While department chair Brian Reed has been on a much-deserved sabbatical leave this fall, I have served as Acting Chair. I have learned first-hand the daily challenges and responsibilities involved in running a department of this size and complexity. I have been humbled by the tireless effort of staff, advisers, program directors, graduate students, and faculty on behalf of the department. I am also grateful to the faculty as we continue to define what we do... Read more
MARSHA L. LANDOLT DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE MENTOR AWARD
Since arriving at the University of Washington in 1982, Professor Sandra "Sandy" Silberstein has chaired to completion 13 dissertations on a range of topics, from ethnographic studies of classrooms, to longitudinal studies of national language policy, to a study of Iran’s “Twitter revolution” and the rhetoric of nonviolence within the Occupy Movement. In addition, she currently chairs nine dissertation committees, with four of those students... Read more
Megan Callow joined the English department in Fall 2015 after completing a Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Maryland’s College of Education, specializing in writing in the disciplines, writing in the sciences, and faculty development for writing instruction. Professor Callow teaches in and is currently Associate Director of the department’s Interdisciplinary Writing Program.
Her dissertation, "... Read more
After brief forays in printing, house painting, and auto mechanics, Robert “Bob” McNamara (English ‘85, Ph.D) settled into a thirty year faculty career in the University of Washington’s English Department, where he also served as University Director of the Puget Sound Writing Project.
McNamara has received numerous awards and fellowships for his teaching, writing, and translating, among them a Creative Writing Fellowship from the NEA... Read more
Highlight achievements of the English Department’s talented faculty come, like Perseid meteors, at fleet pace. English Matters in each issue will feature some of the brightest arcs of the season. This fall we direct your attention to: Sandra Silberstein’s Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award; Juliet Shield’s Fulbright Scholar Award; Anu Taranath’s work addressing power and privilege in the classroom; and Charles Johnson’s Smithsonian Magazine piece for the newly... Read more
This fall, the English department hosted a faculty emeriti luncheon at the UW Club, attended by eighteen faculty emeriti along with their partners. Initiated by department chair Brian Reed, the event was a wonderful opportunity to bring colleagues together, acknowledge their influence, and thank them for their many contributions to the work we do.
We would like to thank the following colleagues who were able to join us: Edward Alexander, Kathleen Blake, John Coldewey, George Dillon, Richard... Read more
Ryan Bort is a writer and editor who covers culture, the arts, sports, and everything in between for a variety of online and print publications, including Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vice, and Grantland. His work has taken him, among other adventures, swimming in shark-infested waters with horror director Eli Roth, spending time with comedian Bob Saget, and riding a bus across the Canadian border with a... Read more
Professor Louis Chude-Sokei of the UW English Department recently participated in a Seattle Times video project titled Under Our Skin. This project grew out of conversations at The Seattle Times concerning their coverage of race, especially their reporting on such topics as police shootings, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and antiracist protests on college campuses across the... Read more
Jane Wong
Doctoral candidate Jane Wong is one of the English Department’s most dynamic and busiest graduate students. Faculty know her as a superlative teacher in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program. She’s impressed a great range of our faculty across department interests with her talent in other modes of teaching, her scholarship, and her award winning poetry.
Jane has a new book, a poetry prize, and a faculty appointment at Pacific Lutheran University. And this is just a start. For a... Read more
Priscilla Long (MFA ’90) is a Seattle area writer, teacher and popular speaker who publishes prolifically in a wide range of fiction, prose non-fiction and poetry. She’s earned many awards for her efforts, including from Hugo House and the Seattle Arts Commission. The English Department congratulates Priscilla on her latest book, fresh off... Read more
What are we reading? Glad you asked. As English people it doesn't take a lot of arm twisting to get us to talk about books! This fall, English Matters features recommendations from Professors Carrie Matthews, John Webster, Frances McCue, and our Chair Brian Reed.
Carrie Matthews recommends THE SNOW CHILD, by Alaska native Eowyn Ivy. "Even if you don't obsess... Read more