By Brianna Bennett

Lytle Hall, which contains the English department Photo by Natalie Risser, The Keystone

The KU English professors work hard every day to teach their students, but what they do does not stop there. They also devote a significant amount of their time to attending conferences and publishing their own works.

Dr. John Ronan has been teaching at KU since fall 2009. Before coming here, he taught at the University of Memphis and at Rhodes College. Recently, he has had two articles published in the top journals of his field, the “New England Quarterly” and “Leviathan”. Along with that, he has presented works at conferences throughout the United States and internationally in Canada, England and France.

Dr. Colleen Clemens has been teaching at KU since 2010 and has taught at high schools, universities and colleges all over the state. Clemens has worked extensively with “issues surrounding the Global South.” Her most recent conference concerned Malala Yousafzai, the young girl who survived a bullet wound to the head and became an equal rights activist.

Dr. Michael Downing has been teaching at KU since 2007, and before coming here taught at Mercyhurst College in Erie, as well as the Community College of Allegheny County, and several others. He has worked extensively to publicize August Wilson, and his most recent accomplishment within that goal is a publication in “Making Connections.”

Prof. Jeffrey Voccola has taught at KU since 2004. Before coming to KU, he worked at the Newbury College in Boston, Mass. He also worked at Grub Street Writers in Boston. His proudest accomplishment was working with Norwegian translator Christopher Fauske to edit a novel titled “Skipper Worse”.

Dr. Andrew Vogel has been teaching at KU since 2007. Before coming to KU, he taught at Ohio State University, his alma mater. His most recent accomplishment in the written world is a poem that will be published in The Green Hills Literary Lantern. However, his proudest accomplishment is having been chosen by his colleagues to be the chair of the English department.

There are over 40 professors in the English department; and it would be impossible to talk with every single one. However, it is clear through these examples that each professor works very hard to provide KU students with the best education they can while also keeping up in their fields of study.