The English Department provides a number of opportunities for its majors to get involved. Majors can join the English Club, study abroad, write for or edit one of our journals, or apply for a departmental writing award.

Sponsored by the Department, the English Club is organized by and for students to provide an opportunity to meet with one another outside of the classroom, to discuss academic subjects in an informal setting, to consider career options, and to meet with writers, journalists, and scholars.

The Club often holds informational sessions about what to do with the English major, or how to apply to graduate school. The Club also hosts poetry readings and forums, and attends cultural events. The Club meeting schedule varies quarter to quarter, but anyone may attend (not just English majors). Notices announcing Club activities will be sent out to the Department Undergraduate Listserv.

Please contact the undergraduate program adviser for more information about the club.

The English Department houses two undergraduate research journals: Emergence and The Catalyst. See the journal pages for more information.

• Emergence
• The Catalyst

Additionally, several of our undergraduates work for UCSB’s student newspaper, The Daily Nexus. See their website here, and see below for a featurette detailing our English students’ involvement in this project.

Depending on available funds, the English Department promotes different writing contests to its undergraduates throughout the academic school year.

The five awards that students submitted entries for in 2024 include the Jenkins-Stark Award for Research Excellence, John and Jodi Arnhold Poetry Prize , Kieth E. Vineyard Honorary Scholarship Short Story Contest, William and Marjorie Frost Memorial Award, and M. Garren Tinney Writing Award for Creative Writing Excellence. The 2025 award deadlines have not yet been announced.