This past year has been a challenge for us all—navigating a pandemic so isolating, nerve-wracking and labyrinthine it seems impossible to capture its essence in words while still in the midst of it. Instead of writing about an experience we’ve all endured, I thought it more important to try and build some semblance of the community…
Course Preview for Spring 2021
What a wild ride this semester has been! Daily life is feeling increasingly stressful and existential: a global pandemic, a national election, and a whole host of pressing social issues that our community is facing. Despite this, it is a great time to take an upper division English course, because they have the unique ability…
The Place I Know – An Exploration of the Music of Arthur Russell
The current pandemic may be keeping us from attending live events, but that doesn’t prohibit us from listening to and writing about the music and lyrics that move us. What follows is an exploration of Arthur Russell’s work, along with a consideration of the tangible effect music can have on our lives, written by contributing…
A Digital Discussion: Cancel Culture
This digital discussion on cancel culture occurred Friday, September 10th, and is the first in a series of Zoom-powered lectures that will be held this semester. What follows is a thoughtful write-up of the event by contributor Lucy Mackintosh. Cancel culture is something that pervades the modern psyche; as readers, we have a hard time…
Professor Cheri Buck-Perry: What’s in a Metaphor?
Way back in mid-February–before toilet paper started flying off the shelves, we all started mask-wearing, and graduating students tuned in to a virtual commencement ceremony–15 new members were inducted into UP’s Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society. Though it’s hard to imagine now, students and faculty from the English Department gathered to share a meal and…
Q&A with G. C. Waldrep
G. C. Waldrep is a poet and historian. He currently teaches at Bucknell University and serves as the editor for Bucknell’s literary magazine West Branch. Waldrep’s most recent poetry collection is Feast Gently. Waldrep was scheduled to be visiting UP tonight in the Brian Doyle Auditorium; however, due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus, the…
Job Opportunity: The Graide Network
Sometimes, it can feel like there’s a dissonance between being an English major and deciding what to do with that major. It’s rare that you’ll get to analyze literature for the rest of your career. There are also so many different experiences that the major opens up. So what’s an English major to do? One…
Q&A with Luis Alberto Urrea
Q&A with author Luis Roberto Urrea to visit University of Portland as a part of the Schoenfelt Distinguished Speaker series November 7th 2019. …
Humans of the English Department
Jordan Ducree ’23 “I had an ‘aha!’ moment about a different major when I was really little—I’m a double major in biology and English. When I was little I would watch documentaries about forensic science, and I wanted to do work like that, so I knew I needed to study biology in order to pursue…
Spring 2020 Course Preview
While spring semester often comes with rainy walks to campus, wet jeans, and damp textbooks, English majors have an exciting course selection to look forward to despite the changing seasons. Find out the specifics about the interesting course offerings so that you can make careful selections as you register for classes this fall. Here we…