Research
The English Department embraces a transdisciplinary English Studies model. The vibrancy of the department emerges, in part, out of the conversations among faculty and students across eight different scholarly and pedagogical areas.
- Children's Literature
The Children's Literature program has long embraced both literary and educational approaches to Children's Literature. The program is cutting edge in its advocacy of using books written for children to foster the analytical study of children's texts. Moreover, our Children's Literature faculty employ a variety of theoretical models in their ongoing scholarship of the textual study of children's books.
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Karen Coats
- Jan Susina
- Roberta Trites
Ph.D. Alumni Placement
Alumni from the Ph.D. program in English Studies with a concentration in children’s literature have held tenured and/or tenure-track positions at the following post-secondary institutions:
Tenured and/or Tenure-track Positions
- California State University - Northridge
- Casper College (Wyoming)
- Central Michigan University
- Christopher Newport University
- Clemson University
- Ferris State University
- Illinois State University
- Kansas City-Kansas Community College
- Lamar University
- Lincoln University (Illinois)
- Longwood University
- Middle Tennessee State University
- Missouri State University
- Missouri Western University
- San Diego State University
- Savannah State University
- Shorter University (Georgia)
- Soo Chow University (Taipei)
- Springfield-Benedictine University
- Stephen F. Austin University
- Texas A&M - Commerce
- Texas State University
- Tribhuvan University (Nepal)
- Ubon Ratchathani University (Thailand)
- United International College (Hong Kong)
- University of Dar es salaam (Tanzania)
- University of Massachusetts - Boston
- University of Nicosia (Cyprus)
- University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
- University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
- University of Wisconsin - River Falls
- University of South Carolina
- Utah State University - Eastern Blanding
- Virginia Wesleyan University
- Western Michigan University
- Wheaton College
Additional Ph.D. alumni have served in full-time positions as post-doctoral fellows, lecturers, or instructors at the following schools:
- Boise State University
- Central Michigan University
- Eastern Illinois University
- Illinois State University
- Middle Tennessee State University
- Pennsylvania State University
- U.S. Naval War College
- University of Minnesota - Duluth
- University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
- Creative Writing
The Creative Writing program has a distinguished national reputation for encouraging alternative and hybrid forms of writing while emphasizing the study of theory and creative writing pedagogy. We are a program that respects and encourages innovation.
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Joe Amato
- Ricardo Cortez Cruz
- English Education
The English Education program provides hands-on experiences through numerous partnerships with communities, schools, and teachers, and it enhances professional growth for teachers at every stage of their careers.
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Bob Broad
- Jim Kalmbach
- Claire Lamonica
- Janice Neulib
- Paula Ressler
- Linguistics
The Linguistics faculty in the English Department teach courses ranging in level from the Doctoral Seminar in Linguistics and Language Study (ENG 540) to a basic invitation to disciplined language study for the General Education Program (ENG 143: Unity and Diversity in Language).
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Susan Burt
- Literary and Cultural Studies
The Literary and Cultural Studies faculty at Illinois State have published broadly in many areas including American Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; British Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Critical Theory and Cultural Studies; Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Critical Race Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Global Cultures; Textual Studies and Print Culture; and Visual Studies.
Faculty
- Christopher Breu
- Christopher De Santis
- Katherine Ellison
- Susan Kalter
- Susan Kim
- Tara Lyons
- William McBride
- Ela Przybylo
- Brian Rejack
- Rebecca Saunders
Emeritus Faculty
- Cynthia Huff
- Robert McLaughlin
- Sally Parry
- Jan Susina
- Paul Ugor
- Kirstin Zona
- Publishing and Textual Studies
Publishing and Textual Studies combines theoretical and practical examinations of how texts — print and screen-based, scholarly and creative, technical and artistic, commercial and non-profit, etc. — are authored, edited, produced, published, read, and studied in contemporary and historical contexts.
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Rhetoric, Composition, and Technical Communication (RCTC)
We understand rhetoric, composition, and technical communication as robust and mutually informing areas of inquiry. By examining symbolic action in relation to cultural, material, and embodied practices, faculty and graduate students in RCTC strive to produce innovative, interdisciplinary research and pedagogies that transform the world.
Faculty
- Rachel Gramer
- Angela Haas
- Elise Hurley
- Julie Jung
- Eda Ozyesilpinar
- Amy E. Robillard
- Derek Sparby
- Joyce Walker
Emeritus Faculty
- Lee Brasseur
- Jim Kalmbach
- Janice Neulib
- Bob Broad
Graduate Students in Rhetoric, Composition, and Technical Communication
PhD Students
- TESOL
TESOL faculty offer a set of courses on the fundamental topics of language description, second language acquisition, and cultural-pragmatic or sociolinguistic aspects of language contact and second language acquisition as a preparation for effective EFL/ESL teaching.
Faculty
Emeritus Faculty
- Susan Burt