Michael D’Alessandro holds an M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale University and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University. His principal research focuses on American literature and theatre history in the long nineteenth century. Whether studying well-known works of the literary canon or long-forgotten theatrical melodramas, D’Alessandro highlights the significance of social class within nineteenth-century reception. He also teaches twentieth- and twenty-first century American literature, film,… read more about New Assistant English Professor, Dr. Michael D'Alessandro and Learn About His Fall 2017 Courses »
Taylor Black is a native North Carolinian. He was born in Durham and split his time growing up between Winston-Salem and the Triangle. At 18, he left for New York, where he pursued a BA in Black Studies at Hunter College and later earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at Rutgers University. He is very excited to be returning home and continuing his work as a member of the Duke community. He has published on twentieth century American literature, popular music, gender and sexuality studies, queer… read more about New Assistant English Professor, Dr. Taylor Black and His Fall 2017 Courses »
Before the Spring Semester ended the English Department sent out a brief survey to our English Majors to see what they planned to read over the summer. Their list included classics, recent New York Times bestsellers and literary works that show our majors’ wide range of interests. Here is a list of some of the literature that our English Majors plan to enjoy during the Summer of 2017: The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami One Hundred Years of Solitude… read more about What Are English Majors Reading During the Summer of 2017? »
Professor Dr. Jarvis C. McInnis holds a BA in English from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, and a Ph.D. in English & Comparative Literature from Columbia University in the City of New York. Jarvis is an interdisciplinary scholar of African American & African Diaspora literature and culture, with teaching and research interests in the global south (primarily the US South and the Caribbean), sound studies, performance studies, and visual culture. Dr. McInnis refers to himself as an… read more about New Assistant English Professor, Dr. Jarvis C. McInnis and "Conjuring the America" »
Duke University’s English Department will have three new Assistant Professors of English joining the faculty, during the fall of 2018. Prof. Taylor Black will be joining the faculty from New York University, Prof. Mike D’Alessandro, from Harvard University and Prof. Jarvis McInnis, from Notre Dame University. Bios and Classes Being Taught By the New Faculty During the Fall of 2017 Taylor Black – Prof. Black received his Ph.D. in American Studies from Rutgers University and has… read more about Meet the English Department’s Three New Faculty Members »
In response to a survey sent out to English Majors before the end of the 2017 Spring Semester, 14% of the survey participants stated that traveling would be a part of their summer vacation. Some would be traveling for their internship or work while others would be traveling for pleasure. Robin Wang, ’19, will travel to Rwanda this summer as a documentary filmmaker, while Emily Waples, ’18 will experience Australia as part of the Duke Study Aboard program. Michael Gulcicek, ’19, shared that he… read more about English Majors Summer Travel Plans »
Ranjana Khanna, a noted interdisciplinary and feminist scholar, has been appointed the next director of Duke’s Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI), to begin January 2018, Provost Sally Kornbluth announced this week. Khanna, who is a professor of English, Literature, and Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, has had a long affiliation with the institute, which was created in 1999 to be a crucial hub at Duke for scholars across the disciplines to collaborate on humanistic writing, research and teaching. read more about Ranjana Khanna Appointed to Lead Franklin Humanities Institute »
A number of English majors are interning this summer at a number of different business and organizations and in a variety of roles. Some are interning in publishing/editorial roles: Michael Gulcicek, Class of 2019 major, is interning through the Duke in New York Program as Junior Editor for True.Ink. an online magazine. Class of 2018’s Manda Hufstedler is interning as Editorial/Acquisitions intern at Duke University Press. Others have taken up internships in politics: Katherine Haley… read more about Where Are Duke University English Majors Interning This Summer? »
During the first Summer Session of Duke in New York a group of Duke DiNY student got the opportunity to take this photo on the doorsteps of Langston Hughes' house during a group tour of Harlem. read more about Duke in New York First Summer Session on the Doorsteps of Langston Hughes' House »
During the summer of 2017, Duke University English majors are pursuing a number of different opportunities. The English Department sent a brief survey to its majors the last week of the spring semester to see what their plans are for the summer. Approximately 50% of the majors completed the survey. Amongst the responses received the department learned that the majority of majors are interning this summer. Fifty-seven percent of those responding to the survey are interning this summer while 19% are… read more about What Are Duke University English Majors Doing This Summer? »
Duke's NetID login page will undergo a redesign as of July 5. read more about Duke NetID Login Page Gets New look »
Photo slide show of Duke in New York touring Financial District, West Village and Off-Broadway theaters and enjoying the Hudson River. read more about Duke In New York In Action »
The Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize is awarded annually to recognize the best senior honors thesis in literary study across the university. This monetary prize was established in honor of Judge Bascom Headen Palmer, who graduated from Trinity College in 1875 and won the Hesperian Literary Society's Medal that year. The English Department congratulates English major Anna Elizabeth Mukamal ('17) for receiving the 2017 Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize for her outstanding thesis "Creative Impulse in the… read more about Anna Elizabeth Mukamal, 2017 Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize Winner »
Professor Joe Porter has worked with Louis Garza, Class of 2017, Highest Distinction, on a fiction-writing independent study. During this time Louis has written the opening chapters for a novel based on his grandfather’s life, Full and by the Wind. Louis has been awarded highest honors by the English Department for his narrative. He is one of the 2017 William M. Blackburn Scholarship recipients; this honor recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. The William M.… read more about Professor Joe Porter Working With Louis Garza »
The English Department at Duke University is honored to announce that Sonia Nayak has been selected as the 2017 Stephen Horne Award for Excellence in Teaching winner. This award is presented annually to a graduate student instructor in the English Department who best demonstrates outstanding commitment and excellence in the classroom. Instructors are nominated by their students, and the winner is selected by the Director of Graduate Studies (DSG) in consultation with the DGS Advisory Committee.… read more about 2017 Stephen Horne Award for Excellence in Teaching Winner »
Eight Duke Ph.D. students have been selected for internships in summer or fall 2017 through Versatile Humanists at Duke (VH@Duke), an initiative to prepare Duke doctoral students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences for transformative roles in higher education and beyond. read more about 8 Ph.D. Students Receive Internships through Versatile Humanists at Duke »
"As a cheerleader, Duke allowed me to see the country. Win or lose, I was given opportunities to travel to cities and towns I never would have seen without Duke and Duke athletics, which broadened my horizons." read more about Lauren Rosen: Wearing Duke Pride on Her Sleeves »
"Duke has shifted my perception of "possibility." If you can dream it here, there are structures and resources to help it materialize." read more about Henry Washington: On 'Constructing the New Black Man' »
Dr. Nathaniel Mackey, the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke and award-winning author of Splay Anthem, hosted an end-of-year poetry reading at The Shed Jazz Club on Thursday, April 27th. The reading gave student poets an opportunity to read their poetry aloud and to celebrate their work with friends, colleagues, and fellow members of the Duke poetry community. Ten undergraduate poets enrolled in the “Advanced Poetry Workshop” course were accompanied by two graduate students, with emcee… read more about An Enunciated Interest: Young Poets Read at their End-of-Year Performance »
In the inaugural “Pizza & Panel” on Monday, April 3rd, representatives of the Duke Department of English formally congratulated and welcomed more than 30 new English majors. Dr. Sarah Beckwith, the Department’s Chair and the Katherine Everett Gilbert Professor of English, teamed up with the Department’s Undergraduate Ambassadors Catherine Ward (T’18), Elizabeth George (T’17), and Alexandra Bratton (T’17) to host the panel. New students had a chance to connect with one another and to pose questions about course… read more about "Pizza & Panel" Welcomes New Students »
Mark Anthony Neal, a professor in the departments of African & African American Studies and English, will give the inaugural Trinity Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, May 4, at 3 p.m. in Penn Pavilion. His talk is open to the public and will be followed by a reception. read more about Inaugural Trinity Distinguished Lecture to Feature Mark Anthony Neal »
Rising sixth year graduate student Matthew Omelsky has been awarded a prestigious Mellon/ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies) Fellowship for the 2017-2018 academic year. Matthew was one of 65 fellows across the United States selected from a pool of over 1,000 applicants. The fellowship offers promising graduate students a year of support to focus their attention on completing projects that form the foundations of their careers and that will help shape a generation of humanistic scholarship.… read more about Ph.D. Candidate, Matthew Omelsky, Awarded Mellon/ACLS Fellowship »
Virginia Russell (T’06) earned a bachelor’s from the Duke Department of English in 2006, and a master’s from the Northwestern School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications in 2007. Russell has worked on the marketing teams of such major corporations as Pizza Hut, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and Southwest Airlines. Below, she speaks about the literary and psychological analysis that underlies her work, and the multifaceted ways her Duke English degree has stayed with her over time. What has your… read more about “Similar to those days studying Shakespeare”: Virginia Russell (T'06) Tackles Consumer Behavior »
Nathaniel Mackey’s poems entwine across pages and volumes and years, nearly half a century now. Somerville’s Black Ocean has recently published “Lay Ghost,’’ a potent — and beautiful to hold — set of eight pieces lifted from Mackey’s ongoing series of poems, “Song of the Andoumboulou.’’ In his unmistakable cadence, Mackey writes of a gang of cosmic wanderers moving through memory, thought, and actual world. “Earthy someone said, abstract,/would it were able, mind ridding itself of/ itself.” His… read more about Poems that join and bind through books and years »
The English Departments is honored to announce the winners of its 2017 writing contests. The department administers writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry works by English majors and non-major undergraduates. Fiction(The department offers two awards in the fiction category) 2017 Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction WinnerVivian Lu The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne… read more about 2017 Creative Writing Contest Winners »
The William M. Blackburn, Francis Pemberton, and Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarships are awarded each spring semester by the Creative Writing Committee to undergraduate students for work done in one or more creative writing courses. Nominations are made by English faculty. Students must be eligible for financial aid to receive these scholarships. William M. Blackburn Scholarship: Recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. Established in 1962 by students and… read more about 2017 Creative Writing Scholarship Winners »
Chloe Hooks (T’18) weaves the “mythed mesquite” and “sargasso green” grass that grow in her home state of Texas into poems of intricate lyrical sincerity and deft, fatally precious power. Hooks is a sophomore majoring in the Department of English and minoring in the Department of Theater Studies, with plans to graduate in an abridged three years in order to pursue acting and creative writing professionally. She is currently enrolled in Professor Nathaniel Mackey’s “Advanced Poetry Workshop,” where we first met and from… read more about Chloe Hooks (T’18) on Idiom, Poetry, and Audrey Hepburn »
In essays, Brodhead shows a university thinking its way forward through challenges read more about 'Speaking of Duke': New Brodhead Book Reflects on the University & Higher Education »
Patrick Morgan, English Ph.D. candidate, was invited to present his paper, “Thoreau in China: Reflections on Teaching Walden to Chinese Students” at the West of Walden: Thoreau in the 21st Century conference hosted by Huntington Library, in California on April 7-8, 2017. The Huntington Library owns seven draft manuscripts of Thoreau’s Walden. Thoreau scholars attended the conference as 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s… read more about Morgan Presents at West of Walden: Thoreau in the 21st Century »