Department of English

XFic—a multimedia experiment in which students and faculty from all disciplines collaborate around a single-topic issue—is trying something new in spring 2026: “The American Lawn Project.” Are you an immersive longform writer? A podcast host? A social media whiz? Are you a hyper-organized person who could be our managing editor? Ever wanted to spend a semester thinking about soil invertebrate ecology? Or go golfing for course credit? Or look at the big data on grass? If you’re a poet, would you like to loaf like Walt Whitman contemplating the American lawn? What does the American lawn say about gender, property, labor? How might you go about a visual analysis of the American lawn in film? In cemeteries? Is the NYSE up or down on grass? Want to geek out on the acetylcholine receptors of butterflies? Write an essay on the lawn gnome industry? Want to make a (yikes!) lawnmower video installation? Pitch us anything! Or let us pair you with one of the many faculty who are already eager to work with you. Tell us what’s so sacred—or scary—about the American lawn. Pitch XFic.