English Department Welcome message from the Chair

One of the founding departments of Stanford University in 1891, the English Department is the cornerstone of the humanities at Stanford. The pioneer faculty of English was an eclectic group of writers, comparativists, and literary scholars.

Front entrance of the quad from Jordan Hall to Hoover Tower, on Serra Street. From a series of images intended to "recreate" historical images from the Stanford Archives. bicycle

 

Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Undergraduate Program

To study English is to master the power of language.

On the first day of summer, junior Chaz Curet takes a break to read in the sun. The English major found a comfortable spot in the SEQ to read from 'Our Story Begins,' a collection of short stories by Stanford professor Tobias Wolff.

Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Coterminal Master of Arts

If you are an advanced undergraduate who wants to take the study of literature to a higher level, then the coterminal M.A. program is for you.

Ato Quayson speaking with Ramon Saldivar and Paula Moya

Paul Keitz

Check out our courses

Stanford English offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary courses taught by world-class faculty

A photo of Ato Quayson and Adam Johnson attending the Creative Writing Welcome Back Dinner.

Views from the Department

Professor Ato Quayson with Professor Adam Johnson at Creative Writing Welcome Dinner

 

 

Recent News

Ato Quayson, the Jean G. and Morris M. Doyle Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Chair of the Department of English elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Read the full article on Stanford Report.
From Library of America | February 10, 2023 Book Madness author Denise Gigante on the obsessive 19th-century bibliomaniacs who “lived in and through books” Long before there was BookTok, there was bibliomania, a consuming hunger among nineteenth-century American readers to amass, pore over, and cherish textual objects and commune with beloved...
Winter-Spring 2023 Undergraduate Research Internships at SCALAA (Stanford Computational Approaches Literary and Archival Analysis) Are you interested in gaining academic research experience this year? Then why not apply for an undergraduate Research Internship in the Department of English, collaborating with faculty to pursue original...

Upcoming Events

June
8
Date
Thu June 8th 2023, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location
Terrace Room, Room 426, Margaret Jacks Hall

Department Bookshelf

English remains a top-ranked department nationally because of the strength and variety of our faculty publications, both in scholarly research and creative writing. Browse the Bookshelf to explore our many interests.

 Browse the entire Bookshelf