Kaijsa Johnson’s “A Look Back for Looking Ahead”

Editor’s Note: Students in English 480: Introduction to Literary Theory began the semester by writing reflections on their lives of reading thus far. This post is a revision of one of those essays. Reading literature has always been a passion of mine, ever since my mom would read Harry Potter to me. I eagerly anticipated …

“The Art of Attention and a Hope Education”: A Faculty Feature from Alex Mouw (’14)

During the spring of 2014, I’d walk into the south entrance of Lubbers Hall and pass the oil painting of President and Mrs. Lubbers playing a diligent game of chess. I’d round the corner onto the stairs and proceed to the second floor where a cross listed English and philosophy course on Existentialism met each …

Hope College Academy of American Poets Prize 2018

About the Prize The Hope College Academy of American Poets (AAP) Prize award is funded by the University and College Poetry Prize program of the AAP. The academy began the program in 1955 at 10 schools, and now sponsors nearly 200 annual prizes for poetry at colleges and universities nationwide. Poets honored through the program have …

“To Reclaim Reading”: A Faculty Feature from Dana VanderLugt (’01)

As an English teacher who races from my 8th grade classroom over to Hope to teach a late afternoon  composition class, I spend a lot of my time with young people in life’s messy middles: in the midst of adolescence, in the midst of the semester, in the midst of the academic year. When we’re …

Alumni Feature from Sara Sanchez ’14

  Since graduating three and a half years ago, I have been called Ms. Sanchez, Sanchez, or Sanchi at Holland Christian high school, teaching Spanish Language Arts and Psychology for two of those. And in the middle of that two-year teaching stint, I was a full-time M.Ed student at Calvin College. My intended plan after earning my …

A Multidisciplinary Student Group Presents at #SAMLA89: An Undergraduate Research Forum Experience

–Dr. Kendra R. Parker The Undergraduate Research Panel, “Gender and Race: Beyond Art, Entertainment, and Fashion” at the 89th Annual South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA 89) Convention was the first undergraduate panel I singlehandedly organized and moderated. Twice before, at the College Language Association Convention in 2015 and 2016, I co-organized a cross-campus undergraduate …

Alumni Interview with Kian Hashemi-Rad ’14

What are you doing now? Right now, I’m one semester away from finishing my M.A. in Leadership in Student Affairs at the University of St. Thomas. I currently work as a graduate assistant at St. Thomas in the Department of Campus Life. I also have a few side hustles: I clean at a yoga studio …

Alumni Feature from Kyle Bernaciak ’16

As I walked out of an English course, Irish Literature, in late March of my senior year at Hope, I scrolled through new emails on my phone. My heart nearly stopped on the second-floor landing of Lubbers Hall, as I received the news that I had been accepted into the Chicago Police Academy. I had …

Alumni Feature: Peter Derby, Class of 2005

Dear Reader, One of my former professors asked me to write to you.  She suggested, in not so many words, you might like to know how having an English major at Hope College can influence your future.  Not knowing you personally, the next best thing I can do is write a letter to “past me”—the …

Students in New York City

Our students have some fantastic experiences, both on-campus and off. We’ll be featuring some current student stories as well as highlighting past adventures that showcase awesome student experiences. This month, here’s a throwback from 2012: Students in New York City! The English Department often has students off-campus in New York City. In Spring of 2012 …