Michigan State University

The Department of English at Michigan State University provides students with an excellent education in the liberal arts—one that strikes an ideal balance between creativity and critical inquiry. Undergraduate and graduate students, whether planning to enter professional or academic job markets after graduation, leave with skills allowing them to communicate, collaborate, and problem solve in a cultural landscape growing increasingly global.

Student–faculty interaction is at the center of our department. At present, more than 40 faculty members dedicate themselves to teaching excellence and outstanding scholarship. Faculty areas of specialization are wide-ranging and encompass literary periods and genres, language studies, critical theory, new media studies, cultural studies, and creative writing.

Our students develop exceptional writing skills. And, because they are exposed to a variety of learning experiences and faculty members who offer disparate perspectives, they acquire the know-how to confront large-scale issues and effect change around the world.


Faculty News

Marcia Aldrich received an MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2009.

Ken Harrow has been given the 2009 Distinguished Member Award from the African Literature Association.

Lloyd Pratt is the recipient of a Lilly Teaching Fellow for 2009-2010. He is also the recipient of an NEH Fellowship in fall 2009 to conduct research at the American Antiquarian Society.

Stephen Rachman appeared on the BBC on October 11, 2009. As current President of the Edgar Allan Poe Society, he spoke about Poe's reputation in this year of celebrations commemorating his birth 200 years ago.

 

In Memorium: Aimé Ellis (1969-2009)

Aimé Jero Ellis died at his home in Lansing, Mich., on May 26, 2009. He was 39.

Aimé was an associate professor of English and core faculty in African and African American Studies at Michigan State University whose scholarship focused on practices of freedom and experiences of violence and incarceration in Black history and popular culture in the United States. He was an engaged and passionate teacher who transformed the lives of students in Texas, Kentucky, and Michigan.

We mourn a loving, loyal, brilliant, and compassionate man.

 

Home Page Content

Upcoming Events:

November 18 , Wednesday at 7pm: Live Lit: Undergraduate Reading Series, featuring the work of six student writers in the LookOut Gallery (second floor of Snyder-Phillips Hall).

December 4, Friday at 3pm: Lectures by grad students: Amrita Sen, “Contingent Publics and the Question of India in Early Modern England” and Aryn Bartley: "Going Undercover (Again): Reinscriptions of the Citizen-Witness in U.S. Literary Journalism” in 213 Morrill Hall.

 

Past Events:

October 23, 2009: Lectures by advanced graduate students: Kaustav Mukherjee, "Mapping the Postcolonial. The Colony is Out There"; and Lauren Mason, "Who's in Charge of this Juxtaposition?: The Cinematic as a Narrative Device in John Edgar Wideman's Fannon"

November 6, 2009 : Professor EJ Levy, University of Missouri, "Against Talent"

Students wishing to read samples of E.J. Levy's work can link here to her essay "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and to her short story "The Professor in Question."

College of Arts and Letters

Year of Arts and Culture

Spotlight

New Film Studies web site!

 

With new initiatives in a Film Studies minor and a Fiction Film Specialization, we decided it was a good time to develop a web site dedicated to Film Studies at MSU. Cllick here to be directed to this new web site where you'll find information about Film Studies programs, current and future film screenings, and careers in the film industry.

 

Newsletter!

 

Alumni, students, and friends of the English Department. Take a few minutes, please, to send us your contact information. We would like to keep you updated on what we're doing. Click here.

Previous editions of The Tattler:

The Tattler (PDF) (2009)

The Tattler (PDF) (2008)

The Tattler (PDF) (2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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