The way Nat Lavender '26 speaks about writing and reading, anyone can see her dedication and desire for it. She explained that the ability to read a book in a completely different way than the person sitting next to her, just due to personal experience, is so intriguing to her.  

Coming to Virginia Military Institute wasn’t an easy adjustment for Matthew Atienza ’26. He was across the country, in an unfamiliar place, and unsure of it all.

The workshops are part of the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship awarded to Virginia’s poet laureate, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ph.D., an instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric and Humanistic Studies at VMI, for her veterans’ poetry project.

“Holy City,” a novel written by Maj. Henry A. Wise III ’05, assistant professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies (ERHS) at Virginia Military Institute, was recently published in France

John Paul Adams ’27, an English major minoring in French, spent 10 weeks studying the background and significance of the Jerusalem Bible and Tolkien’s role in its publication for his Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) project, “Scriptural Monster: A Study of Tolkien’s Jonah.”

The Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies (ERHS) recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the implementation of a revised English curriculum integrating the study of literature, philosophy, oral and written communication, and fine arts.

Dr. Mattie Quesenberry Smith, instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s poet laureate, is featured on episode 28 of “The Laureate Project,” a podcast launched by Emmy-nominated journalist, Matt Hoisch.

Brooks Freeman ’25, an English major at Virginia Military Institute, sought a common core between the philosophies of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, a 13th century Middle Eastern Sufi mystic and poet, and SØren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, and poet, in his honors presentation.

Nickole Chavez ’26 excels in writing and enjoys it, though she finds science and math less appealing. Her professors recognized her discipline, focus, and strong engagement in class, making her stand out among her peers.

Suzanne Leaptrot ’25 explored the intersection of comedy and political rhetoric in her honors thesis, examining whether comedians, like Colbert, engage in demagoguery by analyzing his monologues from the 2016, 2020, and 2024 conventions.