cals Headlines

  • Four New Americanist Hires in the Penn State English department: in 2008, we will be joined by associate professors Tina Chen (Asian American studies) and Sean X. Goudie (pre-1900 American literature and culture), and assistant professors John Riofrio (Latin@ studies) and Benjamin Schreier (Jewish American literature).

Coming in 2008-2009


Community Read 2009: Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping, April 17, 2009

Imaginary Vistas: Americanist Symposium Series, coordinated by Chris Castiglia. Speakers include:
Christopher Looby, September 4-5, 2008
Priscilla Wald, October 2-3, 2008
Don Pease, TBA
Dana Nelson, March 19-20, 2009

Symposium: A Voice Beyond the South: The Life and Legacy of Anna Julia Cooper, October 9, 2008

Myriam Chancy visits, October 27, 2008

Theodore Roethke Centenary Celebration, November 6-7, 2008

1808 Bicentennial: fall 2008 symposium to commemorate the abolition of the legal slave trade
 

 

 

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Hester Blum

Director of the Center for American Literary Studies

Contact Me Email

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome

Penn State's English department is the historic home of American literary studies. In the early twentieth century, Fred Lewis Pattee became the first English professor in the country to teach classes exclusively devoted to American works. The Penn State Center for American Literary Studies aims to be similarly ground-breaking. Founded in 2006, CALS will advance the study, teaching, and reading of American literature, making Penn State an internationally-recognized source of pioneering work in American literary and cultural studies.

CALS seeks to provide a vital forum for reading and thinking about American literature. We will realize this mission in two primary ways: through academic programs and through public reading programs. In its dual scholarly and public mission, the Center will generate promising new forms of community and intellectual exchange. The Center for American Literary Studies will offer events designed to engage readers, draw them together, and position American literature as an important public space.