I just got back from presenting a paper at the 5th Annual Public Intellectuals Conference. This conference has a cap of 25 participants, and it’s unlike any other conference that I regularly attend. Everyone sits around a conference table for two days. Each participant gives a presentation for about 15 minutes, and then the entire group discusses the presentation for another 15 minutes. The conference is amazingly interdisciplinary in nature. This year the participants included scholars from English, history, sociology, psychology, communication studies, political science, and philosophy. The experience of interacting in a scholarly way with academics from such diverse backgrounds underscored for me the value of approaching problems and topics from a variety of academic disciplines.
From my perspective, one of the great strengths of our English Department is our receptivity to interdisciplinary studies. This strength is reflected in the active participation of our faculty in the American Studies Program, the Center for the Study of the New South, the Gerontology Program, the IDEAS (Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability) Center, the M.A. Program in Liberal Studies, the Minor in Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. There are more faculty from the English Department represented among the directors of such programs than from any other department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Jennie Mussington and Her Super Powers — A month or two ago I was channel surfing when I came upon a show on the History Channel called Stan Lee’s Superhumans: Real Humans with Super Abilities. I watched for a few minutes and saw a young man jump over a car racing toward him at 60 miles per hour (do not try this at home or the parking deck). I know only one person with super human abilities, and that person is Jennie Mussington. Jennie has an uncanny ability to win contests. Over the years, Jennie has won five TVs, a Jeep, a camper, a bicycle, a trip to San Francisco to watch a 49ers game, sports memorabilia, and lots of smaller prizes. This past weekend she won $104 from a local radio station. Jumping over moving cars is impressive, but I am even more impressed with Jennie’s super powers.
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:
Boyd Davis‘s proposal to the Veterans Administration, “Story-Call: E-mobile Support for Community Caregivers of Veterans with Dementia,” has been selected for funding. This is a 3-year project.
Susan Gardner, together with Vail Carter (UNC Charlotte’s first Native American graduate), gave a presentation at UNC Pembroke this past weekend. The title of their presentation is “Why Is Telling Our Lives a Subversive Thing to Do?”
Janaka Lewis recently presented a paper titled “A Black Woman’s Guide to Freedom and Southern Conduct” at the College Language Association Conference in New Orleans.
Kirk Melnikoff led the workshop “Digital Resources for the Early Modern Book Trade” at the annual Shakespeare Association of America meeting in St. Louis.
Juan Meneses has an essay in the recently published collection The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World (Palgrave). The title of the essay is “‘Like in the Gringo Movies’: Translatorese and the Global in Roberto Bolaño’s 2666.”
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
April 15 — Elly Bavidge from Kingston University in London will give a presentation titled “London on Film” in the English Department Seminar Room from 3:30-4:30.
April 30 — The English Department Student Awards Ceremony will take place in the Dale Halton Room in the Library from 12:30-2:00.
Quirky Quiz Question — The faculty in the English Department serve as the directors of several interdisciplinary programs/centers. Name the directors of the following interdisciplinary programs/centers:
American Studies Program
Center for the Study of the New South
M.A. Program in Liberal Studies