University of Maryland Department of English

What were English Terps doing in the ‘90s? A lot of what they do today! They worked off campus jobs, studied in McKeldin Library, and used the skills that English taught them to prepare for their dream careers.

Swipe to see some throwback photos from UMD University Archives

📸 1: Diamondback Photos, Box 150, item 16537
📸 2: Diamondback Photos, Box 35, item 3312
📸 3: Diamondback Photos, Box 46, item 4560
📸 4: Diamondback Photos, Box 17, item 1506

In a recent interview with Yale University Press, Distinguished Professor Mary Helen Washington reflects on the legacy of Paule Marshall:

“I came of age in the 1950s, a decade marked by conservative cultural norms that required young women, including young black women, to think of their lives in terms of boundaries and limitations. We were expected to be pure, proper, and respectable, 'a credit to the race.' Like all young women of that era, I knew that the repercussions for violating those norms were severe. It was liberating to encounter Paule Marshall’s 1959 novel Brown Girl, Brownstones, a coming-of-age novel about Brooklyn-born, Barbadian-American Selina Boyce, who rebels against those 1950s norms of respectability and propriety.”

Read more: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2026/06/05/paule-marshall-a-conversation-with-mary-helen-washington/

Earlier this month, we celebrated the faculty who make our department thrive.

Congratulations to Paul Cote and John Constantine Tobin, recipients of the PTK Teaching Excellence Award; Christina Walter, recipient of the Faculty Service Award; and Joshua Weiner, recipient of the Kandice Cuh Mentorship Award.

We also said farewell to Professor Matthew Kirschenbaum and Professor Michael Olmert, who retired this year, and commemorated the end of Amanda Bailey’s tenure as department chair.

To learn more about the award recipients and view photos from the reception, visit english.umd.edu/2026-english-department-awards

Thank you to everyone who attended the University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities ceremonies and helped celebrate this important milestone for our undergraduate and graduate students.

As English alum and ARHU undergraduate commencement speaker Jason Reynolds ’05 shared, this moment marks a “step” into a storied life well deserved.

Congratulations class of 2026!

The celebration isn’t over just yet. We hope to see you at the main commencement this evening (May 21) at SECU Stadium.

🎓

Of the many students graduating this week, Sydney Alexandria Mitchell ’26 leaves behind a world shaped by storytelling and community.

From reading Nikki Giovanni’s work in front of the acclaimed poet herself to researching the DMV jazz scene for her honors thesis, Mitchell represents the best of what English Terps achieve during their time at UMD.

Read more about Mitchell: https://english.umd.edu/news/sydney-mitchell-26-reflects-her-storytelling-journey-maryland

Today, we welcomed friends, family, mentors and loved ones to celebrate some of our most academically exceptional English undergraduate and graduate students.

Students awarded today were recognized for their excellence in scholarship, teaching, creative writing, and dedication.

To learn more about the awards and the recipients, visit https://english.umd.edu/2026-english-department-awards

Noora Ghahremani ’26 arrived at the University of Maryland determined to push beyond the conventions of writing, and in the years since, she has done exactly that: founding one literary magazine, editing another, and establishing herself as an award-winning poet.

The English literature and psychology dual-degree student did much more during her time on campus—from reenergizing the Spanish Club to completing three minors— saying she takes to heart Thoreau’s goal to “suck out all the marrow of life.”

“I have never had a student as brilliant and modest; as collegial with classmates; as perceptive a learner; and as hardworking as Noora,” said Professor of English Michael Olmert, calling her a “close observer of humankind.”

That sums up her recognition as university medalist, the highest honor bestowed on a graduating senior each academic year. It goes to a graduating senior based on academic distinction, exemplary character and service to the campus or broader community.

Read more about Noora: https://today.umd.edu/a-close-observer-of-humankind