Weekly Round-Up

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Important Dates

Deadline to add a POT B course to schedule: Friday, Oct. 24
ESA Spooky Poetry Night: Wednesday, Oct. 29
Priority registration begins: Monday, Nov. 3
Advising Office Open House + ESA Bake Sale: Thursday, Nov. 6
Deadline to drop a POT B course without a ‘W’: Friday, Nov. 14
Advising Office Open House + ESA Bake Sale: Thursday, Nov. 20
Thanksgiving Break: November 22-November 30

Resource of the Week

Schedule Generator is a tool that will allow you to build the optimal class schedule based on course preferences and setting aside time for breaks during the week.  Create the optimal schedule and send it to Plan Ahead in Class Registration where you will be able to complete registration when your time ticket opens. 

ESA Presents: Spooky Poetry Night

What You Will Theatre Company Presents: The Tragedy of King Lear

Advising Open House + ESA Bake Sale!

ESA will be opening up their ESA room (attached to advising office) to sell some sweet treats during the remaining Advising Office Open Houses this semester. Stop by to learn more about ESA and buy a baked good or two! As always, the advising office will also provide coffee, tea, and literary-themed puzzles and games. Come spend a cozy morning or afternoon with us this fall!

Could AI Make a Zine? Interdisciplinary Roundtable and Zine Workshop

Wednesday, October 29, 1-2:30pm
Main Library, Room 220, and on Zoom

Zines, self-published booklets, have long been considered a subversive medium. Composed of image, text, and collage, zines challenge long held assumptions of expression, authorship, and communication. As zines enter the digital age, they offer us a vocabulary to examine another transgressive tool: Artificial Intelligence. The juncture of zines and AI asks us to reconsider how we define both mediums and it inspires us to further scrutinize our relationships to community, creativity, and the material world.

This hybrid event includes an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion featuring experts in information sciences, computer science, art, and media. Following the discussion, participants will have the opportunity to make zines using traditional and digital materials. 

Please register using this link: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/933293053. Those wishing to join online will be sent the zoom link the day of the event.

This event is hosted by the University Library and features Dr. Ryan Cordell, Dr. Karrie Karahalios, and Dr. Phillip Kalantzis Cope.

Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoner’s BOOK SALE

The book sale offers great deals (paperbacks for $1 and hardbacks for $2) and raises critical funding to continue providing free books to incarcerated individuals in Illinois. It will take place at the Independent Media Center on November 1 from 9 am-5pm.

Student Internship Available

Survey Data Analysis and Report Writing
Part-time Internship (10-15 hours per week) $15 per hour

Review duties and qualifications and apply here. Do it as soon as possible if you’re interested; the application window will remain open until they hire but they will begin reviewing applications as early as next week.

Job Description:
We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Student Intern to assist with analyzing and crafting summaries from survey data. This position requires a student who can effectively distill and communicate insights derived from qualitative and quantitative data. The ideal candidate has strong written communication skills, has an ability to synthesize information for a quick and accurate understanding of survey topics, and is comfortable working in an office environment. This is a fully on-site position.

NB We were asked to promote this opportunity to students in our department so they are definitely interested in humanities types for this position!

Copy Writer Internship Opportunity with Nintendo

As a Nintendo of America Intern, you will actively contribute to meaningful projects, and gain valuable hands-on work experience with a leading company in the entertainment industry. During the program from June through August, your work experience will be enhanced with mentoring, networking opportunities and exposure to industry leaders from across the company! Whether you are in a technical or non-technical role, you will be a part of a team committed to putting smiles on faces of millions around the world. 

For more information about this internship opportunity and to apply, CLICK HERE.

Application Deadline: December 1, 2025 

Women’s Resources Center Book Club

Friday, October 31   |   4:00pm
Women’s resources Center 
616 E. Green St Suite 213

Join the staff of the Women’s Resources Center as we discuss Hungerstone by Kat Dunn. During our conversation, we will discuss select chapters and themes from the text that explore relationships, the legacy of the romantic horror genre, and homoeroticism. 

Can’t read the whole book before we meet? No problem! Join us anyway! Limited copies of the book are available on a first come, first serve basis by request. 

Register: go.illinois.edu/Hungerstone

How to Enroll in an English Honors Seminar

If you would like to sign up for an English honors course in the spring, please email Nancy at nrahn@illinois.edu (include your full name and UIN) and tell her which seminar you hope to take this spring, including the title/topic and the CRN.  You’ll find descriptions of the courses and the CRN in Course Explorer.  Please allow one week to get a response. Once Nancy has given you permission to take the course, you must still go into the registration system and add it to your schedule.  Nancy cannot actually enroll you in the class; she is simply giving you the override that will allow you to enroll yourself! 

For more details about the honors program check our English department website: https://english.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduate-studies/honors-research/honors-research. 

If you would like to take two seminars at the same time, then you may, but you must receive approval for the first before you can request a second.  If you are approaching graduation and need a particular seminar in order to complete the honors program, please get your request in right away!  Permission is granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Be an Exploratory Studies Ambassador!

Exploratory Studies is excited to announce that our Ambassador Program application is now open!

The EXP Ambassador Program is a volunteer opportunity for current and former Exploratory Studies students to get involved as student leaders on campus. Ambassadors assist with events, workshops, EXP 101 classes, and outreach efforts- using their own exploration experiences to help guide other students through the process of finding their path at Illinois.

Application Form: EXP Ambassador Application
Program Information: EXP Ambassador Program Website

Applications are open until November 17.

Apply for the 2026 LeaderShape® Institute™

The LeaderShape® Institute™ is a nationally recognized four-day, three-night leadership retreat for Illinois undergraduate students of all majors. This immersive experience will take place January 12-15, 2026, at Allerton Park & Retreat Center in Monticello, IL. Students selected to participate will attend for free thanks to the generous financial support of campus sponsors.

The Institute™ offers participants the opportunity to identify and explore their personal values as they work towards creating a more caring, just, and equitable society. Students will engage in activities of self-discovery, reflection, and feedback in a community of peers, with a focus on leading with integrity.

If you’re ready to challenge yourself, connect with peers, and grow as a leader, we encourage you to apply! The Participant Application opens on October 1 and is due by midnight on November 9.

Admissions Open for the TRIO McNair Scholars Program

The Jeffries Center is pleased to announce we are now accepting student applications for the TRIO McNair Scholars Program! This program supports first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students in preparing for graduate studies. For more information, please email triomcnair@illinois.edu. Apply now!

Crafting a Compelling Personal Statement

Tuesday, October 28, 5-6pm, held via Zoom
Students will learn how to compose effective personal statements for graduate school applications, become familiar with common statement prompts, and impactfully story tell in a customized way.  Register in advance at https://go.illinois.edu/GradSchoolPersonalStatement.

An Evening with Ayelet Tsabari

Ayelet Tsabari’s new novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted, has won a slew of awards including the National Jewish Book Award. The novel fills a huge gap in that it traces the story of the history of Yemeni Israelis through a fictional family. The text tackles questions of race, nation, and belonging (or not belonging) and could not be more timely. A 2019 interview with Tsabari was published in Ninth Letter; you can find out more about the novel (and hear a clip from the audio book) here and here.

Kevin T. Early Memorial Scholarship

Submissions are open for the 2025-2026 Kevin T. Early Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is made possible from an endowment by William and Donna Early in memory of their son, a poet, Kevin T. Early. It awards a $2000 scholarship (applied to the student account) to a student with freshman standing at UIUC for the 2025-2026 school year.  

For consideration, students must submit 5 poems via email to jdudek4@illinois.edu. The complete submission should not exceed 5 pages (so 1 poem to a page). Submissions should be attached to the email as .docx (Word) files.

The subject line of the email should read: “EARLY PRIZE SUBMISSION: Last name.”

The body of the email should include the student’s name, address, phone number, e-mail, UIN, and the titles of the poems. The name should not appear on the entry file itself.

The deadline for application is Thursday, October 30, 2025. If you have any questions, please email jdudek4@illinois.edu.

AWP Intro Journals Project – Collecting Submissions!

Creative Writing Courses Added to the “Cheat Sheet”

Attention creative writing majors! You can now find courses offered each semester that satisfy your Writing & Literature and Difference & Diaspora requirements on the Major Requirements Cheat Sheet we update each semester. We hope that this will prove to be helpful when finding courses to complete these major requirements! The updated cheat sheet for Spring 2026 and live and ready for you to consult.

Don’t Forget These!

Media Ecology PhD Cohort at the University of Colorado Boulder

CU Boulder English is embarking on a new kind of PhD that is collaborative, experimental, and that affords students a chance to work closely with each other and with faculty. They are introducing a “Media Ecology” lab and team-taught courses where PhD students work with faculty and one another to map, theorize, and develop dissertation specialties via intensive mentoring, reading, and co-writing and -publishing in the lab. They offer competitive funding packages, along with excellent teaching and networking opportunities. Students will work with established academics and professionals in the fields of their interest.

What are “media ecologies”? If “ecology” refers to the relationships between humans and the more-than-human, mediaecology takes its cue from manuscripts, archives, as well as printed and digital environments to consider how text technologies and material infrastructures shape readers and their worlds. Conversely, readers perceive the material world through the lens of media. In addition to asking traditional questions in literary scholarship like “What does the text mean?” we theorize texts as occupying an ecological niche, suggesting that both medial form and its content occupy a symbiotic and competitive relationship with other texts. Like capital itself, text is always in motion and always innovating. The field of cultural production shifts, morphs, combines, and mutates. The university is seeking students interested in both environmental and media studies. They encourage those working in any literary period, with interests anywhere from medieval manuscripts to AI.

If you are interested in this topic and in pursuing a PhD in English, you are encouraged to apply! You can find information about applying here.

Library Research Consultations

Fall 2025 First Gen Series

Scholarship Opportunity

The LAS Get Experience Scholarship is designed to support students with financial need in hands-on learning experiences that enhance and complement their academic coursework (such as unpaid and underpaid internships). Click the link above to find out more.

How to Connect with LAS Career Services

• Mondays- 1-3 pm 105 Greg Hall (short chats)
• Tuesdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Wednesdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Thursdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Thursdays- 1-3 pm 105 Greg Hall (short chats)
• Handshake Appointments (in-person or virtual) are 30 minutes during available staff times. We have an energetic team to help you. Reach out to connect. Having trouble? Reach out to us at las-careerservices@illinois.edu. 

Montage – Call for Submissions!

Montage publishes art and literary work by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Submissions are now open! For more information and to submit your work, please visit: https://www.montageartsjournal.com/submit

Sharing News

As a reminder, if you have an award, a publication, or some other triumph to report please send news to engl-news@illinois.edu so the social media interns can celebrate you and your accomplishment. Also, if you are a member of a student group affiliated with the English department and you would like an upcoming event posted on our undergraduate calendar (now available at the bottom of the advising page) please send that info to the same address. Thanks!

Boost Your Speaking Skills

We offer a friendly, low-stakes space for students from any major or discipline to practice and work on oral communication with a peer-consultant, including using visual aids such as powerpoint and research posters. Our main location is in the Armory, with satellite hours in the Main Library, Grainger Library, ACES/Funk Library, and the LAS Hub. We also offer synchronous online appointments. 

Free Little Library

WRC Fall Hours