Graduate Program
Colloquia
Graduate students admitted to the Department of English join a large and vibrant society of scholars, and can participate in almost too rich a program of talks, conferences, symposia, etc. But in addition, the Graduate Department of English forms a closely-knit, hard-working, mutually-supportive community, one rich in ideas and conviviality.
Within the department itself, there are several active discussion groups and colloquia. Some, like the Medieval and Early Modern Colloquium and the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Colloquium, specifically designed to encourage and display research in these early fields and to promote discussion of methodology.
The Twentieth-Century Colloquium provides a forum for new research on 20th-century literature in Great Britain, Ireland, North America, and world-wide.
The Americanist Colloquium brings faculty and graduate students from several departments and programs together for talks and mini-conferences throughout the year, drawing on speakers (including graduate students) from Yale and other institutions. Reflecting the philosophy of the department's other Americanist offerings, the Colloquium takes a broad view of the American tradition, including talks on topics such as sixteenth-century Aztec poetry, Early American drama, the connections between Hamlet and Melville's Bartleby, and the life and writing of Sylvia Plath. The recently-founded Americanists' Reading Group, led by graduate students, builds off the collegiality found in the Colloquium. The group, which includes faculty, meets regularly to discuss both the classics of American criticism--the work of Perry Miller and Benedict Anderson, for example--and the latest publications in the field.
The Contemporary Poetry Group, which consists of faculty and graduate students, meets roughly every other week to discuss the recent work of living poets. The Group rotates the responsibility of selecting a poet's work into a short xerox packet, and meets on campus in the early evening to work through the poems.
The Graduate Poets' Reading Series arranges public readings, about twice a semester, for graduate students in English and allied departments who write poetry. The format of the readings has a group of graduate-student poets as the "opening act" for a more experienced poet, invited to New Haven for the reading.
The British Studies Colloquium is an interdisciplinary group organized by and for graduate students. The Colloquium provides a comfortable environment for graduate students to present their work on any aspect of British culture. The group organizes events aimed at furthering interdisciplinary scholarship by bringing together students from the departments of History, History of Art, Renaissance Studies, English, and Comparative Literature.
The Graduate English Student Association sponsors social events and authors an invaluable handbook. Everything possible is done to ease the transition into a new city and a new program.
