Words and stories have the power to shape what we know and what it is possible to imagine. This is a belief that informs the research and teaching of all of the faculty in the Clark Department of English. In naming and recognizing the power of literature, we acknowledge the ways the discipline of literary studies has been complicit in oppressive ideologies. We commit to using our own power as scholars and teachers to resist and dismantle systems of oppression. As a department, we affirm that Black Lives Matter. Asian Lives Matter. Indigenous Lives Matter. Latinx Lives Matter. Undocumented Lives Matter. Trans Lives Matter.
Our approach to literary study is shaped by commitments that include, but are not limited to, anti-racism, disability justice, feminist practice, anti-classism, and the affirmation of LGBTQ+ identity and experience. In ever-evolving ways, these commitments shape the Department’s curriculum, as well as faculty syllabi, teaching methods, and approaches to individual texts.