NIU English Department

09/18/2026

📚✨ Yesterday, we were delighted to cohost the first History of the Book Seminar with the Rare Books Room, celebrating an exciting new chapter for the Mary Suzanne Schriber Scholars in Women’s Language and Literature Endowment.

The event began with remarks from English Department Chair Scott Balcerzak, on the lasting impact of Professor Emerita Mary Suzanne Schriber, whose trailblazing work helped shape feminist and gender literary studies at NIU. Attendees then enjoyed presentations from:

🔹 Professor Melissa Adams-Campbell, the first Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Professor of Literary Studies, who presented “Seduction and Scandal in the Stacks: Tracing Two Early American Bestsellers and Women's Circulating Textual Bodies.”

🔹 Karina Diaz, the Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Graduate Student Scholar (2026-2027), who presented “Mourning the Past, Grieving the Future: Finding the Latina Student in the American Campus Novel.”

The afternoon concluded with a small reception. Thank you all who attended both in person and online. Look for more announcements about Schriber Endowment Events!

Learn more about Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber’s impact and the endowment that bears her name in the recent NIU Today story:
https://niutoday.info/2026/07/21/mary-suzanne-schriber-supports-student-and-faculty-success-through-endowment/

09/15/2026

English doctoral student Masuma Akter is profiled today in Huskie Spotlight, where she says, discusses her research in genre-based pedagogy in first year composition and discusses her experiences in our department as giving her “the space to explore ideas deeply, strengthen my writing and better understand the role language plays in shaping the world around us.”

Masuma Akter is an English doctoral student from Narsingdi, Bangladesh

09/04/2026

Join us as we celebrate an exciting new chapter for the Schriber Scholars in Women’s Language and Literature Endowment with the launch of the Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Professorship of Literary Studies and the Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Graduate Student Scholar Award.

🗓 Thursday, September 17
🕒 3:00 p.m.
📍 Founders Memorial Library 403

As part of the History of the Book Series, hear research from:

Dr. Melissa Adams-Campbell, Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Professor of Literary Studies, “Seduction and Scandal in the Stacks: Tracing Two Early American Bestsellers and Women's Circulating Textual Bodies”

Karina Diaz, Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Graduate Student Scholar, 2026-2027, “Mourning the Past, Grieving the Future: Finding the Latina Student in the American Campus Novel”

A reception will follow as we celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. Adams-Campbell and Karina Diaz and honor the lasting impact of Professor Emeria Mary Suzanne Schriber’s commitment to women’s and gender-focused literary studies at NIU.

Learn more about Schriber's legacy and this endowment in the recent NIU Today story: https://niutoday.info/2026/07/21/mary-suzanne-schriber-supports-student-and-faculty-success-through-endowment/

07/27/2026

📚 Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber at NIU English 📚

The Department of English is thrilled to announce an exciting new chapter for the Schriber Scholars in Women’s Language and Literature Endowment in English with the launch of the Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Professorship of Literary Studies.

This fall, Dr. Melissa Adams-Campbell will serve as the inaugural Schriber Endowed Professor, supporting her scholarship on early American women authors and Native American women authors, among other research and teaching initiatives.

We are also proud to recognize doctoral student Karina Diaz, recipient of the newly revised Dr. Mary Suzanne Schriber Endowed Graduate Student Scholar Award. Diaz received the award in support of her dissertation project, Academic Grief: Culture, College, and the Open Wound in Latina Campus Novels.

NIU English is honored to celebrate Professor Emerita Mary Suzanne Schriber and her enduring legacy of advancing the study of women writers and gender-focused literary scholarship. Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Schriber championed the recovery of overlooked American women writers and brought a feminist lens to literary studies. Since her retirement, she has continued to support NIU English and future generations of scholars through her generosity.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Adams-Campbell and Karina Diaz, and in celebrating Dr. Schriber’s remarkable impact. Also, stay tuned for information about related events this academic year.

Read more below about Professor Emerita Schriber’s career and the research of Dr. Adams-Campbell and Karina Diaz. 👇

Many faculty members leave a lasting legacy with the students they teach and mentor. However, after they retire, it takes an educator with a giving spirit and an eye for the future to be committed to the success of future students and faculty members. Schriber, with her National Defense Education Ac...

07/10/2026

🌟 NIU-English PhD student Juliet Tawiah is having an amazing summer as a writing intern for the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

📖 Read her latest piece on artists-in-residence Sierra and Hawk Henries, Nipmuc artists based on the coast of Maine, whose distinct artistic practices are rooted in a shared way of understanding materials and making in Native American tradition.

|The connection between Sierra’s birchbark pyrography and Hawk’s flute is the result of a lifetime spent creating alongside one another.

07/10/2026

👑🇬🇧 What an exciting day at Oriel College, home to NIU at Oxford!

As part of Oriel College’s 700th anniversary celebration, King Charles III visited the college.

In the photos below, English major Zachary Woodward shakes hands with King Charles. Also, students Kate Haupt, Casey Brucks, Taylor Harris, Zachary Woodward, Quratulain Imtiaz, Kaitlyn McLeland, Alex Acevedo, and Ava Mossop brave the London heat to enjoy a performance of 'Much Ado About Nothing' at the Globe Theatre.

A special thank you to Dr. E Mariah Spencer for capturing these memorable moments.

📚✈️ Go Huskie Study Abroad!

05/08/2026

Congratulations to all our graduating Huskies! We're so proud of all of you!

05/06/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Melissa Adams-Campbell for receiving a 2026 David W. Raymond Award for Use of Technology in Teaching!

Dr. Adams-Campbell was recognized for her work helping to develop NIU’s BookLab, an innovative, interactive learning space in Founders Library that she helped develop, as well as her forward-thinking approach to teaching—both inside and outside the BookLab—including 'Monsters and Makers: Frankenstein, Texts, and Technology,' where literature meets the technologies of textual creation.

Presented by the Provost’s Office Committee for the Improvement of the Undergraduate Academic Environment (CIUAE), the Raymond Award honors faculty who creatively and effectively integrate new technologies into their teaching. Awardees share their work with colleagues to advance teaching innovation across campus.

👏 Congratulations Dr. Adams-Campbell on this well-deserved recognition!

05/06/2026

The Department of English congratulates major Stephanie Anne Alkonga, who is majoring in English with minors in the Sciences, for winning 1st place award in the Interdisciplinary category for the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning’s 2026 CURE Awards.

Stephanie’s project “On Death and Disease: How Physicians' Perspectives Compare Across Specialties Through Written Work,” was mentored by Dr. Alexandra Bennett.

Congratulations!

https://www.niu.edu/engaged-learning/conferences/awards/index.shtml

05/06/2026

This year, English’s Professor Adams-Campbell will be director for the NIU STEAM Summer Day Camp for middle and high schoolers, Monster Makers: Frankenstein, Texts, and Technology, July 6-10.

Enrollees will use a variety of creative technologies to design monstrous projects while reading the original Mary Shelley novel and watching early screen adaptations under the guidance of NIU. This camp is ideal for creative/humanities-focused high school students, especially those with an interest in writing, reading, art, science fiction and horror. See more information below.

Art and science connect in printmaking and bookbinding, mixing creativity with experimentation and hands-on problem solving. In places like the NIU Book Lab, this blend comes to life as makers test inks, papers and techniques. We recently talked with Melissa Adams-Campbell, NIU Professor of English,...