Best wishes

Queer theorist extraordinaire Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has died at the age of 59. I’ve been teaching her work since I came to GW in 1994. Though most of my graduate school friends were turned on to her work by Between Men and Epistemology of the Closet, my favorite of her early volumes was the second…

Recently, the department emailed out copies of its first electronic newsletter to more than 1,300 English department alumni, as well as current students. The newsletter is now posted for all to read on the homepage of the department’s website. One of the benefits of sending out the newsletter is that I get to hear from…

If you haven’t already marked your calendars, get our your smart phones, pens, and day planners, and reserve Friday, October 22 for a day in celebration of Professor Emerita of English Judith A.A. Plotz. The “Plotzfest,” as we’ve dubbed it, in a reflection of our affectionate regard for Judy Plotz, will feature a mini-symposium featuring…

Every president should commence a term in office with poetry. The arts are too often separated from government, and for no good reason. Only two presidents have invited poets to read from their work during inauguration: John. F. Kennedy (Robert Frost) and Bill Clinton (Maya Angelou, Miller Williams). Good news: Barack Obama has likewise named…

The detonation of explosives at Square 54 aside, a typical Friday afternoon in the English Department is as quiet as a stone.* The only sounds to be heard are those made by a few professors who are taking advantage of the lull at the end of the week to accomplish some grading, or by some…

The Five Year BA/MA Program allows GW English majors to earn both a BA and an MA in English within 5 years of study. The dual degree allows exceptionally strong and motivated students to move into advanced work early, to earn an expedited graduate degree, and to continue literary research with particularly helpful mentors. Eligibility…