English department to host graduate program preview


Tue, 09/03/2013

author

Kristi Henderson

LAWRENCE — The Department of English at the University of Kansas hopes to put Lawrence on the map for more minority graduate students during a weekend preview event.

The department will host its first Jayhawk English Sneak Peek Weekend to introduce prospective minority graduate students to the program, especially those who may be unfamiliar with the literary significance of Lawrence and KU.

“We’re excited to introduce our department to a group of students who might not ordinarily think of Kansas as a place they’d like to attend graduate school,” said Stephanie Fitzgerald, assistant professor of English.

Best-selling authors from Langston Hughes to William S. Burroughs have called Lawrence home. Current English faculty include University Distinguished Professor Maryemma Graham and award-winning playwright Darren Canady.

The event is open to students from underrepresented groups, including first-generation college students and minority populations, and students from outside the Midwest. Selected applicants will be compensated for airfare up to $300 and will be provided overnight lodging.

The sneak peek weekend, Oct. 10-11, will include a luncheon, a panel discussion featuring faculty who teach courses in nontraditional literatures and another panel discussion on how to apply to graduate school. Potential applicants will also tour campus and KU’s Project on the History of Black Writing, which has been engaged in researching and recovering black writers and their works for the past 30 years.

The department encourages interested students to submit a letter of interest, an unofficial transcript and a short note of endorsement from a faculty adviser by Wednesday, Sept. 11, to Giselle Anatol, director of graduate studies and professor of English, at ganatol@ku.edu.

For more background, please visit the Department of English website. Click on the “graduate” link near the top of the page.

The Department of English is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at KU. The College encourages learning without boundaries in its more than 50 departments, programs and centers. Through innovative research and teaching, the College emphasizes interdisciplinary education, global awareness and experiential learning. The College is KU's broadest, most diverse academic unit.

Tue, 09/03/2013

author

Kristi Henderson

Media Contacts

Kristi Henderson

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

785-864-3663