Macalester English Department

10/30/2025

This morning, Professor Penelope Geng published another Halloween article in The Conversation. It's about King James VI of Scotland's obsession with demons and witches. Definitely check this on out!

Why early Protestants embraced demons and witches but turned their backs on ghosts. Listen to expert Penelope Geng on The Conversation Weekly podcast.

10/29/2025

English and Creative Writing Department, Professor Andrea Kaston Tange, wrote an OpEd for the October 12th Star Tribune.
This article argues that Minnesota needs humanities majors and pushes back against the unemployability narrative.

Use this gift link or your free Star Tribune article for the month to read: https://www.startribune.com/liberal-arts-majors-career-jobs-life-fulfillment/601489666?utm_source=gift

Thank you Andrea Kaston Tange!

"The stereotype of the underemployed history major is simply not true," professor Andrea Kaston Tange writes.

10/27/2025

Five Macalester students worked with Professor Rachel Gold on this historic issue of Sinister Wisdom, the world’s longest-running le***an arts and culture journal. With issue 138, Sinister Wisdom begins its 50th year and also honors the pathbreaking spirit of Dorothy Allison.
Macalester students helped to select and edit stories for the issue–engaging in lively conversations with the rest of the editing team. Students on the team were: Addie Daab, Beja Puškášová, Ella Stern, Jamila Sigal Vásquez and Kendall Kieras.

Read an interview with them about the writing process in the book or watch the launch video here: https://youtu.be/wjUxzkOrhSM?si=zOfXf2kNKA0EEeGo

If you are interested in getting a copy, buy one at this link: https://www.sinisterwisdom.org/SW138

10/27/2025

Just in time for halloween, Professor Penelope Geng published in The Conversation an article looking at books, folklore and history to better understand the difference between demons and ghosts.

Artists often turn to the supernatural to reflect on and speak to the anxieties brought about by social, religious and political upheaval.

06/06/2025

A glorious morning at English Reunion Office Hours - so many wonderful alums coming to visit and so many great (re)connections made. Thanks everyone!

06/02/2025

Dear English alums - yes there will be bagels at English Reunion Office Hours, this Friday 10am-12pm in the English lounge. There will also be lots of faculty there eager to connect with you, so please stop by!

05/12/2025

Alum Hannah Rehak '15 is the producer of a podcast that is called Material Girls. It's a popular pop culture podcast that uses critical theory to understand the zeitgeist. Each episode looks at a unique object of study and asks why is/was this popular? What material conditions led to its success? What does its popularity say about our culture?

Their most recent episode is about the rise of the word Sapphic and in two weeks we have an episode coming out about Fourth Wing (in particular, the unique/complicated publishing model that Entangled used to generate the book). Check it out!

Society & Culture Podcast · Updated Biweekly · A scholarly podcast about pop culture hosted by Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman, produced by Witch, Please Productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05/08/2025

English Department Chair Matt Burgess gave an inspiring Senior Toast at our End-of-Year Celebration. Thank you for the great words for our seniors.

04/03/2025

Please consider donating to Macalester today and designating the English department to help us continue all the great things we offer to students such as exciting classes, book launches, poetry readings, literary salons, anthology publications, and of course, Bagel Mondays! Love and bagels from all of us in the English department!

Hear what our student workers have to say about this here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16NUVwtKCPRf5pv9OYGu0usEd2oVvgVTJ/view?usp=sharing

12/09/2024

The November edition of the English Department Newsletter has been RELEASED! View it in a beautiful email sent to your inbox or on the English Department website, or in the link below. There are some great articles this month (as always), thanks to the hard work the fabulous newsletter team always puts in.

Check it out here! https://www.macalester.edu/the-words/home/the-words-november-2024/