English
Welcome to the Vassar English Department, a diverse group of intellectually wide-ranging and constantly evolving teachers, scholars, and writers as well as one of the largest and most engaged groups of majors at Vassar.
Whether you are interested in the course streams and correlate sequences that let students craft diverse, multidisciplinary courses of study, or want to learn about the prizes for writers and scholars sponsored by the department or what courses we accept toward our major from other departments and languages, or simply want to explore our creative writing program or any other part of our rich, changing curriculum, this is where to start.
Stories
Events
This year marks the 650th anniversary of Giovanni Boccaccio’s passing. We explore his legacy in a interdisciplinary panel of Vassar faculty, followed by a keynote speech by Grace Delmolino (University of California, Davis) titled: “Boccaccio and Consent.” No reservation required
Campus community only, please
Acclaimed writer Lydia Millet will deliver the 2025 William Gifford Lecture on November 5, 2025. The event is free and open to the public.
Join us for the Pride and Prejudice Film Festival in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. The first screening is on Friday, November 7, 2025 from 7–9 p.m. See the full schedule. This event is free and open to the public.

The Vassar Critical Journal provides students with publishing experience at every stage of the process. Students may begin as writers, submitting their own work to the journal. They then act as literary agents, reading all submissions and deciding which essays they enjoy and which will proceed to the editing level. Read more

The Vassar Review is an international, multidisciplinary literary arts journal that fosters working relationships between faculty, students, and published writers and artists in order to engage its annual theme with care and reflective insight. Read more