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Community and University Initiatives

The Department of English engages in research, education, and service activities both within and outside the university. In addition to offering opportunites for traditional academic engagement, we are dedicated to enriching lives throughout our communities, and invite our faculty, staff, students and alumni to participate in these endeavors.

Antislavery Literature Project

Provides educational access to the literature and history of the antislavery movement in the United States. 

Beowulf Symposium

Invites campus and community members to participate in events aimed at showcasing Beowulf's relevance to modern society, often including performances, films, and a communal reading of the text.

Central Arizona Writing Project

The Central Arizona Writing Project (CAWP), a collaboration between Arizona State University and area schools, offers programs designed to improve the writing of Arizona's K-12 students and teachers. 

Chaucer Celebration

Commemorates the life and work of medieval author, Geoffrey Chaucer with events such as film festivals, concerts, performances, and academic discussions.

Come Home to English: ASU Homecoming Celebration

Invites alumni, faculty, staff, current students, and all community members “home” each fall in celebration of the Department of English's past, present, and future accomplishments.

Community Engagement Committee

The Department of English’s Community Engagement Committee interfaces with local service organizations to secure donations of time, goods, and money from faculty, staff, and students, benefiting animal rescue groups, food banks, schools, and social service societies. 

Department of English Internships

Places students in work environments in which they will gain professional experience in writing. 

Disciplinary Conferences

The Department of English regularly hosts or sponsors local, national, and international gatherings of professional and academic societies.

Edgework Series

The Edgework series hosting scholars for boundary-shattering lectures, workshops, and conversations throughout each academic year.

Emeritus Faculty Occasional Lecture Series

Hosts English professors emeriti for special lectures to share scholarship and expertise with the greater learning community. 

English Alumni Occasional Lecture Series

Features productive, outstanding ASU Department of English graduates of state, national, and international stature as visiting writers and presenters. 

Film and Media Studies Guest Speaker Series

The Department of English’s Film and Media Studies Guest Speaker Series brings artists, industry executives, and scholars to ASU for presentations or short residencies throughout the academic year.

Ian Fletcher Memorial Lecture

Hosts highly-regarded scholars for a distinguished lecture, typically in the field of Victorian Studies. 

International Study and Teaching Opportunities

The Department of English at ASU engages with several universities worldwide to provide, for students and faculty, learning and teaching experiences beyond our borders.

Journals

ASU English houses several highly regarded academic, professional, and creative publications.

MFA Reading Series

The MFA Reading Series, presented by English's Creative Writing Program, brings notable writers to the ASU community for readings and discussions about writing and their literary works. 

Poesía del Sol—Poetry of the Sun

Master of Fine Arts candidates and alumni compose poems based on conversations with terminally ill patients at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Prison Education Programming (PEP—formerly Prison English)

A comprehensive prison outreach initiative that provides book donations to understocked prison libraries, coordinates academic workshops in prisons through student internships and faculty involvement, and offer scourses for ASU students on topics such as prison literature and teaching. 

Project Yao

Project Yao engages in public scholarship by providing a free, Internet-accessible, and permanent database documenting literary translation relations between China and the United States. 

RED INK Indigenous Initiative for All: Creativity & Collaboration at Work

The RED INK Initiative is an interrelated set of campus, regional, national and international projects, including an international journal, to achieve its mission and goals in collaboration with Indigenous communities.

Shakespeare Birthday Bash

Commemorates the life and work of William Shakespeare with engaging, accessible campus events, open to the public, in April every other year.

Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community

Addresses topics and issues across disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences, and politics. Underscoring Indigenous American experiences and perspectives, this series seeks to create and celebrate knowledge that evolves from an Indigenous worldview that is inclusive and that is applicable to all walks of life.

Words over Water

Loosely based on the gregueria form, 400 granite tiles—each engraved with a short, water-themed poem—surround the Tempe Town Lake (Ariz.).

YAWP (Young Adult Writers Program—formerly rl txt)

YAWP is a summer writing program for young writers (going into grades 3 -12), which offers them a non-evaluative environment in which to explore the power of writing.