REDI
About REDI
The Rutgers English Diversity Institute (REDI) is a week-long program held on the flagship campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. REDI is designed for all advanced college students and recent graduates whose backgrounds may contribute to diversity in the fields of English and American literary studies.
At REDI, students will learn about the different subfields in English and American literature from Rutgers University faculty who are defining voices in these fields. REDI activities will include seminars, lectures, workshops on applying for graduate school and on digital resources in literary studies, a trip to a research library, and a cultural excursion to New York City. Current Rutgers English graduate students will supervise REDI students and offer advice and assistance regarding the graduate school application process, both informally and as part of a formal application workshop.
Rutgers University and REDI will cover travel and living expenses for the duration of the program. The dozen or so students chosen from a national pool of applicants will each receive a $750 stipend for participating in the program.
REDI is co-directed by Evie Shockley and Imani Owens.
REDI Home
Applications will be available in late fall 2026
The Rutgers English Diversity Institute (REDI), founded by Professor Cheryl A. Wall, is a one-week summer program at the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University. REDI is designed for all advanced college students and recent graduates whose backgrounds may contribute to diversity in the fields of English and American literary studies. The purpose of REDI is to encourage students to attend graduate school and to pursue careers as teachers and scholars in the field. At REDI, students will learn about traditional and nontraditional subfields and critical approaches in English and American literary studies from Rutgers University faculty. REDI activities will include seminars, lectures, workshops on applying for graduate school and on digital resources in literary studies, a trip to a research library, and a cultural excursion to New York City. Up to fifteen students, chosen from a national pool of applicants, will each receive a $750 stipend for participating in the program.
Please see the REDI 2025 Schedule and Seminars and Workshops for examples of the REDI experience.
REDI alums have an amazing track record in gaining admission to prestigious English PhD programs!
I do not have enough words to praise REDI! The seminars and workshops with faculty, conversations with my cohort, and overall experience were transformative. I have gained lifelong colleagues, friends, and mentors from what the directors modestly describe as a one-week program for students interested in studying English and American literary studies. REDI was pivotal in my decision to pursue a doctorate in English literature; moreover, the program's faculty continues to support my academic work and graciously provides opportunities for me present research and engage with the program, for which I am eternally grateful.
Dionte B. Harris, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
REDI is a special program—particularly in its immersive character and its sensitivity to the specific challenges scholars of color face in the academic profession. I left with a stronger sense of what the every-day experience of graduate school would be like and with greater confidence that I was up for that challenge.
Henry Washington, Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies
University of California-Berkeley
REDI illuminated a career path that I didn't know was possible for students like me, and it gave me a detailed map and provisions to get there. While I felt immense gratitude while in and after completing the institute, it is only now as an assistant professor and mentor that I am awed and humbled by the priceless opportunity to receive the guidance, wisdom, and care of brilliant yet generous scholars like Evie Shockley and the late Cheryl Wall. REDI is a priceless resource.
Dr. Anna LaQuawn Hinton
Assistant Professor of Disability Studies and Black Literature & Culture, Department of English
Affiliated Faculty, Women's and Gender Studies
University of North Texas
Book Review Editor for Studies in the Novel