The Department of English promotes an understanding of literary traditions, teaches students to think analytically and to write with power, and fosters human awareness through course offerings in composition and literature.
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The English major and minor challenge students with a wide range of courses appealing to the aesthetic as well as the practical nature of humanity, preparing them for the finest graduate programs, qualifying prospective teachers, or providing a strong liberal arts foundation for a
professional career.
Program Highlights
- Three-track major in English (Literature, Writing & English Education)
- A student-to-teacher ratio of 11:1 in upper-level classes.
- Nationally-recognized student scholarship and publications
- A high rate of graduate school acceptance
- High standards for participation in the Teacher Education Program (3.00 GPA)
- An excellent placement rate for majors seeking teaching positions
- Study abroad opportunities
- A variety of scholarly and social activities each semester
- The Torch, a student-published creative writing journal
- Sigma Tau Delta National Honor Society
Faculty
- John T. Netland
- Professor of English and Department Chair
- Education:
B.A., Biola University
M.A., California State Polytechnic University
Ph.D, University of California, Los Angeles
- Office: PAC A-15, Box 3025, 731-661-5312 (voice)
- E-mail: jnetland@uu.edu
- Profile
- Christine Bailey
- Visiting Instructor of English
- Education:
B.S., Tennessee Tech University
M.A., Belmont University
- Office: PAC B-4, 731-661-5900 (voice), 1895 (fax)
- E-mail: cbailey@uu.edu
- Profile
- Janna Chance
- Assistant Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Texas A&M University
M.A., Rice University
Ph.D. Candidate, Rice University
- Office: PAC A-46, Box 1919, 731-661-5469 (voice)
- E-mail: jchance@uu.edu
- Profile
- Gene Fant
- Professor of English
- Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
- Education:
B.S., James Madison University
M.A., Old Dominion University
M.Div., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
M.Ed., University of Southern Mississippi
Ph.D, University of Southern Mississippi
Additional Study, Christopher Newport University
- Office: PAC C-4A, Box 1810, 731-661-5520 (voice)
- E-mail: gfant@uu.edu
- Profile
- Patricia Hamilton
- Associate Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Biola University
M.A., California State University, Fullerton
Ph.D, University of Georgia
- Office: PAC A-44, Box 3151, 731-661-5313 (voice)
- E-mail: phamilto@uu.edu
- Profile
- Scott Huelin
- Associate Professor of English
- Director of the Honors Community, Honors Community
- Education:
B.A., University of North Carolina
M.A., University of North Carolina
Ph.D, University of Chicago
- Office: PAC B-17, Box 3010, 731-661-5390 (voice)
- E-mail: shuelin@uu.edu
- Profile
- David Malone
- Associate Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Wheaton College
M.A., State University of New York at Binghamton
Ph.D, Northern Illinois University
- Office: PAC A-45, Box 1863, 731-661-5104 (voice)
- E-mail: dmalone@uu.edu
- Profile
- Barbara McMillin
- Professor of English
- Associate Provost and Dean of Instruction , Administrative Office of the Provost
- Education:
A.A., Northeast Mississippi Community College
B.A., Union University
M.A., University of Mississippi
D.A., University of Mississippi
Additional Study, Harvard University
- Office: PAC F-5, Box 1815, 731-661-5314 (voice)
- E-mail: bmcmilli@uu.edu
- Profile
- Gavin Richardson
- Associate Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Vanderbilt University
M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Ph.D, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
- Office: PAC A-17, Box 1924, 731-661-5317 (voice)
- E-mail: grichard@uu.edu
- Profile
- Website: http://www.uu.edu/personal/grichard/
- Bobby C. Rogers
- Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., University of Tennessee at Knoxville
M.F.A., University of Virginia
- Office: PAC A-18, Box 3136, 731-661-5107 (voice)
- E-mail: brogers@uu.edu
- Profile
- Roger S. Stanley
- Assistant Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Appalachian State University
M.A., East Tennessee State University
Additional Study, University of Mississippi
- Office: PAC A-16, Box 1852, 731-661-5318 (voice)
- E-mail: rstanley@uu.edu
- Profile
- Pam Sutton
- Professor of English
- Education:
B.A., Southern Arkansas University
M.A., Arkansas State University
Ed.S., Arkansas State University
Ed.D., Texas A&M University–Commerce
- Office: PAC A-47, Box 1922, 731-661-5319 (voice)
- E-mail: psutton@uu.edu
- Profile
Programs of Study
- English
- Literature
- Writing
Please see the Academic Catalogue description for more detail. Some minors do not appear here.
Student Organizations
The department presents an annual award to the student
selected as the most outstanding in English. A special award for
creative writing, the Helen Blythe Award, is also presented annually.
Local, regional and national writing contests are open to students in the department. Recent visiting writers and guest judges at the department’s Annual Creative Writing Workshop include Charles Wright, Kate Daniels and Mark Jarman.
Many students contribute work to the campus publications - The Cardinal and Cream and The Torch. Recent editions of The Torch, the student edited campus literary magazine, have been honored
with national awards from Columbia University.
The department sponsors an international studies opportunity every other year. Recent trips have focused on British travel literature and on French and English modern fiction. Students travel with professors
during the Winter Term, earning credit toward an English major, minor, or
the general core.
- ink.
Advisor: Dr. David Malone
The purpose of ink. is to create a community and a forum of like-minded writers who will practice the skills needed to become better writers, improve their craft, share ideas, critique new work, lead in their discipline, and learn further how the Christian faith may be practiced through writing.
- Sigma Tau Delta
Advisor: Roger Stanley
Website: http://www.uu.edu/dept/english/STD_index.htm
This national English honor society recognizes students who have realized accomplishments in either the English language or literature. The motto is “Sincerity, Truth, Design.” Union University’s chapter Theta Omicron was organized in 1979. Declared English majors and minors who have completed at least three semesters of university study and two university courses in literature with a B average are eligible for membership.
- The Torch
Advisor: Bobby Rogers
Website: http://www.uu.edu/org/torch/
The Torch is a student literary magazine published annually under the direction of an appointed student staff. Its contents are taken from the best student writing and art work of the year, which may be selected from among presentations in the normal course of class work and from those submitted directly to the Torch staff. Poems, sort stories, essays, and art work are welcomed.
Past News
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4/2/2009 - The Torch wins CSPA’s Silver Crown Award
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4/3/2008 - Brugaletta to read poetry April 7
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4/2/2008 - Richardson to lecture at Lambuth
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10/29/2007 - Noted poet Pinsky to speak Nov. 1
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1/2/2007 - Union students’ medieval quires praised by paleography expert
Accolades
Gene Fant recently had essays published in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Madison Magazine; the latter essay won the 2006 Grand Award prize in feature story writing from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Additionally, he and English major Katherine Kipp were a part of the team that received a 2006 Silver Medallion Award for Outstanding Reporting from the Parenting Publications of America group. He gave a paper, "Finding the Truth in Ruth: Why Genre Criticism Matters" at the Evangelical Theological Society, where he continues to serve on the Steering Committee for the Study Group on the Literature of the Bible. Additionally, he gave a three-day series of lectures on Worldview and Popular Culture at Impact 360 (a worldview academy in GA), as well as several lectures on Worldview and Language at the Evangelical Christian School in Cordova, TN. He also completed some consulting work on the revised Anthology of World Literature for A. B. Longman Publishers and was quoted in a Chronicle article on "RateMyProfessor.com." (posted: May 22, 2007)
MORE ACCOLADES
- Patty Hamilton will be serving as the session secretary for the Restoration/18th century session at the upcoming 2007 South Atlantic Modern Language Association. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- David McClune, David Malone, and Vicki Malone led 22 Union students in the January term study abroad program’s educational tour of France and Italy. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- David Malone had an essay, "Somewhat Unreal Communities," published in Road Journal. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- David Malone and Roger Stanley presented papers at the Flannery O’Connor in the Age of Terrorism conference held in Michigan. Dr. Malone presented "The 'Predictable Employment of Racially Informed and Determined Chains': Morrison, O’Connor, and the Question of Race" and Prof. Stanley presented "'I Brake for Hallucinations': Sanity and Madness in Flannery O'Connor's 'The Partridge Festival.'" (posted: May 22, 2007)
- Roger Stanley also presented a paper, “The 'Southern Voice' in Fiction Writer Flannery O'Connor and Singer-Songwriter Lucinda Williams," at the national meeting of the Popular Culture Association. Additionally, he accompanied English majors Nellene Benhardus, Laura Fisher, Andrew Gray, Katherine Kipp, Jared New, Racheal Pressnell, Rebecca Poe, and Renee Roberson, who were invited to read original scholarship and creative writing at the International Sigma Tau Delta convention in Pittsburgh. Prof. Stanley serves as a Southern Regional representative on the Sigma Tau Delta board. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- Gavin Richardson’s paleography project has been solicited for inclusion in an upcoming special issue of Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching. He will also present on this project at the 42nd International Congress on Medieval Studies in May. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- Bobby Rogers has poetry forthcoming in multiple journals: “Home Body,” Connecticut Review; “The Mind of the Poet,” Cimarron Review; “Real Estate,” Cimarron Review; and “Anagnorisis,” Southern Humanities Review. Under his sponsorship, The Torch, Union’s literary/arts journal, received a silver medal from the prestigious Columbia (University) Scholastic Press Association’s annual competition. (posted: May 22, 2007)
- Pam Sutton successfully completed her Fall 2007 research leave, which included several weeks of participation in the CCCU’s L.A. Film Institute. (posted: May 22, 2007)
Recent Photos
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11/4/09 - Sarah Stinson, senior English major, lays mulch around trees at Liberty Park during Campus and Community Day. - Beth Spain
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11/4/09 - Sarah Stinson, senior English major, lays mulch around trees at Liberty Park during Campus and Community Day. - Beth Spain
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8/18/09 - Gavin Richardson, associate professor of English, plays the violin along with a faculty band before the Faculty/Staff Dinner. - Morris Abernathy
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