Welcome to the English Department
English majors learn to synthesize information and to present their ideas and opinions skillfully. They find employment in fields where the sophisticated use of language is necessary for advancement. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study, not only in writing, film studies and literature, but in medicine, law, education, journalism and business. In today’s job market, as job titles and responsibilities shift constantly, English majors have an advantage because they are used to analyzing situations critically and communicating the results effectively.
Job choices for English majors go beyond the obvious options of teaching, attending graduate school, or becoming a writer, because graduates also excel in many other areas. English majors have learned how to write, analyze material, and communicate effectively, so they work in many different fields, including broadcasting, sales and marketing, management, government and entertainment.
CultureKlatsch's Newest Episode is Out! Ep 11 & 11.5: Targaryens, Television, and Trauma: Watching George R. R. Martin’s House of the Dragon 1.17.23
This episode of CultureKlatsch discusses House of the Dragon (the Golden Globe winning prequel to Game of Thrones) in terms of spectatorship and genre. Host Jake Johnson, along with guests Kendall Adamson, Madison Cook, David Debonis, and Landon Sickler (all CU Denver students), create a roundtable discussion on a wide range of topics, including television consumption patterns and rituals, violence against women as a plot device, trauma and spectatorship, the cultural appeal of high fantasy television, the ways HOD mirrors current social relations, the politics of gender and colonialism, artistic intent and HOD as historical account, and the ongoing celebration of “masculine strength” in both GOT and HOD. They speak with several CU Denver professors—Dr. Sarah Hagelin (Ethnic Studies and English), Katy Mohrman (Ethnic Studies), and William Wagner (History)—as well as CU Denver film student Darcen McCampbel and spectators outside the university, Beth Hall and Allie Borgsmiller.
Listen to a longer interview with Drs. Sarah Hagelin and Katy Mohrman in this bonus episode of CultureKlatsch (hosted and edited by Jake Johnson).
Listen now on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Podcasts.
CultureKlatsch in the Auraria Media Center Sound Studio. From left: Madison Cook (guest + editor), Jake Sorensen (media specialist + sound engineer), Kendall Adamson (guest), Michelle Comstock (instructor), Jake Johnson (host). Not pictured: Landon Sickler (guest) and David Debonis (guest + editor).
Dr. Mari Mar Boillos Lecture, "Plagiarism in the Copy-Paste Era"
Please join the ESL Academy's guest speaker, Dr. Mari Mar Boillos, as she presents her research on plagiarism, types, and how to address it. You can find the zoom link by clicking here.
Copper Nickel Rises in National Rankings!
There are approximately 700 regularly publishing literary journals in America—and each year a writer and blogger named Clifford Garstang ranks them based on how often work from their pages is reprinted in the prestigious annual Pushcart Prize Anthology.
The Pushcart Prize is, of course, only one metric for evaluating a literary magazine's "standing," but we're proud of Copper Nickel's growth in visibility and prestige since its relaunch in 2015.
Copper Nickel is edited by CU Denver creative writing faculty. And, unique for a journal at this level, Copper Nickel also receives substantial editorial input from undergraduate students. As many as 30 each semester engage in first-round editorial screening, proofreading, and production through work as volunteers, interns, and, every fourth semester, through ENGL 4088: Literary Editing: Copper Nickel.
Departmental Latin Honors
As we near the end of spring semester, the English Department encourages their undergraduates to pursue Latin honors with their English degree. The application process is easy, and we’d be happy to answer any questions that students might have.
Please reach out to Dr. Pompa Banerjee (pompa.banerjee@ucdenver.edu) in the next few weeks if interested. Dr. Banerjee would be happy to answer questions and assist in the development of a project. There is still plenty of time to apply. You can find the guidelines for pursuing honors at the following website: https://clas.ucdenver.edu/english/latin-honors.
English Faculty and Student Accomplishments
- Anthony Ballas contributed two entries to the Encyclopedia of London's East End, one for David Lynch's "Elephant Man" and the other on Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog".
- Nicky Beer's book, "Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes" is a finalist in the category of Bisexual Poetry for 2023's Lamba Literary Awards! Congrats Nicky!
- Kinzey Gill, a student of the ENGL Dept., wrote a piece for The Sentry on the Rainbow Cult Film Series, its success and future. You can read Kinzey's piece by clicking here. Thank you and congrats Kinzey!
- Sarah Hagelin has won the CLAS T/TT Excellence in Service Award! Congrats Sarah!
- Miranda Egger has won the CLAS IRC Excellence in Teaching Award! Congrats Miranda!
- Anthony Ballas has published a review of Mark Steven's edited collection "Understanding Marx, Understanding Modernism" in Marx & Philosophy. Anthony also interviewed Dr. Gerald Horne about his book. "The Rise and Fall of the Associated Negro Press". You see the interview on YouTube here or listen on the De Facto podcast channel here. Congrats Tony!
- Congratulations to Michelle Comstock for jointly receiving an National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant alongside two other professors for $149,197. This will be a three-year grant to create digital and curricular materials related to the university's development and impact on its neighborhood. The project title is "Recovering Auraria's Past: Building a Digital Tour of a Displaced Neighorhood and Reckoning with Campus History".
- Anthony Ballas interviewed Dr. Gerald Horne on his book "The Color of Fascism" on the life and trial of Lawrence Dennis, the so called "brains behind American Fascism". Anthony and Gerald discussed Fascism, Racial Passing, Christian Nationalism, the January 6th Capitol Attack, Kanye West and more! Soon after, Anthony provided a short commentary for Monthly Review on the Haitian Revolution and Gerald Horne's book "Confronting Black Jacobins". Congrats Anthony!
- Wayne Miller's poem, "Parable of Childhood" is the "encore" feature on the podcast The Slowdown, hosted by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón. Congrats Wayne!
- Anthony Ballas published an article for Caribbean Quarterly, covering Dr. Alyssa Sepinwall's book, "Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games". Congrats Tony!
- Dr. Andrew Scahill had an interview segment on KGNU where they talk about the course of his career, his thoughts on pedagogy and how he is trying to bridge the gap between theory and praxis in the events he is staging such the "Rainbow Cult" film series.
- Molly Kugel's new book "Groundcover" is now out! Sidney Wade says, “In these evocative pages, Molly Kugel connects the lives of mothers and children, women and botanicals, and the turning seasons of the natural world as she grieves the losses of a young brother and her father. The seasons of loss and grief are firmly based here in the ancient, ur-story of the loss of a child, that of the Persephone myth. The poet highlights as well the contributions of early women botanists in their struggle with the adaptations necessary to survive and flourish in this world. The poems are often incantatory, connecting the narrator with the lineage of “wise women” who have come before, and whose resonances echo profoundly in the present". Congrats Molly!
- Dr. Andrew Scahill was interviewed by the Denver Post on the launch of the Rainbow Cult series at the SIE center, where members of the LGBTQ community are reviving "eventized" film screenings in order to reunite audiences who were scattered by pandemic-era shutdowns of public culture. Dr. Scahill was then interviewed shortly after by KGWN Denver on his perspective of the film "Beast" and why animal terror is so efficient at the box office.
English Alumni Accomplishments
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Alejandro Lucero, who just graduated in December with a degree in English–Creative Writing, has had his poetry chapbook, Sapello Son, accepted for publication by Bull City Press—a nationally renowned poetry press out of Durham, North Carolina.
