Welcome to the World-Wide Web home of Lambda Iota Tau, the national honorary society for literature. This website is designed to act both as an introduction to our organization and as a resource for LIT chapters and members. We invite you to stop back often and to give us your ideas for making this site better suit your needs.
Purpose of LIT
The purpose of Lambda Iota Tau is to recognize and promote excellence in the study of literature of all languages. Founded at Michigan State University on December 3, 1953, LIT has approximately 50 active chapters and over 40,000 members. These chapters are encouraged to hold regular meetings, to promote collegial support among the members in their literary studies, and to sponsor events and activities which will bring the study of literature to the campus at large. On a national level, LIT publishes its annual journal Lambda Iota Tau as a showcase of some of the best creative and critical writing by our members. In addition, the national organization awards several publication prizes and scholarships each year.
The organization's colors are purple--for the magnificence of literature--and gold--for the "realms of gold" where, as Keats said, it leads us. The official flower is the pansy--"That's for thought," as Ophelia explained in Hamlet . LIT is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies . It is governed by a Board of Moderators and has named the poet Robert Pinsky as its Honorary President.
Requirements for Membership
Members of LIT are majors or minors in literature, no matter what language that literature may be written in. Undergraduates must be in the upper thirty-five percent of their class in cumulative grade average and have attained at least a full B average in at least twelve semester credit hours or eighteen term hours of literature and all prerequisites thereto. Graduate students must have completed one semester or term with an A- average. All members must present an initiation paper on a literary topic or of a creative nature.
Benefits of Membership
Benefits of membership in LIT are many:
- Opportunity to publish your writing in the LIT Journal
- Opportunity to win a publication prize for the best poem, prose fiction, short story, and critical essay (one in each category) if published in the LIT Journal
- Opportunity to win one of the $1,000 scholarships from LIT
- Opportunity for scholarships and paid internships from 1) The Washington Internship Institute, 2) The Fund for American Studies, and 3) The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. (These opportunities are available through our being certified as a legitimate Honor Society by the Association of College Honor Societies. Please see the ACHS website for specific details.
- Higher salary if employed by the federal government at any time in the future.
Contact Information
For more information about Lambda Iota Tau, please contact the LIT Executive Secretary:
Professor Bruce W. Hozeski
Karen Taylor
Department of English
Secretary
Ball State University
Lambda Iota Tau
Muncie, IN 47306-0460
Ball State University
phone: (765) 285-8370, (765) 285-8456, or (765) 285-8580
Muncie, IN 47306-0460
fax: (765) 285-3765
phone: (765) 285-8370
e-mail: bhozeski@bsu.edu
fax: (765) 285-3765
e-mail: ktaylor@bsu.edu