Carnegie Mellon English Department

06/17/2026

Lecturer Ed Simon celebrated the release of his latest book AMERICAN ELEGY: REFLECTIONS ON 250 YEARS OF THE DIS-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Ig Publishing) in conversation with journalist Tony Norman at City of Asylum.

View their conversation here:

06/12/2026

This week in the Pittsburgh Review of Books: reflections on the death of Marjane Satrapi, from Associate Professor Kathy M. Newman, along with two of the students who read Satrapi’s work in her class this spring.

When Marjane Satrapi, the author of the best-selling graphic memoir, Persepolis, was six years old, she believed she had been chosen by God to be the next

06/08/2026

On Tuesday, June 9, Assistant Professor Camille Rankine will read her work at the Hemingway's Poetry Series. Read a preview of Camille's work at the Pittsburgh Review of Books:

Over this summer PRoB will be featuring the work of upcoming readers that will be appearing at Pittsburgh’s venerable Hemingway’s Poetry Series, now

06/05/2026

How do we balance diverse cultural perspectives in space research? What is the moral status of an extraterrestrial microbe? How should we regulate space activity through law? Every other year, members of the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology and the European Astrobiology Institute convene to discuss the human dimensions of space exploration, including questions like these.

From May 25-27, the Carnegie Mellon campus was host to the biannual gathering, sponsored by the Center for the Arts in Society and supported by the Department of English. Over the last three years Professors James Wynn and Kathy M. Newman have been exploring the topic of planetary hospitality by inviting speakers, starting a science fiction book club, and teaching the course “Hospitable Worlds.”

The conference presenters – hailing from North America, South America and Europe – came with a broad range of backgrounds in both the sciences and humanities, leading to a lively exchange of ideas. From Carnegie Mellon, presenters included English Department professors James Wynn, Kathy M. Newman, and Stephen Wittek. The conference’s keynote speakers included Ana Maria Pino da Silva, Head of CMU’s School of Design; Bryce Kennedy, Executive Director of the Space Valley Foundation; and Octavio Chon, Professor at the University of Lima.

In addition to visiting campus, conference attendees explored Pittsburgh, including an excursion to the Moonshot Museum at the North Side headquarters of Astrobotic.

For those not able to attend the conference, a full schedule of the attendees’ talks and recordings of those talks are available on the conference website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/research-and-publications/inhospitable-space.html

06/01/2026

Many readers use “Best of” lists to help them decide what to read. In the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Department Head and Professor Chris Warren recently shared his thoughts on how networks reveal what The Guardian's ranked list of the top 100 novels obscures.

In an unfamiliar city, I rarely walk into an empty restaurant. How good could the food be if nobody eats there? At least a crowded restaurant's one that many

05/27/2026

We've enjoyed hosting scholars from a variety of disciplines at this week's (In)hospitable Space conference! For those who could not attend, videos of the presentations will be posted on the conference site.

In conjunction with the conference, the Pittsburgh Review of Books has been posting pieces pertaining to space exploration all week, including this one by Professor and conference co-organizer James Wynn.

The following essay is being published in conjunction with the "(In)hospitable Space Conference" which explores the human dimensions of space exploration and

05/26/2026

Are you a graduate of one of our programs? We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! Use the form below to share any recent professional successes for possible inclusion in an upcoming Alumni Newsletter.

05/21/2026

"Onto trails completely undiscovered" — our department gathered on Saturday, May 9, for the 2026 Commencement of both undergraduate and graduate students. Read more about this year's graduating class:

2026 Graduates Celebrated in Diploma Ceremony

05/18/2026

On Tuesday, May 19, Professor James Wynn will present his recent work on space and habitability in the “Worlds Apart: Living in & Exploring Space” session of the Pint of Science speaker series.

He will be joined by Ian T. W. Flynn, Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh, who will present “Venus Volcanism in the Spotlight: What Upcoming Missions Aim to Discover.”

What will it take for humans to live off of Earth? What can our neighboring planets teach us about extreme environments? This event explores the realities of long-duration space habitation and the gap between sci-fi and real-life NASA missions. We will also look at Venus, where upcoming missions aim to reveal whether its massive volcanoes are still active.

05/12/2026

From publishing houses to financial firms, the 2026 Humanities Career Trek gave students in Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences a firsthand look at how their skills translate beyond the classroom.

For the second year, undergraduate students studying the humanities spent a weekend exploring different careers for humanities graduates.