Current graduate student profiles
| Michael Anesko | Associate Professor of English |
| Bernard Bell | Liberal Arts Research Professor of English |
| Michael Bérubé | Paterno Family Professor of Literature |
| Hester Blum | Associate Professor of English |
| Robert Burkholder | Associate Professor of English |
| Robert L. Caserio | Professor of English |
| Christopher Castiglia | Liberal Arts Research Professor of English and CALS Senior Scholar in Residence |
| Tina Chen | Associate Professor of English |
| Jonathan Eburne | Josephine Berry White Early Career Professor of the Humanities and Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and English |
| Keith Gilyard | Distinguished Professor of English |
| Sean X. Goudie | Associate Professor of English |
| Kathryn Hume | Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English |
| Julia Spicher Kasdorf | Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies |
| Lovalerie King | Associate Professor of English |
| John Marsh | Assistant Professor of English |
| Shirley Moody | Assistant Professor of English |
| Mark Morrisson | Professor of English and Science, Technology, and Society |
| Carla Mulford | Associate Professor of English |
| Aldon Nielsen | George and Barbara Kelly Professor of American Literature |
| Iyunolu Osagie | Associate Professor of English |
| Benjamin Schreier | Malvin and Lea Bank Assistant Professor of English and Jewish Studies and Malvin and Lea Bank Early Career Professor of Jewish Studies |
| Robin Schulze | Professor of English and Department Head |
| Linda Selzer | Associate Professor of English |
| Sandra Spanier | Professor of English |
| James L. W. West III | Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English |
Penn State faculty in American literature have won grants from every major agency that supports humanistic study, including the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright Program, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the American Academy in Rome.
The ranks of the Americanists at Penn State include four prestigious endowed chairs, the Paterno Family Professor in Literature (Michael Bérubé), the George and Barbara Kelly Professor in American Literature (Aldon Lynn Nielsen), and two Edwin Erie Sparks Professorships in English (Kathryn Hume and James L. W. West, III).
Penn State is the home of two distinguished ongoing editorial projects in American literature. Professor James West, III, is the general editor of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a comprehensive multi-volume project that constitutes the first scholarly edition of the whole of Fitzgerald's oeuvre. Professor Sandra Spanier is the general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, which will result in the publication of a comprehensive scholarly edition of Hemingway's estimated 7,000 letters, most of which have never before been published. Both of these grant-winning projects provide funding and research opportunities for Penn State graduate and undergraduate students.
The members of the Penn State faculty in American literature are also committed mentors and teachers, as their many awards for outstanding work in the classroom attest. Robin Schulze is a winner of the George W. Atherton Award, a university-wide prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Mark Morrisson is a winner of the Milton S. Eisenhower Award, a university-wide prize that acknowledges excellence in teaching and the mentoring of other teachers. Carla Mulford and Linda Selzer are both winners of the Penn State College of Liberal Arts Teaching Awards.