Recent News

The English Department presents Samantha Ruelas (she/her). Samantha is an English major with an emphasis in Literature (and potentially creative writing).

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

The English Department presents Emma Tolliver (she/her). Emma is an English (Criticism emphasis) and Political Science - Public Service double major who is also minoring in Human Rights Studies.

What is a must-read for an English major? 

Braiding Sweetgrass. It is a beautiful and interdisciplinary work by an indigenous scholar, and I think there's so much to take away and learn from that text.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

What are your major(s) and minor(s)? Include your English major emphasis ( or intended emphasis) as well!

4th yr English major double emphasis (Lit. Criticism & Creative Writing).

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? (1-3 sentences)

Were you an English major? Tell us what your major(s) and minor(s) in college were and were you went to undergrad, please.

Were you an English major? Tell us what your major(s) and minor(s) in college were and were you went to undergrad.

I double-majored in English and Astrophysics at Boston University.

What's the coolest non-professor job you have ever had?

During graduate school, I was the DJ on Thursdays and Saturdays at the only nightclub in Iowa City, IA, the 620 Club, which was also the only location in all of western Iowa listed in the Gay Yellow Pages, which were an actual thing before the internet.

The English Department presents Ashley Salem (she/her). Ashley is a second year English major (creative writing emphasis) and an archaeology minor.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? 

My favorite memory at UC Davis is definitely having dinner outside every night with fellow freshmen water polo players last year (2020-2021). There weren’t many people on campus, but having that solid group of friends to see every night made such an odd year so special.

What is a must read for an English major?

The English Department presents Coralie Border (she/her), a third-year undergraduate student and English peer advisor. She is an English (creative writing emphasis) and  sociology double major.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

To be honest, my favorite memories will always be of spending time at the arboretum. In the midst of my hectic freshman schedule, I would always try to find time to stop by the arboretum, watch the ducks nap in the grass, and de-stress with a good book.

The UC Davis English Department presents Annie Berger (she/her/hers) for the Student Profile Series! Annie is a fourth year English (Literature, Criticism and Theory emphasis) and Communication double major.

What are your major(s) and minor(s)?

Double major in English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) and Communication

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? 

The UC English Department presents Tanya Casas (she/her/hers) for the Student Profile Series! Graciela is an English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) and Philosophy Minor.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

My favorite memory at UC Davis is a time I had a stressful week and decided to just walk to the arboretum and just sit there reading a book by Margaret Attwood for hours.

What is a must-read for an English major?

On Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021 UC Davis English faculty and students gathered virtually for our annual end-of-the-year awards celebration. One of the honors announced was the Lois Ann Lattin Rosenberg Outstanding Senior award which went to Ruth Christopher. Below you’ll find Chirstopher’s remarks.

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As the UC Student body grows to reflect the diversity of California’s population, graduate and faculty populations have conspicuously failed to keep pace. One of the key impediments to recruiting a  professoriate resides farther back in the pipeline, in the traditional processes and criteria for graduate admissions. These, we are happy to report, have begun to change in tangible ways at the UC Davis English department. 

Last year we welcomed Zinzi Clemmons to the department as Visiting Assistant Professor in Creative Writing. This coming fall we will welcome her again, this time as Assistant Professor in English on the tenure track. 

Celeste Turner Wright: Longest-serving Chair of English 

By 

Linda A. Morris, Professor Emerita

Crip Temporalities, Special Issue of South Atlantic Quarterly

Edited by Elizabeth Freeman and Ellen Samuels

Extraction Ecologies and the Literature of the Long Exhaustion

By Elizabeth Carolyn Miller

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

One day, I was walking across the quad to meet friends for lunch and stumbled upon a huge pool noodle battle! It felt both incredibly random and also perfectly "Davis."

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Building relationships and friendships that have lasted beyond college until now through many of life’s chapters and seasons.

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Laying out on the Quad with a group of friends, reading, studying, and enjoying warm weather.

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

I am now an attorney advocate for the Judicial Council of California. After graduating from UC Davis with

The UC Davis English Department presents Amber Torres! Amber is an English (Creative Writing emphasis) major with a minor in Education.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? 

The UC English Department presents Graciela Cardona (she/her/hers) for the Student Profile Series! Graciela is an English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) and Design Double Major. 

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

My favorite memory at UC Davis is the many days I would   grab an iced coffee before class during spring quarter. I  always enjoyed my time on campus and looked forward to attending lectures with such great professors.

What are you passionate about?

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

I met my wife while working at the Coffee House so that’s definitely up there. For English, top of mind is probably taking video games and literature with Colin Milburn and writing my final paper at Davis about God of War for PlayStation 2.

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

The UC Davis English Department presents Amara Deis for the Student Profile Series! Amara is a Communication major with a Minor in Professional Writing and English.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Serving as Orientation Leader for Fall 2020 transfer students and being able to tell them why the transfer process would be worth it.

What is a must-read for an English major?

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Performing hula with Na Keiki O'Hawaii while barefoot in the Quad, and taking science fiction classes with Colin Milburn!

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

The UC Davis Department of English presents Jelena Lapuz for the Student Profile Series! Jelena is an English major (Creative Writing emphasis) and minoring in Professional Writing.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

I love the simplicity of studying in coffee shops downtown and the liveliness of seeing college students everywhere.

What are you passionate about?

The UC Davis English Department presents Caitlyn Liu (she/her/hers) for the Student Profile Series! Caitlyn is a fourth year English (Literature, Criticism and Theory emphasis) and Communication (Information and Communication Technology emphasis) double major with a Computer Science minor.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Oddly enough, the summer courses. They were more intense (because shorter term) but I loved being on campus during the nice weather with less foot traffic and working all day on my assignments anywhere on campus with an iced coffee and my laptop.

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

The UC Davis English Department presents Gil Vitro (they/them/theirs) for the Student Profile Series! Gil is a fourth year English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) and Anthropology double major.

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

There's a collage of memories in my head of finding my favorite places to sit on campus

(the Coffee House, the WRRC, the CCC, the Quad), and working on projects and talking with people. I loved being on campus earlier in the day when everyone was slowly trickling in for classes.

Link to article: https://lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/news/words-and-more-creative-writing-series

Two of the most visible and accomplished of our creative writing masters program graduates return to campus (virtually) this week for a special reunion with mentor emeritus Professor Jack Hicks.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have collaborated to write six installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In the summer of 2019, Avengers: Endgame broke a 10-year-old record held by Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in nearly $2.8 billion worldwide.

On the occasion of the publication of UC Davis English Professor Fran Dolan’s new book, Digging the Past: How and Why to Imagine Seventeenth-Century Agriculture, PhD alum Elizabeth Crachiolo and PhD candidate Ashley Sarpong interviewed the author about her interest in soil amendments, biodynamic wine, and early modern literature and culture, among other matters. 

Link to Article: https://lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-creative-writing-series-expands-online

A Virtual End to the Academic Year

On Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020 nearly a hundred UC Davis English faculty and students gathered virtually for our annual end-of-the-year awards celebration. 

How the UC Davis English Department adapted to online instruction and life in the time of COVID-19

By Bethany Qualls

The new and improved homepage of our English department collaborative Canvas instructor site.

The prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Clerk’s Tale” in the Ellesmere Chaucer manuscript held at The Huntington Library. © MS EL 26 C 9, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

I dar the bettre aske of yow a space

Of audience to shewen oure requeste,

Teaching William Morris

Edited by Jason D. Martinek and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller

Tell us about your new book. What is its central project?

Premodern Ecologies in the Modern Literary Imagination

Edited by Vin Nardizzi and Tiffany Jo Werth

Tell us about your new book. What is its central project?

Bloom, Gina

George Floyd's murder by police officers has sparked protests across the country while renewing conversations about racial injustice. In our department, that conversation has included a request from an undergraduate English major for faculty to compile and share a list of recommended works that shed light on our moment and center Black voices.

This spring brings news that Professor Gina Bloom is the recipient of a Chancellor's Award for Mentoring Undergraduate Research, a New Research Initiatives and Interdisciplinary Research grant from the Committee on Research, and a Davis Humanities Institute Network-Collaboration Fellowship for her research. 

Professor Milburn Wins First Dean’s Prize for Distinguished Contributions to the Liberal Arts and Sciences

UC Davis English Professor Colin Milburn is the inaugural recipient of the Dean's Prize for Distinguished Contributions to the Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Say Hello to the UC Davis English Department's April 2020 Student of the Month, Vera Bell! Vera, a passionate and hardworking second-year transfer student, is pursuing her English (Literature, Criticism, and Theory emphasis) major. 

What is the most memorable English class you've taken at UC Davis? Why?

Breaking News: Graduating English Major Jumana Esau is being awarded the University Medal!

This award recognizes the top graduating senior across the university for academic excellence in undergraduate studies, outstanding community service, and the promise of future scholarship and contributions to society. 

We are proud to report that Professor Pam Houston has won the UC Davis 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching. This award recognizes outstanding teaching and dedication to student success and is selected by the UC Davis Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee. 

Meet Elissa Badique, a PhD Student currently attending Cornell University.

What is your favorite memory from UC Davis? 

My favorite memory from UC Davis was the Whole Earth Festival.
 

What are you up to now, personally or professionally?

I recently finished up my final year as a Community Advisor for the Graduate Commons Program at Harvard University. Since then, I have started a PhD program at Cornell University.

Meet Jodi Angel, a UC Davis English alumni who is now a professional writer. Get to know Jodi below!

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?

Meet Gina Del Vecchio, an alumni who now works for Google and owns and operates Pilates Reformer Studios. Read more about Gina Del Vecchio below. 

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis? 

Oddly, my greek comparative literature class with Professor Seth Schein. It was one of the few classes I truly felt sad to have to end upon completion!

What are you up to now, personally or professionally? 

Meet Erin Foley, an Alumni who now works for a non-profit organization. Read more about Erin Foley Below. 

What is your favorite memory at UC Davis?