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The Latina/o Cultures Speakers’ Series Looks Forward to this Semester’s Speakers

Collaboratively, Dr. DeGuzmán, Dr. Irizarry, and the LSP Crew—graduate assistants Ryan Carroll, Meleena Gil, René Marzuk, Victoria Valle, and Cody Ward—have lined up several exciting speakers for this Spring 2024.


2024 Frank B. Hanes, Writer-in-Residence, Terrance Hayes

2024 Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence, Terrance Hayes, will give a reading on Tuesday, February 27 at 7:30pm in Moeser Auditorium. The reading is free and open to the public.


Meet the Faculty: Daelena Tinnin-Gadson

The DOECL is excited to welcome Professor Daelena Tinnin-Gadson!


DOECL Ph.D. Candidate Hannah Skjellum-Salmon Awarded Community Engagement Fellowship

Skjellum-Salmon was selected for the 2023 Community Engagement Fellowship through the Carolina Center for Public Service to fund their collaboration with local drag artists in Durham, NC.


Omari Akil Presents “Inclusive Design Practices in Tabletop Gaming”

This February, Durham-based game designer Omari Akil visited the Greenlaw Gameroom to discuss the story and successes of their game design studio and publishing company, Colorway Game Labs. 

Three people walk down an empty sidewalk, with their silhouettes casting just shadows across the gray pavement.

DOECL Faculty Black History Month Recommendations

Check out what the DOECL faculty recommend for reading, listening, and watching this Black History Month!


Meet the Faculty: Destiny Hemphill

Meet Professor Destiny Hemphill, the 2022-23 Kenan Visiting Writer in the Creative Writing Program.


ECL Graduate Student Dailihana Alfonesca Shares Stories, Successes

Dailihana Alfonesca, a Literature, Medicine, and Culture master’s student, finds herself—and success—in creative writing. Alfonesca was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.


Undergraduate Alumna Publishes Comic in Literature & Medicine

Cathy Choi, a 2021 graduate who completed an ECL minor in Medicine, Literature, and Culture recently published a comic in Literature & Medicine.


Prof. Christmas wins 2022 Hettleman Prize

Congratulations, Prof. Christmas on this prestigious award!


DOECL and the Latina/o Studies Program Celebrate Latinx Heritage Month!

Read about the exciting events this month upcoming from the Latina/o Studies Program.


Critical Gaming Event: Talk with Tara Fickle

Dr. Fickle will give a talk titled “New Yellow Peril: Asia/America at Play.”


Critical Speaker Series Welcomes Christine Hong

Join Christine Hong for a virtual talk and seminar on race and militarism.

Photo of Kevin Quashie

Critical Speaker Series Welcomes Kevin Quashie

Join Kevin Quashie for a virtual talk and seminar on Black literary criticism.

Thomas Wolfe Scholar Luisa Peñaflor.

Luisa Peñaflor wins Thomas Wolfe Scholarship

Congratulations to Peñaflor on being awarded the Thomas Wolfe Scholarship for her literary promise!

The DOECL is hiring an Assitant or Associate Professor in Latinx Studies.

Job Posting: Assistant or Associate Professor in Latinx Studies

The Department of English & Comparative Literature invites applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate professor Latinx Studies.


Meet the Faculty: Gabriel Bump

Meet one of the Department of English and Comparative Literature’s newest faculty members, Gabriel Bump!


Randall Kenan’s South

Watch “Two Wings Take Flight: Writers, Poets, Scholars, and Artists Reflect on Randall Kenan’s South”

Photo of Gabriel Bump

Prof. Gabriel Bump’s “Everywhere You Don’t Belong” to be Adapted for TV

Prof. Gabriel Bump’s award-winning novel is being adapted for the screen.

Don Holmes

Don Holmes Nominated for ACLS Fellowship

ECL PhD candidate Don Holmes has been selected as one of UNC’s four institutional nominees for the ACLS Emerging Voices Fellowship.

Photo of Alexander Weheliye and Habeas Viscus Book Cover

Critical Speaker Series: Alexander Weheliye

Alexander G. Weheliye, Professor of African American Studies at Northwestern University, joins the Critical Speaker Series.

Portrait of Trisha Remetir

2020-21 PAGE Fellow Trisha Remetir

Congratulations to ECL graduate student Trisha Remetir on being awarded the PAGE Fellowship!

Portrait of Krysten Voelkner

Graduate Student Spotlight: Krysten Voelkner

Meet Krysten Voelkner, ECL PhD student researching Latinx environmentalisms and the environmental humanities.


Homegoing: A Celebration of the Life of Randall Kenan

Please join UNC’s Department of English and Comparative Literature as we celebrate the life of our beloved colleague and friend Randall Kenan on Oct. 21 at 5:00pm.


Fall 2020 Latina/o Studies Teaching Award Winners

Congratulations to Chloe Hamer, Jo Klevdal, emilio Taiveaho, Nikki Roulo, Leslie Rowen, and Krysten Voelkner!

Portrait of Geovani Ramírez

Meet the Faculty: Geovani Ramírez

Welcome, Geovani Ramírez! Ramírez joined the faculty this fall as a postdoctoral fellow.

photo of ruby pappoe

Meet the Professor: Ruby Pappoe

Welcome, Ruby Pappoe! Pappoe joined the ECL Department this fall.


Dr. Heidi Kim Appointed Director of Asian American Center

Congratulations Dr. Heidi Kim, inaugural director of the Asian American Center!


Meet the Professor: Melissa Faliveno

Welcome, Melissa Faliveno! The Kenan Visiting Writer for 2020-2021, Faliveno joined the ECL Department this fall. 

Photo of Prof. Maria DeGuzman, taken by Sarah Boyd

Dr. María DeGuzmán named the Eugene H. Falk Distinguished Professor

Dr. María DeGuzmán has been appointed the Eugene H. Falk Distinguished Professor, an endowed professorship bestowed by the college. 

Professor Candace Epps-Robertson Publishes Book on Race, Literacy, and Citizenship in the American South

Dr. Candace Epps-Robertson named the first Jonathan M. Hess Term Professor. 

Epps-Robertson is the Associate Director of the Writing Program, Director of Writing in the Disciplines, and studies rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies.

Photograph of Geovani Ramírez

Geovani Ramírez Receives Two University-Wide Honors

ECL PhD candidate Geovani Ramírez has won a Diversity Award and been selected for induction into the Frank Porter Graham Honor Society.

Photograph of Nikky Finney

Nikky Finney, Writer-in-Residence, To Give Public Reading February 25

Nikky Finney, ECL’s 2020 Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence, will be giving a public reading on February 25 and participating in two panel discussions on February 24 and 27.


Professor James Coleman Dies at 73

Coleman joined the ECL faculty in 1990. The department has set up a memorial page where his students and colleagues can share tributes.


Danielle Christmas Interviewed on IAH Podcast

ECL Assistant Professor Danielle Christmas was interviewed by UNC’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities in a September 8 podcast.


PhD Candidate Eddie Moore Wins Inaugural J. Lee Greene Award

In honor of Dr. Johnny Lee Greene, the Department of English and Comparative Literature at UNC Chapel Hill established the J. Lee Greene Award: for Excellence in Postgraduate Work on Race and Ethnicity.

Jennifer Ho

Dr. Jennifer Ho Elected President of the Association for Asian American Studies

Dr. Jennifer Ho has been elected as President of the Association for Asian American Studies for a three-year term.


Remembering Dr. Johnny Lee Greene

“Gathering Memories: The Life and Legacy of Dr. J. Lee Greene” honors Dr. Johnny Lee Greene, distinguished Professor of African-American Literature and a pioneer of campus diversity at UNC.

Cherríe Moraga Speaks at Sonja Haynes Stone Center

Cherríe Moraga Speaks at Sonja Haynes Stone Center

Moraga is one of the most influential Chicano/a writers in the U.S. today. Among other notable works, she is the playwright of Heroes and Saints and the editor for the collection This Bridge Called My Back.

Professor Candace Epps-Robertson Publishes Book on Race, Literacy, and Citizenship in the American South

Professor Candace Epps-Robertson Publishes Book on Race, Literacy, and Citizenship in the American South

Resisting Brown examines how African American community members in Prince Edward County, Virginia, responded to the county’s decision to close all public schools from 1959 to 1964 rather than desegregate as demanded by Brown v. Board of Education.

English Graduate Student James Cobb Celebrated by University Office for Diversity & Inclusion

English Graduate Student James Cobb Celebrated by University Office for Diversity & Inclusion

Professor Gabrielle Calvocoressi, the department diversity liaison, says of Cobb, “in everything he does, James works to not only increase diversity on the campus, but to deepen the notion of what diversity and inclusion means in the classroom and in the world.”


UNC Alumna Ashley Harris Publishes Poetry Chapbook Exploring Race and Racism Through the Legend of Zelda

The poems in her chapbook address the lack of representation and consideration for people of color in video game design, while also using Legend of Zelda as a lens through which to view contemporary society.

UNC Creative Writing Lecturer Tyree Daye Wins 2019 Whiting Award

UNC Creative Writing Lecturer Tyree Daye Wins 2019 Whiting Award

Since 1985, the Whiting Foundation has supported creative writing through the Whiting Awards, given annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

Tayari Jones to Give Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence Reading

Tayari Jones to Give Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence Reading

Her reading will take place on the UNC campus on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30 pm in the Genome Sciences Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Silent Sam Toppling Photo by Taryn Revoir in the Daily Tar Heel

Silent Sam Speaks

The Faculty of the Department of English and Comparative Literature pledge through our teaching, research, and public service to continue the hard work of rooting out racism and inequality and to replace them with “light and liberty,” the motto of our university.


Randall Kenan Inducted into NC Literary Hall of Fame

The North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame celebrates and promotes the state’s rich literary heritage by “commemorating its leading authors and encouraging the continued flourishing of great literature.”


Stephanie Elizondo Griest discusses U.S. Borderlands on C-Span

Associate Professor of Creative Nonfiction Stephanie Elizondo Griest appeared on C-Span this weekend, discussing her latest book at the Brooklyn Book Festival.


María J. Durán Receives IME Doctoral Candidacy Award

María J. Durán, a doctoral candidate in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, has been awarded the Initiative for Minority Excellence (IME) Doctoral Candidacy Award.