English Department
Welcome to the Department of English at The University of Texas at El Paso.
My name is Vershawn "Dr. Vay" Young, and it is my honor to serve as Chair of the Department of English beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year. The picture here is of me and my daughter Ari Zhah on UTEP's beautiful and uniquely designed campus. Ari loves it here already.
As someone who is new to UTEP, I arrived expecting to join a great university. What I did not expect was the overwhelming warmth of the welcome I would receive. From faculty and staff to students, alumni, and community members, I was embraced with a generosity of spirit that immediately made UTEP feel like home. No group exemplified that spirit more than the UTEP Black Alumni Network (UBAN), whose members welcomed me and my family as though we were long-lost but deeply cherished kin. Their kindness taught me an important lesson about UTEP: this is not simply an institution. It is a community.
It is with that same spirit that I welcome you to ours in the English Department.
GETTING TO KNOW THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
The Department of English at UTEP is home to an extraordinary faculty whose work is recognized nationally and internationally for its intellectual rigor, creativity, and impact. Our scholars have earned prestigious fellowships and awards, published influential books and articles, shaped national conversations in their disciplines, and mentored generations of students who have gone on to become leaders in education, research, the arts, business, Indigenous studies, desert studies, public service, and countless other areas and professions.
What makes our department special, however, is not only the distinction of our faculty but also the breadth of their expertise. We are a department where literature, rhetoric and writing studies, English education, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary scholarship are all valued as essential ways of understanding and engaging the world.
EXPLORING THE WORLDS OF LITERATURE
We believe literature remains one of humanity's most powerful technologies for understanding ourselves and one another. Through novels, poems, plays, stories, and other forms of expression, we encounter voices across centuries, cultures, and communities. Literature teaches us empathy, deepens our understanding of history and human experience, and helps us imagine futures that do not yet exist.
THE ART AND POWER OF RHETORIC AND WRITING
At the same time, rhetoric and writing studies teach us how language shapes public life and how effective communication can inform, persuade, build community, and create change.
TEACHING, LEARNING, AND INSPIRING THROUGH ENGLISH EDUCATION
English education prepares the next generation of teachers and literacy leaders who will inspire students and strengthen communities. Together, these fields help us understand not only what language means, but, as author Toni Morrison is known to say, "what language can do."
CHAIR'S CONNECTION
As a scholar whose work has moved among literature, rhetoric, writing studies, education, law, culture, and public discourse, I am especially excited by what happens when disciplinary boundaries become points of connection rather than separation. I envision a department that continues to build on its strengths while fostering new collaborations and new possibilities for teaching, research, creativity, and public engagement.
Our students are central to that vision.
OUR VISION
Whether you are pursuing an undergraduate degree, a master's degree, or a doctorate, you will find a faculty committed to your success. We want our students to become skilled readers, thoughtful writers, critical thinkers, and ethical leaders. We want them to leave UTEP prepared to navigate complexity, communicate with confidence, engage difference with curiosity and respect, and contribute meaningfully to their communities and professions.
The skills developed through the study of English are needed everywhere. Our graduates enter careers in education, law, healthcare, technology, government, nonprofit organizations, publishing, business, and entrepreneurship. They learn to analyze complexity without oversimplifying it and to communicate that complexity in language that is accessible, persuasive, and impactful.
Just as important as academic excellence is a culture of belonging.
WHAT MATTERS MOST
One of my priorities as chair is ensuring that the Department of English remains a welcoming and supportive home for all who study and work here. During this year, we have expanded opportunities for community and participation by creating a graduate student lounge, adding office space for adjunct faculty, and increasing representation in departmental conversations through the inclusion of graduate students and lecturers in faculty meetings. These efforts reflect a simple belief: a department is strongest when every member knows they belong and every voice has the opportunity to be heard.
MY INVITATION TO YOU: LET'S WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER
I encourage you to explore our programs, attend our events, celebrate the accomplishments of our faculty and students, and become part of the rich intellectual life of this department. Please stop by the front office whenever you have questions. I also encourage you to stop by my office or schedule an appointment. One of the great joys of academic life is conversation, and I look forward to meeting the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors who make this department what it is.
The University of Texas at El Paso has long transformed lives through access, opportunity, and excellence. The Department of English advances that mission through the study of language, literature, literacy, culture, and communication. In a rapidly changing world, these are not merely academic pursuits. They are the means through which we understand one another, tell our stories, preserve our histories, imagine better futures, and create meaningful change.
My hope for 2026-2027 and beyond is that every person who enters this department leaves it more curious, more confident, more compassionate, and more prepared to make a difference in the world. Together, we will continue building a department that honors its rich traditions, celebrates its remarkable people, and boldly imagines what comes next.
Welcome to UTEP English. The story of this department is still being written, and I invite you to help us write the next page and the next chapter.
Vershawn "Dr. Vay" Young, JD, PhD
Chair, Department of English
Samuel Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor
The University of Texas at El Paso
NEWS
