Earth Day — The 45th celebration of Earth Day will take place on Wednesday, April 22, 2015. In my mind, Earth Day is associated with sustainability, eco-criticism, and nature writing. These topics all relate to the work that takes place in the English Department. I could list many examples, but I will limit
myself to the work of three of our faculty members. This semester, Jen Munroe is teaching two courses that consider issues of “sustainability”–the first a graduate seminar titled “Thinking Green: Ecological Approaches to Texts” and the second a grad/undergrad course on “Shakespeare and Ecofeminism.” In both courses, students wrote a blog post where they considered a current environmental issue with a specific focus on its implications for questions of race, class, and/or gender. Greg Wickliff also teaches courses that relate to environmental issues. Last summer he taught a course in which he had his students write about the natural and historic dimensions of a specific place. Alan Rauch frequently writes about nature and sustainability in his scholarly work. Within the past month he has given two scholarly presentations on the environmental themes in the work of W. H. Hudson, the author of Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904). As these examples demonstrate, the English Department honors the values associated with Earth Day all year long.
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:
Lil Brannon recently learned that the UNC Charlotte Writing Project has been awarded $10,000 of federal funds for the second half of the $20,000 two-year award for the site’s 2014-2016 SEED Teacher Leadership Development Grant.
Alan Rauch recently gave a presentation titled “Terra Rima: W. H. Hudson, Environmentalism, and the Collapse of Nature” at the 10th Annual meeting of the British Society for Literature and Science in Liverpool.
Greg Wickliff recently published an article titled “Draper, Darwin, And The Oxford Evolution Debate Of 1860” in Earth Sciences History. He also presented a paper titled “Toward New Imponderables: John William Draper’s Chemistry and Physics Experiments, 1836 – 1842” at the Southern
History of Science and Technology Conference that recently took place at VCU in Richmond.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
April 21 — Jen Munroe will give a talk titled “King Lear and Environmental Justice” at 4:30 in Fretwell 290B. Her talk is part of the the Shakespeare in Action’s “36 in 6” initiative.
April 24 — Matthew Rascoff (UNC VP of Learning Technology & Innovation) will be driving in from General Administration on Friday, April 24, to give a talk on UNC’s vision for the future of on-line teaching. The talk will be in the seminar room (290B Fretwell) from 2:00-3:30.
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 28 — On Tuesday evening, April 28th, at 6:30 pm here in the foyer of Fretwell, we will host an Exhibition of Work for students with interests in Technical/Professional Writing or Language and Digital Technology. Professional writers and editors from the Charlotte Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication will be joining us to talk with students about their work. All students and faculty are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided.
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 — The celebration of the first Earth Day took place in 1970. Does anybody know the name of the Senator from Wisconsin who is responsible for making Earth Day an annual event?
Last week’s answer: American Literature