Monthly Archives: March 2015

Women of the World — UNC Charlotte’s International Women’s Day Celebration took place on March 26, 2015. Both Pilar Blitvich and Boyd Davis were among the 2015 Honorees who were celebrated at the event. This much deserved recognition underscores the prominent roles that the English Department’s faculty, staff, and students have long played in supporting women’s and gender studies on our campus. I think it worth noting that the first director of UNC Charlotte’s Women’s Studies Program was Shelley Crisp, who taught in the English Department at the time, and the current director of the the Women’s and Gender Studies Program is Katie Hogan, who is also a member of the English Department.

A literal example of women from the English Department playing feminist roles can be seen during Tuesday’s performance of The Vagina Monologues. This production will take place on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, at 7:00 pm in the McKnight Hall. The performers include Janaka Lewis, Tiffany Morin, and Angie Williams from the English Department as well Shannon Bauerle and Allison Walsh, who are part of our department’s greater sisterhood. When Eve Ensler wrote this play in 1996, she wanted to express support for female solidarity on a global level. This theme also runs through her more recent work titled I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls around the World, which came out in 2010. Given Ensler’s global perspective, Tuesday’s performance of The Vagina Monologues is a perfect follow-up to last week’s International Women’s Day Celebration.

Sanskrit — When our friend and colleague Jim McGavran passed away at the end of last year, he was serving as a juror for Sanskrit, UNC Charlotte’s literary arts magazine. Two other members of the English Department, Chris Davis and Lara Vetter, also served as the literature jurors for this year’s edition of Sanskrit. This edition is now published. I thumbed through the issue this weekend, and I was pleased to see that it is dedicated to Jim McGavran.

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:

Sonya Brockman’s article titled “Social Anxieties and Social Metamorphosis in The Taming of the Shrew” has been published in Journal of Early Modern Studies and available online at http://www.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/article/view/15808.

Paula Connolly was interviewed by the New Books Network. The interview is part of the New Books Network’s discussion of African American Studies. Here is a link to the interview: http://newbooksinafroamstudies.com/2015/03/26/paula-t-connolly-slavery-in-american-childrens-literature-1790-2010-u-of-iowa-press-2013/

Dina Massachi, one of our graduate students, presented a paper titled “What Makes a Child’s Utopia: Thomas More and L. Frank Baum” at UNC Greensboro’s Power of Place conference.

Hannah Mayfield, one of our graduate students, presented a paper titled “Gender in the Gift Economy: Where Gender Stands in Discourse 2.0” at UNC Greensboro’s Power of Place conference.

Kirk Melnikoff has been given a contract to edit James IV by Robert Greene. The play will be printed in the Anthology of Non-Shakespearean Drama, Ed. Jeremy Lopez (Routledge, 2019).

Liz Miller recently presented a paper titled “(In)convenient fictions: Ideologies of multilingual practice and repertoires as resource for constituting identity and social order” at the Georgetown University Roundtable conference. She also presented a paper titled “The Ideology of Agency and the Neoliberal Self” at the American Association of Applied Linguistics conference in Toronto. Both papers were part of colloquia she helped organize.

Julia Morris, one of our graduate students, recently presented a paper titled “The Evolved Female Métier in Anna Kanvan’s Let Me Alone” at the 7th Annual Southeast Regional Graduate Conference held at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Olivia Rines, a current grad student and co-president of EGSA, has been accepted into the Applied Linguistics Ph.D. at Arizona State University. She is one of only three applicants to have been offered financial support in the form of a generously funded TAship, tuition waiver and health benefits.

Becky Roeder presented a paper titled “Conflict & Community: Spanish in the Linguistic Landscape of Charlotte, NC” at the Georgetown University Roundtable in Linguistics (GURT) conference.

Megan Weaver, a graduate of our M.A. Program, has been accepted into a PhD program at Old Dominion University (with a first-year fellowship).

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

March 31 — A performance of The Vagina Monologues (faculty and staff cast) will take place on Tuesday, March 31, at 7pm in McKnight Hall (Cone Center). Angie, Janaka, and Tiffany will each be performing in this important event. This year’s production is being directed by Shannon Bauerle, a former English grad student, ELC Coordinator and part-time instructor. All proceeds will benefit Safe Alliance. Admission tickets are $10. For admission ticket and a t-shirt $15. ONLY CASH will be taken at the door. To purchase tickets online:https://ecom.uncc.edu/C21561_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=104&SINGLESTORE=true

April 2 — Micah Nathan, our visiting creative writing professor, will have a reading/book signing at Park Road Books (4139 Park Road) on Thursday, April 2, at 7:00 pm. If you need directions to the bookstore, please click on the following link: http://www.parkroadbooks.com/

April 8 — Matt Johnson will give a presentation titled “Pressing Matters: The Conservation Books and their Enduing Legacy” as part of the Julian D. Mason Talks on Rare Books. The event will take place at the Atkins Library’s Halton Room and will begin at 3:30 p.m.

April 8 — A poetry reading featuring Anne-Marie Fyfe and C.L. Dallat will take place in the English Department Seminar Room (Fretwell 290B) from 5:00-6:00 pm.

Quirky Quiz Question — In remembering the role that Shelley Crisp played in establishing UNC Charlotte’s Women’s Studies Program, I am reminded that Shelley went on to become the Executive Director of a major nonprofit organization in North Carolina. Does anybody know the name of the organization that Shelley headed?

Last week’s answer: University of Iowa Press

Tuesday — As the days of the week go, Tuesdays are usually unremarkable, but every now and then a remarkable Tuesday comes along. David Wiesner’s picture book Tuesday deals with such a day. In this Caldecott-winning book, an amazing phenomenon occurs one “Tuesday evening, around eight.” Hundreds of frogs are sitting on their lily pads in a quiet pond when suddenly the lily pads levitate. Flying on their lily pads, the frogs swoop into a nearby town and have a series of wild nocturnal adventures. Well, in our own way, we are about to have a remarkable Tuesday, too. We will start soaring tomorrow at 11:00 with the first of our English Major Day events, and we will continue with our adventures into the evening with Paula Connolly’s presentation for the Personally Speaking Series.

This year’s English Major Day features three workshops and a keynote address by Micah Nathan. The first workshop is titled “The English Major as Preparation for a 21st-Century Career” and will take place in Fretwell 290B from 11:00-12:15. The second workshop is on “Preparing for Graduate School” and will take place in Fretwell 290B from 12:30-1:45. The final workshop is titled “Publishing a Book” and will take place in Fretwell 290B from 2:00-3:15. Micah’s keynote address is titled “In Defense of the English Major.” He will speak in Storrs 110 starting at 4:00 pm. For more information about English Major Day, please click on the following link: http://english.uncc.edu/sites/english.uncc.edu/files/media/English_Majors_Days_2015_R.pdf

Paula Connolly’s presentation for the Personally Speaking Series will begin at 6:30 pm in the Halton Reading Room of Atkins Library. She will talk about her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010. A reception and book signing will follow at 7:30 pm.

As you make your plans for Tuesday, please make every effort to attend as many of these events as you can fit into your schedule. Also, please encourage your students to participate in these events. If you are flying in on a lily pad, let me know and I will try to arrange for special lily pad parking for you.

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:

JuliAnn Ávila recently published a chapter titled “Traveling Down a Desire Line: Surviving Where Community and Academia Meet” in a volume titled Reimagining the Public Intellectual in Education: Making Scholarship Matter.

Pilar Blitvich recently presented a paper titled “Transnational Identity and Citizen Discourse: Latinos Versus Immigrants” at the Georgetown Round Table on Linguistics Conference: Diversity, Super-diversity: Socio-cultural Linguistics Perspectives. The conference was held at Georgetown University on March 13-15.

Lil Brannon had an essay titled “Unintended Consequences” published in the February issue of College Composition and Communication.

Nicole Cruse, one of our graduate students, has been accepted into the linguistics PhD Program at the University of Connecticut. She has also been chosen as an IGERT Fellow, which includes a substantial stipend. She’ll start there in the fall.

Laura Erturk, a graduate of our M.A. program, has been accepted into the linguistics PhD Program at the University of South Carolina. She’ll start there in the fall.

Jeffrey Leak recently participated in the Virginia Festival of the Book. He was one of the featured authors for a panel on “African Americans in Mid-Century America: Power, Literature, and the Black List.”

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

March 24 — The English Major Day will take place on March 24. The event will include three workshops and a keynote address by Micah Nathan.

March 24 — Paula Connolly will give the fourth and final presentation in this year’s Personally Speaking Series. The event will take place at the Atkins Library and will begin at 6:30 p.m. She will speak about her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010.

March 27 — The English Department Meeting will take place in the Conference Room from 11:00-12:30.

March 27 — Balaka Basu will deliver a presentation titled “Play the Game: Reading Digitally with Children’s Literature” in the Conference Room from 1:00-2:00. This presentation is sponsored by the English Department’s Faculty Development Committee.

Quirky Quiz Question — Paula Connolly’s talk for the Personally Speaking Series will focus on her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010. This book was published by the same press that published two of Jim McGavran’s collections. Does anyone know the name of this press?

Last week’s answer – Dennis Kay

Studying Abroad — Last week I received a report about our English majors who are studying abroad during this academic year. The report includes a listing of the countries where our majors have gone to study. These countries include Australia, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. What stands out in this report is the large number of our students who went to London over the spring break as part of our Shakespeare in England course (ENGL 4050/5050). Andrew Hartley is the faculty member in charge of this class. I recently asked Andrew about the course, and he provided me with the following information:

“Fourteen students (mainly English and theatre majors) spent a week in London and Stratford, a packed trip which included six theatre productions and visits to such landmarks as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Hampton Court. One of the highlights was a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament by Baroness Josie Farrington, a sitting peer in the House of Lords, including observing Question Time and being admitted to the thirteenth century undercroft chapel which is not generally open to the public. In Stratford the group got to relax in the pub with the cast of the Royal Shakespeare Productions we had seen (Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, and a stunning staging of Dekker’s Shoemaker’s Holiday). We had performance workshops there and at the Globe, and the students learned the delights of pasties, pints of bitter, and some of the best Indian food in the world! They were a wonderful group: punctual, amiable and enthusiastic throughout.”

I have talked with several of the students who went on this trip, and they describe it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As these students know, the experience of studying abroad is often a highlight in our students’ college years. I know that for my son (who turns 22 today) the experience of studying architecture in Barcelona last fall proved to be a wonderful and very memorable semester. I encourage all of us to help make this experience a reality for more of our students.

Seuss-a-Thon — This past Saturday the fourth annual Seuss-a-Thon took place at Park Road Books, and it was a great success. Co-sponsored by the English Department and Park Road Books, the Seuss-a-Thon is tied to the National Education Association’s Read Across America event. I am very pleased with the English Department’s enthusiastic support of this event. Numerous faculty and staff members participated, including Valerie Bright, Sarah Minslow, Meg Morgan, Tiffany Morin, Anita Moss, Jen Munroe, Alan Rauch, and Angie Williams. The participants also included a number of our current students, including Angelica Chakraborty, Shannon Homesley, Amanda Loeffert, Julia Morris, Joye Palmer, and Nancy Partridge. Tiffany Morin and the English Learning Community ran a crafts table where children created all sorts of Dr. Seuss-related art projects. Two faculty members from the College of Education—Heather Coffey and Adriana Medina— also participated. For more information about the Seuss-a-Thon, please click on the following link: https://exchange.uncc.edu/2015-seuss-a-thon-to-feature-favorite-author-books/

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:

Paula Connolly recently published an article titled “Reframing History: Insider/Outsider Paradigms in Ten Books about Slavery” in Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures, 6.2 (Winter 2014): 134-147.

Adam Padgett, a graduate of our M.A. program, has been accepted into the Composition and Rhetoric PhD Program at the University of South Carolina. He’ll start there in the fall with an assistantship, tuition waiver, and stipend.

Ralf Thiede recently published a review of Hugh Crago’s Entranced by Story: Brain, Tale and Teller, from Infancy to Old Age. His review appeared the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 40.1 (Spring 2015): 85-88.

Heather Vorhies recently learned that her paper “Doing Business Over There: Misunderstanding Early Nineteenth Century Women’s Writing in the Place of Business” has been accepted for presentation at the Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference to be held at Arizona State University, October 28-31, 2015.

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

March 16 — In collaboration with Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies, the Early African American Women Writers class (ENG 3050) will host Dr. Trimiko Melancon, author of Unbought and Unbossed: Transgressive Black Women, Sexuality, and Representation and co-editor of Black Female Sexualities, on Monday, March 16 at 5 pm in Fretwell 206 for a talk on Black Women, Sexuality, and Culture. Books will be available at 4:30. This event is open to interested faculty, students, and the public.

March 24 — The English Major Day will take place on March 24. The event will include three workshops and a keynote address by Micah Nathan. Here is a link to the schedule: http://english.uncc.edu/sites/english.uncc.edu/files/media/English_Majors_Days_2015_R.pdf

On March 24 — Paula Connolly will give the fourth and final presentation in this year’s Personally Speaking Series. The event will take place at the Atkins Library and will begin at 6:30 p.m. She will speak about her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010.

Quirky Quiz Question — This semester Andrew Hartley is teaching the Shakespeare in England course. As many of you know, Andrew is the Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare. Andrew is the second professor to hold this position. Does anybody remember the name of the first person to hold this position?

Last week’s answer: Beth Gargano and Susan Gardner

Sketch of panelists and moderators by Jon Bailiff.

The Freedom to Read — I have written and spoken about the censorship of children’s literature on many occasions over the span three decades, but my recent speaking engagements in Singapore stand out as a highlight in my career as an anti-censorship activist. Since Singapore gained its independence a half century ago, the government has imposed controls on the publication and distribution of books and other forms of printed material. This aspect of Singapore society came into play last year when the government’s National Library Board decided to remove several children’s picture books from the public libraries on the grounds that these books were not “pro-family.” These books included Jean Davies Okimoto’s The White Swan Express: A Story about Adoption, in which a lesbian couple adopts a baby from China, and Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s And Tango Makes Three, in which two male penguins hatch and raise a baby penguin. The banning of these two books sparked an international controversy. Eventually the National Library Board decided not to ban these books but instead moved them to the adult section of the libraries.

In response to this controversy, my long-time friend Robin Hemley, who now teaches at Yale-NUS (National University of Singapore), organized a series of events related to the censorship of children’s literature, culminating in a panel presentation titled “What Children Shouldn’t Read: A Global Controversy.” I was one of four participants on the panel. The others were authors Susie Bright, Suchen Christine Lim, and Jean Davies Okimoto. The event took place in a packed auditorium on the campus of the National University of Singapore. For two hours we gave presentations, responded to the other panelists’ points, and answered questions from the audience. The event was covered by the Singapore press and monitored by university and governmental officials. I later learned that this panel presentation was one of the first times that the topic of censorship was discussed openly in Singapore. As I came to understand, the panel presentation was one of several recent incremental steps toward greater freedom in Singapore. I know that the other panelists and I were honored to play a small role in this change.

Welcoming Micah Nathan — Please join me in welcoming fiction writer Micah Nathan to the department. Micah arrives this week as a visiting professor, and he will stay with us for approximately one month. While he is here, he will teach an advanced fiction writing course and deliver the keynote address for our English Major Day on March 24. Micah’s publications include the novel Gods of Aberdeen (2005), the novel Losing Graceland (2011), and the collection Jack the Bastard and Other Stories (2012). For more information about Micah’s writings, please visit his website: http://www.micahnathan.com/ Micah is also a writer-in-residence at Kingston University in London, and his visit to our department is part of our larger efforts to collaborate with Kingston University in the area of creative writing.

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 and Suzan Alteri of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature received a $5000 grant from the American Library Association’s Carnegie-Whitney Fund to develop the exhibit: “Woman Authored Science Books for Children, 1790-1890.”

The research of Becky Roeder and Boyd Davis came up in last Friday’s ‘Charlotte Talks’ with Mike Collins. Walt Wolfram and Jeff Reaser from NCSU talked about their new book, Talkin’ Tar Heel, and they referred to sociolinguistic research conducted here in our department. They discussed how much identity (and ego) is tied up in language varieties, and you can hear a sound clip in which Boyd unpacks all the information that is read merely from how someone talks – in this case, her very own speech. Here is the link:http://wfae.org/post/talkin-tarheel-0

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

March 14 — The fourth annual Seuss-a-Thon will take place from at Park Road Books from 11:00-3:00. Co-sponsored by the English Department and Park Road Books, this event will involve people reading their favorite Dr. Seuss books aloud to children.

March 24 — The English Major Day will take place on March 24. The event will include three workshops and a keynote address by Micah Nathan. More details will be announced soon.

On March 24 — Paula Connolly will give the fourth and final presentation in this year’s Personally Speaking Series. The event will take place at the Atkins Library and will begin at 6:30 p.m. She will speak about her book Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010.

Quirky Quiz Question — Micah Nathan’s visiting position in our department is tied to our collaboration with Kingston University. Two members of the English Department have served as the faculty advisor for the UNC Charlotte’s students who participate in the study-abroad program at Kingston University. Can you name these faculty members?

Last week’s answer: Malaysia