Message from the Chairperson
The greatest strengths of the English Department at Fredonia are our faculty, our diverse course offerings, and our thoughtfully-designed degree programs.
As scholar-teachers, Fredonia English faculty pride ourselves on our ability to combine exciting classroom learning experiences with challenging research agendas. We regularly teach general education and introductory courses in Fredonia Foundations, genres, literature and identities, and world literature, along with more advanced survey, period, and author courses, and courses in criticism, writing, film, and cultural studies. Our English pedagogy team leads students through an initial certification program that is unparalleled for its breadth of preparation in courses devoted to the teaching of writing, adolescent literature, literacy and technology, the reading process, and general methods in English Language Arts. Our creative writing faculty guide future writers as they consider careers in writing and publishing.
I'm consistently amazed by how people who teach so much and so well also maintain such active scholarly and creative agendas. Fredonia English faculty publish influential books, articles, poems, fiction, and essays; edit anthologies, archival works, and journals; attend conferences in their fields and give talks on campus; support engaged scholarship in the community; and stay informed of and contribute to the most recent scholarship in pedagogy. These combined skills have garnered national and regional writing awards, local community grants, and Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Adjunct Teaching, and Faculty Service.
Our faculty run one Mary Louise White Visiting Writers Series creative writing event per semester and organize one Mary Louise White Lecture per year; we collaborate with multiple departments and offices on one to two events per semester for Writers @ Work, Fredonia's Alumni Writers-in-Residence Series. We support numerous interdisciplinary programs on campus, such as African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, Film Studies, and the Honors Program. We take students to professional conferences in writing and pedagogy, and lead study programs in London, Iceland, and New York City. We work closely with students who are writing honors theses and other capstone research projects, and student groups such as the Writers' Ring and Sigma Tau Delta—our English Honor Society—as well as campus student groups including the Japanese Club and Hillel. We give students numerous opportunities for hands-on learning through community partnerships and internships.
Fredonia English is a vibrant community of learners exploring the power of language and image in the 21st century. I invite you to join us!