Department of English

Department of English

The Department of English offers students deep engagement with literary study, a pursuit that develops writing and critical reading abilities along with strengthening communications skills and critical thinking.

English Major & MinorCreative Writing Major & MinorCourses
Department News

Brooke Jarvis ’07 was featured in the New York Times

Matt Mattox ’02 was featured in Richmond Times Dispatch for Martin Agency.

Lucy Nalen, ’19, had her literary magazine "And So Yeah" profiled in The Collegian.

Upcoming Courses

Department of English Writers Series

Writers Series Events

The University of Richmond’s Writers Series exposes Richmond students, the greater university community, and city residents to some of today’s most celebrated writers. Readings are free and open to the public, though seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Each reading will be followed by a Q&A session and book signing. 

The Writers Series is sponsored by the Department of English and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature and the Arts

2024-2025 Tucker Boatwright Festival of Literature & the Arts

The Nature of Representation

The Nature of Representation asks how our understandings of “nature” have been shaped by representational practices in both the aesthetic and political senses, exploring how the current climate catastrophe is inextricable from colonialism and anthropocentric worldviews. The festival features contemporary writers, artists, and thinkers who don’t take for granted that language is merely human, that there are other “natural” languages, and that attuning to those other languages allows us to tell stories that disrupt the violence of Man.

Upcoming Event:

"Changing Gender: A Conversation with Susan Stryker."

Wednesday, November 13, 4:30 p.m. | Humanities Commons

Susan Stryker is one of the founders of trans studies, author of many award-winning books including the almost canonical Transgender History, as well as many influential essays across four decades, some collected in the just-published When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker Reader, edited by Mckenzie Wark. One of the most visible and influential trans scholars, she has appeared widely in national and international media. She was co-editor of the Transgender Studies Reader’s two editions, and co-founder of the journal TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. She was the recipient of the 2015 Yale University James Robert Brudner Class of 1983 Memorial Prize for lifetime accomplishment and contribution to the fields of lesbian and gay studies. 

Language of Man Humanities Center Event

Thursday, November 14, noon | Humanities Commons

Susan Stryker will hold a discussion reflecting on the role of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in her thinking and trans scholarship more broadly.

 

 

Upcoming Events

Faculty Highlights

Mr. Brian Henry
Henry Awarded

Brian Henry, professor of English and creative writing, received the 2024 Distinguished Scholarship Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

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Mr. Brian Henry
Henry Published

Brian Henry, professor of English and creative writing, published translations of poems by Tomaž Šalamun in The Nation, A Public Space, and Bennington Review, among other journals.

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Dr. Nathan Snaza
Snaza Published

Nathan Snaza, assistant professor of English, published Tendings: Feminist Esoterisms and the Abolition of Man by Duke University Press.

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Contact Us

Mailing address:
English Department, Humanities Building 318
106 UR Drive
University of Richmond, VA 23173

Phone: (804) 289-8287
Fax: (804) 289-8313

Department Chair: Dr. David Stevens
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Emily Tarchokov