University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of English and Comparative Literature.

Instruction in English language and literature dates to the founding of the university. The Department of English was so named by the university's Board of Trustees in 1901. It began to take on its modern form during the chairmanship of Edwin A. Greenlaw (1914-1925). Under Greenlaw, a freshman composition program and an honors program were organized, courses in speech were expanded, new courses in drama and playwriting were developed, and a comparative literature curriculum was offered. A number of these courses later formed the basis for new departments. Studies in Philology, the university's longest-running journal, was first published in 1906 by the Philological Club. Though it has never been officially recognized as a program of the Department of English, its editors have always been members of the department; and thus its records are among those of the department. In 2006, the Department of English absorbed the Curriculum in Comparative Literature, forming the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

The Department of English traces its origins to the earliest days of the university. Both the Samuel E. McCorkle (1792) and the William R. Davie (1795) Plans of Education included instruction in English grammar and literature. Through the first century of the university's history, this instruction was supplied by faculty members whose positions were variously titled Professor of Languages, Professor of Rhetoric and Logic, Professor of English Literature and History, or Professor of Moral Philosophy and English Literature. Throughout the period, English instruction was closely aligned with that of languages, especially classical ones, and the curriculum reflected a pronounced philosophical perspective. Emphasis on rhetoric was a constant theme.

With the reopening of the university in 1875, a School of English Language and Literature was included in the new College of Literature. The next quarter of a century was marked by significant diversification of undergraduate courses, increases in teaching staff, and the initiation of a formal graduate program. In the twentieth century, the university and the Department of English, so named by the Board of Trustees in 1901, continued to expand. Departmental activities included the Shakspere Club, founded in 1886, and the Philological Club, established in 1892. In 1906, the Philological Club began publication of Studies in Philology . The late 1880s witnessed the awarding of the first graduate degrees to a student of the department--both to Stephen B. Weeks--the A.M. in 1887 and the Ph.D. in 1888.

The years 1914-1925, marking the tenure of Edwin A. Greenlaw as department chairman, were ones in which foundations were laid for the modern Department of English. A program of freshman composition was organized, courses in speech were expanded, and an honors program was inaugurated. A comparative literature curriculum also was offered. Courses in drama and play-writing were developed under Frederick H. Koch. Under Louis Graves, the department offered a certificate course in journalism. From these beginnings, other programs developed: the Speech Division (granted departmental status in July 1977), the Curriculum in Comparative Literature (1934), the Department of Dramatic Art (1936), the Carolina Playmakers (1918), and the School of Journalism (1926). In addition, the influence of the Department of English upon general university administration, the Division of Academic Affairs, the Graduate School, and the development of the general faculty has been significant. Members of the department have served as President of the University (Edward Kidder Graham, 1913-1918), Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (Edward Kidder Graham, 1909-1913, and James F. Royster, 1922-1925), Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (Clifford P. Lyons, 1951-1953; C. Hugh Holman, 1953-1955; and James R. Gaskin, 1972-1978), Provost (C. Hugh Holman, 1966-1968), Dean of the Graduate School (C. Alphonso Smith, 1903-1909; Edwin A. Greenlaw, 1919-1925; James F. Royster, 1925-1929; and C. Hugh Holman, 1963-1966), and chairmen of faculty standing and special committees too numerous to mention. A more detailed history of the department can be found in Dougald MacMillan's English at Chapel Hill, 1795-1969 .

In 2006, the Department of English absorded the Curriculum in Comparative Literature, forming the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

Names of the department chairs and their tenures are as follows: