English Department
Go English!
Here at the ECU Department of English, we are a vibrant and energetic collection of teachers, scholars, researchers, and writers. Our department offers four degrees: a B.A. in English; a B.S. in Professional Writing and Information Design; an M.A. in English; a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication as well as various minors and certificates. The diversity of this department is one of its strengths: you can take coursework in literature, creative writing, technical and professional communication, rhetoric and composition, multicultural and transnational literatures, linguistics, theory and criticism, folklore, children’s literature, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and film studies. In addition, you can expect to benefit from a breadth of faculty expertise across many areas of study. Above all, your success as a student is our first priority.
— Dr. Julia Horiates
English News
Dr. Erin Clark, Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication doctoral student Mina Bikmohammadi, and Dr. Ryan Cheek (Missouri S&T) were named #PITUN #NetworkChallenge24 grantees. The group will convene scholars, students, and community partners at Missouri S&T and East Carolina University to create zines as a form of public interest technology that advances gender justice and promotes technological equity.
The 2024 projects center the needs of communities that have historically been excluded from technology design, workforce and policy, and will empower communities through partnerships with minority-serving institutions, local and state government and nonprofits.
ECU alumni Michael K. Brantley has been selected as the distinguished Elizabeth H. Jordan Endowed Chair of Southern Literature at Barton College. Brantley’s new appointment was effective at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester.
In addition to his current teaching responsibilities in the English program, Brantley’s new role includes overseeing the Barton College Homegrown Writers Series, which he established to showcase the written works of Barton faculty and students. He also oversees the various endowed literature speaker series each year and collaborates with faculty on campus to elevate the use of the K.D. Kennedy, Jr. Rare Book Room and its valued resources.
Brantley has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, a Master of Arts degree in English from East Carolina University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Barton College.
Dr. Brian Glover and Professor John Hoppenthaler received the ECU research reassignment award for Spring 2025
The Research and Creative Activities Committee and the Office of Research, Economic Development and Engagement (REDE) have partnered to administer the Faculty Support and Reassignment Awards program since 2021. This program provides funds to allow faculty dedicated time in the academic year for creative and scholarly activity and to prepare and submit a competitive application for extramural support.
Dean Marshall Tuck’s novel Twinless Twin was selected as the recipient of the James Alan McPherson prize for the novel by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. The AWP recently announced that National Book Award Winner Jason Mott chose Tuck’s book among several hundred novels submitted for the prize. Tuck is an ECU Creative Writing alumnus and former English faculty member,
The University of Nebraska Press will be publishing Twinless Twin in 2025, and Tuck is invited to read from his novel at the 2026 AWP conference.
Tuck has also had recent publications in other literary journals this year. A chapter from his novel, “Before Crossing the Desert,” was published in Alaska Quarterly Review. His poems “Parking Meter” and “Grandaddy, a Mystery” were published by Rattle, and his short story “Cicatrix” was published by Ohio State University’s literary journal, The Journal. The first chapter of Twinless Twin and more of Tuck’s writing can be found at www.deanmarsalltuck.com. Tuck regularly teaches creative writing at WCC and co-edits the college’s creative writing and art magazine, Renaissance. He also serves on the editorial board of ECU’s North Carolina Literary Review.
Dr. Andrea Kitta gave one of the Botkin Lectures at the Library of Congress. In this lecture, “Conspiracy Theories, Folklore, and Belief,” Kitta discussed some definitions of conspiracy theories and how they fit into other belief traditions and narratives, focusing on understanding why people believe in conspiracy theories and how they function. The term “conspiracy theory” has become loaded and often used to dismiss the belief systems of others, especially those of opposing viewpoints. However, all of us engage in a little conspiratorial thinking at times. Through memes and humor, Kitta also discussed identifying the echo chambers these stories can create.
Codi Renee Blackmon is one of the winners of the second annual CPTSC Graduate Student Research Award. The committee selected three winners from an excellent pool of applications. Codi Renee’s project, “Implementing A Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Institute on Race and Ethnicity,” was awarded $250.
Codi Renee has also recently been published in Programmatic Perspectives, a peer-reviewed journal by the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). In “On Developing a TPC Program Graduate Orientation,” Codi Renee uses survey data to inform technical and professional communication (TPC) programs about the perspectives of currently enrolled graduate students and alums regarding the key components necessary for a successful orientation program, which can then be used by TPC program faculty and administrators to improve their orientation program and better support their students.
A news article about Marame Gueye’s work and upcoming Fulbright stay Gueye receives Fulbright to teach, research the politics of feminism, wifehood has been published on the Harriot College website.
Also, Marame Gueye’s book review Boubacar Boris Diop’s Un tombeau pour Kinne Gaajo: The Value of Memory, Writing, and Translation has been published in World Literature Today.