This week marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth — she was born Dec. 16, 1775 — and fans of her novels have been celebrating with tea parties, brunches, and balls. Her novels — including “Sense and Sensibility,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma” — enjoy immense popularity. They are the...

Kristi McDuffie has earned an LAS Academic Professional Award. McDuffie was among eight staff members and academic professionals to be honored by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences for outstanding professional contributions. The awardees will be celebrated at a ceremony in Spring 2026...

The voyage of the HMS Challenger in the 1870s was a sprawling 3-1/2-year expedition to explore the world’s oceans. The scientists aboard the vessel collected 100,000 specimens of sea creatures, discovered 5,000 new species, mapped the ocean floors and took hundreds of measurements of sea...

Rob Kanter believed the best education didn’t happen within four walls. Even when he stood in front of a classroom, he focused on the world beyond it.For more than a decade, Kanter (PhD, '99, English) guided students not only through course readings but across landscapes—from the tropical...

David Wright Faladé examines race, class, and gender through the eyes of a young college woman spending time in her small Texas hometown in his new short story, “...

  Illinois English professor Shawn Gilmore was recently featured on Slate's Decoder Ring podcast. The podcast episode explores the origins of a familiar visual trope in thrillers, mysteries, and crime dramas: a board...

David Wright Faladé, professor of creative writing in the Department of English, was recently published in The New Yorker. His short story,...

English and African American studies professor Irvin Hunt thought twice before he answered a phone call from an unknown caller, but little did he know that it was about to change everything. It came from film...

 Professor Tim Dean has been named the Frank Hodgins Chair in American Literature. With the named position, Dean is being recognized as a leading scholar in the fields of American literature, queer theory, psychoanalytic...