In 1996, recognizing the growing national and international interest in the study of literature and environment-or "ecocriticism"-the UNR English Department created the nation's first graduate program in this field, offering both MA and PhD degrees in English with an emphasis in Literature and Environment. The program typically enrolls between twenty and twenty-five students per year, including both incoming and continuing students. We attract excellent students from all parts of the United States and from as far away as Italy and Japan. Approximately a dozen faculty members contribute to a dynamic curriculum that offers courses in literature, theory, rhetoric, and writing. Faculty members take their roles as mentors very seriously, giving students the careful attention that helps them define and achieve their goals-special program components, such as group retreats and individualized, annual reviews of "professional portfolios," are examples of the mentorship offered by this program.
The L&E Program is the home of the editorial offices of the journal ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, the central publication in the discipline-and most graduate students in the program work on the journal in one capacity or another. We also cooperate with UNR's Academy for the Environment in organizing conferences and bringing visiting speakers to campus. The Great Basin Institute/Nevada Conservation Corps, based on campus and directed by one of our PhD candidates, provides a variety of summer field courses and ecological restoration projects for L&E students to participate in. L&E faculty members include founding officers and active members of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), an international organization that serves as a bridge between our campus community and a vast network of scholars throughout the world.
For more information about English Department faculty, please see the Biography pagesFor more information about the Literature and Environment Program, please see our L & E page.