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The College of Arts & Sciences
Welcome! Literatures in English as a department teaches students how to read and write about literary cultures. Supported by excellent libraries and in connection with a number of interdisciplinary programs at Cornell, Literatures in English invites students and scholars to engage in conversations about global cultures as they develop skills for the future.
Cornell’s influence on the art and academic discipline of poetry has been deep throughout the university’s history and continues on campus today, where scholars and poets discuss and refine this art form in graduate seminars, gather for open mic nights and study the craft of creating beautiful and meaningful work in undergraduate classrooms.
Discover Cornell poets and the experiences that have shaped them.
Location: Goldwin Smith Hall, 258, Literatures in English Lounge
Location: Klarman Hall, Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium KG70
Location: A. D. White House, Guerlac Room
Location: Goldwin Smith Hall, G64, Kaufmann Auditorium
Location: Klarman Hall, Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium
Location: Klarman Hall, Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium
Location: Goldwin Smith Hall, 258, Literatures in English Lounge
Location: Off-Site Location, Buffalo Street Books, 215 N Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850
Cornellians’ July 2026 Reads highlights new books by Cornell University alumni, featuring nonfiction, historical fiction and mental health topics. The roundup showcases authors Betsy Rubiner, Karen Lootens Odden and Bonnie Zucker, promoting recent alumni publications.
Cornell University’s Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures funded seven 2026 Graduate Student Research projects across multiple disciplines. The awards provide research support for emerging scholars advancing racial justice, inequality, labor, identity and social change studies.
The School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University, a six-week summer program that serves as a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry in the humanities and social sciences, celebrated its 50th anniversary with events June 16-17.
Lauren Weisberger’s novel The Devil Wears Prada is resurging with a 2026 film sequel, reflecting lasting cultural impact. The Cornell College of Arts and Sciences alum’s debut novel became a bestseller, film, and musical inspired by her Vogue experience.
Poet and Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Sandeep Parmar co-hosts, with poet Sarah Howe, a London Review of Books podcast exploring poetry’s connections to life issues: work, sex, money and more. The podcast launches June 7.
Each spring, undergraduate honors theses granted Distinction in English are considered for the M.H. Abrams Honors Thesis Prize and for The Guilford Honors Thesis Prize.
Department faculty continually publish important works of criticism, fiction, poetry, and essays. Visit Literatures in English Faculty: Recent Books to learn more.
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.
This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' leadership.
We, the faculty and staff of the Cornell Literatures in English department, pledge to support and do our utmost to protect members of our community who are discriminated against, unjustly treated, or otherwise targeted because of race, religion, gender identification, sexuality, immigration status, ability, and other forms of difference.
Recognizing that words and symbols can be manipulated into violence, we renew our commitment to direct the force of language toward large and small acts of learning, alliance, imagination, and justice.