The Department of English includes faculty distributed among four program areas: Literary Studies, Creative Writing, Composition and Rhetoric, and English Education. We offer doctoral degrees in literary studies, creative writing, and composition/rhetoric, and a master’s degree in English, serving approximately sixty graduate students in any given year. On the undergraduate level, we serve close to six hundred undergraduate majors, including almost two hundred integrated language arts majors enrolled in the College of Education.
Read our mission statement.
Spotlight
Dr. Jennie Nelson to become new Director of Composition
The English Department is happy to welcome back Dr. Jennie Nelson to the position of the Director of Composition. Dr. Nelson has been a member of the Rhetoric faculty since 2002, when she arrived from the University of Idaho and directed the composition program in 2002-2003. Dr. Nelson replaces Dr. Candace Stewart in one of the department's important administrative positions. As the composition director, Dr. Nelson will be in charge of overseeing instruction of first- and third-year composition classes, leading Teaching Associate Orientation for incoming graduate students, and developing composition curricula. The Director is also responsible for choosing textbooks for first- and third-year writing, developing and implementing approaches to teaching, and teaching English 591 (Teaching College English I).
This fall Dr. Nelson is heading a university mandated comprehensive assessment that will examine student writing in first-year composition classes. She will continue to work in conjunction with the Composition Committee towards a program of study that would give OU students the opportunity to obtain a cross-curricular Writing Certificate.
Dr. Nelson is also involved with the Common Reader project, which links several disciplines through a book required for all first-year students. This year the text is Cion, a novel by the English Department's Zakes Mda. The Director will also work with other departments to develop linked courses that foster interdisciplinary study. The Director will chair the Composition Committee, and serve on the English Department Administrative Committee and the Committee for Writing Across the Curriculum.
Ph.D. students Megan Titus and Todd Snyder will be working closely with Dr. Nelson as the Assistant Directors of Composition. The Assistant Directors assist with TA training and development, as well as administrative duties. Both have served previously under Dr. Stewart.
News
Richard Gilbert has new essay published
Richard Gilbert's essay, "From Bakewell to BLUP: Modern Livestock Breeding's Short History" will appear in the August 2008 issue of The Shepherd. read more >>
John Bullock’s novel is now available
John Bullock's novel, Making Faces is now available. read more >>
Kevin Haworth recieves Ohio Arts Council Award
Kevin Haworth has been awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. read more >>
Announcements
David Grover’s short essay published
David Grover's short essay "Second Coming" was published by the online journal JuiceBox. read more >>
Web page now available for submitting departmental news
Faculty and staff can now submit information on events, publications, awards, and other departmental news using an online form available through the English Department's website. To send a submission, simply complete the submission form and an email will be sent to the English Department Computer Consultants. A link to the submission form can also be found underneath the Spotlight section of the English Department's main page. read more >>
Zakes Mda featured writer at Ohioana Book Festival
Professor Mda will be participating in a number of reading and panel discussions at the Ohioana Library... read more >>