Literature & Language

Working to educate the person and the passion through individual student care

Department of Literature and Language

Milton Marathon 2024

The Milton Marathon Returns! Join us on November 14, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. in the Reece Museum! All-Day reading of Paradise Lost Student art and rare book exhibit Student attendees eligible for $100 Barnes and Noble gift card drawing
LiLa Undergraduate Students Present at 37th Medieval-Renaissance Conference

English major undergraduates Emma Sheedlo, Hayden Cogdell, Anna Jackson, and Samuel Ledbetter presented their research on “Gender Errancy in the Romance Epic” on September 20th at the 37th Medieval-Renaissance Conference at University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Their presented papers were developed from essays written in spring 2024’s Special Topics course on the Romance Epic, taught by Dr. Josh Reid, who chaired their panel.
We Have Moved!

The LiLa main office has moved to the Basler Center for Physical Activity room 213 for the duration of the Burleson renovation. We are maintaining regular office hours (M-F 8-4:30). Please come visit us!
Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Spanish

The Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Spanish is intended for graduate students in the health professions at ETSU. This certification program prepares health professionals to interact with Spanish-speaking patients and their families through acquisition of the necessary level of speaking and listening proficiency in Spanish, especially with terminology and grammar structures used in a healthcare setting, as well as a solid understanding of social and cultural issues related to the Hispanic population and healthcare. For more information, please contact Dr. Katrina Heil at heil@etsu.edu or visit the Healthcare Spanish website.
In Memory of Dr. Bert C. Bach

Dr. Bert C. Bach, long-time Provost at East Tennessee State University and great friend to the Department of Literature and Language, passed away unexpectedly on August 14, 2023. A Renaissance man, Dr. Bach loved opera and drama as much as he loved baseball. If you happened to be in meeting with him and didn’t get his baseball metaphors, you might well be lost. He held a Ph.D. in English from New York University and relentlessly supported the arts. He served for many years on the Board of Directors for Barter Theatre, he enthusiastically and monetarily supported the Fine and Performing Arts Scholars and the Honors College at ETSU, and he could be seen at virtually every literature, music, and theater performance on campus. The Mary B. Martin Center for the Arts theater space appropriately bears his name. Dr. Bach was ETSU’s longest-serving Provost and also held positions as Interim-President of ETSU, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of English. Dr. Bach was also a powerful academic guide who strongly supported women leaders. Anyone who worked with him knew how demanding he could be, but he expected only as good as he gave, and he did not suffer fools. He kept the campus in compliance with SACS accreditation requirements, he mentored new programs, and he loved his job. He also lived his personal life to the fullest—only a short time before he passed, he had traveled to see 13 plays at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the Lake, Ontario, Canada. Somewhere close, there was surely a baseball game as well. We will probably never see the likes of him again. Dr. Judy Slagle, Professor of English Emerita Dr. Jesse Graves, Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence
Congratulations to TaKya Hughes!

TaKya Hughes, MA student, received 2nd place in The Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy’s 2023 Poetry Contest, winning $500, plus publication in the prestigious literary journal, Nashville Review. Our MA student Holly Todaro and undergraduate AQ Hanna both received Honorable Mentions. Submissions came from 7 different schools across the state!
Congratulations to Chole Philpot President of the Creative Writing Society!

Chloe Philpot, president of our Creative Writing Society, won the ETSU Summit Award for "Outstanding Academic Organization President."
Tuck Ledbetter and Olivia Campbell, Recipients of the Steven Gross Research Scholarship

Congratulations to Tuck Ledbetter and Olivia Campbell, recipeints of the Steven Gross Research Scholarship for 2023! Tuck's research is titled "If-Constructions in Letters to the Editor" and Olivia's is titled "On the historical development of deontic expressions in Spanish."

Our Mission Statement: Join Us on Your Journey

At the center of our philosophy is the ancient credo: “know thyself.” To us, the faculty and staff in the Literature and Language Department, that means working to educate the person and the passion through individual student care, a rich diversity of class options, and real world growth opportunities such as internships and study abroad. Our classrooms are everywhere – on campus, abroad, in the workplace and online. Our students succeed because we teach transferable 21st Century skills like written and oral communication, complex reading methods, research techniques, long-term project organization, and cultural competence. We create a nurturing environment that helps build a passionate resilience in our students because they find their unique critical and imaginative voice. Our students discover what motivates and drives their dreams. We seek to facilitate intense engagement with the human wisdom of the past and the possibilities of each individual student’s future. Join us on your journey!