UNC English & Comparative Literature

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait.”

The end of the semester is more than a finish line waiting to be crossed. It’s a transition to finals week—a chance to take on the challenge of testing your knowledge. As you prepare for finals week, consider this quote from Paulo Coelho’s novel “The Devil and Miss Prym”:

Happy LDOC everyone! As finals week approaches, we want to congratulate you on making it this far. We hope this semester brought you new connections, challenging courses, exciting events, and all you hoped for.

✨Stephanie DeGooyer-ENGL 279: Globalization & Migration✨Explore the legal & literary aspects of migration in this course. ✨Ruby Pappoe-ENGL 105i Writing in Business✨Practice writing, research, and oral communication in the business discourse community.

✨Brad Hammer-ENGL 256: Crafting the Dramatic Film✨Have fun while creating a series of short films! ✨Shane Peterson-English 300: Professional Writing & Editing✨Students will develop skills in professional writing, editing, copyediting, proofreading & publishing.

Make the most of your summer with one of these online or in-person ECL Summer Session II courses! ✨Daelena Tinnin-Gadson-ENG 255 Introduction to Media Studies✨Analyze a variety of films, television shows, music videos, podcasts, & documentaries.

This Thursday, April 24 at 5:15pm, join the Premodern Literature and Culture Colloquium in Donovan Lounge (Greenlaw 223) for a talk by the ECL's own Andreley Bjelland. Bjelland will deliver a paper entitled “Children’s Wondrous Knowledge in Early Modern Possession Narratives."

This Wednesday, April 23 at 5:30 pm, in the HHIVE Lab (Greenlaw 524) join the Literature, Medicine, and Culture Colloquium (LMCC) for their April meeting! This month, they’ll be discussing The Poetics and Politics of Alzheimer's Disease Life-Writing: S(h)ifting Dementia.

We hope you’re enjoying the warmer weather, Tar Heels! The ECL has some wonderful events going on in these final weeks of the semester. Go check them out!

Summer Session I (May 15-June 22): Stephanie Degooyer -English 279: Globalization and Migration Graham Culbertson - English 252: National and Transnational Cinemas Liz Gualtieri-Reed - English 123: Introduction to Fiction Ruby Pappoe - English 149: Digital Composition

Still looking for a Maymester or Summer class, Tar Heels? Check these out! Maymester (May 15-31): Florence Dore - English 409: Lyrics & Lyricists Workshop Summer Session I (May 15-June 22): Nicole Berland -English 142: Film Analysis (continued)

☀️Liz Gualtieri-Reed - ENGL 278: Irish Writing☀️We’ll read Irish works from the early 20th Century to the present & put them into historical & cultural context. Among others, we'll read Synge, Yeats, Joyce, Heaney, O'Brien, Tóibín, & McCann: plays, poems, short stories.

☀️Florence Dore - ENGL 128: Major American Authors☀️This course examines major American authors in terms of the theme of vertigo. The course will examine disorienting road trips, asking why the protagonists of American novels cannot seem to get their bearings.

Summer is almost here, Tarheels—that means it’s time for course registration! We have some excellent options for a Maymester course (May 15-May 31) or a Summer Session I course (May 15-June 22).

⭐ENGL 391: Storytelling in Film & TV — Marc Cohen ⭐Learn storytelling concepts! Analyze movie scenes! And write your own!

⭐ENGL 483: Critical Theory of Games — Graham Culbertson ⭐ A research-based course in which students are introduced to recent developments in the field of critical theory of games.

We're back with more Fall 2025 courses — here are a few that are making their ECL debut! Our faculty are bringing their fresh ideas and expertise to these creative new courses, making them one-of-a-kind learning opportunities you won’t want to miss.

Chee’s collection of essays, How To Write an Autobiographical Novel, was published in 2018. According to poet Ocean Vuong: “for me, as a younger writer, [these essays] are the very ground, the earth made solid enough so that I might stand here...this book makes me feel possible.”

He has written a novel transforming nightmarish experiences into eventual redemption (Edinburgh), a soaring dramatic opera of fluid identities (The Queen of the Night), and an essay collection exploring a wide range of topics, including life, literature, politics, and queerness.

Alexander Chee, UNC’s 2025 Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence, is a writer of many talents and mysteries. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear Chee read from his work at the Frank B Hanes Writer-in-Residence Reading on March 18th at 7:30pm at Moeser Auditorium!