Faculty of English, University of Cambridge

The Faculty of English is a constituent part of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1914 as a Tripos within the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. It could be studied only as a 'Part I' of a degree course, alongside a 'Part II' either in medieval languages or from another Tripos.^[1] In 1926, the course became a distinct Faculty.

Faculty of English building, 9 West Road, Cambridge

The undergraduate degree course of 'Cambridge English', as well as the Faculty as a whole, is known for its distinctive focus on close reading (called Practical criticism), first championed by I. A. Richards and then later by William Empson and F. R. Leavis.^[2][3] Since the course was founded in 1926, Practical Criticism, Tragedy and Shakespeare have been mandatory parts of the course; the English Moralists paper (now renamed the Ethical Imagination) has also remained as an optional paper.^[1]

In the present day, its research focus is wide ranging: from Old English literature through to contemporary, and also associated themes such as digital humanities and the history of the book.^[4] One of its sub-divisions is the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, the only department in the world dedicated to the Early Middle Ages.^[5]

Notable staff

The faculty's senior teaching posts include a number of named professorships:

• Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon (currently Rosalind Love)
• King Edward VII Professor of English Literature (currently Clair Wills)
• Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English (Cambridge) (1954) (currently Anthony Bale)
• English (2001) Professor (currently Jennifer Richards)
• Grace 2 Professor (currently Claire Pettitt)

Other notable current academics:

• Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies
• John Kerrigan, Professor of English
• Robert Macfarlane, Reader in Literature and the Geohumanities

People associated with the Faculty

Academics and public intellectuals

• Marshall McLuhan
• Arthur Quiller-Couch, the first holder of the King Edward VII Professorship
• F. R. Leavis
• C. S. Lewis
• M. C. Bradbrook
• Raymond Williams
• E. M. W. Tillyard
• Terry Eagleton
• Germaine Greer
• Eric Griffiths (critic)

Writers

• J. B. Priestley
• J. H. Prynne
• Veronica Forrest-Thomson
• Sylvia Plath
• Ted Hughes
• Zadie Smith
• Peter Ackroyd
• Douglas Adams
• Howard Brenton
• Martin Crimp
• Emma Donoghue
• Margaret Drabble
• Sebastian Faulks
• Julian Fellowes
• Jez Butterworth

Actors

• Sophie Winkleman
• Ian McKellen
• Miriam Margolyes

Politicians

• Richard Burgon
• Andy Burnham