Department News
Cornona Virus Response
Academic Continuity
Department of English faculty are working hard to change the nature of your classes in a very short period of time. Please check Blackboard for regular updates from your professor and read your VCU email regularly for updates from faculty and the university. Until further notice, classes will be conducted remotely. Please note access to Hibbs is now restricted to employee entry only.
Advising
Continue to make advising appointments with Dale Smith via the “advising appointments” link on your MyVCU page. Dale will email you on the day of the meeting, responding to the reason for your appointment. If a phone call is also needed, mention that when booking the appointment. Dale will then set up a call with you. Please note, advanced registration has been moved back to March 31.
Contacting Office Personnel
In compliance with CDC recommendations and university guidance, the department’s staff is working remotely. If you need assistance, please email english@vcu.edu. Alternately, please visit our directory at english.vcu.edu/people for a list of faculty and staff emails.
See also The College of Humanities and Sciences Covid-19 Resources.
Welcome to the VCU Department of English!
The Department of English, the largest humanities unit at VCU, offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees: a BA in English, an MA in English, and an MFA in Creative Writing; it is also a core unit for the interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Media, Art, and Text. This diversity of programs meets a wide range of curricular needs and interests at all educational levels. We are a welcoming and inclusive department that offers innovative and interesting classes.
The BA in English provides students with the critical, expressive, and cultural skills necessary to negotiate life in a competitive world: it constitutes a base for graduate study as well as for careers in a variety of professional fields. The department also offers undergraduate minors in English, Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing, British Studies, and American Studies. Students additionally have opportunities to pursue independent studies or internships in social media, with Blackbird (our online literary journal), or any other related field. Those particularly high-achieving students seeking an opportunity to write a scholarly, creative, or scholarly/creative hybrid thesis during their senior year can apply to pursue the Distinguished English Major.
The MA in English and the MFA in Creative Writing provide nationally recognized graduate programs in the humanities. The MA in English, a thirty-hour program, is a flexible degree program enables students to develop intellectually in a stimulating and supportive environment; we help students identify and realize the next steps in their professional and intellectual journey. The MFA in Creative Writing, a forty-eight credit program, is designed to provide talented writers with the chance to work closely with outstanding faculty to strengthen their craft, develop their literary aesthetics, and enrich their understanding of existing traditions.
The PhD in Media, Art, and Text, one of the most innovative and interdisciplinary PhD programs of its kind, equips future generations of college teachers and researchers with the tools for taking leadership roles in a media-driven culture.
Our faculty have published dozens of important books, edited editions and collections, and award-winning creative work across multiple genres. Collectively, they have garnered awards as diverse as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Program, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Guggenheim Foundation.
As scholar-teachers, the English faculty are committed to balancing teaching, mentoring, and research as mutually beneficial endeavors. Through research and teaching, our faculty work to expand knowledge of language, literature, and various expressive media in local, national, and global contexts. expressive media in local, national, and global contexts.
