Iowa State University Department of English

The Department of English at Iowa State is proud to announce that Rochelle Raineri Zuck has been awarded a 2026 ACLS Digital Justice Development Grant. The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Digital Justice Grants Program supports digital projects across the humanities and social sciences that critically engage with the interests and histories of people of color and other historically marginalized communities through the ethical use of digital tools and methods.

Zuck has been awarded for the project The Ojibwe Muzzeniegun Digital Edition, which will create a digital edition of a collaboratively-written 19th-century manuscript Ojibwe literary magazine, making a significant work of early Indigenous literature publicly accessible. Working with Tribal partners and an advisory board, we will develop digital tools that innovatively illuminate the contexts of translation, exchange, and appropriation crucial to the magazine’s production yet obfuscated in contemporary scholarship. The other members of the principal project team are Kelly Wisecup, Barbara Bair, Angela Calcaterra, Jill Doerfler, Sean Dorr, Bradley Dubos, Katrina Phillips, and Kathryn Walkiewicz

You can read more about this project here: https://www.acls.org/recent-fellows/?program_id=40090&_project_year=2026

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In Dr. Abram Anders classes, he assures students that AI doesn't take out the work from writing, but changes the process. In fact, AI can make the writing process richer and more nuanced for student writers. In a new study published in Computers and Composition, Anders and co-author Emily Dux Speltz, an Iowa State alum and assistant professor in the Department of Humanities & Communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, suggest the biggest hurdle in teaching students to write with AI isn’t the technology, but it’s the students’ assumptions about what writing is. “Students often expect AI to function as a shortcut, but the truth is, AI-assisted writing demands more thought from students, not less,” said Anders, who also serves as associate director of the Student Innovation Center at Iowa State. “As a tool, AI only handles the surface-level writing, and the real heavy lifting — idea formation, judgment, revision strategy and quality control — remains with the student writer.” To read more, access our profile and click our Linktree for news and happenings to read more about what Dr. Anders shares about AI and Writing

This past spring, we honored our English Award and Scholarship winners. Here are photos of a few of our winners.

Audrey Parrish, Kurt Moody Award
Hailey Akinsola, Pamela Henry Lassahn Scholarship
Qi Qi, Teaching Excellence Award
Sam Anderson, Will C. Jumper Scholarship

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This past spring, we honored our English Award and Scholarship winners. Here are photos of a few of our winners. Audrey Parrish, Kurt Moody Award Hailey Akinsola, Pamela Henry Lassahn Scholarship Qi Qi, Teaching Excellence Award Sam Anderson, Will C. Jumper Scholarship If you received an award or scholarship this past academic year and would like recognition here, please DM us a photo and we'd be happy to feature it. Congratulations!

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Do you love language? Do you have an appreciation for birds or nature? Professor Jeremy Withers has a new book out, Birding English: Exploring the History of a Language through Birds. A brief description of the book is as follows:

What do words like unkindness, haggard, asparagus, j**z, and the singular they have to do with birds? Quite a lot, actually. From Old English roots and Shakespearean idioms to Victorian slang and modern online lingo, Birding English charts a dynamic course through English’s past, present, and future by admiring the plumage of falcons, the songs of sparrows, and the flight of ducks. With each of his fifty mini essays, Jeremy Withers uses birds as a point of entry into a key moment in the development of English: its origins in the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic languages, the influence of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, the creation of English’s first dictionaries and grammar books, and the arrival of rhyming slang and portmanteaus. Ideal for word nerds and bird nerds alike, this book will enchant anyone who’s ever been captivated by the song of a bird or the song of a word.

Do you love language? Do you have an appreciation for birds or nature? Professor Jeremy Withers has a new book out, Birding English: Exploring the History of a Language through Birds. A brief description of the book is as follows: What do words like unkindness, haggard, asparagus, j**z, and the singular they have to do with birds? Quite a lot, actually. From Old English roots and Shakespearean idioms to Victorian slang and modern online lingo, Birding English charts a dynamic course through English’s past, present, and future by admiring the plumage of falcons, the songs of sparrows, and the flight of ducks. With each of his fifty mini essays, Jeremy Withers uses birds as a point of entry into a key moment in the development of English: its origins in the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic languages, the influence of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, the creation of English’s first dictionaries and grammar books, and the arrival of rhyming slang and portmanteaus. Ideal for word nerds and bird nerds alike, this book will enchant anyone who’s ever been captivated by the song of a bird or the song of a word. Check out our Linktree in our profile to get a copy. You can also visit @dogearedbooksames to get a copy if you are local in Ames! Congratulations, Professor Withers!

Congratulations to Shaya Kraut, PhD (2nd from the right) for successfully defending her dissertation Critical Agrarian Rhetoric in "The Catholic Worker." Also pictured l to r: Jo Mackiewicz, Abby Dubisar, and Craig Rood.

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Where complex ideas meet creativity and connection. Making those ideas resonate beyond the classroom. #LASProud - ENGL 3120: Communicating Science and Public Engagement: Scrap the lecture and learn to engage the public! Explore how to use storytelling, visuals, and activities to connect society with science. 🔬 Click the link in bio to turn your curiosity into credit. 🔗

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This week, students in Linguistics and English in various classes presented their projects at the annual IGNITE Showcase at the Student Innovation Center. Congrats to everyone who presented! ✨

Lilian Atchison, a graduating senior double-majoring in English and Women’s and Gender Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies presented her Honors project last Wednesday. She completed her project under the advising of Professor Linda Shenk.

Way to go, Lilian!🎉✨

We are pleased to announce Jen McClung, Associate Teaching Professor, as this year’s recipient of the 2026 Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Foundation Courses Award. This award is given annually and recognizes instructors for their teaching excellence and teaching innovation in our ISUComm Foundation courses. Awardee receives a certificate and their name is placed on the Marty Baker Graham, Ph.D., Excellence in Teaching Foundation and Advanced Communication plaque.