke’s campus… read more about Combining STEM and English »
This Fall 2019 semester, Professor Tsitsi Jaji taught Introduction to Poetry. This class came at an exciting time for her as she published her own poetry book Mother Tongues in November. Professor Jaji has never taught this class before, but quickly confirmed that she is “having great fun teaching this class.” Jaji says, “It’s an amazing opportunity to get to know students and how they see the world in ways they care about, ways they’re invested in.” When Professor Jaji first realized that her class was primarily… read more about Introduction to Poetry with Professor Tsitsi Jaji »
Prof. Mesha Maren and Prof. JP Gritton in conversation on the Chicago Review of Books discussing the JP Griffton's first novel "Wyoming." read more about "Creating 'Colorado Noir' "- Chicago Review of Books »
Good teachers aren’t born that way, even the best ones admit that it took years before they felt comfortable in front of the classroom. Experience helps, but mentoring from other teachers is a critical component. read more about Five Things To Know About Great Teaching »
For undergraduates interested in creative writing, the halls of the English department in the Allen Building come with a few history lessons. read more about Duke Creative Writing Is on the Rise »
Ranjana Khanna knew former acclaimed author Reynolds Price when the two were fellow Duke Duke Faculty members. Now Khanna Does her work in the Allen Building office that used to belong to Price. read more about The Offices Where Great Things Happened »
(Update) On December 14, 2019, Joe Ashby Porter passed away. Joseph Ashby Porter's Duke obituary After being a part of the English Department faculty for nearly 40 years, Professor Joseph A. Porter, aka Joe Ashby Porter, has retired. Prof. Porter joined the faculty at Duke in 1980 after teaching full-time at the University of Virginia and part-time at three other institutions. During his tenure at Duke, Professor Porter taught in the English and Theater Studies departments. Prof.… read more about After Nearly Four Decades at Duke Professor Joseph A. Porter Retires »
Caryl Phillips and Amit Chaudhuri were the featured novelists for the 2019 Blackburn Festival Feature Reading session held Thursday, September 26, in the Ruby Lounge at the Rubenstein Art Center on the campus of Duke University. Caryl Phillips and Amit Chaudhuri each read from their works followed by and a Q&A session in which the audience got to ask each novelist about what inspires them. Each novelist shared concepts and insight into the thought process they have come to utilize when writing. … read more about Photos Gallery from Caryl Phillips and Amit Chaudhuri Readings at the Blackburn Festival »
The 2019 Blackburn Festival kicked off with Opening Night readings by Duke English Department faculty and staff at the Durham Hotel, located in downtown Durham. This year's Opening Night included readings by Michelle Dove, English Department Undergraduate Studies Assistant, Professor C. Faulkner Fox, Professor JP Gritton, Professor Melissa Malouf, and Professor Mesha Maren. Each read from works they are in the process of completing or their most recently published works. Photo Gallery… read more about Opening Night of the 2019 Blackburn Festival Kicked Off Last Night »
Last Monday, September 16, 2019, Duke English hosted its first English Ice Cream Social. This event allowed students interested in English as a major, minor or just curious about what courses Duke English offers to learn more about the department and meet the faculty, Ph.D. candidates and more while enjoying ice cream, from the Parlour, located in downtown Durham on one of the final summer days of 2019. English Ice Cream Social Photo Gallery read more about 2019 English Ice Cream Social in Review »
The Duke University English Department welcomes Professor John (JP) Gritton as one of our two new Assistant Professor of the Practice of Creative. Gritton joins the Duke English department after serving as the Cynthia Woods Mitchell fellow at the University of Houston last year. Professor Gritton earned his BA in English and Creative Writing from Hamline University, MFA from Johns Hopkins University, and his Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Houston. … read more about New Addition: Professor JP Gritton Joins Duke English »
Beginning with the new school year Professor Julie Andresen Tetel transitioned to Professor Emerita of English with the Duke English Department. Professor Tetel initially joined the Duke English Department faculty as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in 1987. Tetel completed her undergraduate degree right here at Duke University before attending the University of Illinois – Urban Champaign for her M.A. Professor Tetel received her Ph.D. from the University of North… read more about Professor Julie Andresen Tetel Becomes Professor Emerita of English »
The English Department welcomes Professor Mesha Maren to our faculty from the University of North Carolina where she served as the Kenan Visiting Writer Fellow. Maren earned her MFA from Queens College in Charlotte, NC. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation and the Kenan Visiting Writer Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She serves as a National Endowment of the Arts Writing Fellow at the Federal Prison Camp in… read more about Duke English Department Welcomes Professor Mesha Maren to the Faculty »
You are warmly invited to attend a working and planning meeting for the Writing is Thinking Working Group on Wednesday, September 4that 6pm in Allen 314. (Food will be served.) We will be joined by our new colleagues in the English department’s writing program: JP Gritton and Mesha Maren. This is a chance to meet them, to hear some of their thoughts about writing and research, and to add your voice to this coming year’s annual project. For the past three years, Sarah Beckwith, Toril Moi, and Cathy… read more about Writing is Thinking »
Professor Aarthi Vadde has co-edited The Critic as Amateur with Saikat Majumdar. The Critic as Amateur brings leading and emerging scholars together to explore the role of amateurism in literary studies. While untrained reading has always been central to arenas beyond the academy – book clubs, libraries, used bookstores – its role in the making of professional criticism is often disavowed or dismissed. This volume, the first on the critic as amateur, restores the links between expertise,… read more about "The Critic as Amateur" Co-Edited by Professor Aarthi Vadde »
In class, looking at both the past and an uncertain tomorrow read more about Stumbling Into Utopia »
Recalling the Nobel laureate and the times her life touched Duke. read more about Toni Morrison Remembered As A 'Writer For This Age' »
Chekhov, Billy Graham, sea levels, Buddhism and the Harlem renaissance are among the topics from Duke authors read more about Books By Duke Authors for Summer and Beyond »
Nikki Holland, a dental assistant at the Duke Aesthetic Center, added the free LiveSafe app to her smartphone not long after it was made available to the Duke community in 2016. Aside from the app alerting about downed trees or other incidents such as severe weather, she hasn’t had to use the app’s other features, such as the ability to quickly message the Duke University Police Department to report suspicious activity. read more about Duke's Safety App Gets New Look and Features »
“It’s a curious strength Duke has that I didn’t expect,” said D’Alessandro. “I taught this course previously at Harvard, and even the archives there didn’t have anything like this collection, which adds a whole new breadth and depth to the class.” read more about Locus Collection Tracks the Stars and Universe of Sci-Fi »
I met Taylor Black in his classroom as students headed out from the day’s lesson. I went in with curiosity and a slight sense of vengeance, having tried and failed to secure a spot in his “Single American Author: Bob Dylan” course. Over the 20 minutes for which the chat lasted, our discussion ventured from American Studies to Bob Dylan, Queerness, and the paranormal. I walked away understanding why Black’s classes are so popular: not only are the subjects of his courses so unique, but the professor’s interdisciplinary… read more about On America, Bob Dylan, and Superstition: An Interview with Dr. Taylor Black »
I met Professor Jessica Stark when she taught my Introduction to Creative Writing class last spring. Focusing on themes of place and complacency, Stark led units on short story, poetry, and open form writing. Now completing her PhD and anticipating the release of her forthcoming poetry book, Savage Pageant, Stark has been awarded a 2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. As an educator and poet, Stark enjoys teaching introductory creative writing courses. She also incorporates her interests in human rights and social… read more about Dean’s Awardee for Teaching Blends the DIY Ethos of Creative Writing with Scholarship »
A bar mitzvah gone wrong. A thief supporting his family. “Fight Club meets Perks of Being a Wallflower.” These movie premises are just some of the ideas that students are developing into screenplays for Professor Cole Russing’s “Writing the Movie” course, offered as part of both Duke’s English Department and the Arts of the Moving Image Department. The class centers around one large project whose creation spans the semester: writing a full-length, two-hour long, 120-page movie screenplay. After finishing a draft of their… read more about Write Your Own Adventure »
English Professor Joseph Donahue's new collection of poetry "Wind Maps VII" published by Talisman House one of of a number of works released by Duke authors during the winter of 2019. read more about Winter Books: The Beatles, Ellington and 'The Magic of Collaboration' and Other Great Reads »
While most of the articles on this page are written about department events, alumni, or seniors, I wanted to take the change to highlight a current Junior’s experience in the English department as she looks into her second semester of Junior year and her final Senior year at Duke. Cathy Choi is a current Junior from Fort Collins, Colorado who is studying English and Public Policy. On campus she is highly involved in the Duke University Marching Band (DUMB). After playing clarinet in DUMB and the Wind Symphony for the past… read more about A Junior's Experience in the English Department with Cathy Choi »
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 »
Since 2002, students at Duke have been pushing the administration to create an Asian American Studies Program. With almost a full quarter of the student body identifying as Asian or Asian American, many students struggled finding a space on campus to learn or process explicitly Asian American issues. In the Spring semester of 2015, students were given a physical space (The Asian American Pacific Islander Bridge for Action, Solidarity, and Education--also known as AAPI BASE--within the Center for Multicultural Affairs) in… read more about Duke English Department and the AAS Program »