The English Department of the George Washington University is a research-active community of scholars and creative writers. We prize excellence in teaching, publication, and service. We engage with a diversity of texts within a global and transnational context. Our creative writing and scholarship contributes to and critiques this capacious literary world. Our teaching fosters in students a rigorous and informed critical reflection on literature, connecting reading practices with writing and argumentation. As a humanities faculty, we are especially interested in the artistic exploration of identity, community, cultural conflict, and history.

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Chair
Gayle Wald, Deputy Chair
Patricia Chu, Director of Undergraduate Advising
Gil Harris, Director of Undergraduate Studies
David McAleavey, Director of Creative Writing
Tara Wallace, Director of Graduate Studies
Constance Kibler, Office Manager
Linda Terry, Department Secretary

2009 Job Openings

This fall the English department will be undertaking two searches:

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Creative Writing

For appointment beginning in the fall of 2009, we seek a tenure-track assistant professor. The position is open to a fiction writer, playwright, poet, or creative nonfiction writer who works with the African American experience, to join a thriving Creative Writing program in an English department with a strong cluster of African-American literature specialists. Through this appointment we seek to deepen our strengths in US literature and to bolster a college-wide emphasis on African American studies.

The successful candidate will teach in our all-undergraduate Creative Writing program; may teach literature courses, including in the graduate program; will advise students and perform other departmental and university service; and will continue to publish at a high level. The English Department of the George Washington University is a research-active community of scholars who prize excellence in teaching, service, and publication.

Basic Qualifications: MFA or PhD by August 1, 2009, and excellent teaching skill as evidenced by teaching assessments. Preferred Qualifications: Successful experience teaching Creative Writing and notable publications are preferred. Application Procedure: To be considered, please send a cover letter, sample of publications and curriculum vitae to Jeffrey Cohen, Chair, Department of English, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052. Only complete applications will be considered. Review of all applications will begin on November 17, 2008, and will continue until the position is filled. The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

2009-2010 JENNY MCKEAN MOORE WRITER-IN-WASHINGTON (POETRY)

For appointment beginning in the fall of 2009, we seek a poet to teach two semesters at The George Washington University as the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Washington.

The successful candidate will teach a small poetry workshop each semester for members of the metropolitan Washington community. No tuition is charged for these workshops, which are not open to University students. The successful candidate will also teach two classes, one each semester, for students at The George Washington University.

This position is funded by an endowment from the Jenny McKean Moore Fund for Writers. The late Jenny McKean Moore, who had been a playwriting student at The George Washington University, left in trust a fund to encourage creative writing, and the trustees of the Fund helped design the program. The position is intended to serve as a fellowship for the visiting writer, since it involves only a moderate teaching load, and the program's location at a university in the center of Washington should offer additional attractions for the writer.

Basic Qualifications: The writer must have significant publications (poetry published by a well regarded press) and a demonstrated commitment to teaching. Like students in the community workshops, the writer need not have conventional academic credentials. He or she should reside in the Washington area while the University is in session, late August through early May. The historic Lenthall House, a 4-story Federal-era townhouse on campus, is normally available to the visiting writer through a subsidized rental agreement. The salary for 2009-2010 will be $58,000 plus an attractive benefits package.

Application Procedure: To be considered, applications for the 2008-2009 Writer-in Washington position must be made by letter, indicating publications and other projects, extent of teaching experience, and other qualifications. The application must also include a resume and a selection of published poetry. Applicants are encouraged to send a book as their sample. Books will be returned if accompanied by an appropriate SASE. Only complete applications will be considered. Review of all applications will begin on November 17, 2008, and will continue until the position is filled. Applications should be sent to Jeffrey Cohen, Chair, Department of English, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052. Only complete applications will be considered. The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.