English Department
In this episode, Brandon Williams, Duke English minor alum, describes how his African American studies major and English minor opened up new possibilities for his life and career. His story shows how deep reflection on the legacy of racism in the United States in humanities classrooms can prepare you to play a role in building a brighter and more equitable future. Learn how Brandon is making positive change in his community and beyond as a consultant for Frontline Solutions. read more about Alum Brandon Williams Featured in Episode of “What Are You Going to Do With That?” Podcast »
On Tuesday, April 25th, Duke English hosted “The Future of Fiction” in Duke Gardens, which featured intro, intermediate, and advance fiction students reading from their works amongst the Spring backdrop of the gardens. Photos of students reading during ’23 “The Future of Fiction… read more about Photos from 2023 “The Future of Fiction" »
Duke English is excited to announce our 2023 Creative Writing Contest and Scholarship awardees. Congratulations to the following students: Camden Chin ’26 for “Value of a Dollar” and “Harold” Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction. Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and… read more about 2023 Duke English Creative Writing Contest and Scholarship Winners »
Duke English recently hosted its Spring "Fiction Open House," focused on Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs. A panel consisting of members of the department's creative writing sector: Professors Amin Ahmad, JP Gritton, Mesha Maren, Akhil Sharma, and English Ph.D. candidate Anya Lewis-Meeks, provided insight into MFA programs, writing paths without an MFA and fielded questions from the students in attendance. This "Fiction Open House" event offered undergrad writers in the Duke community a chance to ask about postgraduation… read more about Spring 2023 Fiction Open House »
Maren is the author of two novels and many more short stories and essays. Her experience growing up outside Alderson, West Virginia, has played a pivotal role in her work. read more about Q&A: Mesha Maren’s Small Town Roots Find a Home in Her Writing »
Four faculty from Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and three alumni have been named to this year’s cohort of Guggenheim Fellows. The honorees for 2023 include German Studies Professor Stefani Engelstein, Professor Lillian B. Pierce of Mathematics, Religious Studies Professor Leela Prasad, and Professor of Physics Christopher Walter. Duke alumni Lucy Corin, Jon-Sesrie Goff and Jennifer Graber were also recognized. Now in its 98th year, the Guggenheim Fellowships recognize exceptional mid-career… read more about Four Trinity Faculty and Three Alums Named 2023 Guggenheim Fellows »
Duke English would like to present you with this opportunity to get to know English alum Dr. Jocelyn Streid, who will present at Duke Humanities in Medicine's "Celebrating Medicine, Literature, and Religion” on Saturday, April 15, 2023, and current Duke HuMed (Humanities in Medicine) president, Rebecca Arian, '26, who plans to double major in English and Neuroscience. Dr. Jocelyn Streid, '13, Harvard Resident Dr. Jocelyn Steroid, ’13, Harvard Resident Dr.… read more about Meet Duke HuMed's Spring '23 Guest Speaker and HuMed President »
Catherine Ji Won Lee defended her dissertation and obtained her Ph.D. in English in March 2023. She also holds an M.A. in English from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. (high honors) in English from the University of California, Berkeley. At Duke, Lee has designed and taught four undergraduate courses, including two that were held online during the pandemic. She has also served as a teaching assistant for three courses and a teaching apprentice for two others. read more about 2023 Dean's Award: Catherine Lee »
Professor of English, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies and Literature Ranjana Khanna has been reappointed to a second term as director of Duke University’s John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute. read more about A Champion for the Humanities »
Who doesn’t dream of owning a house that automatically closes the windows when it starts to rain, or a car that copes with traffic so you don’t have to? The science fiction of yesterday is today’s reality, and even better days are on the horizon. Such is the promise of “smartness.” It’s touted as the answer to all of humanity’s problems, a path not just to prosperity but to the very survival of our species. Is a smart future inevitable, though? What would a world constructed by smartness look like, and is it the best… read more about Does “Smart” Always Make Sense? Robert Mitchell’s The Smartness Mandate Tackles Our Global Obsession »
If you read any of the many stories written just last week about ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, you likely noticed a lot of both hype and concerns: ChatGPT will help students to better express their ideas. ChatGPT will lead young people down dark rabbit holes, end take-home exams and lead to layoffs. On Friday, a multidisciplinary panel of scholars and industry professionals broke down where the hype is overstated and the dangers overblown, but also where the benefits are possible and the… read more about ChatGPT Is Here to Stay. What Do We Do With It? »
In December 2022, Cambridge University Press published Wittgenstein and Literary Studies, which contains chapters by Professors Sarah Beckwith, English and Toril Moi, Literature, Romance Studies, and English, Philosophy, and Theater Studies. Then in January, MIT Press published The Smartness Mandate, co-authored by Professor Rob Mitchell. The book suggests that "smartness" is not just about technology but a theory of knowledge. read more about Spring Books from Duke Authors from Wittgenstein to Capoeira »
Celebrate the renewal of spring with a book from a Duke author. This season of new and upcoming books that cover a variety of times, places and subjects from the arts to computer science. The writings include studies of body shaming in the theater, civil defense in Japan, intellectual conformity in higher education and a cautionary look at the future of brain hacking. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins… read more about Spring Books from Duke Authors from Wittgenstein to Capoeira »
After fifty years as an English professor and a decade and a half with the English department at Duke University, Professor Leonard Tennenhouse has announced his retirement. He began his career in academia at Wayne State University. Tennenhouse joined the Duke English faculty in 2008 following more than a decade at Brown University. Professors Leonard Tennenhouse and Rey Chow at a Duke Graduation Ceremony A year after joining the department, Professor Tennenhouse took on the role of… read more about Honoring Professor Leonard Tennenhouse Upon His Retirement »
On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, Duke English hosted a webinar featuring a panel of past and present members of the Duke community who share tributes to Professor Tennenhouse as the department thanked him for his years of service to academia. read more about RECORDING: A Panel Celebrating Len Tennenhouse, On the Occasion of His Retirement »
Congratulations to Catherine Lee, Ph.D. candidate, 2023 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient, for your selection as one of the 13 winners of this year’s Dean’s Awards from The Graduate School! read more about Catherine Lee, 2023 Recipient of Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching »
The composer Shawn Okpebholo has created a song cycle that imagines the inner lives of fugitives from American slavery. “Songs in Flight,” a new cycle by the composer Shawn Okpebholo, with texts chosen by Tsitsi Ella Jaji, a poet and associate professor at Duke University, had its premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on Thursday. read more about Review: Songs That Defy the ‘Quotidian Nature of Evil’ »
A Tempo this Saturday (1/7 at 7 pm) features a conversation with the composer and lyricist of the new song cycle, Songs in Flight, whose text is inspired by advertisements used by slaveholders seeking the return of fugitives from slavery. read more about Songs Bring to Life Fugitives from Enslavement Sought in Slavery-Era 'Runaway' Ads »
Award-winning novelist and educator Marlon James recently visited the Duke English Department as the Reynolds Price Guest Author. During his time on campus, James conducted a writing workshop with more than a dozen of Duke's undergraduate creative writers. Then he gave a reading that evening, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A. Duke English's creative writing committee had invited Marlon James to campus for a reading in 2020; however, the event was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While waiting to… read more about Marlon James’ Visit with Duke English as Reynolds Price Guest Author »
One of the main goals for a creative writer is to keep the reader interested. There are different ways to do this, and in Professor Amin Ahmad's Intro to the Writing of Fiction – "Writing the Unspeakable"-- class, his students learn different strategies by studying the work of contemporary authors. The course is designed for students who want to master the craft of creative writing. I don’t believe that writers are little geniuses who sit alone in rooms and wait for inspirations—I really think that writers need… read more about The Uncertainty Found in Suspense Writing »
During the 2022 Fall semester, Professor Mesha Maren used a David L. Paletz Course Enhancement grant to invite three writers to her "Creative Writing: Autofiction & First-Person" class virtually. “By bringing Juliet Escoria, Scott McClanahan, and Julián Herbert into my classroom (via Zoom) to give lectures and answer questions, I hope to help students to understand how a text is crafted through drafting and revision and the ability for students to place their own writing in the context of the canon. I was able to… read more about Review: Fall 2022 David L. Paletz Creative Writing Guest Series »
We invite you to consider registering for a new English course, ENG 290S.02 American Environmental Poetry, meeting MW 1:45-3:00PM with visiting professor Sharon Kunde. The course comes with codes CCI, EI and ALP and counts for Area III for English majors. American Environmental Poetry – Sharon Kunde For centuries, poets have been writing about the environment: celebrating its beauty, learning from it, projecting ideas onto it, and finding meaning in it. But recently, humans’ relationship with the environment has… read more about Spring 2023 English Course: American Environmental Poetry »
Before she was a poet, Tsitsi Jaji was a pianist. The Bacca Foundation Associate Professor of English grew up surrounded by song in her native Zimbabwe. Her father conducted choirs. Her mother introduced her to the piano at age 5, and Jaji went on to study piano performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She has accompanied a well-known tenor and composed music for an African modern dance troupe. She joined jazz bands and small combos and played at cocktail bars for tips during graduate school, and later wrote… read more about Fellowship Enables English Professor to ‘Bring Poetry and Music into Dialogue’ »