A student in the library with her literature books and her computer open.

Department of English News

The Department of English provides programs that transform students into engaged and informed citizens who enrich the vitality of their local and global communities. Our majors explore literature as an artistic medium from theoretical and historical perspectives. In the process, students hone their analytical and writing skills.

Current English News

commencement profile (josh hawkins/unlv)
People |

President Keith E. Whitfield honors six graduates who have shown exemplary commitment to both the community and their studies.

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Arts and Culture |

March 21 reading  is part of Black Mountain Institute's Breakout Writers Series.

instructor's hand gesturing to class of students
Campus News |

Trauma-informed teaching expert Kaitlin Clinnin offers faculty guidance on navigating a potentially challenging semester.

A portait of Hugo Silva with his two dogs, Juno and Hudson.
People |

The web communications specialist is here to turn your content from mid to Gucci. No cap.

Spooky season at UNLV (Becca Schwartz\UNLV).
Campus News |

A collection of news stories focused on research, expert insights, and academic achievement.

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People |

Safiyya Bintali will attend Educause’s annual conference and network with technology professionals to further her IT career goals.

English In The News

Las Vegas Review Journal

“Community.” “Curious.” “Expectant.” “Unified.” In one word, each person explains his or her feelings at this particular moment. Seated in a circle of red plastic chairs, an array of community spiritual leaders and UNLV students and faculty pass a microphone to introduce themselves at the “How to Be a Peacemaker” discussion group, part of the university’s ongoing Diversity Dialogues series.

Black Fox Literary Magazine

His blistering dystopian adventure novel Hammer of the Dogs was published by the University of Nevada Press in September.

Publishers Weekly

Majoring in English as undergrads in the early 1990s, Gen Xers like me hid our passions from the professors.

KNPR News

Jarret Keene, an assistant professor of English at UNLV, recently published a novel called Hammer of the Dogs, set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. It tells the story of Lash, a 21-year-old woman who is trying to save her peers and Las Vegas from forces that use technology in nefarious ways.

History Channel

Explore the origins behind witch costume features—the hat, the black dress, prominent nose and green skin.

Desert Companion

Food writer Kim Foster explores these associations and more, as part of UNLV’s University Forum Lecture series in collaboration with the Black Mountain Institute

English Experts

An expert on the storytelling in video games.
An expert in the literature of the United States.
An expert on the apocalypse, and American literature and culture.

Recent English Accomplishments

"Gunpowder Mountain" by Jarret Keene (English) is now available for preorder. Join Kid Crimson in Virginia City, Nevada, in the 1860s as he faces ruthless gangs, rowdy saloon dwellers, and a plot to assassinate Lincoln. Bestselling western novelist Peter Brandvold says, "[Keene] is one hell of a writer."
Timothy Erwin’s (English) “Austen’s Oceans: New Contexts for Persuasion” appears in the current volume of 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era, a Rutgers University Press annual. The essay began as a presentation at a Luxembourg meeting called “Water and Sea in Word and Image.”  Erwin reads Austen’s last…
Katherine Walker (English) has published a lecture series with Audible's Great Courses titled, "The History and Enduring Popularity of Astrology." The lectures argue that past cultures viewed astrology as a science, one that shaped metaphorical thinking in the premodern worlds. The work is available to listen to for free for those who have an…
Booklist and School Library Journal recently published nice reviews of an illustrated nonfiction book for kids written by Jarret Keene (English) called Heroes of World War II: 25 True Stories of Unsung Heroes Who Fought for Freedom (Bushel & Peck Peck). Booklist says "this engaging book briefly describes 25 individuals (or groups) who were…
Gary Totten (English) published the article "Naturalism and the New Woman: Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" and Grant Allen's "The Woman Who Did" in the journal Studies in American Naturalism. The article examines the representation of New Woman characters in these two novels in relation to the genre conventions of literary naturalism…
John M. Bowers (English) published his article “Durin’s Stone, Ruthwell Cross, and Dream of the Rood” in Tolkien Studies, 20 (2023). This includes his newly discovered translation by J. R. R. Tolkien of the Old English masterpiece Dream of the Rood.