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Literature and Environment
Dear Visitor,
Welcome to the Literature and Environment Program website of the Department of English at the University of Nevada, Reno. Recognizing the growing interest in literature and environment studies, or ecocriticism, in 1996 the UNR English Department created the nation’s first graduate programs of study in this area, offering both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English with an emphasis in Literature and Environment.
The “L&E Program” typically enrolls between twenty and twenty-five M.A. and Ph.D. students per year, including both incoming and continuing students. We attract excellent students from all parts of the United States and various parts of the world, united by common interests and a shared commitment to informed stewardship of the earth. Approximately a dozen faculty members contribute to a dynamic curriculum that offers courses in literature, theory, rhetoric, and writing. We faculty take very seriously our role as mentors, and we give students the careful attention that helps them define and achieve their goals. Together, students and faculty in L&E enjoy a strong sense of community, making friendships that last beyond graduation.
The L&E Program is affiliated with several UNR and professional organizations. From 1995 until 2002, the Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities (CEAH) hosted conferences and symposia and brought a distinguished series of guest speakers to campus to lecture, meet students, and join informal group hikes in the lovely mountains and deserts surrounding Reno. The L&E Program now cooperates with UNR’s new Academy for the Environment on these kinds of activities. The major scholarly journal in this field, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, is edited here, affording students remarkable opportunities for professional experience. The Great Basin Institute (GBI) and the Nevada Conservation Corps (NCC), established in 1998 by one of our students, offer a tantalizing variety of summer field courses and ecological restoration projects for L&E students to participate in. L&E faculty are 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.
Please browse this site and know that you are most welcome to contact the faculty, students, and alumni you find profiled on it (email addresses provided). If you have additional questions, feel free to contact the English Department’s Director of Graduate Studies, Michael Branch, at 775-784-6689, x229, or mbranch@unr.edu.