Iowa State University Department of English

06/17/2026

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06/09/2026

This past spring, we honored our English Award and Scholarship winners. Here are photos of a few of our winners.

Audrey Parrish, Kurt Moody Award
Hailey Akinsola, Pamela Henry Lassahn Scholarship
Qi Qi, Teaching Excellence Award
Sam Anderson, Will C. Jumper Scholarship

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06/08/2026

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Do you love language? Do you have an appreciation for birds or nature? Professor Jeremy Withers has a new book out, Birding English: Exploring the History of a Language through Birds. A brief description of the book is as follows:

What do words like unkindness, haggard, asparagus, j**z, and the singular they have to do with birds? Quite a lot, actually. From Old English roots and Shakespearean idioms to Victorian slang and modern online lingo, Birding English charts a dynamic course through English’s past, present, and future by admiring the plumage of falcons, the songs of sparrows, and the flight of ducks. With each of his fifty mini essays, Jeremy Withers uses birds as a point of entry into a key moment in the development of English: its origins in the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic languages, the influence of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, the creation of English’s first dictionaries and grammar books, and the arrival of rhyming slang and portmanteaus. Ideal for word nerds and bird nerds alike, this book will enchant anyone who’s ever been captivated by the song of a bird or the song of a word.

06/02/2026

Congratulations to Shaya Kraut, PhD (2nd from the right) for successfully defending her dissertation Critical Agrarian Rhetoric in "The Catholic Worker." Also pictured l to r: Jo Mackiewicz, Abby Dubisar, and Craig Rood.

05/28/2026

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05/26/2026

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05/22/2026

Lilian Atchison, a graduating senior double-majoring in English and Women’s and Gender Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies presented her Honors project last Wednesday. She completed her project under the advising of Professor Linda Shenk.

Way to go, Lilian!🎉✨

05/22/2026

We are pleased to announce Jen McClung, Associate Teaching Professor, as this year’s recipient of the 2026 Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Foundation Courses Award. This award is given annually and recognizes instructors for their teaching excellence and teaching innovation in our ISUComm Foundation courses. Awardee receives a certificate and their name is placed on the Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Foundation and Advanced Communication plaque.

05/18/2026

We are pleased to announce Jessica Jorgenson Borchert, Teaching Professor, as this year’s recipient of the 2026 Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Advanced Communication Courses Award. This award is given annually and recognizes instructors for their teaching excellence and teaching innovation in our ISUComm Advanced Communication courses. Awardee receives a certificate and their name is placed on the Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Foundation and Advanced Communication plaque.

05/18/2026