English invites us to develop empathy and gain insight into the lives of the characters we study. In learning about others’ stories, we are able to create our own—thus joining a human conversation that spans centuries.

Why study English at Sewanee

When you study English here at Sewanee, you’ll be part of a truly storied program. The vibrancy and range of courses will transform you into a closer reader, a more insightful critic, and a superior writer. Explore texts from classical to contemporary, Shakespearean to African American, and all the stories in between.

Under the instruction of faculty and noted visiting writers, you’ll be immersed in the University’s historic and esteemed literary tradition. Sewanee is home to both The Sewanee Review, the country’s oldest continuously published literary quarterly, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, a yearly gathering of writers that has included Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners.

FIRST DESTINATIONS: english MAJORS

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others, are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first job.

  • Legislative Correspondent, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.
  • Marketing Executive Assistant, Dow Jones, New York City, NY.
  • Writing & Editorial Assistant (Travel Section), U.S. News & Wold Report, Washington, D.C.
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PREPROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: english MAJORS

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and preprofessional programs–about 95 percent to law school and over 85 percent to medical school. Below is a sampling of where Sewanee grads continue their education.

  • M.A. in English, Georgetown University.
  • M.F.A. in Fine Arts, Parsons School of Design.J.D. University of South Carolina Law School.
  • Ph.D. in Medieval Studies, Yale University.
  • J.D. College of William and Mary.

Finding Beauty Among the Wreckage

A new from Kelly Grey Carlisle, C’98, tells the story of an abandoned baby, a murdered mother, and an unorthodox childhood in a Los Angeles marina.

The only time Kelly Grey Carlisle remembers meeting the LAPD homicide detective who lifted her three-week-old body from the half-opened dresser drawer of a seedy motel room, she was eight years old, in her Easter dress, with a stack of report cards arranged neatly in her lap. Her grandfather wanted to show the detective that the baby he had carried from the motel room that night had, against all odds, turned into a bright, happy young girl. The detective had investigated the murder of Carlisle’s mother—a murder that, to this date, remains officially unsolved.

Carlisle, C’98, a professor of English and writing at Trinity University in San Antonio, has just published We Are All Shipwrecks, a lively and lyrical memoir documenting her unorthodox childhood and her effort to come to terms with her upbringing. In the shadow of her mother’s tragic murder and her father’s absence, Carlisle was raised by her maternal grandfather, Richard, and his second wife, Marilyn, who together ran a profitable porn shop in Los Angeles. When her mother was killed, Carlisle’s maternal grandmother, Spence, was given custody, but she died of a stroke when Kelly was only four. For much of her childhood and adolescence, Carlisle lived with her grandfather and Marilyn on a boat docked in an L.A. marina.

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A Sampling of Courses

The Novel in the Global Age
English

This course explores the contemporary Anglophone novel since 1989. Written largely from transnational perspectives that defy traditional national boundaries, the novels in this course share a concern with capturing global experience and analyzing the cultural and economic impact of globalization. Potential readings include works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Teju Cole, Amitav Ghosh, Michael Ondaatje, and Ruth Ozeki.

ENGL 316
The Life and Literature of Tennessee Williams
English

A study of the major dramatic works of Tennessee Williams, as well as his poetry and fiction. The course also examines Williams' life and his impact on 20th-century American literature and theatre.

ENGL 330
Gothic Literature
English

By turns terrifying, melancholy, and bizarre, Gothic literature channels real anxieties in monstrous forms. This course features literature of the mysterious, uncanny, supernatural, and grotesque. The specific focus of the class may vary from year to year (e.g., a special focus on American Gothic fiction or Literature of the Sublime, or others).

ENGL 389
Modern Drama
English

An exploration of the development of modern drama from Ibsen's ground-breaking naturalism to contemporary drama's new variations. The course will emphasize the relationship between the theater and society and issues of performance, as well as close study of the plays themselves. Authors covered may include Wilde, Shaw, Beckett, Williams, Stoppard, and others.

ENGL 390
American Environmental Literature
English

A study of writings from the colonial era to our own day reflecting diverse ways of imagining humanity's relation to the natural environment. Readings include both traditional literary texts by authors such as Thoreau, Cather, and Frost and seminal nonfiction by figures such as Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Rachel Carson, and Wendell Berry.

ENGL 396
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English

Programs of Study & Related Programs

Requirements for the Major in English

Requirements for the Minor in Shakespeare Studies | Website

Requirements for the Certificate in Creative Writing | Website

Meet some professors

Virginia Craighill
vcraighi@sewanee.edu

Virginia Ottley Craighill has been teaching at Sewanee since 2001 and is also a graduate of the University of the South, C’82, the University of Georgia, and the University of Texas at Austin. Her interests range from 19th century and modern American literature to literary journalism, creative non-fiction, and women’s literature.

Professor of English
William Engel
wengel@sewanee.edu

Professor Engel received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and specializes in medieval and Renaissance literature with an eye toward the history of ideas. He has published chapters in collections of essays on topics that include Chaucer’s use of Boethius, Shakespeare’s historical context, Milton’s use of Anglo-Saxon, and Poe’s cryptography.

Professor of English
Maha Jafri
majafri@sewanee.edu

Maha Jafri received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University and her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. She specializes in Victorian literature, with research and teaching interests in the history of the novel and narrative, psychology, ethics, and intellectual history.

Assistant Professor of English

Contact

Jennifer D. Michael
Professor of English 

jmichael@sewanee.edu

Gailor Hall 111, Ext. 1865

Writing Center
Sharpen your pencils, sharpen your skills

Need help with a paper? The Writing Center provides you with objective peer support and instruction for writing projects. The student tutors represent a wide range of majors, and they can help you at any stage in the writing process—topic development, rough drafts, final drafts, revisions, etc. They’re basically your cheerleader from brainstorming to final draft.

Write On
Sewanee Review
Flip through the pages of our storied tradition

Founded in 1892, the Sewanee Review is America’s oldest continuously published literary quarterly. Many of the twentieth century’s great writers, including T. S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Ezra Pound, have appeared in the magazine. Sewanee Review also has a long tradition of cultivating emerging talent—like Flannery O’Connor’s first pieces. What’s more, as a student here, you have the opportunity to work for the publication.

Explore the Collection
The Sewanee Writers' Conference
Collaboration & Composition

The Sewanee Writers' Conference is where writers, agents, and participants gather to be creative and collaborate. Attend writing workshops, readings, panel presentations, lectures on the craft of poetry, fiction, and playwriting, and numerous social gatherings. Come connect with fellow writers. This conference is sure to ignite your muse.

Join Us