English

This degree offers an in-depth study of various literary genres, historical periods, and cultural contexts. It prepares students for careers in academia, research, and cultural institutions.

This program focuses on developing your writing skills across different styles and platforms, from creative writing to digital content creation. It's ideal for those aiming for journalism, publishing, or freelance writing careers.

This degree is tailored for those who wish to become educators, offering both theoretical knowledge and practical teaching skills.

American Studies is an interdisciplinary minor that critically examines American literature, culture, history, and society. Students complete 19 credits with course options from 15 disciplines across the university. 

For more information on the minor requirements click here:

The English Literature minor introduces students to American and British literary traditions. Students also have the option of taking courses in film, graphic novels, creative writing, and professional writing. For more information on the minor requirements click here:

The journalism minor provides students with a foundation in newswriting, feature writing, and digital, visual, and auditory iterations of journalistic work. The courses offered provide students with the practical skills necessary to pursue internships and career opportunities in journalism. For more information on the minor requirements click here:

Molloy University - Journalism Minor

The Theatre Minor offers students the opportunity for concentrated studies through a selection of courses in theatre, historical drama, drama criticism and creative drama. For more information on the minor requirements click here:

The Writing minor provides students with a foundation in composition and the history of the English language. Students have the option of completing courses in creative writing, journalism, professional writing, and screenwriting.

For more information on the minor requirements click here:

“The English department feels like home. From African American literature to Shakespeare, the course offerings are so interesting that I almost wish I could stick around after I graduate to take more. I’ve never met a more supportive, welcoming group of professors who truly wanted to see me grow as a reader and writer. I feel most myself when I’m in a classroom discussing literature with them, and I’ve been immensely lucky to be part of this special community.”

“Majoring in English at Molloy grounded and clarified the importance of the editing process in writing. My professors were always willing to go over my papers with me outside class, explain any corrections or comments I didn't understand, and offer suggestions. It took a lot of their time, but that commitment and care with which they all treated my writing truly cemented an awareness of myself as more than a student in pursuit of a good grade: rather as a writer honing a life-long skill. 

I also became a more confident speaker over my years as a Molloy English major. I attribute that to an improved vocabulary, developed through readings and class discussions and just generally being surrounded by some very smart and intellectually curious people. More than anything else, though, I was surrounded by people who cared about me and wanted me to do well, and I knew it. I had never felt that amount of warmth at school before, and it made all the difference.”

Criteria: Applicants must enroll for at least 12 credits for the fall 2024 semester, must have completed at least one year full-time at Molloy, must be English majors concentrating in education, and must have a cumulative index of 2.5 or better. Applicants must complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Criteria: Applicants must be part-time English majors, must have completed at least 30 credits at Molloy College, must have an index of 3.0 or higher, and must register for at least 3 credits in the semester for which the award is granted. Applicants must complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Criteria: Applicants must be full-time sophomore English majors with a cumulative index of 3.50 or better and must complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Criteria: Applicants must be a full-time female English major in sophomore status or higher, earning at least a 3.0 cumulative index, must complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov, and must be in the first generation of her family attending college.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Criteria: Applicants must be full-time traditional English majors entering junior year in fall 2024 and must have a cumulate index of 3.00 or higher. Applicants must complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Criteria Applicants must be full-time traditional English majors in either track entering junior or senior year. They must have completed at least 30 credits at Molloy College and must have a 3.0 GPA and B or better in every English course. Applicants must demonstrate excellence in writing and should complete a FAFSA form online at fafsa.gov.

Deadline: December 6, 2024, at noon.

Associate Professor

Department of English

Chair of English and Associate Dean of School of Arts & Sciences

mapplegate@molloy.edu

Professor
Department of English
abyrnes@molloy.edu
516.323.3268

Areas of Specialization:

Children’s Literature and Spiritual Autobiography

Sister Alice Byrnes earned a Doctor of Arts in English from St. John’s University, a Master of Arts in English from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Molloy College. She has presented at many professional conferences, and her publications include The Child: An Archetypal Symbol in Literature for Children and Adults, “A Jungian Perspective on the Enduring Appeal of Peter Rabbit,” and “The Legacy of Bartolome de Las Casas: Then and Now.” Sister Alice has taught a variety of courses for the departments of English, communication, education, and for the core program including Modern Drama, British Literature, Poetry and Drama, Continental Literature, College Composition, Advanced Writing, Newswriting, Public Relations, Interpersonal Communication, Creative Drama, and Methods of Teaching Grammar for ESL. She created and taught courses in Health Communication and Preaching and has proposed a course on Women Writers. Presently, Sister Alice is teaching courses in Children’s Literature, Spiritual Autobiography, Experiences in Communication, Oral Interpretation of Children’s Literature, and English Internship. In addition, Sister Alice Byrnes is the Chairperson of the Common Read Committee and the Director of Communicating Across the Curriculum. She has also directed English Department events featuring Alice in Wonderland, Shakespeare, Patricia Polacco, and Black Lives Matter.

Professor
Department of English
anfargnoli@molloy.edu
516.323.3363

Areas of Specialization:

James Joyce, William Falkner, Modernism, Post Modernism, and Ethics

Dr. Fargnoli  holds a B.A. in English literature from St. Francis College (now the University of New England), an M.A. in religious studies from The Catholic University of American, and a Ph.D. in theology and English literature from Marquette University. Among other institutions, he has studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, the C. G. Jung Institute of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, and the Goethe Institute in Berlin. He began his full-time college teaching at the University of Dallas. Since his appointment at Molloy, he has taught courses in theology, English and American literature, and composition. On both the undergraduate and graduate levels, he has taught ethics for the departments of theology, philosophy, and criminal justice, and for the School of Education and Human Services. With a former dean of the Barbara H. Hagan School of Nursing and Health Sciences, he developed the required ethics course for doctoral students; he currently teaches this course in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program. Nicholas Fargnoli has published 11 books on James Joyce, William Faulkner, and ethics. (Two of these books have been translated into foreign languages.) He has also written a monograph on James Joyce for the National Library of Ireland and has published book-chapters, articles, reviews of scholarly works, and poetry. He has reviewed and vetted manuscripts for publishers including The New Yorker. His professional activities have included serving first as vice-president and then for over 20 years as president of the James Joyce Society. He is the founder of the Finnegans Wake Society of New York. Other professional and community activities include serving on a hospital ethics committee for over a decade, contributing to a blog on the show riverrun  (performed by Olwen Fouéré and sponsored by the Brooklyn Academy of Music), participating in continuing education programs, and moderating a literary series for several years. His most recent book, co-authored with Michael Patrick Gillespie, is Reading James Joyce: An Introduction (2023). During his time at Molloy, he was chairperson of the department of theology and, for nine years, Dean of Humanities. He is the recipient of numerous awards that include the Alumni Achievement Award from St. Francis College and University of New England Alumni Council, the Faculty Leadership Award, Distinguished Faculty Award from Molloy’s Alumni Association, the Faculty Research Achievement Award, the Leonardo Da Vinci Award for Excellence from The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, the Distinguished Service Award, and twice recipient of the Faculty Recognition Award for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to being a professor of English, he holds the title Dean Emeritus of Humanities.

Professor
Department of English
dhey@molloy.edu:
516.323.3264

Areas of Specialization:

Literary Theory; Post Modern Literature and Textuality

Dr. Hey earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from SUNY Stony Brook in 1996. He received a BA in English from Columbia University in 1991.  Dr. Hey’s specialty is Modern and Postmodern literature and literary theory, and his research interests include the novels of Thomas Pynchon and James Joyce as well as the writings of French Post-Structuralists such as Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Jacques Derrida, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jean Baudrillard. He also teaches courses in poetry and drama, English and American survey, the novel, and anything else the department needs. Dr. Hey has served for nearly two decades as the managing editor of The Molloy Student Literary Journal.  He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the online poetry journal Stone Poetry Quarterly which can be found at www.stonepoetryjournal.com. Most recently, he edited The Dead Pets Poetry Anthology (Transcendent Zero Press, 2023) including the poems of seventy poets.  Hey is himself a published poet, and his work can be found in various literary journals and anthologies both online and in print.

Associate Professor
Department of English
mjames@molloy.edu
516.323.3269

Areas of Specialization:

Critical University Studies, Autotheory, Cultural Studies, American Studies

Dr. James earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's Committee on the History of Culture in 2009; he also holds an M.A. degree In American studies from the University of Hawai`i. Dr. James is an Associate Professor of English Language and Literature in the English Department, where he teaches survey courses in American and African American literature, with a bit of critical and cultural theory slipped in.  Drawing on methods like autotheory and counterstory, his research explores the historic tensions between academic freedom and the quest to address systemic oppression in and through institutions of higher education. 

Assistant Professor
Department of English
kkim@molloy.edu
516.323.3276

Areas of Specialization:

Nineteenth-Century British and American Literature and Culture, Gothic Fiction, Science and Literature, Bodies/Corpses, the Monstrous, Folk and Fairy Tales, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens 

Dr. Kim earned a Ph.D. in English from Boston College, an AM in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, and an AB in English and Psychology from the University of Chicago.  She conceived of and co-organized a bicentennial celebration for Edgar Allan Poe which led to a Boston Public Library exhibit and a permanent public art statue of Poe in downtown Boston.  Her areas of specialization and interest include nineteenth-century British and American literature and culture, gothic fiction, science and literature, bodies/corpses, the monstrous, and folk and fairy tales.  Katherine’s research is frequently interdisciplinary in nature, and recently, she has been working on several projects that intersect with women’s and gender studies as well as trauma studies. 

Professor
Department of English
rkinpoitner@molloy.edu

Area of Specialization:

Medieval Literature

Dr. Kinpoitner has served students in the English Department of Molloy University since September 1968.  A recipient of a Bachelor of Arts in English from Manhattan College in 1963, a Master of Arts in Medieval English Studies from Columbia University in 1965, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Medieval English Studies from Fordham University in 1974, he has taught a variety of literature, writing, and CORE courses over the years.  His interest now is working with incoming students in Introduction to College Composition, Composition, and English Grammar courses.  During his years at Molloy, Professor Kinpoitner has created courses in Medieval English Literature, Continental Literature, and English Grammar; has built and directs the English scholarships; helped organize and teach Molloy English courses in local high schools; has inaugurated the African-American Read-In; and has worked to maintain alumni interest in the department through an annual English Alumni Supper. From 1976 to 1921, he served as department chairman.

Professor
Department of English
jmassey@molloy.edu

Areas of Specialization:

Medieval Literature, Mythology, Linguistics, Pop Culture, Comic Books, Monstrosity, and SF/Fantasy

Dr. Massey is Professor (full) of English Language and Literature, having earned his Ph.D. from Emory University (English: Medieval Studies); he also holds M.A. degrees from Bucknell University (English) and Washington University in St Louis (Classics). He has been a member of the Molloy English Department since 2005, where he teaches a wide range of "casual but demanding" courses in medieval literature, mythology, linguistics, pop culture, monstrosity, and SF/Fantasy. He has published on topics ranging from Anglo-Saxon philology and Chaucerian desire to Victorian mimesis and neo-medievalisms (not) found in Star Trek. He has also written comic books, co-edited a critical collection on beheading narratives, and co-written books and articles on Monty Python, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Evil Dead franchise, and (forthcoming in 2023) the TV show Community. He was elected the first Vice President of MEARCSTAPA, sat on the editorial board of Brill’s “Explorations in Medieval Culture” series, and currently serves as Assistant Editor for Space Between Entertainment.

For those interested in perusing his publications (or hearing his voice on radio), please see Massey’s Faculty Profile in Molloy’s Digital Commons

 https://works.bepress.com/jeff-massey/