DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Renaissance Drama, a leading journal of early modern studies housed in the Department of English, celebrates the publication of its fiftieth volume this year.  Founded at Northwestern in 1964 by professor of English Samuel Schoenbaum, Renaissance Drama has been edited ever since by faculty affiliated with the Department, including Leonard Barkan, Mary Beth Rose, Wendy Wall, Jeffrey Masten, and Will West. The journal publishes scholarship on the whole array of Renaissance theater and performance traditions throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Americas.

Jeffrey Masten is among the 2022 Guggenheim Fellows recently named by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The award will help support Masten’s research into early printed copies of literary texts and the changing histories of gender and sexuality registered by the readers who owned, marked up and read them across time.

INHUMAN FIGURES: ROBOTS, CLONES, AND ALIENS, a film essay by Michelle N. Huang and CA Davis, can now be viewed through the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. INHUMAN FIGURES excavates three popular science-fictional archetypes—the robot, clone, and alien—to reveal how imagined futures are produced from a long history of treating Asian Americans as tireless workers, indistinguishable copies, and forever foreigners.

Reginald Gibbons was selected as the tenth recipient of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame's Fuller Award, an honor conferred in October of 2021 in recognition of his lifetime achievements as an author, scholar, teacher, and institution builder.  

Litowitz MFA+MA in English and Creative Writing

This program offers intimate classes, the opportunity to pursue both creative and critical writing, and close mentorship by renowned faculty in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Our three-year curriculum gives students time to deepen both their creative writing and their study of literature. Students complete two degrees concurrently --an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in English.

• About the MFA+MA degree program
• Writing Faculty publications

MA in English Literature

Designed to be completed in one year and flexible in its requirements, our Master's in Literature allows students considerable freedom in choosing courses in English and in related disciplines. Most are planning to move on to Doctoral study elsewhere, improve their credentials as teachers in secondary schools and community colleges, or to take their experience into the business and publishing sectors.

• About the Master's degree program

PhD in English Literature

Our PhD program offers advanced study and research in literary history, criticism, and theory, with excellent opportunities for study between both disciplines and departments. Courses within the department cover major genres, periods, authors, and a broad range of methodological and theoretical approaches. Significant support in professional development and on the job market are cornerstones of the program.

• About the Doctoral program