Chair's Welcome
Dr. Bridget Drinka
Associate Professor & Chair
Welcome to the Department of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio. We’re proud of the important role we play at UTSA: with our 600 undergraduate majors and 100 masters and doctoral students, our department is one of the largest and most active on campus. We offer a broad array of courses, from Multiethnic Literatures of the U.S. to Victorian Literature, from Specialized Professional Writing to Creative Non-Fiction, from Chaucer to Toni Morrison. Besides a focus on literature, undergraduate students can also choose a concentration in Creative Writing, Professional Writing, or English Language Arts and Reading (for those who plan to teach high school English). Our M.A. program offers students the opportunity to study a variety of genres, periods, and theoretical perspectives, while our Ph.D. program has two main focuses: cross-cultural, transnational approaches to literature and language, and the study of rhetoric and composition. We also offer Graduate Certificates in Creative Writing and Rhetoric and Composition.
Our faculty is engaged in exciting research and creative productivity, and they bring their enthusiasm for their scholarly work to the classroom. You can study with renowned specialists on Jack London, Gloria Anzaldúa, Henry Roth, or Cormac McCarthy. You can workshop with award-winning poets and authors. Come work with us on African American women’s narratives of the 19th century, or on the ancient roots of your language. Consider traveling to Spain to study folk traditions which were brought to the New World, to London to study early English literature in situ, or to Italy to immerse yourself in Renaissance writing and traditions.
The Department of English also sponsors a number of enriching events throughout the year: the residency of the Actors from the London Stage each Fall, which includes many class visits and three performances of a Shakespearean play; the Brackenridge Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Series, which has brought to campus such foundational figures as Jacques Barzun, Sacvan Bercovitch, Cherrie Moraga, Werner Sollors, and David Crystal; the Creative Writing Reading Series; the African American Spring Symposium; and, finally, the Graduate Student Conference, which has grown each year and now attracts participants from across the nation.
Details of all these events and programs are available on our web pages here, or by contacting the department office at (210) 458-4374. Please feel free to contact me or our staff if you would like additional information, or stop by for a visit.
Best regards,
Bridget Drinka, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of English