Follow the department on social media!

Important Dates

March 14: Deadline to DROP a full semester course
March 14: Deadline to elect GRADE REPLACEMENT for a full semester course
March 15-23: SPRING BREAK

We’re Hiring!

For the 2025-26 academic year, the Department of English is looking to hire a Social Media Management Intern from any major in the English Department. This is a great opportunity for students to apply their love of writing and literature while gaining valuable media-writing experience.

Eligibility: Undergraduate in the Department of English with at least Sophomore standing for AY25-26

Position Responsibilities:

• Develop creative thematic post series for Facebook and Instagram
• Promote, attend, and create social media posts about department events when safety allows
• Design flyers, memes, and other posts for informing and entertaining students
• Develop creative semester-long multimodal projects
• Attend weekly meetings for brainstorming, task assignments, and collaboration
• Edit videos and design flyers or posts
• Collaborate with Advising Office in creating content
• Conduct and publish interviews with faculty, alumni, students, and visiting speakers
• Average hours worked per week: 5 (about 75 hours over a semester)

Position Wage: $15/hour
Position Starts: April, 2025

Recommended Skills and Experience:

• Concise and catchy writing
• Writing for social media
• Develop and follow through on creative ideas
• Tailor message and style to genre and audience
• Visual design
• Work independently
• Interpersonal communication
• Collaboration
• Reliability
• Word, Publisher, Adobe, photo & video editing
• Photography, video, and editing skills a plus

To Apply: Submit a resume and cover letter. Application materials can be addressed to John Dudek, Associate Director of Creative Writing, and sent as email attachments to jdudek4@illinois.edu by no later than 9:00 am on Friday, March 28.

Calling All Graduating Seniors!

If you expect to graduate in May or August you are invited to participate in the English & Creative Writing Convocation in May.  Please read on to ensure that you know all about when, where, and how you can register for our ceremony and/or the universitywide ceremony and order regalia.  

English & Creative Writing Convocation: Saturday, May 17, 5 pm, Smith Memorial Hall

Universitywide Commencement: Saturday, May 17, 9:30 am, Memorial Stadium

Please note that you must have regalia (aka “cap and gown”) to participate in any ceremony.  Information about how to rent your cap and gown can be found here. 

Questions about the English department ceremony should be sent to englishadvising@illinois.edu.  Questions about the universitywide ceremony, or about regalia, should be sent to commencement@illinois.edu.   

Chancellor’s Senior Survey

All students graduating in May 2025 are invited to take the Chancellor’s Senior Survey, which prompts students to reflect on their Illinois experience by answering questions about participation in activities and services, perceived gains in abilities linked to the Illinois (campus-wide) student learning outcomes, campus climate, disability support services, attributions of success, barriers to success, and overall satisfaction with the Illinois experience.

Spring Break Professional Development Opportunity

If you will be in the Chicagoland area over spring break, please join LAS Career Services for an employer site visit to Feldco in Rosemont, IL, on Thursday, March 20. 

Feldco is an exterior home improvement company in Rosemont, IL The CEO, Doug Cook, is an LAS alumnus (communications major, followed by an MBA from Northwestern) who is eager to connect with current LAS students. This site visit is an opportunity to see how liberal arts and sciences skills can lead to success in a business environment — and to learn about employment opportunities in the Feldco corporate headquarters. All years and LAS majors are welcome!

Register on Handshake (advance registration is required.

Here’s the agenda for the visit:

• Meet in the main lobby of Feldco (6300 N River Rd Suite 600, Rosemont, IL) at 10:00am!
• 10:00am – 10:15am: get settled – snacks, coffee
• 10:15am – 10:45am: office tour
• 11:00am – 12pm: welcome, presentation about the company, Q&A
• 12pm – 1pm: networking lunch (provided by Feldco)
• 1pm to 2pm: panel conversation with UIUC alumni/informational interviews with staff in small groups
• 2pm to 2:15pm: closing remarks.

Dress code is business casual (pants/trousers with a collared shirt or office-appropriate top — no jeans, sweats, or logos).

Some background: Feldco CEO Doug Cook on the commercial jingle that is vital to the company’s success | WGN Radio 720 – Chicago’s Very Own 

Email Kirstin Wilcox at kwilcox@illinois.edu if you have questions!

Scholarship Information Sessions

First-Gen Series Event

NEW SECOND 8-WEEK COURSE OPTION

English 103, Introduction to Fiction, taught by Peter Mortensen

What good is fiction in a world hungry for truth? We’ll search for answers on familiar ground: the college campus. Fiction about collegiate life abounds. We’ll study it by reading novels and short stories that challenge us to imagine our place and ourselves differently, which is to say critically. The critical imagination sparked by fiction can reveal larger truths about humanity and its institutions. These truths may be beautiful or ugly, lasting or fleeting, comforting or disturbing, broadly accepted or sharply contested. Whatever the case, finding truths in fiction requires a particular kind of reading: close reading. The techniques and vocabulary of close reading will equip us to make arguments in writing, arguments aimed at persuading others to share (or at least appreciate) our understanding of what we have read. Fiction on the syllabus includes Jean Hanff Korelitz’s Admission, Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2, Weike Wang’s Chemistry, and Richard Russo’s Straight Man. With Admission and Straight Man, we’ll use close reading to evaluate what happens when the truths of prose fiction are adapted for presentation to mass audiences on screen.

Interested in Gaming?

Check out these 2nd-8-week courses, open to students in all majors! No prior experience necessary.

INFO 490 SBU/SBG
Makerspaces: Made for Learning 
This course is an exploration of the history and function of community and education-oriented makerspaces. Students in this section will evaluate emergent makerspace curricula for learning in formal environments, like schools, as well as informal settings, like libraries. The students’ coursework will culminate in a final project that will involve the development of a makerspace workshop activity that will be a part of a community event. In preparation for this final project, students will be familiarized with several methods of teaching and learning rapid prototyping and iterative design techniques. This will include a variety of low/no-tech projects and computer-driven tools, such as e-textiles, 3D printing, electronic cutting and small board electronics.

GSD 390 DHP 
Improv for Games
Whether you’ve seen it in your favorite Tabletop Role Playing game, on a television show like Whose Line is it Anyway, or in person at Second City, improvisation is everywhere. In this course, students will learn and practice basic improvisational techniques, with the goal of exploring fictional characters and scenarios in and around games and game design. Students will also get the opportunity to create new Improv games, and approach the space from a designer’s perspective. No theater or game design experience is required!

GSD 390 JAI
AI Systems in Games
Guided exploration of AI tools and how they can be used to design and build games including the use of large language models (LLM).

GSD 390 RPG
2D Game Design with RPG Maker
An introduction to the design behind 2D games. You will become proficient in RPG Maker MZ, a game engine designed for 2D forced perspective games. By the end of class you will have developed a small demo for personal reference for what you’ve learned as well as for your portfolio. No prior programming knowledge is required for students to be successful in the course. BYOL course (Bring Your Own Laptop). Students must purchase their own license of RPG Maker MZ.

Junior Quinn Award 2025

The Junior Quinn Award recognizes achievement and potential in Creative Writing MAJORS or minors with junior class standing by awarding one or more recipients with financial support to attend a writing workshop or conference. This year’s prize will be issued as a flat $1000. We recognize that it is not always easy to determine eligibility. If you are not technically a Junior this academic year but plan to graduate no earlier than December 2025 and no later than December 2026, you may be eligible (check with an advisor if you’re not sure). You may apply for the Junior Quinn only once.

If you are eligible, we want to see a sample of your unpublished prose OR poetry:

Prose submissions can be either fiction or creative nonfiction. Limit your submission to 1-2 pieces, no more than 15 pages total. Poetry submissions should contain 3-5 poems, no more than 7 pages total. The first page of your submission (not included in page count) should be a statement of purpose explaining how attending a writing conference or other professional development opportunity would impact your writing. This statement should be no more than 250 words.

Submit your statement of purpose and creative work in one file (.docx only) to John Dudek at jdudek4@illinois.edu by noon, March 20. To make sure your submission does not get lost, the subject line of the email should be ALL CAPS and either JUNIOR QUINN POETRY or JUNIOR QUINN PROSE. The body of this email should include: Your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and UIN.

Image of Research Competition–Submit by 3/25

Poetry and Jazz!

The Humanities Research Institute presents an evening of jazz and poetry with award-winning poet Janice N. Harrington and musician Charles “Chip” McNeil. Harrington will read selections from her book Yard Show with musical accompaniment by McNeill and student musicians from the University of Illinois School of Music. The book will be available for purchasing and signing!

March 26,  7:00 p.m
Levis Faculty Center, Rm 300

Upcoming LAS Career Events

• Finding an Internship March 26th, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm 715 South Wright Street

Careers in Human Resources and Labor Relations

Don’t Forget These!

Summer Language Learning

•  June 16th – August 8th, 2025  •

Session includes
• Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, and Wolof courses
• Small class sizes and dedicated faculty and staff
• Immersive experience, complete with instruction
• Cultural activities, opportunities for language practice, conversation tables,
cooking classes, movie nights, and more!

Program registration timeline
April 24th – May 12th, 2025
Application & Registration

For more information contact silmw@illinois.edu

A New Way to Share Good News

Preview of Spring 2025 Creative Writing Events

We’ll advertise these individually as they approach (with location info) but now would be a great time to get them all in your calendar.

Carr Visiting Author Series: Dante Micheaux
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 4:30

Poetry Reading by Janice Harrington and Angie Estes
Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 6:00

Yard Show: Black Life, Prairies, and Place Making In the Midwest.
Reading and performance featuring Janice N. Harrington and Chip McNeill
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 4:30

MFA Public Reading
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 1:00

Research Workshops

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) announces its Spring 2025 workshop calendar. We are offering a variety of workshops to support you regardless of where you are in your research journey. Information for each workshop, including how you can register, can be found on our website . For all workshops, participation is by advanced registration only; there are a limited number of spots available for each workshop, so please sign up as soon as possible. Workshops will be added throughout the term based on demand.

Tuesday @7 Workshops with the Counseling Center

Confidential Advising Resources

The Women’s Resources Center (WRC) is the designated confidential campus resource related to sexual assault/rape, sexual harassment, stalking and abuse within a relationship (sometimes called dating or domestic violence). That means when we talk with students, staff, and faculty who have experienced harm, we make sure you get what you need and on your terms! There are several Confidential Advisors at the WRC who can provide you – or someone looking to support you – with support and advocacy services.

Follow the department on social media!

Important Dates

March 14: Deadline to DROP a full semester course
March 14: Deadline to elect GRADE REPLACEMENT for a full semester course
March 15-23: SPRING BREAK

Spring Writing Contests–DEADLINE TODAY!

Deadline: Noon, Friday, February 28, 2025

The English Department is pleased to announce its annual undergraduate literary competition in Short Fiction and Poetry. Prizes range from $100 to $1500 with multiple awards in each category.

Contest rules are as follows:
Short Fiction: Submit no more than one unpublished story (7500 words, maximum length)
Poetry: Submit up to 5 unpublished poems in a single document.
Only University of Illinois undergraduate students are eligible. To be considered for a prize, submissions must adhere to the following rules:
●All submissions must be sent via email as an attachment to: jdudek4@illinois.edu.
●The subject line of your email message must read as follows: “UNDERGRAD POETRY: Last name” or “UNDERGRAD FICTION: Last name”
●If you enter in both categories (poetry and fiction), you will need to send separate emails.
●In the body of your email, please include your name, address, phone number, email, status (undergraduate), and UIN.

This year, we are also able to offer new scholarships worth $1000 in both Fiction and Poetry. These scholarships will be distributed to students based on merit, with preference given to students displaying financial need and who graduated from an Illinois high school.

If you would like to be considered for one of these scholarships, please also include a brief note on your financial need and the name of the Illinois high school from which you graduated.

Your entry itself is to be contained in one attached .docx file. The name of this file must be the contest category followed by your last name, such as “FICTION JONES.docx” or “POETRY JONES.docx” Your name should not appear within the document itself.
Winners will be announced Early April. Please direct any questions to John Dudek at jdudek4@illinois.edu.

Submit to Montage–DEADLINE TODAY!

Montage publishes work by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is now accepting submissions through February 28, 2025.

See this page for more details or email montagejournal@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

Calling All Graduating Seniors!

If you expect to graduate in May or August you are invited to participate in the English & Creative Writing Convocation in May.  Please read on to ensure that you know all about when, where, and how you can register for our ceremony and/or the universitywide ceremony and order regalia.  

English & Creative Writing Convocation: Saturday, May 17, 5 pm, Smith Memorial Hall

Universitywide Commencement: Saturday, May 17, 9:30 am, Memorial Stadium

Please note that you must have regalia (aka “cap and gown”) to participate in any ceremony.  Information about how to rent your cap and gown can be found here. 

Questions about the English department ceremony should be sent to englishadvising@illinois.edu.  Questions about the universitywide ceremony, or about regalia, should be sent to commencement@illinois.edu.   

Upcoming LAS Career Events

• Having Difficult Conversations about Your Future March 6, noon-1:30 in 2043 Lincoln Hall. Choosing a major that your family disapproves of? Discovering that med school/law school/Ph.D. is not in your future? Developing goals that differ from what the people who love you want for you? Pursuing a path that you struggle to explain? Figuring out your future often entails difficult conversations with parents, partners, and family mentors. Join the embedded counselors for LAS for a workshop about preparing for those conversations. Limited space, a waitlist will start at 20 students.
• Career Lab: Seniors, Jumpstart Your Future March 11, 12:30-2:30 in 2043 Lincoln Hall. LAS SENIORS: get help with your year search! (Register for a light lunch). Not sure what you’re doing after you graduate in December or May? Need help getting started? Bring your laptop, your questions, your uncertainty, drafts of documents you’re working on (resumes, cover letters, grad school statements). Staff is on hand to answer questions and offer guidance. Have lunch and meet others wrestling with the same challenges! We will provide a light lunch for those who attend. Register in Handshake to help us estimate food for this event.

Help with Research

SKY Happiness Retreat–STARTS TODAY!

SKY Happiness Retreat is a total well-being training offered to thousands of university students, faculty, and staff across the country. A recent study at Yale University found that SKY Happiness Retreat significantly reduces stress, depression, and has a long-lasting impact on mental health, mindfulness, positive emotion and social connectedness. The SKY Happiness Retreat introduces SKY Meditation, an evidence-based meditation practice integrated with breath work that can significantly increase one’s well-being and calmness and significantly reduces anxiety and stress markers. The course features interactive group processes, experiential learning, emotional intelligence training, breath-work, yoga, and evidence-based meditation. It’s a place to connect with yourself, destress, and most importantly, have fun.

SKY Happiness Retreat is fully funded for University of Illinois students, with partial funding available for University staff/faculty. Availability is first-come-first serve, by registration only and requires attendance to all sessions. Limited spots are available.

Location: On campus (TBD)
February 28th (Fri) | 6pm – 9pm
March 1st and 2nd (Sat & Sun) | 12pm – 4.30pm

Apply here: https://forms.gle/ysh2GLJXKFwXMauH7

Research Opportunity–DEADLINE APPROACHING

Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop 

June 23 – July 25, 2025: Online 

ONLINE INFO SESSIONS MARCH 3, 9 a.m. PST & MARCH 12, 5 p.m. PST

The Los Angeles Review of Books is now accepting applications for the 2025 LARB Publishing Workshop. 

A five-week intensive summer course, the LARB Publishing Workshop prepares students to succeed in careers in the ever-changing, seemingly inaccessible business of publishing. From June 23 – July 25, Workshop Fellows will learn from the industry professionals shaping print and digital publishing today. Speakers include N Rebecca Saletan (Riverhead), Christie Henry (Princeton University Press), Lori Dorr (The Paris Review) Katie Dublinski (Graywolf), Jamia Wilson (Penguin Random House), Gerald Maa (The Georgia Review), Adam Levi (Transit Books), among others. 

In addition to participating in lectures and workshops featuring over 50 guest speakers, Fellows will have the opportunity to join one of two practical tracks dedicated to magazine and book production. These will culminate in the publication of our online magazine PubLab or books of their own design. This combination of practical skills, industry insights, and creative networks have helped Workshop Fellows start their own ventures or build careers in publishing. Since our inaugural program in 2017, alumni have gone on to jobs at journals, agencies, and presses such as Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Bookends Literary Agency, Harvard University Press, Penguin-Random House, Harper’s Magazine, Stanford University Press, The Getty Research Institute, The PEN Faulkner Foundation, and many more. 

The program is open to undergraduates completing their degree by December 2025, those who have recently graduated, current graduate students, and people with relevant experience and interest in entering the publishing industry. Need-based scholarships are available, in keeping with our mission of accessibility, and we regularly partner with colleges and universities to provide fellowships for their students to attend. The Publishing Workshop is conducted virtually and does not require travel to Los Angeles. 

Apply now through April 1. For more information and applications visit www.larbpublishingworkshop.org. 

You can listen to 2024 Fellows talk about their experience here: https://youtu.be/TXTV_5W-haY?si=ogx7GBoBKRu6r20A

LARB staff and recent alumni will hold info sessions with time for Q&A on Monday, March 3 at 9 a.m. PST and Wednesday, March 12 at 5 p.m. PST. Register here: https://larbpublishingworkshop.org/how-to-apply/info-sessions/ 

For questions about the workshop, please contact us at publishingworkshop@lareviewofbooks.org.

Summer Language Learning

•  June 16th – August 8th, 2025  •

Session includes
• Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, and Wolof courses
• Small class sizes and dedicated faculty and staff
• Immersive experience, complete with instruction
• Cultural activities, opportunities for language practice, conversation tables,
cooking classes, movie nights, and more!

Program registration timeline
April 24th – May 12th, 2025
Application & Registration

For more information contact silmw@illinois.edu

Networking Opportunity

This annual program, formerly known as Imprint, now know as Networking and Personal Brand Development-Featuring Illinois Alumni Coaches, is returning for 2025. We have invited back approximately 20 Illinois Alumni ranging from nearly every academic college background and a diverse set of graduating classes ranging from the 70’s to 2017!

This event is designed for students to meet alumni who are established in their careers and share valuable insights into networking and creating opportunities to land students their first internships or post-graduation positions. Students will be given deliberate free time throughout the program to meet and network with any specific alumni they would like to. The event runs from 10 am to 4 pm on March 1^st and will be held in the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF), room 035. Sign up here: https://cglink.me/2sM/r381413 

Call for Submissions

The Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, an undergraduate-run literary magazine based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is now accepting submissions for the MJLC’s Spring 2025 edition Care.

The deadline for written submissions is March 3rd at 11:59pm and for artwork it’s March 7th at 11:59pm. More information on the theme and submissions process can be found below and on our website. Any questions can be directed to the MJLC staff at mjlc@rso.wisc.edu.

Translating Arabic Poetry

CAS Food for Thought Event

Author’s Corner Event

Gilman Scholarship–New Drop-In Advising Event

Are you a Pell grant recipient who wants to study abroad or do an international internship? If so, the Gilman Scholarship is for you!

Eligibility
Freshmen through Seniors who are U.S. citizens or nationals, Pell grant recipients, in good academic standing, and will be participating in a credit-bearing study abroad program or international internship are eligible to apply. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship provides enrolled students, who are Pell grant recipients, up to $5,000 for either study abroad or an internship abroad. If you plan to study a language critical to U.S. national security while abroad, you can apply for an additional $3,000. If you plan to conduct STEM-related research while studying abroad, you can apply for an additional $1,000.   

Get tips about applying from recent Illinois Gilman Scholars.

The national deadline is March 6, 2025.

For more information, contact the scholarships office at topscholars@illinois.edu or visit our website at www.topscholars.illinois.edu 

A Conversation with Darcie Little Badger

Meet Lipan Apache author Darcie Little Badger as she discusses her novels Elatsoe and A Snake Falls to Earth and what inspires her. An audience Q&A and a book signing will follow the discussion.

Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy books of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula Award, an Ignyte Award, and a Newbery Honor and is on the National Book Awards longlist. It is a breathtaking work of Indigenous futurism. Darcie draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family.

Her third book, Sheine Lende, is the prequel to Elatsoe, which is centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world, and introduces us to another cast of characters who will wend their way around readers’ hearts.

Darcie is an Earth scientist, writer, and fan of the weird, beautiful, and haunting; she is married to a veterinarian named Taran.

This event is supported by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Native American House and generously sponsored by The Urbana Free Library Foundation.

Job Opportunities

Orientation Leaders
New Student and Family Experiences is looking for undergraduate students to serve as Orientation Leaders to help us welcome our Fall 2025 new students!  The position description and application link are here.  

Peer Advisors
The Division of General Studies (soon to be Exploratory Studies) is hiring Summer Peer Advisors! This is a great opportunity for undergraduate students looking to develop their leadership, communication, and mentorship skills while supporting incoming students during New Student Registration (NSR).

Applicants must be in good academic standing and available for training in May after final exams and to work during NSR in June–early July.

Students do not have to be former DGS students to apply, but an understanding of the ICT process is beneficial. More details, including the application link, can be found here: Summer Peer Advisor Information.

Applications are due Friday, March 7 at 5pm.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The URS is the signature event of Undergraduate Research Week (April 20 – 26), which brings together students, faculty, and staff from all disciplines on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, as well as the public, to learn more about undergraduate research and its potential to change the world. Throughout the day, students will present their oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and interactive exhibits to members of the campus and local community.

• When: Thursday, April 24, 2025
• Where: Illini Union (A, B, C, South Lounge, and the 2nd Floor)
• Application Deadline: Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Visit the URS webpage for more information, including answers to frequently asked questions.

Applications are currently being accepted. The deadline for applying to the URS is Friday, March 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm and no late submissions will be accepted. Please note, your presentation is not expected to be complete by the application deadline. On the application, you will only be asked to provide a tentative title that can be revised until March 19 and an abstract which will be used internally by OUR to create and organize thematic sessions. Your abstract will not be published or viewed by anyone other than OUR.

Image of Research Competition–Submit by 3/25

Don’t Forget These!

A New Way to Share Good News

Certificate in Intercultural Competence

The Certificate in Intercultural Competence offers undergraduate students the chance to show future employers and potential graduate programs that they have the global and intercultural skills needed to succeed in and out of the classroom. Courses on the approved list for the Certificate include an introduction to the concept of intercultural competence, as well as elective courses that cover a wide variety of topics, from the study of ancient traditions to contemporary culture, the study of myths and fairy tales to modern literature, and more. Although the certificate will not appear on a student’s transcript, students completing the certificate should include this credential on a resume or application for advanced study.

To learn more, check out https://slcl.illinois.edu/graduate/intercultural-competence.

Preview of Spring 2025 Creative Writing Events

We’ll advertise these individually as they approach (with location info) but now would be a great time to get them all in your calendar.

Carr Visiting Author Series: Dante Micheaux
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 4:30

Poetry Reading by Janice Harrington and Angie Estes
Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 6:00

Yard Show: Black Life, Prairies, and Place Making In the Midwest.
Reading and performance featuring Janice N. Harrington and Chip McNeill
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 4:30

MFA Public Reading
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 1:00

Research Workshops

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) announces its Spring 2025 workshop calendar. We are offering a variety of workshops to support you regardless of where you are in your research journey. Information for each workshop, including how you can register, can be found on our website . For all workshops, participation is by advanced registration only; there are a limited number of spots available for each workshop, so please sign up as soon as possible. Workshops will be added throughout the term based on demand.

Tuesday @7 Workshops with the Counseling Center

Confidential Advising Resources

The Women’s Resources Center (WRC) is the designated confidential campus resource related to sexual assault/rape, sexual harassment, stalking and abuse within a relationship (sometimes called dating or domestic violence). That means when we talk with students, staff, and faculty who have experienced harm, we make sure you get what you need and on your terms! There are several Confidential Advisors at the WRC who can provide you – or someone looking to support you – with support and advocacy services.

Follow the department on social media!

Calling All Graduating Seniors!

If you expect to graduate in May or August you are invited to participate in the English & Creative Writing Convocation in May.  Please read on to ensure that you know all about when, where, and how you can register for our ceremony and/or the universitywide ceremony and order regalia.  

English & Creative Writing Convocation: Saturday, May 17, 5 pm, Smith Memorial Hall

Universitywide Commencement: Saturday, May 17, 9:30 am, Memorial Stadium

Please note that you must have regalia (aka “cap and gown”) to participate in any ceremony.  Information about how to rent your cap and gown can be found here. 

Questions about the English department ceremony should be sent to englishadvising@illinois.edu.  Questions about the universitywide ceremony, or about regalia, should be sent to commencement@illinois.edu.   

ESA Movie Night Feb 26

Upcoming LAS Career Events

• Learn about the benefits of a Gap Year with City Year Feb 26, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm in the LAS Hub. City Year is an education non-profit and AmeriCorps program. Our opportunity is a gap year opportunity where young people ages 18-25 work as full-time tutors and mentors for youth for an academic school year while receiving educational and professional development support. We serve in 29 cities across the U.S. and are open to all majors. 
• Having Difficult Conversations about Your Future March 6, noon-1:30 in 2043 Lincoln Hall. Choosing a major that your family disapproves of? Discovering that med school/law school/Ph.D. is not in your future? Developing goals that differ from what the people who love you want for you? Pursuing a path that you struggle to explain? Figuring out your future often entails difficult conversations with parents, partners, and family mentors. Join the embedded counselors for LAS for a workshop about preparing for those conversations. Limited space, a waitlist will start at 20 students.
• Career Lab: Seniors, Jumpstart Your Future March 11, 12:30-2:30 in 2043 Lincoln Hall. LAS SENIORS: get help with your year search! (Register for a light lunch). Not sure what you’re doing after you graduate in December or May? Need help getting started? Bring your laptop, your questions, your uncertainty, drafts of documents you’re working on (resumes, cover letters, grad school statements). Staff is on hand to answer questions and offer guidance. Have lunch and meet others wrestling with the same challenges! We will provide a light lunch for those who attend. Register in Handshake to help us estimate food for this event.

Food For Thought | John Levi Barnard and Lindsay Rose Russell

Open Mic Announcement (and Call for Performers)

Voyager Scholarship

The Voyager Scholarship (Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service) is awarded to students focused on public service careers. A career in public service includes a range of occupations in government, non-profits or the private sector, from community organizing to social work and from entrepreneurship to the arts—all committed to solving our biggest challenges together. It provides up to $80,000 toward your education ($25,000/yr of financial aid for junior and senior year, $10,000 for a summer experience, and $2,000 annually for 10 years for travel). 

Deadline 
The priority campus deadline is February 27, 2025, at 12:00pm (noon). 

For more information, contact the scholarships office at topscholars@illinois.edu or visit our website at www.topscholars.illinois.edu 

Explore Languages of the World

Spring Writing Contests

Deadline: Noon, Friday, February 28, 2025

The English Department is pleased to announce its annual undergraduate literary competitions in Short Fiction and Poetry. Prizes range from $100 to $1500 with multiple awards in each category.

Contest rules are as follows:
Short Fiction: Submit no more than one unpublished story (7500 words, maximum length)
Poetry: Submit up to 5 unpublished poems in a single document.
Only University of Illinois undergraduate students are eligible. To be considered for a prize, submissions must adhere to the following rules:
●All submissions must be sent via email as an attachment to: jdudek4@illinois.edu.
●The subject line of your email message must read as follows: “UNDERGRAD POETRY: Last name” or “UNDERGRAD FICTION: Last name”
●If you enter in both categories (poetry and fiction), you will need to send separate emails.
●In the body of your email, please include your name, address, phone number, email, status (undergraduate), and UIN.

This year, we are also able to offer new scholarships worth $1000 in both Fiction and Poetry. These scholarships will be distributed to students based on merit, with preference given to students displaying financial need and who graduated from an Illinois high school.

If you would like to be considered for one of these scholarships, please also include a brief note on your financial need and the name of the Illinois high school from which you graduated.

Your entry itself is to be contained in one attached .docx file. The name of this file must be the contest category followed by your last name, such as “FICTION JONES.docx” or “POETRY JONES.docx” Your name should not appear within the document itself.
Winners will be announced Early April. Please direct any questions to John Dudek at jdudek4@illinois.edu.

Submit to Montage (NEW DEADLINE Feb 28)

Montage publishes work by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is now accepting submissions through February 28, 2025.

See this page for more details or email montagejournal@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

SKY Happiness Retreat

SKY Happiness Retreat is a total well-being training offered to thousands of university students, faculty, and staff across the country. A recent study at Yale University found that SKY Happiness Retreat significantly reduces stress, depression, and has a long-lasting impact on mental health, mindfulness, positive emotion and social connectedness. The SKY Happiness Retreat introduces SKY Meditation, an evidence-based meditation practice integrated with breath work that can significantly increase one’s well-being and calmness and significantly reduces anxiety and stress markers. The course features interactive group processes, experiential learning, emotional intelligence training, breath-work, yoga, and evidence-based meditation. It’s a place to connect with yourself, destress, and most importantly, have fun.

SKY Happiness Retreat is fully funded for University of Illinois students, with partial funding available for University staff/faculty. Availability is first-come-first serve, by registration only and requires attendance to all sessions. Limited spots are available.

Location: On campus (TBD)
February 28th (Fri) | 6pm – 9pm
March 1st and 2nd (Sat & Sun) | 12pm – 4.30pm

Apply here: https://forms.gle/ysh2GLJXKFwXMauH7

Undergraduate Research Opportunity–Deadline to apply March 1

Certificate in Intercultural Competence

The Certificate in Intercultural Competence offers undergraduate students the chance to show future employers and potential graduate programs that they have the global and intercultural skills needed to succeed in and out of the classroom. Courses on the approved list for the Certificate include an introduction to the concept of intercultural competence, as well as elective courses that cover a wide variety of topics, from the study of ancient traditions to contemporary culture, the study of myths and fairy tales to modern literature, and more. Although the certificate will not appear on a student’s transcript, students completing the certificate should include this credential on a resume or application for advanced study.

To learn more, check out https://slcl.illinois.edu/graduate/intercultural-competence.

Networking Opportunity

This annual program, formerly known as Imprint, now know as Networking and Personal Brand Development-Featuring Illinois Alumni Coaches, is returning for 2025. We have invited back approximately 20 Illinois Alumni ranging from nearly every academic college background and a diverse set of graduating classes ranging from the 70’s to 2017!

Purpose
This event is designed for students to meet alumni who are established in their careers and share valuable insights into networking and creating opportunities to land students their first internships or post-graduation positions. Students will be given deliberate free time throughout the program to meet and network with any specific alumni they would like to.

When is it?
The event runs from 10 am to 4 pm on March 1^st and will be held in the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF), room 035. Sign up here: https://cglink.me/2sM/r381413 

Call for Submissions

The Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, an undergraduate-run literary magazine based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is now accepting submissions for the MJLC’s Spring 2025 edition Care.

The deadline for written submissions is March 3rd at 11:59pm and for artwork it’s March 7th at 11:59pm. More information on the theme and submissions process can be found below and on our website. Any questions can be directed to the MJLC staff at mjlc@rso.wisc.edu.

Author’s Corner Event

Job Opportunities

Orientation Leaders
New Student and Family Experiences is looking for undergraduate students to serve as Orientation Leaders to help us welcome our Fall 2025 new students!  The position description and application link are here.  

Peer Advisors
The Division of General Studies (soon to be Exploratory Studies) is hiring Summer Peer Advisors! This is a great opportunity for undergraduate students looking to develop their leadership, communication, and mentorship skills while supporting incoming students during New Student Registration (NSR).

Applicants must be in good academic standing and available for training in May after final exams and to work during NSR in June–early July.

Students do not have to be former DGS students to apply, but an understanding of the ICT process is beneficial. More details, including the application link, can be found here: Summer Peer Advisor Information.

Applications are due Friday, March 7 at 5pm.

Don’t Forget These!

A New Way to Share Good News

Preview of Spring 2025 Creative Writing Events

We’ll advertise these individually as they approach (with location info) but now would be a great time to get them all in your calendar.

Carr Visiting Author Series: Dante Micheaux
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 4:30

Poetry Reading by Janice Harrington and Angie Estes
Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 6:00

Yard Show: Black Life, Prairies, and Place Making In the Midwest.
Reading and performance featuring Janice N. Harrington and Chip McNeill
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 4:30

MFA Public Reading
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 1:00

Gilman Scholarship

Are you a Pell grant recipient who wants to study abroad or do an international internship? If so, the Gilman Scholarship is for you!

Eligibility
Freshmen through Seniors who are U.S. citizens or nationals, Pell grant recipients, in good academic standing, and will be participating in a credit-bearing study abroad program or international internship are eligible to apply. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship provides enrolled students, who are Pell grant recipients, up to $5,000 for either study abroad or an internship abroad. If you plan to study a language critical to U.S. national security while abroad, you can apply for an additional $3,000. If you plan to conduct STEM-related research while studying abroad, you can apply for an additional $1,000.   

Get tips about applying from recent Illinois Gilman Scholars.

The national deadline is March 6, 2025.

For more information, contact the scholarships office at topscholars@illinois.edu or visit our website at www.topscholars.illinois.edu 

Research Workshops

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) announces its Spring 2025 workshop calendar. We are offering a variety of workshops to support you regardless of where you are in your research journey. Information for each workshop, including how you can register, can be found on our website . For all workshops, participation is by advanced registration only; there are a limited number of spots available for each workshop, so please sign up as soon as possible. Workshops will be added throughout the term based on demand.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The URS is the signature event of Undergraduate Research Week (April 20 – 26), which brings together students, faculty, and staff from all disciplines on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, as well as the public, to learn more about undergraduate research and its potential to change the world. Throughout the day, students will present their oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and interactive exhibits to members of the campus and local community.

• When: Thursday, April 24, 2025
• Where: Illini Union (A, B, C, South Lounge, and the 2nd Floor)
• Application Deadline: Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Visit the URS webpage for more information, including answers to frequently asked questions.

Applications are currently being accepted. The deadline for applying to the URS is Friday, March 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm and no late submissions will be accepted. Please note, your presentation is not expected to be complete by the application deadline. On the application, you will only be asked to provide a tentative title that can be revised until March 19 and an abstract which will be used internally by OUR to create and organize thematic sessions. Your abstract will not be published or viewed by anyone other than OUR.

Tuesday @7 Workshops with the Counseling Center

Confidential Advising Resources

The Women’s Resources Center (WRC) is the designated confidential campus resource related to sexual assault/rape, sexual harassment, stalking and abuse within a relationship (sometimes called dating or domestic violence). That means when we talk with students, staff, and faculty who have experienced harm, we make sure you get what you need and on your terms! There are several Confidential Advisors at the WRC who can provide you – or someone looking to support you – with support and advocacy services.

Follow the department on social media!

Freshman Poetry Scholarship (deadline TODAY, Friday, Feb 7)

Submissions are being accepted for the 2024-2025 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 $2000 to a student with freshman standing at UIUC for the 2024-2025 school year. The deadline for application is Friday, February 7, 2025. 

For consideration, students must submit 5 poems via email to John Dudek at 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.

If you have any questions, please email jdudek4@illinois.edu.

Spring Writing Contests

Deadline: Noon, Friday, February 28, 2025

The English Department is pleased to announce its annual undergraduate literary competitions in Short Fiction and Poetry. Prizes range from $100 to $1500 with multiple awards in each category.

Contest rules are as follows:
Short Fiction: Submit no more than one unpublished story (7500 words, maximum length)
Poetry: Submit up to 5 unpublished poems in a single document.
Only University of Illinois undergraduate students are eligible. To be considered for a prize, submissions must adhere to the following rules:
●All submissions must be sent via email as an attachment to: jdudek4@illinois.edu.
●The subject line of your email message must read as follows: “UNDERGRAD POETRY: Last name” or “UNDERGRAD FICTION: Last name”
●If you enter in both categories (poetry and fiction), you will need to send separate emails.
●In the body of your email, please include your name, address, phone number, email, status (undergraduate), and UIN.

This year, we are also able to offer new scholarships worth $1000 in both Fiction and Poetry. These scholarships will be distributed to students based on merit, with preference given to students displaying financial need and who graduated from an Illinois high school.

If you would like to be considered for one of these scholarships, please also include a brief note on your financial need and the name of the Illinois high school from which you graduated.

Your entry itself is to be contained in one attached .docx file. The name of this file must be the contest category followed by your last name, such as “FICTION JONES.docx” or “POETRY JONES.docx” Your name should not appear within the document itself.
Winners will be announced Early April. Please direct any questions to John Dudek at jdudek4@illinois.edu.

A New Way to Share Good News

Do you have good news to share? Have you published something? Won an award? Taken on a new role or had an adventure? If so, please let us feature you and your news on the department’s website and/or social media. Just send a message to engl-news@illinois.edu with whatever information you’d like to share. This is a great way for other students to learn about opportunities so please don’t be shy!

ESA Upcoming Events

LAS/ENG Undergraduate Research Opportunities Fair

Upcoming Event–Critical Adoption Studies

Carr Visiting Author Series: Illinois Alumni Reading

Interested in Grad School?

VOICE: MFA student reading

February 12, 7pm
Gallery Art Bar, 119 W. Main St, Urbana

Join us for a reading by Graduate students in the MFA program in Creative Writing. This event will feature: Erin Stoodley, Steven Bergmark, David Miller.

LAS Career Events

• Arts & Culture Virtual Employer Panel, February 13 at noon-1:30 (virtual). Come to gain invaluable insights and guidance directly from accomplished industry leaders. You hear firsthand about diverse career paths within the arts and culture sector, discover key trends shaping the industry, and receive practical advice on how to kickstart and navigate a creative journey. Plus, employers will share available opportunities, providing students with a direct link to potential career paths and openings in the vibrant world of arts and culture.
• Career Lab: Internships. February 18 at 12:30-2:30 in 105 Greg. Prepare to find and apply for summer internships at this interactive workshop. Get help clarifying your search, finding opportunities that fit your interests, and preparing effective application materials. Learn how the Illini Career and Internship Fair (Feb. 27!) can help you find opportunities and get your resume reviewed. Bring your laptop! We will provide a light lunch for those who attend. Register in Handshake. 

Submit to Montage (deadline Feb 14)

Montage publishes work by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is now accepting submissions through (tentative date) February 14, 2025.

See this page for more details or email montagejournal@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

First Gen Series: Rural Students Finding Community on Campus

Certificate in Intercultural Competence

The Certificate in Intercultural Competence offers undergraduate students the chance to show future employers and potential graduate programs that they have the global and intercultural skills needed to succeed in and out of the classroom. Courses on the approved list for the Certificate include an introduction to the concept of intercultural competence, as well as elective courses that cover a wide variety of topics, from the study of ancient traditions to contemporary culture, the study of myths and fairy tales to modern literature, and more. Although the certificate will not appear on a student’s transcript, students completing the certificate should include this credential on a resume or application for advanced study.

To learn more, check out https://slcl.illinois.edu/graduate/intercultural-competence.

Job Opportunity with The Career Center

Looking for a part time job? Interested in developing your skills in resume and cover letter writing? Look no further than here! The Career Center is hiring UNDERGRADUATE students for Fall 2025. 

• Flexible work with 6-8 hours per week both in person and online 
• $15/ hour 
• MUST be a full-time undergraduate student 

Apply Here: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1182848651

Networking Opportunity

This annual program, formerly known as Imprint, now know as Networking and Personal Brand Development-Featuring Illinois Alumni Coaches, is returning for 2025. We have invited back approximately 20 Illinois Alumni ranging from nearly every academic college background and a diverse set of graduating classes ranging from the 70’s to 2017!

Purpose
This event is designed for students to meet alumni who are established in their careers and share valuable insights into networking and creating opportunities to land students their first internships or post-graduation positions. Students will be given deliberate free time throughout the program to meet and network with any specific alumni they would like to.

When is it?
The event runs from 10 am to 4 pm on March 1^st and will be held in the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF), room 035. Sign up here: https://cglink.me/2sM/r381413 

Call for Submissions

The Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, an undergraduate-run literary magazine based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is now accepting submissions for the MJLC’s Spring 2025 edition Care.

The deadline for written submissions is March 3rd at 11:59pm and for artwork it’s March 7th at 11:59pm. More information on the theme and submissions process can be found below and on our website. Any questions can be directed to the MJLC staff at mjlc@rso.wisc.edu.

Don’t Forget These!

Preview of Spring 2025 Creative Writing Events

We’ll advertise these individually as they approach (with location info) but now would be a great time to get them all in your calendar.

Kaplan Family Writer in Residence: Jonas Hassen Khemiri
Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 4:30

Carr Visiting Author Series: Dante Micheaux
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 4:30

Poetry Reading by Janice Harrington and Angie Estes
Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 6:00

Yard Show: Black Life, Prairies, and Place Making In the Midwest.
Reading and performance featuring Janice N. Harrington and Chip McNeill
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 4:30

MFA Public Reading
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 1:00

Gilman Scholarship

Are you a Pell grant recipient who wants to study abroad or do an international internship? If so, the Gilman Scholarship is for you!

Eligibility
Freshmen through Seniors who are U.S. citizens or nationals, Pell grant recipients, in good academic standing, and will be participating in a credit-bearing study abroad program or international internship are eligible to apply. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship provides enrolled students, who are Pell grant recipients, up to $5,000 for either study abroad or an internship abroad. If you plan to study a language critical to U.S. national security while abroad, you can apply for an additional $3,000. If you plan to conduct STEM-related research while studying abroad, you can apply for an additional $1,000.   

Get tips about applying from recent Illinois Gilman Scholars.

The national deadline is March 6, 2025.

For more information, contact the scholarships office at topscholars@illinois.edu or visit our website at www.topscholars.illinois.edu 

Voyager Scholarship

The Voyager Scholarship (Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service) is awarded to students focused on public service careers. A career in public service includes a range of occupations in government, non-profits or the private sector, from community organizing to social work and from entrepreneurship to the arts—all committed to solving our biggest challenges together. It provides up to $80,000 toward your education ($25,000/yr of financial aid for junior and senior year, $10,000 for a summer experience, and $2,000 annually for 10 years for travel). 

Deadline 
The priority campus deadline is February 27, 2025, at 12:00pm (noon). 
The final submittal deadline is in March 2025 (exact date TBA). 

For more information, contact the scholarships office at topscholars@illinois.edu or visit our website at www.topscholars.illinois.edu 

Research Workshops

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) announces its Spring 2025 workshop calendar. We are offering a variety of workshops to support you regardless of where you are in your research journey. Information for each workshop, including how you can register, can be found on our website . For all workshops, participation is by advanced registration only; there are a limited number of spots available for each workshop, so please sign up as soon as possible. Workshops will be added throughout the term based on demand.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The URS is the signature event of Undergraduate Research Week (April 20 – 26), which brings together students, faculty, and staff from all disciplines on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, as well as the public, to learn more about undergraduate research and its potential to change the world. Throughout the day, students will present their oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and interactive exhibits to members of the campus and local community.

• When: Thursday, April 24, 2025
• Where: Illini Union (A, B, C, South Lounge, and the 2nd Floor)
• Application Deadline: Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Visit the URS webpage for more information, including answers to frequently asked questions.

Applications are currently being accepted. The deadline for applying to the URS is Friday, March 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm and no late submissions will be accepted. Please note, your presentation is not expected to be complete by the application deadline. On the application, you will only be asked to provide a tentative title that can be revised until March 19 and an abstract which will be used internally by OUR to create and organize thematic sessions. Your abstract will not be published or viewed by anyone other than OUR.

Tuesday @7 Workshops with the Counseling Center

Confidential Advising Resources

The Women’s Resources Center (WRC) is the designated confidential campus resource related to sexual assault/rape, sexual harassment, stalking and abuse within a relationship (sometimes called dating or domestic violence). That means when we talk with students, staff, and faculty who have experienced harm, we make sure you get what you need and on your terms! There are several Confidential Advisors at the WRC who can provide you – or someone looking to support you – with support and advocacy services.