English Department
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds us of the integral role poets play in our culture. For the 25th anniversary of this annual celebration of poets and poetry, we highlight six poets among the university's faculty who have published collections of poetry. The works of these poets, along with many others, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. In addition, Duke University Press is offering a poem each week for National… read more about Celebrate National Poetry Month with Six Duke Faculty Poets »
Listening to music with the poet whose alternative history of humankind intersects with the realities of Black life in America. read more about Nathaniel Mackey's Long Song »
George Saunders, the celebrated fiction writer, was doing quite well writing short stories – winning prizes, earning acclaim, making a living. Yet novels remained elusive. “It’s like being a builder of custom yurts and then someone asks you to build a mansion. You say, ‘No, I don’t do that,’” Saunders said. “But wait a minute, maybe I could just put a bunch of those little yurts together.” read more about Critics and Authors Talk Literature In Novel Dialogue Podcast from Duke English »
George Saunders, the celebrated fiction writer, was doing quite well writing short stories – winning prizes, earning acclaim, making a living. Yet novels remained elusive. “It’s like being a builder of custom yurts and then someone asks you to build a mansion. You say, ‘No, I don’t do that,’” Saunders said. “But wait a minute, maybe I could just put a bunch of those little yurts together.” Saunders did write a novel in the end, and “Lincoln in the Bardo” went on to win the Booker Prize. His comments come from an episode… read more about Critics and Authors Talk Literature in Novel Dialogue Podcast from Duke English »
Professor Sarah Beckwith, Katherine Everett Gilbert Distinguished Professor of English, gave a Work-in-Progress presentation on February 26th featuring her paper “Tragic Implications.” A copy of “Tragic Implications” was shared with members of the audience in advance of her talk. Beckwith composed this piece for a symposium held in Boston, MA in 2019 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Stanley Cavell’s essay collection “Must We Mean What We Say?” Professor Beckwith told the audience that she did not go back and make… read more about Professor Sarah Beckwith’s Work-in-Progress Talk »
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article mentioned Grace Musila as another hire resulting from this search, selected to join the English Department. Due to a series of unanticipated circumstances and ongoing responsibilities she has in her current role with the Department of African Literature at the University of Witwatersrand, Musila will not be joining Duke this fall. A respected scholar of the political economy, Eric Mvukiyehe, will join the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences faculty this year as… read more about Expert on Africa to Join Trinity Faculty »
Graduate and professional programs across the university also scored impressive rankings in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of graduate programs released today. Duke University School of Medicine rose to third among 122 medical schools in the nation for research. In addition to the medical research rating, seven specialty programs in the School of Medicine placed in the top 10: Surgery (second); Anesthesiology (fourth); Internal Medicine (fifth); Radiology (sixth); Pediatrics (seventh, tied); Obstetrics… read more about Duke Graduate Programs Score High In Latest US News Rankings »
Even in the days before Zoom classes and masked seminars, you would have been hard-pressed to find a student nibbling on a Café crepe in Professor Thomas Ferraro’s classroom. Professor Ferraro writes on his syllabi that students mustn't bring food into the classroom, not just out of courtesy for one another but because of “what Italians call amicizia: to break bread together is to bond blood, while withholding bread from others is to deny relation.” And, of course, in Ferraro’s class, relating to one another is… read more about The Wellian: A Tribute and A Table »
Cord Whitaker, Duke English Ph.D. alum and Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Wellesley College, was invited to give a virtual talk on March 12 by the Duke English Ad-Hoc Committee on Anti-racism. Whitaker was invited as one of two special guests to give talks during the Spring 2021 semester. On this spring-like Friday afternoon, approximately 50 attendees joined Whitaker and the committee for his virtual presentation entitled "From Medieval America to Modern": On Being BIPOC and Making Meaning in… read more about Cord Whitaker, Duke Ph.D. Alum, “From Medieval America to Modern”: On Being BIPOC and Making Meaning in White Disciplinary Spaces” »
Jeannine Carpenter received her Ph.D. in English from Duke in 2009. She is currently Director of Research and Policy at the Women’s Fund of Greater Chattanooga, an organization made up of advocates, volunteers, and philanthropists who work to improve the lives of women and girls in the state of Tennessee. read more about Duke Graduate School Alumni Profiles Series: Jeannie Carpenter »
Two of the English Department's creative writing classes have had the pleasure of authors visiting their classes this semester as part of the David L. Paletz Creative Writing Guest Series. Author Kendra Allen visited Professor Mesha Maren's English 110S "Intro to Creative Writing" class on February 11th. Cidinha da Silva visited Professor JP Gritton's 221S "Intro to the Writing of Fiction" class February 15th. Poet Tyree Daye, a North Carolina native, visited Professor Mesha Maren’s “Intro to Creative Writing” class… read more about Allen, Da Silva, & Daye’s David L. Paletz Creative Writing Guest Series Visits »
ABC 11 WTVD reporter Ed Crump recently interviewed Duke English Professor Dominika Baran, a sociolinguist, to discuss “How our daily language has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.” read more about New Normal, Flatten the Curve, Quarantine: How Our Daily Language Has Changed During the COVID-19 Pandemic »
Cade Metz, Duke English alum and technology correspondent for the New York Times, took time out of his busy schedule for an interview with the English Department to discuss his experience as a Duke English major, his professional career path, and his new book, Genius Makers, which is scheduled to be released on today, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. During the interview, Metz shares how he has managed to merge the humanities world and STEM into a profession he loves. Cade Metz graduated from Duke University in 1994 with an… read more about Cade Metz, Duke English Alum, Technology Correspondent »
Professor Caryl Phillips, English Professor at Yale University, returned to Duke from February 16 to 24 for his second year as the Blackburn Writer-in-Residence as part of the English Department's Blackburn Reading Series. Every year the department invites a major, active fiction writer for a reading and a series of workshops that allow its creative writing students to interact with a noted, contemporary author. When asked for remarks about returning as the Blackburn Writer-in-Residence this year, especially during a… read more about Caryl Phillips’ 2021 Virtual Blackburn Writer-in-Residence Visit »
Professor Aarthi Vadde will welcome esteemed writers like Teju Cole (author of Open City), Orhan Pamuk (winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature), and George Saunders (author of Lincoln in the Bardo) to her new podcast “Novel Dialogue,” which premieres today. Each episode pairs a novelist and a critic for lively, fun, and sophisticated dialogues about the art of novel writing. Vadde will serve as a co-host on the show alongside John Plotz, the Barbara Mandel Professor of the Humanities at… read more about Professor Aarthi Vadde Debuts New Podcast “Novel Dialogue” »
Learn how Duke's libraries have adjusted their services so that the community has access to the resources they need. read more about Keeping the Pages Turning at Duke Libraries »
Undergraduate, graduate and professional students are invited to apply to be a Young Trustee—serving on the Duke University Board of Trustees. An information session will be held today at 5:30 p.m. ET. More about the Young Trustee position and the selection process is available here. Applications are due on Sunday, Feb. 28. read more about You Could Be a Young Trustee »
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Jarvis McInnis is the Cordelia & William Laverack Family Assistant Professor of English at Duke. In this edited and condensed interview, he describes looking at home through a different lens, why his research on the plantationocene began… read more about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Jarvis McInnis »
Collen Flaherty's recent article in Inside Higher Ed looks at the growing diversity of what is being taught in English departments. read more about Not the Queen's English Department »
“America’s Best Employers 2021” list by Forbes, Duke University placed 23rd out of 500 employers with more than 5,000 employees in the annual ranking. read more about Duke Named a ‘Best Employer’ by Forbes for 2021 »
"Despite a struggling labor market and emerging technologies that emphasize the importance of STEM fields, an English degree is as useful as ever," says John Hopkins University Professor Mark Christian Thompson read more about Q+A The Enduring Value of An English Degree »
Duke English began the Spring 2021 semester by welcoming 30+ attendees to the first session of the Faculty Works-in-Progress Series on Friday, January 22nd. Professor Joseph Winters presented his forthcoming article "Recovering the Irrecoverable: Blackness, Melancholy, and the Duplicities that Bind," which will be a part of the "Slave Religion: Histories and Horizons" special issue of the journal Religions. Winters opened the session with an overiew of his previous works and what… read more about Professor Winters' Faculty Works-in-Progress Series Session »
This month, we present a collection of 10 Duke-authored books detailing the history of Black life in America. While this is not a comprehensive list of all Duke scholarship on Black history, it is intended to be an introduction to the multifaceted work of Duke scholars in public policy, history, documentary studies, religious studies, African and African-American studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, art, art history, and visual studies. These books, along with many others, are available at Duke University Libraries,… read more about 10 Duke-Authored Books on Black History »
Duke Alum Sid Richardson's CD Borne by a Wind will be released on February 12, 2021 on New Focus Recordings. Richardson's CD features Professor Nathaniel Mackey and performances by Deviant Septet, pianist Conrad Tao, violinist Lilit Hartunian, and Da Capo Chamber Players. read more about Professor Nathaniel Mackey Featured on Duke Alum Sid Richardson's New CD »
This month we offer a collection of Duke-authored works that reflect human experiences through fiction. These books along with many others are available at the Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma WHAT IT'S ABOUT: In "A Life of Adventure and Delight," Professor Akhil Sharma delivers eight stories that focus on Indian protagonists at home and abroad. A young woman in an arranged marriage… read more about 10 Works of Fiction from Duke Authors »
Guardian's article, "Drexciya: how Afrofuturism is inspiring calls for an ocean memorial to slavery," features Professor Charlotte Sussman and Duke Bass Connections Project "Remembering the Middle Passage" work to memorialize the Middle Passage. read more about “Seascape: the state of our oceans - Drexciya: How Afrofuturism Is inspiring Calls for an Ocean Memorial to Slavery” »
On occasion, Duke faculty put their research on pause and and turn to writing fiction in a variety of genres. We feature 10 recent novels and short stories from authors across the university. PLUS: See a roundup of January publications from Duke authors on the DUKE TODAY BOOKS PAGE. read more about 10 Works of Fiction from Duke Authors »
As educational institutions seek ways to enhance opportunities for students during the pandemic, the College Board has tapped five Duke University professors to provide recorded lectures to millions of advanced high school students around the world. The new lecture series, called “AP Daily,” offers free, online videos across a variety of college-level topics to students who are learning in person, remotely or in blended learning environments. Students can view the videos independently or Advanced Placement (AP) teachers can… read more about In Pandemic, Advanced Placement Turns to Duke Faculty for Help in High School Lecture Series »
The first spring 2021 installment of the Duke English Faculty Works-in-Progress series will take place on Zoom this Friday, January 22, at 1:15 p.m. Professor Joseph Winters will discuss "Recovering the Irrecoverable: Blackness, Melancholy, and the Duplicities that Bind,” an article he is working on for an upcoming special issue of the journal Religion. Religion is an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open-access journal on religions and theology from Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing… read more about January 22: Joseph Winters on Blackness and Melancholy »