The Department of English is devoted to the critical study of literature and language, indeed to the study of creative expression of many kinds, including film and other media. We offer courses in all periods and genres of English, American, and Anglophone literature—poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and drama—as well as a wide array of classes in creative writing, film, media studies, journalism, rhetoric, and theater. The department joins critics, scholars, and artists in an environment that fosters interactive learning and teaching, with extensive opportunities to pursue internships and independent research.
Undergraduate majors may choose from four distinct tracks in the major—English Literature; Creative Writing; Theater; and Language, Media, and Communication—and we offer minors in English Literature, Creative Writing, Journalism, and Theater. Double majoring in English and another discipline—Physics or Music, History or Psychology—is readily managed. (For more information, see Undergraduate.) Our internationally recognized graduate program offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, and our alumni have gone on to academic careers at some of the nation’s most respected colleges and universities. (See Graduate.) The English Department maintains wide-ranging connections with other university programs in Film Studies, Comparative Literature, African-American Studies, Women’s Studies, Theater, and Literary Translation, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The department sponsors an annual literary reading series that has brought distinguished poets and fiction writers to campus. (See Plutzik Series.) We also regularly host lectures, conferences, workshops, and symposia on a wide variety of subjects of scholarly and general interest. >>>
The National Research Council ranks the University of Rochester English Department among the best PhD programs in the country.
Chronicle of Higher Education, “2010 Rankings: Doctoral Programs in America”
Click on the image above for a PDF version of the graph.
Kenneth Gross gave the first lecture of the 2013 Open Books series, presented by Theatre for a New Audience, on April 26. Gross’s talk drew upon his book Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life.
The William Blake Archive has published electronic editions of its first installment of Blake’s letters, the correspondence of his last two years, 1825-27.
This edition was overseen by the Archive team from Rochester’s Department of English.
For details, please visit Blake Archive Updates.
James Longenbach’s The Virtues of Poetry was recently published.
Learn more about the book on the English Department’s New Faculty Publications page or on Graywolf Press’s website.
The February 6 issue of City Newspaper features a story about the International Theatre Program’s recent production of The Rochester Plays.
Click here to read the article.
The William Blake Archive has published electronic editions of America a Prophecy copies B and I.
For details, please visit Blake Archive Updates.
The winter 2012-13 issue of Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly is now available.
Visit the journal at: www.blakequarterly.org.
Kenneth Gross has won this year’s George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism in recognition of his achievement in Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life.
For details, please download this press release.
James Longenbach’s poem “Snow” has been released as a Motionpoem. Please visit www.motionpoems.com to watch the short film, which is narrated by Longenbach.
For a report on the lives and careers of former English majors, and how these were shaped by their work in the major, click here.
The William Blake Archive has published an electronic edition of five of Blake’s tempera paintings on biblical subjects, eleven of his water color illustrations to the Bible, and one of his large color printed drawings, Hecate, or The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy.
For details, please visit Blake Archive Updates.
PhD student Joseph Vogel is featured in Spike Lee’s new documentary about the making of Michael Jackson’s BAD album, BAD25, which aired on ABC on Thanksgiving Day. Vogel, who recently published Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, served as an advisor on the film.
Jennifer Grotz has been selected as the 2011-12 recipient of the Lillian Fairchild Award.
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