English at Lehigh

Welcome to the English Department! You can explore the department's offerings and get a sense of what we're about by navigating the menus above. Below is a departmental "mission statement" of sorts that describes our focus on Literature and Social Justice and suggests some of the ways in which we are experimenting with new approaches to teaching and research. You'll also find an events calendar; please check back regularly for updates.

Core Activities

• An exploration of how studying literature contributes to questions of social justice.
• An immersion in historical periods informed by strong theoretical commitments.
• An engagement with contemporary literature and culture.
• An emphasis on theorized pedagogy, reflective practice, and the scholar-teacher model.
• An interaction with Lehigh's varied interdisciplinary programs, including Africana Studies, Classics, Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, and American Studies.
   

Literature and Social Justice

The Department of English has developed a focus on Literature and Social Justice, the outcome of a multi-year effort to revitalize the traditional period-based approach to literary studies. This focus on literature and social justice in the English Department comes from a shared sentiment among department faculty that we all have obligations to our fellow human beings, to our students and colleagues, our families and neighbors, and to strangers we will never meet in places we will never go.

Read more about the focus on Literature and Social Justice