English Department Statement on Justice for George Floyd

Hello everyone,

As a community, we stand with those demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and an end to the police brutality, systemic racism, and anti-black violence that led to their deaths and the deaths of so many others.  We as a department refuse to be silent about hatred, racism, and violence against communities of color, already disproportionately suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we stand ready to fight actively all forms of white supremacy. We believe that the highest calling of English as a discipline is to serve as an engine of understanding, empathy, social justice, and change, and the department adds our voices to those of so many others at UConn and around the country and world, in calling for our country’s police forces to acknowledge and commit to dismantling a long legacy of racist abuse.

Here follow links to the study of anti-Black racism and also what we as a community can do about it.

Bob Hasenfratz (Head, English Department) and 2019-21 Department Executive Committee Members.

 

Why Study English?

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"Perhaps the most powerful argument for why students (and their parents) might want to think twice about abandoning humanities is the data. The National Center for Education Statistics also keeps track of pay and unemployment rates by major.

There’s no denying that the typical computer science major makes more money shortly after graduation than the typical English major.

Contrary to popular belief, English majors ages 25 to 29 had a lower unemployment rate in 2017 than math and computer science majors."

Read the rest of this article and see more arguments for studying English.

Reopening Campus: ON, TOGETHER

Welcome Back, Huskies: The Plan to Reopen UConn for Fall 2020

The University of Connecticut is actively planning to welcome our new and returning students, faculty, and staff back to our campuses this fall. We are dedicated to working together with public health experts and our state to maintain a quality UConn educational experience while keeping our community healthy.

You can find more information about the University's plans here.

To contact the English Department, please email english@uconn.edu or call 860-486-2141.

Upcoming Events

  1. Jan 20 Letters About Literature Submission Deadline12:00am
  2. Jan 25 Connecticut Student Writers magazine submission deadline12:00am
  3. Jan 27 Fellow's Talk: Betsy Athens4:00pm
  4. Feb 3 Fellow's Talk: Amanda Crawford4:00pm
  5. Feb 10 Publishing Now! Humanities Journals1:15pm
  6. Feb 10 Fellow's Talk: Sean Forbes4:00pm
  7. Feb 15 Allen Riddell (Information Science, Indiana)4:00pm

Spotlight

  • Feature for Margaret Gibson (Prof. Emerita)
    Margaret Gibson, Professor Emerita and current Poet Laureate for the State of Connecticut, was featured in the Westerly Sun for her work featuring poetry related to nature and the climate crisis statewide. The article can be found on the Westerly Sun website.
  • Poem Featured For Kerry Carnahan (PHD ’21)
    Kerry Carnahan (PhD ’21) has been featured in the Academy of American Poets’ website in their poem-a-day section. Kerry’s poem, [My ancestors are empty words], was featured as the poem of the day for 18 October, 2020.   The feature can be found here.

Letters About Literature


The English Department, Connecticut Writing Project, and Neag School of Education are the CT sponsors for this writing competition for grades 4-12. Connecticut Writing Project and Neag School of Education also sponsor the Connecticut Scholastic Writing Awards for grades 7-12.

Professors are People Too

professorsarepeopletoo

Ali Oshinskie ('17) interviews professors for a podcast series, "Professors are People Too." Read the transcripts to her introduction and interviews, and listen to the podcast on WHUS.