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Department of English

  • Charlie Bennett sitting down.
    From runner to entrepreneur

    Charlie Bennett ('28 English) transformed his personal health journey into a software platform that helps people better understand their blood work through Iowa State University’s CYstarters summer accelerator program.

    August 3, 2026

  • A professor stands in front of a screen while talking with a group of students seated at tables.
    Writing with AI demands more thought from students, not less

    In a new study, Abram Anders, associate professor of English and the Jonathan Wickert Professor of Innovation, and co-author Emily Dux Speltz suggest the biggest hurdle in teaching students to write with AI isn’t the technology — it’s the students’ assumptions about what writing is.

    June 15, 2026

  • A robotic hand and a human hand are typing on a computer keyboard.
    Are we giving AI a pulse through language?

    English faculty members Jo Mackiewicz and Jeanine Aune are studying how we use anthropomorphizing language – or words that give human traits to non-human things – when writing about artificial intelligence. Their findings can help technical and professional communication practitioners reflect on how they think about AI technologies, both as tools in their writing process and in how they write about AI.

    January 12, 2026

  • Image of Lake LaVerne on Iowa State's campus
    Two humanities faculty receive Fulbright awards

    John Levis, professor of English, and Elisa Rizo, associate professor of world languages and cultures, have received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar fellowship for the 2024-25 academic year.

    July 3, 2024

  • Board games. Photo by Mireille Raad/Unsplash.
    What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

    Professor of English Matthew Sivils takes a closer look at the origins of American board games in this post from The Conversation.

    May 8, 2024

  • Image of Lake LaVerne
    Two LAS students selected for Fulbright awards

    The students will teach English abroad after earning Fulbright fellowships.

    April 25, 2024

  • ISU researchers looking at a computer screen.
    Developing an intelligent tutoring system to help students write better

    With a new NSF grant, researchers in the English department are developing an intelligent tutoring system to help students become better, faster writers.

    January 9, 2024

  • Abram Anders teaching in a classroom of students
    Writing class equips students for a world with AI

    Iowa State students are exploring generative Artificial Intelligence tools and techniques in a new, experimental class this fall.

    October 4, 2023