Commitment to Graduate Student Diversity

Graduate programs are most vital when they attract a group of students who show promise of high academic achievement and who collectively bring diversity of socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, work and life experience to the department.  Scholarly diversity offers a broad range of insights and ideas.  The University of Michigan and the English Department feel that diversity is an important part of education.  To that end we encourage applications from potential students, of all backgrounds, who demonstrate superior academic achievement, including those who come from educational, cultural or geographic backgrounds that are underrepresented in graduate study in our discipline; have experienced financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances; or are first-generation US citizens or first-generation in their families to graduate from a four-year college.  We also encourage applications from individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm through their work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations.  That commitment to diversity may take the form of efforts to reduce social, educational or economic disparities based on race, ethnicity or gender, or to improve race relations in the U.S., among other examples.  In general we welcome, and give serious consideration to, applicants from diverse domestic and international backgrounds.