Monthly Archives: March 2014

Graduate Research Symposium — This past Saturday I attended the 2014 Graduate Research Symposium. Two of our graduate students delivered presentations at this event. Laura Erturk gave a presentation titled “The Construction of Race and Identity in the American Stand-up Comedy of George Lopez and Margaret Cho.” Brook Blaylock gave a presentation titled “Now and Then: The Twin Voices of Narrative and Cultural Identification in Nick Lake’s In Darkness.” Both Laura and Brook gave polished and thoughtful presentations. During the awards ceremony at the end of the day, Laura received an award for delivering one of the top presentations in the humanities category. In addition to Laura and Brook, we had a number of other graduate students who served as volunteers throughout the day-long symposium. These students were Traci Cruey, Sarah Davis, Jessica Morton, Erika Romero, and Jennifer Vogt. All of these graduate students impressed me with their high level of engagement and professionalism.

Mary Turner Harper — For those of you who have long-time associations with the English Department, you will remember Dr. Mary Turner Harper. A specialist in African American literature, she taught in our department during the 1970s and ’80s. She is interviewed in this week’s edition of Inside UNC Charlotte. Here is the link: http://inside.uncc.edu/inside-unc-charlotte-looks-legacy-mary-harper-and-herman-thomas

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:

Lil Brannon received $20,000 grant from the National Writing Project for Preparing Teacher Leaders in the Teaching of Writing. Also, she just returned from the Conference of College Composition and Communication s where she received the Braddock Award and gave a paper titled “Critical Creativity and Rhetorics of the Body Politic.”

Paula Connolly recently learned that her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature has been selected as one of the four books that will be featured during the 2014-2015 Personally Speaking Series. She is scheduled to give her presentation on March 24, 2015.

Juan Meneses presented a paper titled “Futurities of Resistance: Thatcher and Contemporary Neoliberalism in Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time” at the American Comparative Literature Association Conference.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:

March 26 — Last day for students to withdraw from a course with the grade of W.

April 3 — Henrietta Goodman will read and discuss her poetry on Thursday, April 3, at 6:00 pm in the English Department Lounge. She is a 1991 graduate of UNC Charlotte’s English Department and is the author of two widely acclaimed books of poetry: Take What You Want (2006) and Hungry Moon (2013).

Quirky Quiz Question — I am looking forward to Henrietta Goodman’s poetry reading on April 3rd. Thinking about this reading, I am reminded that we now have another talented poet in the department who is teaching creative writing courses for us as a part-time faculty member. What is the name of this part-time faculty member?

St. Patrick’s Day — I am going to be out of the office tomorrow, so I decided to send you my Monday Missive on Sunday instead.  As I am sure you know, Monday is also St. Patrick’s Day, which of course has lots of Irish connotations. Those of us without Irish connections, however,  can still get in on the fun.  I remember last year seeing a Muslim woman student wearing an emerald green scarf on St. Patrick’s Day.  

Over the history of the English Department, we have had several faculty members who have published scholarly works on famous Irish writers.  Perhaps the most notable example is Fred Smith, who served as Chair of the English Department from 1984 through 1990.  Fred published a great deal about the famous Irish writer Jonathan Swift. Fred’s book titled The Genres of Gulliver’s Travels was widely praised when it came out in 1990.  

Whether you have Irish connections or not, I wish you all a happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Children’s Literature Association Conference — Three of our graduate students have recently had papers accepted for presentation at the upcoming Children’s Literature Association Conference, which will take place in Columbia, South Carolina, in June.  These students are Brook Blaylock, Traci Cruey, and Julia Morris.   Also, Joanne Rohan, one of our former graduate students, had a paper accepted.   There will be plenty of faculty members to keep an eye on these students when they present their papers.  Balaka Basu, Paula Connolly, Sarah Minslow, Daniel Shealy, and I will also be giving presentations at the conference.  I should point out that the paper selection process was very competitive, so the fact that so many students and faculty from UNC Charlotte received acceptances reflects well on our department.

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department.  Here is the latest news:

Balaka Basu received a Faculty Research Grant from the Children’s Literature Association to support her project titled Playing the Game:  Reading Digitally with Children’s Literature.

Paula Connolly‘s book Slavery in American Children’s Literature just received a rave review in Slavery and Abolition:  A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies.  

Sarah Minslow presented a paper titled “Teaching War and Genocide in Children’s Literature” at a conference titled Understanding Atrocities: Remembering, Representing, and Teaching Genocide at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Maya Socolovsky presented a paper titled“Material Commodities and Judaism in a Wireless World: Exploring Allegra Goodman’s The Cookbook Collector,” at MELUS, Oklahoma City, OK. 

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—  Here are some dates to keep in mind:

March 20 — In honor of Women’s History Month, please join English/AFRS 2301 and 4050-5050 for “A Celebration of Women’s Literature” featuring poet and playwright Murhl Bussey.  The evening will feature an open mic session (you may bring a short piece written by a woman author to share) and a reading of an excerpt of Bussey’s play “The Devil’s Playground.” The event will be held on Thursday, March 20 at 6 pm in McKnight Hall, Cone Center.

March 21 — Becky Roeder will give a presentation titled “Understanding Accent:  The Canadian Shift as Default” in the Conferecne Room from 1:00-2:00.  This presentation is sponsored by the Development Committee.  

Quirky Quiz Question — After publishing extensively on Jonathan Swift, Fred Smith switched his research to another Irish writer.  This writer is especially famous for his play Waiting for Godot.  What is the name of this writer?

Our English Major Days are just around the corner, and we should all make an effort to participate in this carefully coordinated series of events.  I hope that everyone can attend Mayor Terry Bellamy’s keynote address titled “How an English Major from UNC Charlotte Became Mayor of Asheville.”  Her presentation will take place on Wednesday, March 12, at 4:30 in Storrs 110.  

The English Major Days are especially designed to meet the needs of our English majors and other students who might be interested in declaring English as their major, but this initiative also helps maintain the strength of the English Department.  For those of us who teach in the humanities, we need to help students understand the value of humanities majors, such as English.  My thanks go to Kirk Melnikoff and the members of the Undergraduate Committee (Balaka Basu, Aaron Gwyn, Liz Miller, Anita Moss, and Aaron Toscano) for organizing our English Major Days.  My thanks also go to Alan Rauch for helping to arrange Mayor Bellamy’s appearance.

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to  share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department.  Here is the latest news:

Alan Rauch recently gave two invited presentations at the University of Florida.   He delivered a lecture titled “The Cradles of Nineteenth-Century Science:  Women Writers, Curious Children, and the Dissemination of Knowledge” at the University of Florida’s Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature.  He also gave a talk titled “The Culture of Dolphins and the Dolphins of Culture” at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Florida.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—  Here are some dates to keep in mind:

March 11 and 12 — English Major Days.  For more information about the this event, please click on the following link:  http://english.uncc.edu/sites/english.uncc.edu/files/media/pdfs/English-Majors-Days-2.20.2014.pdf

March 20 — In honor of Women’s History Month, please join English/AFRS 2301 and 4050-5050 for “A Celebration of Women’s Literature” featuring poet and playwright Murhl Bussey.  The evening will feature an open mic session (you may bring a short piece written by a women author to share) and a reading of an excerpt of Bussey’s play “The Devil’s Playground.” The event will be held on Thursday, March 20 at 6 pm in McKnight Hall, Cone Center.

Quirky Quiz Question — March is Women’s History, which is intended to highlight the contributions of women to our history.  One of the many ways that women have shaped our history is by writing works of literature.   UNC Charlotte’s English Department faculty have published a number of books that focus on major women writers.  Here is a list of some of these books.  See if you can identify the authors or editors of these scholarly books the deal with women writers:

 A:  Maternal Body and Voice in Toni Morrison, Bobbie Ann Mason and Lee Smith

B.  Alcott in Her Own Time 

C.  Ecofeminist Approaches to Early Modernity

D. Troubling Nationhood in U.S. Latina Literature

E.  The Poems of Phillis Wheatley 

F.  H. D.’s Poetry and Prose

G.  Rita Dove’s Cosmopolitanism

H.  Westward to a High Mountain:  The Colorado Writings of Helen Hunt Jackson

Seuss-a-Thon — The third annual Seuss-a-Thon took place this past Saturday at Park Road Books, and the English Department was very well represented.  Jeffrey Leak and his son did a great job of reading Green Eggs and Ham.  The audience really had a sense that Jeffrey does not care for green eggs or ham or annoying people who keep pestering him with repetitive questions.   Angie Williams read Horton Hears a Who, and her granddaughter hung on every word.  Alan Rauch read If I Ran the Zoo.  At one point he broke into a Russian accent, and it added a whole new dimension to Dr. Seuss.  The children’s literature faculty all participated. Paula Connolly read The Sneetches, Beth Gargano read Horton Hatches the Egg,  and Anita Moss read And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.  Our advisors also showed up.  Tiffany Morin kicked off the event by reading The Cat in the Hat, and Sarah Minslow practically performed The Butter Battle Book.  Valerie Bright, one of our part-time faculty members, read Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  Several of our graduate students and former graduate students also participated.  In the publicity leading up to the Seuss-a-Thon, I described it as an English Department event. Well, to paraphrase a line from Horton Hatches the Egg, I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, Dr. Seuss is at home in English—one hundred per cent. 

Dr. Jeffrey Leak and son reading Green Eggs and Ham

Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to  share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department.  Here is the latest news:

Brook Blaylock and Laura Erturk, two of our graduate students, have been invited to give presentations at the upcoming Graduate Research Symposium.

Paula Eckard was recently awarded  a Publication Grant from the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies in support of a project related to her work with the Thomas Wolfe Review.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines—  Here are some dates to keep in mind:

March 4 — The deadline for mid-term grades has been changed due to concerns from faculty about missed classes because of the inclement weather.  The online entry of Unsatisfactory Grades submission deadline has been extended. The web will be open for grading until noon on Tuesday, March 4^th..

March 11 and 12 — English Major Days.  For more information about the this event, please click on the following link: http://english.uncc.edu/sites/english.uncc.edu/files/media/pdfs/English-Majors-Days-2.20.2014.pdf

Quirky Quiz Question — Dr. Seuss never completed a doctoral degree, but he did attend graduate school with the goal of earning a PhD in English.  Where did Dr. Seuss go to graduate school?  For extra credit, from what college did Dr. Seuss earn his BA in English?