A&S Klarman Fellows program renewed and expanded
Thanks to additional significant support from Seth Klarman ’79 and Beth Schultz Klarman, the Klarman Postdoctoral Fellowship program has been expanded to support 10 fellows per cohort.
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Training in the rigors and pleasures of critical thinking, close reading and lucid writing
Academics
The Cornell Literatures in English Department retains the pluralistic ideals of the university’s founders and continues to respond to and embody a constantly evolving discipline. Within the department, ongoing debates about the role of critical theory or cultural studies, the status of popular culture, the relevance of film studies and hip hop, or the definition of the words “English” and “literature” themselves have led to new understandings of the discipline, as well as a range of textual productivity, from producing critical editions to writing poetry.
Popular Destinations
Interdisciplinary Reach
Outside the department, the growth of interdisciplinary work has led to a range of connections across the humanities at Cornell, from comparative literature to medieval studies, from Asian-American Studies to feminist, gender and sexuality studies, with English faculty maintaining affiliations in all of these disciplines.
Along with teaching more than a third of the Freshman Writing Seminars offered by Cornell’s Knight Institute of Writing in the Disciplines, the Literatures in English Department’s nourishing of this wide range of scholarly and creative writing has maintained the department’s central importance in the humanities at Cornell and world-wide.
Literatures in English Events
Mar
17
Rockefeller Hall
Literatures in English News
Acclaimed Horror Writer Forges Bright Paths Through Dark Worlds
Novelist Victor LaValle ’94, BA ’95, has recently expanded his eerie narrative voice into Marvel Comics—and Apple TV
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At a Personal Crossroads, a Visit to Ithaca Focused My Mind
Alumna perspective: "As a student, I never spent much time downtown—but in my 20s, vacationing in the Finger Lakes proved unexpectedly meaningful."
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Student’s Playful Paintings Showcase the Hill as You’ve Never Seen It
From the clock tower to Risley and beyond, Grace Elmore ’25 finds inspiration in Cornell’s eclectic architectural styles
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Student Spotlight: Samantha Kathryn O'Brien
Samantha Kathryn O’Brien turns the intimidation of an MFA into empowerment as she works on the beginnings of her novel. She is discovering her voice as she grapples with writing fiction about sex work in a non-polemical way.
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Student Spotlight: Aishvarya Arora
Aishvarya Arora is an avid researcher, reader, and writer. They're also an enthusiast for graphic novels as they create instructive, visual images in the world of literature and language!
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Michael Madon ’94 enlists smart technology to help people battle drug addiction
Pretaa, inspired by the Latin meaning ‘to be ready,’ draws upon Madon's Cornell English degree, his Wharton MBA, his military training and his technical expertise.
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Prize-winning teacher reflects on his Cornell career
McClane remembers the photograph that drew him to Cornell, and how the University has changed since his first day in 1969.
Read More"If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem."
— M.H. Abrams, Class of 1916 Professor Emeritus