Our students and faculty engage in meaningful scholarship as an essential part of academic life. Together and separately, faculty and students pursue a variety of interests and seek answers to an expansive range of questions. Learn about some of the achievements and interests of our faculty and students on this page. Explore our ongoing initiatives in scholarship and creative artistry for a sense of where you fit in the Department of English at CSU.
Student and faculty scholarly achievements and works of creative artistry
The world in words
Assistant Professor Ramona Ausubel captures the world and the human condition in books; she teaches students to do the same.
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The language of science
Erika Szymanski, assistant professor of rhetoric of science at CSU, uses language to make the invisible visible. That’s a challenge when you study microbes. Read more about microbiomes and about how our perceptions bring them into being.
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In Poems: Claiming a culture
In how to Dress a Fish, Abigail Chabitnoy examines effects of forced assimilation of Native American People on descendents like herself. Click for excerpts.
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Xavier Hadley this year’s MLK Day spoken word winner
Creative writing and ethnic studies double major Xavier Hadley wins the annual Black/African American Cultural Center’s spoken word competition.
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Going medieval: Love, sex, marriage, gender
CSU professor delves into ‘love language’ of the Middle Ages By Gabe Saldana Lynn Shutters, assistant professor in the Department of English at Colorado State University, closes 2019 on the heels of two important accolades. Formerly a non-tenure-track special assistant […]
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Continue mission: A voice for veterans
CSU student veteran faces personal struggle, leads Veterans Writing Workshop By Gabe Saldana Giving voice to veterans and those affected by military life has come to define “continue mission” for Ryan Lanham. The U.S. Army veteran is a second-year Master […]
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Read more about what's happening in the English department by visiting our most recent quarterly newsletter or exploring our news page:
Undergraduate Grants and Awards
SURE
Students come to the English Department at CSU to work with acclaimed educators, writers, and scholars. And with support from our mentored learning program, Sponsoring Undergraduate Research in English (SURE), every student has access to competitive funding that can make their professional, scholarly, and artistic aspirations come true. Want to start writing the Great American Novel? Travel to Washington D.C. and do research in the Library of Congress? Get a jump start on graduate school by presenting at the Conference on College Composition and Communication? Apply for a SURE Grant, and work one-on-one with our award-winning faculty.
Highlights and Accomplishments
Grants and Awards
- Professor of creative writing Camille Dungy was awarded a Creative Writing Fellowship in Prose for 2018 from the National Endowment for the Arts.
- Zach Hutchins, assistant professor of English, received a 2016 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to complete research in early American newspapers about representations of the slave trade.
- Associate professor of creative writing, Dan Beachy-Quick completed a year’s study and writing made possibly by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Beachy-Quick was one of 175 scholars, artists and scientists selected to receive a 2015 Guggenheim fellowship and one of 10 recipients in the organization's poetry category.
- The Center for Literary Publishing and center director Stephanie G'Schwind were recognized by the Office of the Vice President for Research as a Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence in 2016.
- Tim Amidon, assistant professor of English, along with Tiffany Lipsey, received two significant national grants to test the usability of new technology to help firefighters identify undetected medical conditions that could lead to cardiovascular injuries and empower them to develop individual treatment plans that could prolong their time in their career.
- Cindy O’Donnell-Allen, professor of English and director of the CSU Writing Project, along with assistant professor Antero Garcia, completed a two-year grant in 2015 from the National Science Foundation to work with the Fort Collins Discovery Museum on improving the science literacy of underserved elementary students in Fort Collins.
Student Research and Creative Writing
Cedar Brant was awarded the
Academy of American Poets Prize in 2017
- In 2017, Dana Chellman won the AWP Intro Journals Project for Fiction, Poetry and Nonfiction award for her nonfiction essay “How to Get to Heaven from Colorado.”
- In 2016, English had two winners and one honorable mention across all three genres in the Intro Journals Project. We were the only school in the nation to manage such a distinction in the history of the award. Cedar Brant won the poetry category with her poem, “Make Blood.” Nathaniel Barron won the fiction category for the first chapter from his novel-in-progress, From the Watchtower. And Emily Ziffer received an honorable mention in the creative nonfiction category for her nonfiction essay, “Moving Forward, In Russian.”
Undergraduate English majors received several awards in a university-wide competition. Celebrate Undergraduate Research and Creativity showcases writing, oral presentations, service-learning, art, and research by CSU undergraduate students.
2016
- Kelly Weber, 1st place – Distinction in Creativity for "Their Bones Remember Water: A Fossil Poetry Collection."
- Cedar Brant, 2nd Place – Distinction in Creativity for "Life Chart."
2015
- Hannah Polland received First Place in Service-Learning Posters for her research on sex trafficking in Fort Collins, “Sex Trafficking in Our Community and the Language that Surrounds the Issue.” She also received a Top Honor award of a $250 travel grant from the Vice President of Research, given to the best entry in each of the five CURC competitions.
- Caitlin Johnson received Second Place in Scholarly Nonfiction of the Writing Competition for “Sexualized Piety: Margery’s ‘Dalliance’ with God,” She also received the Top Honor award in the Writing Competition and had her essay published in the Journal of Undergraduate Research.
- Ivana Leskanich received Third Place in Scholarly Nonfiction for “The Woman Who Wanted to be a Soldier” and “The Epistemological Nature of the Troy Legend in Hamlet.”
- Hannah Armfield received Second Place in Poetry for “[Years ago, when the snow fell heavy].”
- Nathan DeLaCastro received Second Place in Fiction for “The Fiddle Game” and “’Out, Out—‘.”
- Krista Reuther was awarded Second Place in Creative Nonfiction for “Unfunny.”
- Davis Webster was awarded Third Place in Creative Nonfiction for “A Playlist For Steven’s Wake (Annotated).”