Earth Day – Today is John Muir’s birthday, and tomorrow is Earth Day. These two dates belong together, for John Muir (1838-1914) played a key role in the early days of the conservation movement. Muir founded the Sierra Club and helped establish Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. He was friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, President Theodore Roosevelt, and many other major figures who shared his commitment to preserving the natural environment. Throughout his career, Muir enjoyed writing about his experiences as a naturalist and his observations of special places, such as the Sierra. As we look forward to celebrating Earth Day, we should note that the English Department has faculty members who share Muir’s interest in promoting the natural environment. Two who come immediately to mind are Greg Wickliff and Jen Munroe.
Greg regularly teaches a summer course called “Writing about Place.” In this course, Greg has his students immerse themselves in a particular place and then write about that place in terms of its natural resources as well as its human inhabitants, both past and present. This summer, Greg is having his students write about Badin, North Carolina. Located on the Yadkin River, this small twon is about forty miles east of UNC Charlotte. It is also a significant archeological site, and research indicates that humans have lived in this area for more than 12,000 years.
Jen has established herself as a leader in the University’s sustainability initiatives, but she has also made a name for herself in the area of eco-criticism. Her scholarship in this area is reflected in her books Making Gardens of Their Own: Gardening Manuals for Women, 1500-1750 (2007), Gender and the Garden in Early Modern English Literature (2008), and Ecofeminist Approaches to Early Modernity (2011). Last month Jen received a contract for a new co-authored monograph titled Shakespeare and Ecofeminist Theory. It will appear as part of the Arden “Shakespeare and Theory” series.
The celebration of Earth Day helps us remember the importance of preserving and understanding our natural environment, but only so much can be accomplished in one day. Through teaching and scholarship, Greg and Jen help sustain throughout the year the goals we associate with Earth Day. I am sure John Muir would approve.
Leadership — I am pleased to report that we now have three more faculty members who have completed the leadership program offered by the ADVANCE Faculty Affairs Office. These faculty members are Pilar Blitvich, Liz Miller, and Aaron Toscano. By participating in this program, these and the other faculty members who have already gone through this program are positioning themselves to play leaderships roles in the department as well as the wider university. Jeffrey Leak, for example, is a previous participant in the ADVANCE Program, and he is now one of two candidates for the position of Faculty President. In my opinion, one of the great strengths of the English Department is the willingness of our faculty and staff to serve in leadership roles.
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:
Andrew Hartley was the subject of a feature article that ran in last Sunday’s Charlotte Observer. Here is the link to the article: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/18/4850175/unc-charlottes-andrew-hartley.html#.U1VPiRlmWTg
Lisa McAlister, one of our current graduate students, recently presented a paper titled “Relational Knowledge and the Knowledge of Power between the Human and the Nonhuman in Early Modern Culture: The Knowledge of Experience and the Knowledge of Experiment” at the joint University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and King’s College London (UNC/KCL) Graduate Student Conference.
Liz Miller will be a guest speaker—via Skype—in a doctoral class at Pennsylvania State University this evening.
Jacqueline Plante, one of our former M.A. students, has been accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a fellowship that includes five years of funding. She plans to study twentieth-century poetry and digital humanities.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
April 24-26 — The Shakespeare in Action Initiative is sponsoring a workshop titled “Devising Shakespeare: The Shrew Project.” The workshop will take place in the Black Box Theater in Robinson Hall, starting at 7:30 (Thursday-Saturday). Andrew Hartley, Kirk Melnikoff, and Jen Munroe all helped organize this event.
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 — I first took an interest in John Muir when I was living in Madison, Wisconsin. Muir lived in Madison and attended the University of Wisconsin, although he never graduated. We have several faculty members in the English Department who have degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Name one of these faculty members.