English at Texas Tech University

09/30/2026

This semester, the English Department's Committee for Community Success is pleased to feature current research/scholarship by our faculty members and students. Come and learn from the spotlighted speakers on our first presentation panel next week.

09/23/2026

This week, we welcome nonfiction writer, mitigation specialist, and founder of Advancing Real Change Elizabeth Vartkessian to Texas Tech! She'll teach a class for OLLI this afternoon, visit our MFA practicum tomorrow, and give a reading tomorrow evening from her debut book, The Deserving, at 5 p.m. in the Escondido Theater.

Come and hear Vartkessian's beautiful words about the lives of the condemned and America's justice system.

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

Thank you all for coming out to see us at the Arts & Sciences Day showcase! We are so glad to meet everyone.

08/13/2026

We are seeking a creative undergraduate student to support communication design projects in the English department!

Apply by August 24. See full job ad here:

08/13/2026

08/02/2026

Congrats to this interdisciplinary team, including our English faculty, Professor Rich Rice!

Dr. Merve Basdogan is leading a Spencer Vision Grant project that brings together experts in instructional technology, communication, psychology, gerontology, and adult education to advance AI literacy among older adults in West Texas.

The interdisciplinary team includes co-PIs Drs. Rich Rice from the Department of English, Erik Bucy from the College of Media & Communication, and Jonathan Singer from the Department of Psychological Sciences, along with consultants Drs. Bryan Giemza from the Honors College, Amy Pickard from Indiana University, and Page Lacey Heisser, PhD, LMFT.

Through research, community collaboration, and focus groups with senior residents, the project will develop practical strategies to help older adults recognize AI-generated content, deepfakes, misinformation, and online scams while informing future adult education policy and practice.

College of Media & Communication, Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University College of Education
Texas Tech Honors College
English at Texas Tech University
College of Arts and Sciences, Texas Tech University
Indiana University

07/23/2026

TTU has been rated a 2026 most affordable online school for English. Our online Master of Arts in English program has been ranked Top 5 with the following distinctions:

- Online students take the same courses, with the same professors, and earn the same degree as on-campus students.

- This English graduate program is fully synchronous, meaning online students join live class discussions and integrate with onsite graduate students in many courses. That gives the online format a more seminar-like identity.

- TTU also deserves attention for offering a defined Linguistics concentration inside the MA in English. Students can study topics such as phonology, syntax, morphology, sociolinguistics, as well as Old and Middle English.

Source list: https://www.onlineu.com/most-affordable-colleges/english-masters-degrees

07/03/2026

We are incredibly proud of the award-winning faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences! 🎓 Today, we are shining a spotlight on Dr. Lisa Phillips from the Department of English.

Whether she’s teaching undergraduate or graduate students in technical communication and rhetoric, Dr. Phillips is known for her dynamic research and constant innovation. She brings incredible energy to her field, proving that great research and great teaching elevate one another. 💡

In her own words:
"I do my best work in the College of Arts and Sciences when innovative research and meaningful teaching can go hand in hand. Supporting students as they learn how ideas shape the world around them gives us both a strong sense of purpose. Engaging critical questions about our environment, different modes of communication, and egalitarian methods of inquiry shape how we’ll navigate societal challenges with resilience and creativity."

Join us in celebrating Dr. Phillips for everything she does for our students! ⬇️❤️🖤

06/30/2026

Please join us in congratulating English doctoral student Jennifer Jussel on a massive achievement! 🌟 Jennifer recently won the 2026 Howling Bird Press Nonfiction Prize for her upcoming book, Mellitus: Essays on Up/Rooting.

A standout student with a focus on creative writing, Jennifer has already built an impressive resume with acceptances to the McCormack Writing Center and the Vermont Studio Center. Her debut book is deeply personal. As a type 1 diabetic since age eleven, Jennifer says: "I've come to realize that while it is not the most interesting thing about me, diabetes is a large fragment of the lens through which I see and experience the world, and it has paradoxically brought me much closer to others."

She credits the unwavering support of Dr. Jill Patterson's spring 2025 graduate nonfiction workshop and her wonderful classmates Anna, Jae, Kamryn, Micah, Nana, Nikki, Savannah, Shantanu, and Sofia for encouraging everyone to show up as their "whole, unaltered, and unashamed selves."

Mellitus will be available for preorder this month and goes on sale this October. Way to go, Jennifer! 📚✨