Monthly Archives: May 2014

Today is Memorial Day.  Although it is a federal holiday and there are no classes today, the University does not close on Memorial Day.  While thinking about what I should say about Memorial Day in today’s Monday Missive, a series of associations came to mind.

Memorial Day is intended to commemorate members of the military who lost their lives in the line of duty.  I am fortunate in that no one in my immediate family died while in service, but I had a high school friend who died in the Vietnam War, and I always think about him on Memorial Day. Angie’s son, Josh Edwards, served in Afghanistan along with his best friend, whose name was also Josh.  Angie’s son survived his tour in Afghanistan, but his best friend, Josh Blaney, was killed in action.  Angie has a photograph of the two Joshes in her office, and every time I see that photograph, I am reminded of the high cost of war.

Memorial Day got its start shortly after the Civil War.  Initially it was called Decoration Day because on this day people decorated the graves of soldiers who died during the Civil War.  In a sense, Memorial Day is one of many reminders of the continuing impact of the Civil War on our culture.   In reflecting on this aspect of American history, I am reminded that both Daniel Shealy and Paula Connolly have taken a scholarly interest in this topic.  Daniel is currently working on a book about the pivotal role that the town of Concord, Massachusetts, played in the Civil War, and Paula has written extensively on the impact of the Civil War on American children’s literature, especially as it pertains to the issue of slavery.

Of course, Memorial Day is also associated with the beginning of summer. For many people Memorial Day means backyard cookouts, family gatherings, and NASCAR events.   For me, the kick-off of summer has associations with planting tomatoes. My father always waited until the end of May before he put his tomato plants outside, which made sense for him, given that he was gardening in the mountains of Colorado where it often snowed in May.  In Charlotte, we don’t get snow storms in May, but I still waited until yesterday to plant my tomatoes.    

My last association with Memorial Day has to do with my birthday, which is tomorrow.   Since Memorial Day and my birthday are always so close together, the two days blur together in my addled brain.  However, I will always remember that on my second birthday I got a wonderful birthday present, although I did not recognize it at the time.  My sister, Anna, was born on my second birthday.  According to my parents, when they brought Anna home from the hospital, they told me that she was my birthday present, and I reportedly said, “But I wanted a truck.” 

So those are my associations with Memorial Day.  Whatever you are doing on this Memorial Day, I hope it’s a day to remember.

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 2014 Faculty Research Grant from the Children’s Literature Association for a project titled “Playing the Game:  Reading Digitally with Children’s Literature.”

Ron Lunsford presented a paper titled “Manipulative Arguments in Political Speech” at EPICS VI:  Sixth International Symposium on Intercultural. Cognitive and Social Pragmatics, which took place in Seville, Spain, from May 12-15, 2014.  

Liz Miller recently learned that her co-edited volume titled Interdisciplinary Approaches to Theorizing and Analyzing Agency and Second Language Learning has been accepted for publication by Multilingual Matters. Her co-editors include Ping Deters, Xuesong Gao and Gergana Vitanova.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is a date to keep in mind:

May 27 — Aaron Gwyn will read from his new novel, Wynne’s War, at Park Road Books at 7:00 pm.

Quirky Quiz Question — The subject of Balaka Basu’s recent faculty research grant (see above) relates to her larger research project on the relationship between games and children’s literature.  She is currently on a research trip related to this project.  Where is the world is Balaka Basu? 

Of War and Literature — With the publication of Wynne’s War, Aaron Gwyn joins an impressive list of authors and poets who have responded through their writing to war and al of war’s complexities and high costs. As is the case with Aaron’s novel, many war stories combine intensely personal stories and far larger stories of geo-political conflict. This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, and there are many great works of literature that respond to this war. In my view, Wynne’s War and its depiction of the complexities of the current war in Afghanistan pairs up well with some of the war novels that deal with the complexities of the First World War. Here is a list of a few literary works about World War One that I recommend:

C.S. Foster’s The African Queen (1935)
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms 1929).
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside (1921).
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
Jeff Shaara’s To the Last Man (2005)
Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun (1939)
Candace Ward’s World War One British Poets (1997)

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:

Liz Miller recently presented a talk to the Linguistic Circle at the University of Edinburgh titled “Adult Immigrants’ ‘Theories of Agency’ as Dialogical Performatives.”

Meaghan Rand received her Ph.D. in the Urban Literacy (English) at the recent commencement ceremony. Tony Scott directed her dissertation, and Lil Brannon participated at the ceremony to “hood” her. She currently is a full-time Lecturer in the FYW program.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is a date to keep in mind:

May 20 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade for the first summer session.

Quirky Quiz Question — Aaron Gwyn’s Wynne’s War deals with the current war in Afghanistan. The publication of this novel reminds me that Angie William’s son served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Does anyone know his first name?

Commencement — Last Saturday the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences held its first stand-alone commencement ceremony, and for nearly 90 of our students, this ceremony marked their transition from current students to graduates. A total of 14 of our graduate students are listed in the commencement program, and 74 undergraduate students are listed.

I was especially impressed with how many of our BA students fall under the heading of “Graduation with Distinction.” Of the 74 students, 15 earned the distinction of Cum Laude (GPA between 3.4-3.7), 7 earned the distinction of Magna Cum Laude (GPA between 3.7-3.9), and 5 earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude (GPA between 3.9-4.0). This total comes to 27 students, which means that 36.5% of our graduate seniors earned this special distinction. I am very proud of all of our graduating students, but I want to mention by name the 5 students who earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude. Their names are Kristin Nichole Brown, Yekaterina N. Dolmatova, Mary-Elizabeth Greene, Sarah Elizabeth Story, and Breanne Elaine Weber.

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:

Monica Alston recently completed all of the training workshops to earn certification in the Grants and Contract Administration Program. She will receive her certificate this afternoon during a special ceremony for the staff who have completed this rigorous training program.

Ron Lunsford recently learned that a book he co-edited some years ago titled Linguistic Perspectives on Literature has just been re-released by Routledge Library Editions.

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

May 19 — Classes for the first summer session begin on May 19.

May 20 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade.

Quirky Quiz Question — The recent re-release on Ron Lunsford’s book Linguistic Perspectives on Literature underscores for me many ways in which members of our department combine linguistics and literature. Another example of this approach is the recent publication of a special issue of the Southern Journal of Linguistics on “Linguistics and Child Literature.” Who is the member of our department who served as the guest editor of this issue?

Two long-time friends of the English Department are about to retire.  Jo Ann Fernald (the Director of the Office of Disability Services) and Pamela King (the Director of Sponsored Research for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) are both retiring at the end of this academic year.  Like many of you, I have had extensive contact with both of these colleagues, and I have long been impressed with their professionalism and dedication.   Over the years, Jo Ann has helped me better serve my students who have various disabilities, and I know that she and her staff have helped countless students succeed in their studies at UNC Charlotte.   My connections with Pam King go back to the day she interviewed for her current position.  I was working in the Dean’s office at the time, and I remember thinking that she would be a perfect person for the position.  In her ten years at UNC Charlotte, Pam has not only provided leadership and expertise in the area of sponsored research, but she has also played a major role in cultivating the College’s support for research.  I’ve long been impressed with her willingness to help all faculty members with their grant proposals even if their grants were for comparatively small amounts of money.  Both Jo Ann and Pam are looking forward to their new adventures, and I know that we all wish them well, but they should also know that they will be missed.

Graduate Program News — Pilar Blitvich and I recently talked about encouraging developments in our graduate program, and we thought we should share some of this news the department.  In addition to our regular seven TAships, tied to the WRC/FYWP, this year we were able to secure two exceptional student awards, which waive the student’s first-year tuition costs, and two New Time Limited Assistantship funds ($10,000 each). Furthermore, our three prospect courses (taught by Jen, Kirk, and Ralf) also generated Taships.  Moreover, we were able to offer a Dean’s Graduate Scholar Award to an incoming English Education student.  We are also very pleased to report that Robin Kello was awarded the Russell Robinson Scholarship.

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:

Pilar Blitvich recently published a co-authored article titled  “Despierten, Latinos” (Wake up, Latinos): Latino Identity, US politics, and YouTube” in Journal of Language and Politics.  She has also had a number of other articles and book chapters recently accepted for publication. 

Kaitlyn Chapman, an undergraduate student in Jen Munroe’s interdisciplinary honors course on food systems and sustainability, won first place for the Honors College for her poster at the recent Undergraduate Research Conference. 

Nicholas DeArmas, one of our graduate students, has been accepted into the Ph.D. program in rhetoric and composition at the University of Central Florida with full funding. 

Alan Rauch recently learned that Scientific Americans : The Making of Popular Science and Evolution in Early-twentieth-century U.S. Literature and Culture by John Bruni was just published in the series that Alan edits (with Martin Willis)  for University of Wales Press (distributed in the US by University of Chicago Press) called Intersections in Literature and Science.  It is the first book in the series.  Also,  Alan was the sole guest on Charlotte Talks on April 25th (http://wfae.org/post/alan-rauch).  He discussed his book Dolphin.

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

May 10 — The CLAS Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 10^th beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Please forward the letter to all EPA and SPA staff members in your departments.April 30 — The English Department meeting will take place in the Library (Atkins Room 130) from 11:00-12:30.

May 12 — Final grades for the Spring 2014 semester must be submitted by Monday, May 12th at noon. 

Quirky Quiz Question — Alan’s news about being a recent guest on the radio show titled Charlotte Talks underscores for me the importance of this show in terms of Charlotte’s cultural scene.  Who is the host of this show?  For extra credit, who are some other English faculty members who have recently been guests on Charlotte Talks?