Congratulations to the English Majors named to the winter 2013 term Dean’s List!

Each term, the University of Oregon names its top students to the Dean’s List in recognition of their academic achievements. During the 2013 winter term, 1,517 UO students qualified for this honor.   The Dean’s List is compiled for fall, winter and spring terms. To qualify, a student must be an admitted undergraduate and complete at least 15 credits for the term; 12 of the 15 credits must be graded with a GPA of 3.75 or better.   Total undergraduate enrollment for the term was 19,786. Dean’s List

Congratulations to our Honor Roll members for Winter 2013!  Honor Roll

Juniors and seniors with a cumulative grade point average in English courses over the last three terms of 3.70 or better,  who have taken at least 18 ENG classes at the University of Oregon earn a place on the English Department Honor Roll.  Seniors on the Honor Roll will be recognized at the English Department Commencement.

English Major, Martin Larson-Xu, was awarded the Swig Essay Prize for the best undergraduate essay submitted to an English class during the winter term. Martin’s winning essay, “Means Something, Language of Flow: Music, Noise, and Conceptual Art in the ‘Sirens’ Episode of Ulysses,”was written for Peul Peppis’s ENG 479: James Joyce course. In 2007, Mary and Steven Swig (BA, 1963) of San Francisco created an endowment to fund the annual prize. The award carries a cash prize of $500.

Congratulations to Martin and the other nominees: Kerani Arpaia, Joseph Bitney, Chad Crabtree, Sarah Murphy, Andrew Naugle, Colleen Nguyen,Dylan Thompson, Robyn Vance, and Joshua Zirl. (more…)

Is the Fall routine now a bit TOO routine?  Liven up your studies with a Winter term in London!  We are still accepting applications for the English department’s “English Winter” program in London for next term (Winter 2013).  You can fulfill 4 major requirements while taking 3 courses in London along with a mini-course allowing you to reflect on your London experience.  For information on the London Winter courses’ applicability to English major requirements, review the  Winter Major Requirements worksheet.  (more…)

Professor Karen J. Ford has recently taken the reins of the Department as the new Department Head.  An accomplished and awarded scholar of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American poetry and poetics, Professor Ford’s scholarship focuses on the politics of literary form–how writers employ poetic forms for social and political purposes.  (more…)

May 24, 2012, was a special day for the English Department.  University President Robert Berdahl, Provost Lorraine Davis, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Scott Coltrane, and a large group of faculty colleagues, graduate students, and English Department staff descended on PLC 248, where Professor Paul Peppis was in the middle of teaching a class on literary pedagogy.  (more…)

Students, alumni, friends, and colleagues were saddened this year by the passing of four beloved emeritus faculty members, Kingsley Weatherhead, John Haislip, Don Taylor, and Roland Bartel. We send our best wishes and support to all their families, friends, and former colleagues and students.

The English Department is pleased to welcome two new colleagues this coming academic year.  A citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a specialist in Native American Literatures, Assistant Professor Kirby Brown earned his Ph.D. in the Department of English and the Indigenous Studies Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, having won a prestigious Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship. He has published essays engaging contemporary Indigenous critical theory, constitutional criticism in Native literatures, and Native interventions in the Western. A specialist in Television Studies and Queer Theory, Assistant Professor Quinn Miller received his Ph.D. in Screen Cultures from Northwestern’s Radio, Television, and Film department in 2010.  This past year, he has served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Media Culture in Northwestern University in Qatar’s School of Communication.  He has also taught courses in Gender and Queer Studies at Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke College.  He is currently at work on the book Camp TV: Commercial Counterpublics and the Cultural Production of Queer Gender. We are delighted to welcome Kirby and Quinn to the faculty!

During the Winter term of 2013, the Department will once again offer English Majors the chance to study in London.  This is your chance to encounter the cultural capital of our discipline and to connect your study of British literature and culture with the actual sights, sounds, people, and living history of England.  The London winter term runs for 11 weeks, from January 96through March 22, 2013.  There is a one week mid-term break, during which most students travel in Europe and Great Britain.

UO English Majors have some added incentives to study in London:

• Fulfill FOUR English major requirements while taking any THREE courses in English literature, history, art history, or theatre.           

• Apply for a London Winter Scholarship!  In addition to other Study Abroad support, one scholarship of $1000, and additional scholarships of $500-$4000 will be available to UO English majors enrolling in the London program in Winter 2012.  Students receiving Pell Grants are also eligible for a Gilman International scholarship of up to $5000.  For further information contact Professor Mark Quigley at mquigley@uoregon.edu.

• Download Scholarship information and Applications here! 

 Scholarship Information Sheet

Tims-Ellis Scholarship Application

“An English Winter Scholarship” Application

“UO Study Abroad Scholarship Application

Winter is an especially appealing season in London.  Here is some of what you can expect:

• Experience the Secret London, the one ignored by tourists and loved by natives—the winter city, when visitors can find the best theater, uncrowded museums, and (sometimes) a city glistening in snow and ice.
• Discover the still accessible world of Victorian London in art and literature on guided tours of a nineteenth-century city still hiding in the shadows of the present one.
• Visit some of the spooky churches of the mysterious seventeenth-century architect, Nicholas Hawksmore.
• Sample the sights and sounds of Camden Town, hot-bed of London’s “neo-soul” music that is gaining fans across the world.
• Encounter the vibrant, multicultural world of 21st-century London—its music, its foods, its neighborhoods, its new ideas.
• Visit the historic cities of Bath and Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplae.
• Visit some of the central sites of British cultural history, inside and outside London.
• Jet away for long weekends (courtesy of cheap flights on Ryanair and others) to exciting locales across Europe.

In addition to being one of the most dynamic and exciting cities on the planet, London is one of the most expensive!  Nevertheless, fees for the London Program ($13,840 for Winter 2012) cover a wide range of services and activities, including:

• Tuition
• Excursions within London and beyond
• Theater and exhibition tickets
• Books and course materials
• Homestay
• Breakfast each day
• Dinner four nights a week
• Two loads of laundry per week
• Local transportation pass
• Medical insurance
• International Student Identity Card
• Associate membership of the International Students House
• Associate membership in the University of London Union (upon request)
• On-site orientation
• Expert support, pre-departure and on-site

A full description of the London curriculum, program expenses, housing arrangements, and application procedures can be found here.

UO English Majors are invited to contact the Department’s London coordinator, Professor Mark Quigley (mquigley@uoregon.edu), to inquire about scholarship assistance.  Advising for the London program and other UO study abroad programs is available through Study Abroad Programs at (541)346-3207 or studyabroad.uoregon.edu

In addition to course offerings in theater, history, and Victorian art and architecture, the London 2012 program will offer two courses by the English Department’s Professor Martha Bayless . The program is open to all UO students, and students from other universities are also encouraged to apply.

London Theater
(Resident faculty—40 contact hours)
Attend at least six productions on the London stage—the world’s most renowned. Examine key elements in the development of the British and European theater tradition. Tour theaters and gain first-hand experience from invited practitioners and guest speakers.

Victorian Art and Architecture
(Resident faculty—40 contact hours)
The reign of Queen Victoria spanned a period of industrial growth, leading to dynamic urban expansion and social change, reflected in the art and architecture of the period. Explore Victorian painting, design, and architecture set in its historical background and stylistic context through museum visits and tours of the city.

Tudor England
(Resident faculty—40 contact hours)
Throughout the sixteenth century, developments in English politics, government, and society at large transformed the country from the medieval to a more modern world. Dissect the political and social background of Tudor England: people, religion, power, and metropolitan life. Trace the tumultuous reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary; the gradual consolidation in the reign of Elizabeth; and the transition from the Tudors to the Stuarts

Send us your news for inclusion in the 2013 English Department Newsletter. Updates can be sent to Professor Paul Peppis at ppeppis@uoregon.edu.