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

pixabay santa
Arts and Culture |

‘Tis the season for UNLV folklore expert Katherine Walker to guide us through some of the holiday season’s holliest and jolliest customs.

flag that reads "black mountain institute" and "supporting writers in Las Vegas"
Arts and Culture |

An interview with the poet and multimedia artist. She visits UNLV on Nov. 13 as part of the Breakout Writers Series.

man sat at desk in office holding a book
People |

The former English department chair and American lit buff will support faculty and help develop their teaching and research.

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.

close up of man's face against a white textured background
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.

English In The News

Las Vegas Sun

The Rev. Kelcey West, senior pastor at Nehemiah Ministries in Las Vegas, knows when the national climate becomes stark, people often resort to invoking a higher power, finding solace in phrases like “In God we trust,” or “May God bless America.”

The Nation

Recently released CIA documents revealing that the Agency surveilled Puerto Rican and Mexican American activists confirm what many of us have known for decades: that US government agencies have spied on Latinos—and probably still do.

Alta

Douglas Unger’s Dream City is the most ambitious novel ever written about Las Vegas. It’s an audacious attempt to explain what makes the city tick. Unger has taken up Tom Wolfe’s call to make research—reporting—the bedrock of a big, realistic work of fiction. The result is a novel in which Las Vegas is the main character, as much as if not more than the humans who populate the narrative.

Las Vegas Sun

Whether they’ve been cemented in culture since antiquity, since the turn of the 21st century or anytime in between, the traditions and symbols of Christmas, from decorated trees to the Grinch, share a DNA of identity and community.

Newswise

As we march toward another new year, we put more distance between ourselves and the origins of the traditions many of us hold dear. Fruitcake, gift giving, and hanging ornaments – they’re all a blend of cultural ideas crackling aside the hearty yule log on a holiday hearth.

The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini)

Writer Roberto Lovato joins Francesca to talk about the need to use the R word: revolutionary!

English Experts

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

Recent English Accomplishments

Roberto Lovato (English) recently published a feature length article in Alta Journal, "The Scarlet Macaw: Out of Place and at Home in the Desert," which explores how and why the walking, talking flying rainbow of a tropical bird was — and still is — embraced by indigenous peoples living more than 1000 miles from its native habitat.
Roberto Lovato (English) wrote in the Nation Magazine about a cache of recently- released CIA documents confirming that the agency surveilled, infiltrated, and disrupted the lives and organizations of Latinos during the civil on era and beyond.
Several articles edited by Gary Totten (Faculty Affairs; English) and published in the journal MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States(Faculty Affairs) and published by Oxford University Press have received awards or honorable mentions for the 1921 Prize in American Literature. The prestigious 1921 Prize is awarded by the American…
Route 7, the Utah Tech literary arts journal, praised Jarret Keene's (English) dystopian adventure novel "Hammer of the Dogs" (University of Nevada Press). "Set in Las Vegas following a nuclear attack that has transformed Glitter Gulch into Nightmare Alley," writes the reviewer, "Jarret Keene’s first novel, 'Hammer of the Dogs,'…
Author and professor Roberto Lovato (English) was listed on the Classically A-List in 2024 put out by Nob Hill Gazette, "San Francisco’s publication-of-record for the City’s social, philanthropic and cultural life."
Timothy Erwin (English) recently officiated at the 39th annual dinner of the Samuel Johnson Society of the West at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where he introduced professor Greg Clingham, who spoke on the topic of "Johnson and the Dream of Sleep."