It’s the first day of classes of my sophomore year. I take my seat in the front row of a lecture hall for a class about American politics. Computer screens immediately open to Netflix and online shopping pages reveal the truth about this class: it’s painfully boring. Still I brave the course for two weeks before deciding, on the last day of add/drop period, that I must escape. I rush to Dr. D’Alessandro’s office to beg for a permission number to his 1800’s American Literature course, the only open class offered at the same… read more about 1800’s American Literature and Me »
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 »
The Duke’s English Department at would like to congratulate one of our own, Valerie Muensterman, Class of 2020, for being designated as a Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2020 by the Academic Council and its Faculty Scholars Committee. The Faculty Scholar is awarded each year to a junior scheduled to graduate the following Fall or Spring. Departments or Programs poll faculty, reviews student’s records, or obtains student declaration of interest, etc. to select nominees. Department/Program notifies and solicits… read more about Valerie Muensterman, 2020 Faculty Scholar Recipient »
Doctoral student Kathleen Burns (English) and postdoctoral associate James Herrera(Evolutionary Anthropology) are the winners of the 2019 Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Mentorship. This award recognizes the vital role graduate students and postdocs play in mentoring students on Bass Connections teams. read more about “Truly Phenomenal” Doctoral Student and “Unparalleled” Postdoc Honored for Outstanding Mentorship »
Duke English is honoree to announce that Caroline Waring has been selected by the critical essay competition committee as the 2019 Critical Essay Contest winner. The critical essay competition is open for essays written by any Duke undergraduate enrolled in an English department course. Submissions must be critical nonfiction essays produced for a class (current academic year) in which the student is (was) enrolled. Caroline Waring, a member of the class of 2020 submitted her work… read more about Duke English Names Caroline Waring, 2019 Critical Essay Award Winner »
Duke English is honored to announce the 2019 Creative Writing Scholarship recipients. Each spring semester the Creative Writing Committee awards the William M. Blackburn, Francis Pemberton, and Margaret Rose Knight Sanford scholarship 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. The English Department at Duke University is pleased to recognize… read more about Duke English Announces 2019 Creative Writing Scholarship Winners »
Duke English is honored to announce the winners of the 2019 Creative Writing Contests. English majors and non-major undergraduates are eligible to participate in creative writing contests in the areas of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry works. FICTION The department offers two awards in the fiction category. The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing which has two prizes: one for fiction and one for poetry and the Reynolds Price Fiction Award… read more about Congratulations to the 2019 Creative Writing Contest Winners »
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 »
Guests at the Rubenstein Arts Center Ruby Lounge on February 28 were treated to a poetry reading and interview from Romeo Oriogun. Sponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute with Co-Sponsors including the English Department, the event brought in poets and poetry fans across disciplines and connections to Duke. The critically praised author of “On the Origin of Butterflies,” heralded for his leadership in a “new African poetry” movement, spoke about his ancestry, identity, and artistry before performing published and… read more about Poetic Traditions in Metamorphosis: Romeo Oriogun Explores New African Poetry »
All Ph.D. students in their five-year guaranteed funding period will receive 12-month stipends beginning in fall 2022 read more about Duke Makes 12-Month Funding Commitment to Ph.D. Students »
Duke English would like to congratulate Caoime Harlock and Sonia Nayak for being two of the eleven 2019 Versatile Humanists at Duke Interns. read more about Congratulations to Caoime Harlock and Sonia Nayak, 2019 Versatile Humanists at Duke Interns »
Are you an undergraduate who enjoys creative writing? You could win an award for your talents! The Rosati Creative Writing Prize is awarded each spring in recognition of an outstanding work of creative writing. All Duke undergraduate students are eligible to submit work for consideration. Projects may be any genre and take any form (audio/video, digital media, etc.), but must include a substantial creative writing component. Deadline: May 14th, 2019Prize: … read more about The Rudolph William Rosati Creative Writing Award Deadline is May 14 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
It is a busy Sunday night for most Duke students, rushing to finish assignments before a week of classes begin, as I settle into a seat outside of the practice rooms of McClendon Tower Floor 2. The competing harmonic and chaotic vibrations of practicing piano players felt like the perfect musical background for my interview with Sara Behn (Trinity ‘21). The piano is, of course, a technical instrument requiring great skill and also a medium for creating art. A sophomore whose dual technical and creative passions, much like a… read more about Decoding the Poetic Life of Sara Behn (Trinity ’21) »
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 »
The English Department is proud to share that The Graduate School is honoring English Ph.D., candidate Jessica Stark as one of the four 2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching winners. “I love teaching as a means to share my most longstanding passion for examining the nuances and radical potential for literature to transform how we interact with the world. In my classes, I aim to unlock rather than dictate how my students come to appreciate writing (whether creative or analytic) as a tool for… read more about Jessica Stark, Awarded 2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching »
The novelist Thomas McGuane moved to Montana many years ago, he has said, because he didn’t want “writer hands.” He wanted to hunt and fish and walk outdoors. He wanted to avoid a soft life. The journalist Doug Bock Clark, in order to write his immersive, densely reported and altogether remarkable first book, “The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life,” moved about as far from the world’s air-conditioned urban centers as it is still possible to get. read more about The Real-Life Story of ‘The Last Whalers’ Reads Like a First-Rate Novel »
English Alum Doug Bock Clark’s non-fiction work entitled The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life is being released by Little, Brown and Company, January 8, 2019 and is currently available of for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, IndieBound and wherever books are sold. Clark's work is being launched today at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. During the weekend of November. 2-3, 2018… read more about English Alum, Doug Bock Clark, '09, 2018 DEMAN Talk Featured Guest, Releases First Book »
The Graduate School has awarded six Professional Development Grants for 2019. The grants, established in 2014, provide up to $2,000 to help graduate students and their departments create discipline-specific professional development programming and resources for exploring both academic and broad career options. Such programming complements the offerings from The Graduate School, which focus on topics that are applicable across disciplines. read more about Graduate School awards 6 Professional Development Grants for 2019 »
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 »
On December 1, a chilly, rainy, Saturday night in Durham NC, several dozen poetry fans ventured out to the Duke Coffeehouse for Little Corner presents: Excess Women. Jessica Q Stark and Hannah VanderHart both Ph.D. candidates in the Duke English Department are the organizers of Duke's Little Corner Reading Series, which brings poets and scholars to Durham, NC for poetry readings. In an article published in the Indy Week prior to the reading it was noted that in the concept of "Excess Women," Stark and… read more about "Excess Women" Presented by The Little Corner Reading Series »
From directing the 2018 Fall production of The Addams Family to being an essential member of The Chronicle, Jackson Prince does it all. I first met Jackson my second year at Duke when I took a class on The Western with Professors Moses and Ferraro. Jackson was immediately singled out by Moses and Ferraro when they found out his father is a film producer and that he was interested in potentially following his father’s footsteps. The next semester, I again found myself in a class with Prince on … read more about Jackson Prince? More Like Jack(son) of All Trades! »
Having just graduated the NBC Page Program, Alex Bratton (English '17) is looking ahead to her career in the media world. The Page Program, which takes a class of twenty Pages every three months, is a rotational program that lasts a year. Bratton started last August and for the first three months spent her time completing the ambassadorship period where the heads of the Page Program teach its Pages about NBC and all the properties it encompasses, in addition to giving tours of 30 Rock and working on shows. Alex says… read more about Alum Alex Bratton's Transition to the Media World »
When most people think of medicine, they usually assume that someone who is pre-med would major in Biology, Chemistry, or some other science. However, with the FlexMed Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), that is not necessarily the case. This year, sophomore English major Dorothy Adu-Amankwah was accepted into the FlexMed Program and now is free of having to worry about medical school prerequisites, applications, and interviews during her undergraduate time at Duke. Dorothy was one of 754… read more about English and Medicine? Paving New Paths Into Old Industries with Duke Students »
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 »
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 »
Growing up, I was the type of student who usually did better in science classes. I was on the Earth Science Team in middle school that competed with other kids from high schools in the area. From there, my involvement in the sciences grew and I competed in the Physics Olympiad, Biology Team, Chemistry Team, and Physics Team in High school. English was something I always enjoyed, but I never had really thought about majoring in. Coming to Duke, I dealt with my fair share of problems. It was hard to adjust from a small town… read more about Finding a Home in the Duke English Department »