Shapiro and Shapiro — As part of the English Department’s involvement in the area of film studies, we are offering a topics course this coming fall semester on Alfred Hitchcock’s films, including The Birds, Psycho, and Thirty-Nine Steps. The person who is teaching this course is Sam Shapiro, who is a manager at the main branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. He is also the long-time film programmer at the public library. Sam has taught as an adjunct faculty member in the American Studies Program for many years, but this fall he will be teaching for English.
Sam Shapiro
I find it fitting that Sam will be teaching in the English Department, for he is the son of Morton (Marty) Shapiro. When Charlotte College became the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1965, Marty Shapiro was listed as one of the original members of the English Department. Marty taught in the department until his retirement in 1993. Today Marty lives in the Memory Care Unit at The Summit at SouthPark . Although Marty is no longer able to remember much about his years as an English Professor, the fact that his son now has connections to the department helps perpetuate the Shapiro legacy.
Public Intellectuals Conference Follow-Up — The Sixth Annual Conference on Public Intellectuals took place this past weekend at UNC Charlotte Center City, and several members of the English Department participated. Paula Connolly gave a presentation titled “Young Public Intellectuals: Abolitionist Literature for Children,” and Juan Meneses presented on “Jeanette Winterson and Napoleon’s Doctrine.” Sarah Minslow gave a presentation on “Australian Children’s Authors as Public Intellectuals,” and Alan Rauch spoke on “The Un-Greening of W.H. Hudson: How a Major Voice for Ecological Awareness Was Lost.” Also, both Alan and Paula Eckard participated on a panel discussion on “The Publishing and Editing of Public Intellectuals.”
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 gave a presentation titled “Continuing the Conversation: Coming Together for Social Sustainability” at the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability Conference held at UNC Charlotte Center City.
Ralf Thiede attended the 82nd SouthEastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL) in Raleigh this weekend, presenting two papers. One, with Kristin Brown (a former English major of ours now teaching at Gaston College), was titled “Colonial Shadows: Two Creole Bible Translations” and documented linguistically how a bible can be a colonial power tool or an icon of emancipation. His other paper, “Your Brain on Story,” explored how the brain’s information management (memory, perception, expectation, association, selection) shares basic features of storytelling. Ralf was elected vice president of SECOL at the business meeting.
Six graduate students took the M.A. Exams on March 28, and they all passed their exams. I congratulate all of them.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
April 26 — The English Department Spring Party will take place on Sunday, April 26, from 5:00-8:00 at the home of Pilar and Tom Blitvich.
April 29 — The English Department Student Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April 29 at 12:30 in the Dale Halton Room of the University Library.
Quirky Quiz Question — Marty Shapiro taught a wide variety of courses during his years in the English Department, but he especially enjoyed teaching courses in his area of speciality. What was Marty’s area of speciality?
Last week’s answer: MSNBC